US 6,439,044 B1Granted

Rotary transmission leadthrough of a tire pressure control unit

OwnerMartin Tiggesinventor

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Abstract

A tire pressure control unit for motor vehicles with a rotary transmission leadthrough 2 for transmitting a pressure means from a part, stationary with respect to a rotatably supported wheel 3, of the motor vehicle to the rotatably supported wheel 3, wherein the rotary transmission leadthrough 2 comprises at least one chamber 14, 15 delimited by an annular body 4, 5 disposed at the stator side and by [an annular body (4, 5)] disposed at the rotor side concentrically with respect to the rotational axis of wheel 3, and wherein for sealing the at least one chamber 14, 15 sealing rings are inserted between the stator-side annular body 4 and the rotor-side annular body 5, is defined thereby that the stator-side annular body 4 and the rotor-side annular body 5 are disposed one next to the other in the axial direction with respect to the rotational axis of the wheel 3 leaving a motion gap 11, into the face facing toward the rotor-side annular body 5, of the stator-side annular body 4 for the radial sealing of the at least one chamber 14, 15 two concentric annular grooves 20, 21 or 21, 22, respectively, are introduced, the annular grooves 20, 21 or 21, 22, respectively, with their termination facing away from the rotor-side annular body 5 are connected to a control line 25, 27 which can be activated by a pressure means, into the annular grooves 20, 21 or 21, 22, respectively, in each instance one of the sealing rings is placed, which, upon the control line 25, 27 being pressurized is moved in the direction toward the rotor-side annular body 5, and from the rotor-side annular body 5 an output line 28, 29 terminates in the at least one chamber 14, 15.

Claims16

Dependent claims

A rotary transmission leadthrough of a tire pressure control unit for transmitting pressurized fluid from a stationary portion of a motor vehicle to a rotatably supported wheel in order to change pressurization of the wheel, said rotary transmission leadthrough comprising:

(a) a stator-side annular body mountable to a stationary portion of a motor vehicle and having a face portion, at least one chamber defined through said stator-side annular body so as to open at said face portion thereof and provide flow communication with a source of a pressurized fluid, and outer and inner annular grooves formed in said face portion in a concentric and radially spaced relationship with respect to one another such that said one chamber is disposed between and radially spaced from said outer and inner annular grooves;
(b) a rotor-side annular body having a face portion and at least one chamber defined through said rotor-side annular body so as to open at said face portion thereof and provide flow communication with a filling valve associated with a wheel of the motor vehicle rotatable about a rotational axis, said rotor-side annular body being mountable to the wheel such that said annular bodies are disposed concentrically about and extend along the rotational axis of the wheel and are axially spaced apart from one another along the rotational axis so as to define an annular-shaped motion gap between said face portions;
(c) outer and inner sealing ring members inserted into corresponding ones of said outer and inner grooves of said stator-side annular body and being moveable along the rotational axis of the wheel relative to corresponding ones of said outer and inner grooves;
and
(d) control means defined in said stator-side annular body in flow communication with said outer and inner grooves therein for transmitting a pressurized fluid from an external source to said outer and inner sealing ring members so as to selectively cause movement thereof toward and away from respective sealing contact with said facing portion of said rotor-side annular body that provides radially sealing by said outer and inner sealing ring members across said motion gap respectively outwardly and inwardly of said chambers of said annular bodies for providing flow communication between said chambers so as to transmit pressurized fluid from said one chamber of said stator-side annular body to said one chamber of said rotor-side annular body, as said rotor-side annular body rotates with the wheel relative to said stator-side annular body.

2 more elements

(a) a stator-side annular body mountable to a stationary portion of a motor vehicle and having a face portion, a working chamber and a control chamber defined through said stator-side annular body so as to open at said face portion thereof and correspondingly provide flow communication with a source of a pressurized working fluid and a source of pressurized control fluid, and outer, middle and inner annular grooves formed in said face portion in a concentric and radially spaced relationship with respect to one another such that said working and control chambers are disposed between and radially spaced from said respective outer, middle and inner annular grooves;
(b) a rotor-side annular body having a face portion and a working chamber and a control chamber defined through said rotor-side annular body so as to open at said face portion thereof and provide separate flow communication with a filling valve associated with a wheel of the motor vehicle rotatable about a rotational axis, said rotor-side annular body being mountable to the wheel such that said annular bodies are disposed concentrically about and extend along the rotational axis of the wheel and are axially spaced apart from one another along the rotational axis so as to define a motion gap between said face portions;
(c) outer, middle and inner sealing ring members inserted into corresponding ones of said outer, middle and inner grooves of said stator-side annular body and being moveable along the rotational axis of the wheel relative to corresponding ones of said outer, middle and inner grooves;
and
(d) control means defined in said stator-side annular body in flow communication with said outer, middle and inner grooves therein for transmitting a pressurized fluid from an external source to said outer, middle and inner sealing ring members so as to selectively cause movement thereof toward and away from respective sealing contact with said facing portion of said rotor-side annular body that provides radially sealing by said outer, middle and inner sealing ring members across said motion gap respectively outwardly and inwardly of said chambers of said annular bodies for providing flow communication between said chambers so as to transmit pressurized fluid from said chambers of said stator-side annular body to said chambers of said rotor-side annular body, as said rotor-side annular body rotates with the wheel relative to said stator-side annular body.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.