Remotely controlled inflation/deflation valve system for a vehicle tire

A valve system for remotely controlling the inflation pressure within a pneumatic tire of a wheel mounted for rotation on a axle of a vehicle comprising:

• a valve assembly housing disposable in and attachable to said axle;
• an air manifold attachable to said wheel for rotation therewith and relative to said valve assembly housing, said manifold having an air channel connectable in communication with said pneumatic tire of said wheel;
• a valve assembly including a valve body disposable in said housing and being connectable to said air manifold for rotation therewith relative to said housing, said valve body having a hollow chamber and an air passage defined therethrough communicating with said air channel of said manifold when said body is connected thereto, said valve assembly also including a valve spool disposed in said chamber of said valve body and being reciprocally movable therein relative to said body between valve opening and closing positions in which said valve spool respectively establishes and blocks communication from said air passage of said valve body to said air channel of said manifold;
• an electrical pressure transducer mounted to said manifold for movement therewith and disposed in communication with said manifold air channel for sensing air pressure therein;
• means for transmitting electrical signals including a trailing portion connected to said transducer for movement therewith upon rotation of said transducer with said manifold and a leading portion extending through a portion of said housing in a stationary relationship thereto;
• and
• means disposed between said rotatable valve body and said stationary housing for electrically coupling said leading and trailing portions of said transmitting means together.

A valve system for remotely controlling the inflation pressure within a pneumatic tire of a wheel mounted for rotation on an axle of a vehicle, said axle having a hollow cavity, said system comprising:

• a valve housing stationarily disposed in said hollow cavity of said axle and attached thereto;
• an air manifold attachable to said wheel for rotation therewith and relative to said valve housing, said manifold extending across an end of said hollow cavity of said axle and having an air channel connectable in communication with said pneumatic tire of said wheel;
• a valve body disposable in said housing adjacent said end of said hollow axle cavity, said body being connectable to said air manifold for rotation therewith relative to said housing, said valve body having a hollow chamber and an air passage defined therein, said air passage having a first portion communicating at its outer end with the interior of said housing and at its inner end with said chamber and a second portion communicating at its inner end with said chamber and at its outer end with said air channel of said manifold when said valve body is disposed in said housing and connected to said manifold;
• a valve spool disposed in said chamber of said valve body and reciprocally movable therein relative to said body between valve opening and closing positions, said spool having a recess defined therein which establishes communication between said inner ends of said first and second portions of said air passage in said body when said spool is moved to its valve opening position, said spool having a land defined thereon which blocks communication between said inner ends of said first and second portions of said air passage in said body when said spool is moved to its valve closing position;
• an electrical pressure transducer disposed adjacent said valve body and mounted to said manifold for movement therewith and at a side thereof facing said hollow cavity of said axle, said transducer being disposed in communication with said air channel of said manifold;
• flexible cable for transmitting electrical signals including a trailing portion connected to said transducer for movement therewith upon rotation of said transducer with said manifold and a leading portion extending through a portion of said housing in a stationary relationship thereto;
• and
• means disposed between said rotatable valve body and said stationary valve housing for electrically inductively coupling said leading and trailing portions of said cable together.