Dual tire air maintenance system and method

• US 9,688,108 B1
• Filed: 12/03/2015
• Issued: 06/27/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
• Original Assignee: Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
• Inventors: Lin, Cheng-Hsiung, Lamgaday, Robin, Gopala, Arun Kumar Byatarayanapura, Hunt, Christopher Paul, Chandra, Dinesh
• Primary Examiner(s): Kotter, Kip T
• Application Number:
  US14/957,771
• Publication Number:
  US 20170157999A1
• Time in Patent Office: 572 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60B 11/00 Units comprising multiple wheels arranged side by side; Wheels having more than one rim or capable of carrying more than one tyre
• CPC Class Codes: B60B 11/06 Wheels with more than one rim mounted on a single wheel body
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 2003/005 Twin tyres
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/004 the control being done on the wheel, e.g. using a wheel-mounted reservoir
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/007 having multiple wheels arranged side by side
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/123 Elongate peristaltic pumps
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/135 activated due to tyre deformation
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 29/064 Hose connections for pneumatic tyres, e.g. to spare wheels
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 29/068 Pressure relief devices, i.e. safety devices for overpressure
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 3/00 Tyres characterised by the transverse section
• CPC Class Codes: B60S 5/04 Supplying air for tyre inflation arrangement of tyre inflating devices on vehicles B60C23/00; tyre pressure gauges G01L17/00 ; pumps actuated by muscle power F04B33/00

Abstract

An air maintenance tire system and method in accordance with the present invention includes an air pumping mechanism configured to maintain air pressure within a first tire and a second tire in a dual tire arrangement. The system includes a control valve assembly attached to an elongate valve stem projecting from a rim of a first tandem tire, and a one-way valve carrying connecting tube from a sidewall air pumping passageway within a sidewall of the first tire. The control valve assembly further includes first and second outlet tubes connected to the elongate valve stem to selectively pass pressurized air into the tire cavities of both tandem mounted tires on an as-needed basis.

Claims

1. An air maintenance assembly for dual-mounted tires comprising:

a first tire and second tire mounted in a side-by-side dual relationship mounted to an axle, the first and the second tires each mounted respectively to a first rim and a second rim and each of the first and the second tires having a tire cavity bounded by first and second sidewalls extending to a tire tread region;

a control valve assembly including a control valve housing having an internal air passageway, the control valve housing being coupled to a valve stem and being external to the tire cavity of each of the first and second tires, the first sidewall of the first tire having an elongate sidewall air passageway therein operatively located to compress segment-by-segment from an expanded diameter to a substantially reduced diameter responsive to a bending strain introduced into the first sidewall from a rolling tire footprint thereby forcing air, segment-by-segment, along the air passageway;

a connecting tube connected to the elongate sidewall air passageway and to the control valve housing, the connecting tube operative to direct pressurized air into the control valve housing internal air passageway as the tire rolls over a ground surface; and

wherein the control valve housing is in fluid communication with first and second outlet tubes having internal air passageways operable to conduct pressurized air into the first tire cavity and the second tire cavity on an as-needed basis.

2. The air maintenance tire assembly set forth in claim 1 wherein the control valve housing internal air passageway is positioned in-line with the valve stem.

3. The air maintenance tire assembly set forth in claim 2 wherein the control valve assembly includes a relief valve mounted to the control valve housing for relieving pressure in the control valve housing internal air passageway above a set pressure.

4. The air maintenance tire assembly set forth in claim 3 wherein the connecting tube is coupled in air flow communication with the first sidewall air passageway of the first tire and the internal air passageway of the control valve housing.

5. The air maintenance tire assembly set forth in claim 1, wherein the first and the second rims including co-aligned through-apertures, and wherein the second outlet tube extends through the co-aligned through apertures to the cavity of the second tire.

6. The air maintenance tire assembly set forth in claim 5 wherein the second outlet tube has a substantially linear mid-segment extending through the co-aligned through apertures.

7. The air maintenance tire assembly set forth in claim 6, wherein the first outlet tube and the second outlet tube each having a remote end extending through the first rim and the second rim respectively positioned in air flow communication with the first tire cavity and the second tire cavity.

8. The air maintenance tire assembly set forth in claim 7 wherein the air passageway within the first sidewall of the first tire is substantially annular and resides within the first sidewall proximate to the valve stem.

9. The air maintenance tire assembly set forth in claim 1 wherein a relief valve opens at pressures above a desired pressure.

10. A method for maintaining air pressure within tandem mounted tires comprising:

mounting a first tire and second tire mounted in a dual side-by-side relationship to an axle, the first and the second tires each mounted respectively to a first rim and a second rim and each of the first and the second tires having a tire cavity bounded by first and second sidewalls extending to a tire tread region;

providing a control valve housing that is coupled to a valve stem, the control valve housing being external to the tire cavity of each of the first and second tires;

attaching within the first sidewall of the first tire an elongate sidewall air passageway operatively located to compress segment-by-segment from an expanded diameter to a substantially reduced diameter responsive to a bending strain introduced into the first sidewall from a rolling tire footprint thereby forcing air, segment-by-segment, along the air passageway;

connecting a connecting tube from the first sidewall air passageway to the control valve housing, the connecting tube operative to sequentially direct air forced from the sidewall air passageway into an internal air passageway of the control valve housing; and

placing first and second outlet tubes in fluid communication with the internal air passageway of the control valve housing and with the tire cavities of the first tire and the second tire, respectively, operable to pass pressurized air into the first tire cavity and the second tire cavity on an as-needed basis.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising mounting the internal air passageway of the control valve housing substantially in-line with the valve stem.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising mounting a relief valve to the control valve housing operable to relieve pressure from the internal air passageway of the control valve housing above a set pressure.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising mounting a one-way valve within the connecting tube in air flow communication with the internal passageway of the control valve housing.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein further comprising configuring the first sidewall air passageway within the sidewall of the first tire to be substantially annular and to positioning the first sidewall air passageway at a lower sidewall location proximate to the valve stem.