Patent application number | Description | Published |
20120241064 | HYDRAULIC MEMBRANE PUMP ASSEMBLY FOR AIR MAINTENANCE TIRE - An air-maintenance tire system includes a compression actuator mounted to the tire carcass configured for operative actuation by tire deformation during a tire revolution, a pump assembly affixed to the tire carcass and including a compressor body affixed to the compression actuator and having an internal air chamber, the air chamber having an inlet opening for admitting air into the internal air chamber and an outlet opening for conducting air from the internal air chamber to the tire cavity. The air compressor body further includes a deformable membrane valve member and an outlet valve member located within and at opposite respective ends of the internal air chamber, the membrane valve member deforming and the outlet valve member moving within the internal air chamber responsive to actuation by the compression actuator between respective open and closed positions, whereby cyclically opening and closing the inlet and the outlet openings during an air compression cycle. The compression actuator includes a hollow containment body formed from a resilient deformable material composition and containing a quantity of a non-compressible medium. The containment body is affixed to a relatively high flex-deformation region of the tire carcass and reciprocally transforms between a deformed state and a non-deformed state to generate a deformation force against a membrane valve member surface and deform the membrane valve between the open and closed positions within the air chamber. | 09-27-2012 |
20130075041 | SOLID DECK BEAD LOCK DRUM - A rotatable tire building drum | 03-28-2013 |
20130160916 | AIR MAINTENANCE TIRE AND CONNECTOR SYSTEM - An air maintenance tire and connector system includes a tire carcass having an elongate integral air passageway contained within a flexible tire component of the tire carcass between an air inlet and an air outlet cavity and a connector assembly inserted within one or both of the cavities. A coupling post having an axial bore extends from the hollow body through a tire wall thickness to a tire central cavity. A remote end of the coupling post is operative for sequential alternative attachment to a punch device for penetrating in a pre-cure procedure through the tire wall thickness to the tire central cavity. | 06-27-2013 |
20130160917 | AIR MAINTENANCE TIRE AND INTEGRAL PUMP ASSEMBLY - An air maintenance tire includes a tire carcass; a flexible tire component strip such as a chafer component forming a portion of the tire carcass, the tire component strip having a channel formed within an upper surface defined by opposed strip lip portions and a channel bottom wall; an air passageway within the flexible tire component extending between air inlet and air outlet cavities in the flexible tire component, the air passageway extending at least a partial circumferential path around the tire carcass; and an elongate passageway-shaping strip assembly occupying and enclosed within the air passageway of the flexible tire component, the passageway-shaping strip assembly operative forming and maintaining the air passageway to a cross-sectional configuration replicating a cross-sectional configuration of the passageway-shaping strip assembly. The passageway-shaping strip is removable from the air passageway in a post-cure procedure to make the air passageway unobstructed and in a preferred cross-sectional configuration. | 06-27-2013 |
20130160918 | AIR MAINTENANCE TIRE AND ELBOW CONNECTOR SYSTEM - An air maintenance tire and connector system includes a tire carcass having an elongate integral air passageway contained within a flexible tire component of the tire carcass between an air inlet and an air outlet cavity and a connector assembly inserted within an outlet one of the cavities. The connector assembly includes a hollow right angled elbow-shaped body fitting within the outlet cavity. The elbow-shaped body's second housing segment has an axial length sufficient to project axially inward from the first housing segment through a tire wall thickness to a tire central cavity. A valve device attaches to a remote end of the second housing segment within the tire cavity, the valve device operative to regulate air flow between the elbow-shaped body central chamber and the tire cavity. | 06-27-2013 |
20130160919 | CONNECTOR SYSTEM AND AIR MAINTENANCE TIRE ASSEMBLY - A connector system and tire assembly includes an elongate integral air passageway contained within a flexible tire component of a tire carcass, the air passageway extending between an air inlet cavity and an air outlet cavity in the flexible tire component, and the air passageway extending at least a partial circumferential path around the tire carcass. A hollow dome-shaped inlet nut seats within the inlet cavity and a hollow dome-shaped outlet nut seats within the outlet cavity. The inlet nut couples to an air inlet device for conducting air external to the tire carcass into the inlet nut central chamber; and the outlet nut outward body side couples to a valve device positioned within the tire cavity. | 06-27-2013 |
20130160927 | AIR MAINTENANCE TIRE METHOD OF CONSTRUCTION - A method of constructing a tire includes: constructing an elongate strip core; encasing the strip core into a containment within an uncured flexible tire component, the strip core extending between an air inlet and an air outlet cavity in the flexible tire component; building on a tire building drum a green tire carcass from tire components including the flexible tire component and encased strip core; removing the encased strip core from the cured flexible tire component to leave within the flexible tire component a substantially unobstructed air passageway; and inserting a permanent air inlet assembly into the air inlet cavity and a permanent air outlet assembly into the air outlet cavity. | 06-27-2013 |
20130160928 | METHOD OF FORMING AN AIR PASSAGEWAY IN AN AIR MAINTENANCE TIRE - A method of forming an air passageway in a an air maintenance tire carcass includes: embedding an elongate strip within a pre-cured flexible tire component of a pre-cured tire carcass, the elongate strip extending in a longitudinal direction between an air inlet cavity and an air outlet cavity in the flexible tire component; curing the pre-cured tire carcass including the flexible tire component; extracting the elongate strip longitudinally end-to-end from occupancy within the flexible tire component; and defining an air passageway in the flexible component by the space previously occupied by the withdrawn elongate strip. A free end portion of the strip is accessible at either the air inlet cavity or the air outlet cavity, and the elongate strip may be extracted from either the air inlet cavity or the air outlet cavity by a tensile withdrawal force applied to the elongate strip free end. | 06-27-2013 |
20140130895 | CONNECTOR SYSTEM AND AIR MAINTENANCE TIRE ASSEMBLY - A connector system and tire assembly includes a tire having a toroidal tire cavity for containing pressurized air, an elongate integral air passageway contained within a flexible tire component, the air passageway extending between an air inlet cavity and an air outlet cavity in the flexible tire component, the air passageway extending for at least a partial circumferential path around the tire, and a metallic connector assembly within the outlet cavity, the connector assembly including a through-channel for conducting air flow communication between the air passageway within the flexible tire component and a chamber of the connector assembly. | 05-15-2014 |