Self-inflating tire and pressure regulator
AssigneeThe Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
InventorsDaniel Paul Luc Marie Hinque, Jeannot Frieden, Anne Therese Peronnet-Paquin
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Abstract
A self-inflating tire assembly includes an air tube connected to a tire and defining an air passageway, the air tube being composed of a flexible material operative to allow an air tube segment opposite a tire footprint to flatten, closing the passageway, and resiliently unflatten into an original configuration. The air tube is sequentially flattened by the tire footprint in a direction opposite to a tire direction of rotation to pump air along the passageway to a inlet control valve. The inlet control valve regulates the inlet air flow to the air tube and the outlet air flow to the tire cavity.
Claims13
A self-inflating tire assembly comprising:
- a tire mounted to a rim, the tire having a tire cavity, first and second sidewalls extending respectively from first and second tire bead regions to a tire tread region;
- an air passageway having an inlet end and an outlet end, the air passageway being composed of a flexible material operative to open and close when the tire rotates, wherein the outlet end is in fluid communication with the tire cavity;
- an inlet control valve having a regulator body having an interior chamber;
- a pressure membrane being mounted in the inlet control valve to enclose the interior chamber, wherein the pressure membrane has a lower surface that is positioned to open and close an outlet port mounted in the interior chamber, wherein the pressure membrane is in fluid communication with a tire cavity pressure;
- wherein the body of the inlet control valve has a first and second flexible duct, wherein said first and second flexible ducts each have an internal passageway;
- wherein the first flexible duct has a first end connected to an inlet filter assembly and a second end is connected to the interior chamber of the inlet control valve, wherein the second flexible duct has a first end connected to the outlet port of the inlet control valve, and a second end in fluid communication with the inlet end of the air passageway.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.