Vehicle wheel comprising a tire and an assembly consisting of a valve a device for measuring the tire pressure and a spring for holding said device in the tire

#The present invention relates to an arrangement having the features set out in the preamble of claim 1, and to a wheel having the features set out in the preamble of claim 15.

#A wheel for motor vehicles equipped with pneumatic tyres, where the casing of a tyre pressure measuring device is firmly connected with the base of the valve by screwing, has been known from EP 0 751 017 B1. The valve bore, through which air can be pumped into the tyre, is provided with a threaded bore for this purpose, and the casing of the tyre pressure measuring device is provided with an oblong hole through which a hollow screw can be screwed into the thread of the valve bore. The screw is firmly tightened so as to fix the casing on the valve base. For this purpose, the valve is made from metal and has a calotte-like outer shape which allows it to be snugly seated in a recess of complementary calotte-like shape in the casing of the tyre pressure measuring device. In order to permit the casing to find support on the rim well, the casing is provided with two feet serving to support it on the rim well. In order to ensure that the feet will actually reach the rim well even with differently shaped rims, the oblong hole permits the casing to be fixed on the valve base in different orientations relative to the longitudinal axis of the valve bore. This design allows one and the same casing of the tyre pressure measuring device to be firmly mounted in wheels with differently shaped rims. It is, however, a disadvantage that for mounting the casing of the tyre pressure measuring device one needs an especially adapted valve whose valve bore in the valve base is configured as a threaded bore and is adapted to receive a bored special screw by means of which the casing can be screwed down on the valve base. Such a bored special screw is expensive. In addition, the casing of the tyre pressure measuring device must be provided with a deep indentation in order to permit the screw to be introduced through the oblong hole and to be screwed into the valve base using a screw driver. The deep indentation in the casing restricts, however, the inner space of the casing and divides it into two compartments, which limits the free arrangement of the electric and electronic components in the casing.

#An arrangement having the features of the preamble of claim 1, and a wheel having the features of the preamble of claim 20 has been known from DE 196 26 145 A1. In the case of this known wheel, instead of screwing the casing of the tyre pressure measuring device onto the valve base, a spring is used whose free end acts upon the casing so as to clamp the casing between the free end of the spring and the vehicle rim in such a way that the casing will be supported, on the one hand, on the base of the rim well and, on the other hand, on two supporting points on the sidewall of the rim well. The spring therefore urges the casing against both the base of the rim well and the sidewall of the rim well so that the casing is embraced on four sides, namely by the spring on two sides, by the rim well on one side and by the sidewall of the rim well on one side. It is a disadvantage of that arrangement that just as in the case of the arrangement described by EP 0 751 017 B1, an expensive bored special screw is required in this case for mounting the spring on the valve base. Further, it is a disadvantage that differently shaped springs are required for differently shaped rims in order to urge the casing against, and to fix it on the rim.

#Certain advantageous embodiments of the invention are illustrated diagrammatically in the attached drawings in which identical parts, or parts corresponding one to the other, are identified by the same reference numerals. In the drawings:

#FIG. 1 shows an isometric, exploded view of a first embodiment of an arrangement comprising a casing for a tyre pressure measuring device, a spring and a valve;

#FIG. 2 shows an isometric view of the arrangement of FIG. 1, viewed at a different angle;

#The arrangement illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 7 comprises a casing 1, a spring 2 and a valve 3 serving as holder for the spring 2. The valve 3 comprises a shaft 4, which is inserted from the inside into a hole of a rim provided—in the case of a well-base rim—in that sidewall of the rim which delimits the well base. The valve 3 is inserted into the hole in the rim until its collar 5 abuts against the rim, and is then screwed down on the rim from the outside using the mounting means illustrated in FIGS. 15 to 18. After the valve 3 has been mounted on the vehicle wheel, the collar 5 and a valve base 6, having a calotte-shaped surface, are located in the pneumatic tyre. Between the collar 5 and the calotte of the valve base 6, there is provided an annular groove 7, which is engaged by a fork 8 provided on one end of a spring 2, which latter is designed as a leaf spring. A centering nose 9, provided on the spring 2 between the two prongs of the fork 8, ensures that the fork 8 occupies a predetermined position in the annular groove 7, by engaging a recess in the bottom of the groove 7 not visible in the drawing.

#The spring 2 is repeatedly bent off to assume a roughly C-shaped configuration. It is, consequently, capable of encompassing the casing from its top. For this purpose, the casing 1 is provided with a shallow groove 10 on its upper surface and on the side facing away from the valve 3. The shape of the groove 10 and the shape of the spring 2 are matched one to the other so that a stirrup 2a of the spring 2, following the fork 8, can engage the groove 10 in a positive engagement and, simultaneously, in an engagement under spring action.

#As seat for the spherical valve base 6, the casing 1 is provided on its side facing the valve 3 with a corresponding recess 11, shaped as a complementary calotte matching the valve base 6.