Rapid tire inflation system with air compressor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11021023-B2
Application number	US-201616063751-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 6, 2016
Priority date	Dec 29, 2015
Publication date	Jun 1, 2021
Grant date	Jun 1, 2021

Abstract

An onboard inflation system for a vehicle such as an agricultural vehicle is disclosed, including a tire mounted on a wheel to form a wheel and tire assembly. The tire includes a tread portion and a tire cavity including an inflation chamber adjacent the tread portion of the tire. A storage chamber is carried by at least one of the wheel and the tire. A compressor arrangement is communicated with both the storage chamber and the inflation chamber. The compressor arrangement is configured to transfer air between the storage chamber and the inflation chamber.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An inflation system, comprising:
a wheel;
a tire mounted on the wheel to form a wheel and tire assembly, the tire including first and second sidewalls extending from the wheel, a tread portion, and a tire cavity including an inflation chamber adjacent the tread portion of the tire between the first and second sidewalls;
a storage chamber carried by at least one of the wheel and the tire;
a divider wall separating the inflation chamber and the storage chamber, the divider wall extending between the first and second sidewalls of the tire such that the divider interfaces with the first and second sidewalls; and
a compressor arrangement communicated with both the storage chamber and the inflation chamber, the compressor arrangement configured to transfer air between the storage chamber and the inflation chamber.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the compressor arrangement is configured to transfer air from the inflation chamber to the storage chamber so that operating pressure in the inflation chamber can be decreased by operation of the compressor arrangement.

3. The system of claim 2 , further comprising:
a valve communicated with the storage chamber and the inflation chamber, so that the valve can be opened to allow air to flow from the storage chamber to the inflation chamber, the valve being located in parallel with the compressor arrangement.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein:
the storage chamber and the inflation chamber define a closed air storage system wherein operating pressure in the inflation chamber can be increased without adding air to the closed air storage system and decreased without discharging air from the closed air storage system.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the compressor arrangement is a two way compressor arrangement configured to transfer air from the storage chamber to the inflation chamber, and to transfer air from the inflation chamber to the storage chamber, so that operating pressure in the inflation chamber can be selectively increased or decreased by operation of the two way compressor arrangement.

6. The system of claim 5 , further comprising:
a valve communicated with the storage chamber and the inflation chamber, so that the valve can be opened to allow air to flow from a higher pressure in one of the chambers to a lower pressure in the other of the chambers, the valve being located in parallel with the two way compressor arrangement.

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein:
the storage chamber and the inflation chamber define a closed air storage system wherein operating pressure in the inflation chamber can be increased without adding air to the closed air storage system and decreased without discharging air from the closed air storage system.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the storage chamber is located inside the tire cavity.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein
the divider wall is substantially rigid so that volumes of the storage chamber and the inflation chamber remain substantially constant with changing operating pressure in the inflation chamber.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the compressor arrangement is mounted on the divider wall.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the compressor arrangement is carried by the wheel outside of the cavity of the tire.

12. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
at least one additional wheel and tire assembly including an additional inflation chamber and storage chamber, and an additional compressor arrangement communicated with the additional inflation chamber and the additional storage chamber, each compressor arrangement being independently operable to control inflation of its respective wheel and tire assembly.

13. The system of claim 12 , further comprising:
a controller configured to repeatedly change the operating pressure in the inflation chamber between a lower inflation pressure and a higher inflation pressure by transfer of air between the storage chamber and the inflation chamber.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the divider wall comprises one or more plies of rubber coated parallel cords.

15. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the divider wall comprises a plurality plies of rubber coated parallel cords laid together; and
the respective rubber coated parallel cords of adjacent layers of the plurality of plies are oriented in alternate directions.

16. An onboard inflation system for a vehicle having a plurality of wheels and tires, each of the tires being mounted on one of the wheels to define a plurality of wheel and tire assemblies, the inflation system comprising:
each of the tires including first and second sidewalls extending from its respective wheel, a tread portion, and a tire cavity including an inflation chamber adjacent the tread portion of the tire between the first and second sidewalls;
a plurality of storage chambers, each storage chamber being carried by either the wheel or the tire of a respective one of the wheel and tire assemblies;
a plurality of divider walls, each divider wall separating the inflation chamber from the storage chamber of each respective wheel and tire assembly, each divider wall extending between the first and second sidewalls of the tire such that the divider interfaces with the first and second sidewalls of each of the respective wheel and tire assemblies; and
a plurality of compressors, each of the compressors communicating the storage chamber of a respective one of the wheel and tire assemblies with the inflation chamber of the respective one of the wheel and tire assemblies, each compressor configured to pump air between its respective storage chamber and its respective inflation chamber so that operating pressure in the inflation chamber can be changed by operation of the compressor.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein:
each of the compressors is configured to transfer air from its respective inflation chamber to its respective storage chamber so that operating pressure in its respective inflation chamber can be decreased by operation of the compressor.

18. The system of claim 17 , further comprising:
a plurality of valves, each of the valves being associated with one of the wheel and tire assemblies and communicated with the storage chamber and the inflation chamber of its associated wheel and tire assembly, so that the valve can be opened to allow air to flow from the associated storage chamber to the associated inflation chamber, the valve being located in parallel with the compressor of its associated wheel and tire assembly.

19. The system of claim 17 , wherein:
the storage chamber and the inflation chamber of each wheel and tire assembly define a closed air storage system wherein operating pressure in the inflation chamber can be increased without adding air to the closed air storage system and decreased without discharging air from the closed air storage system.

20. The system of claim 16 , wherein:
each of the compressors is a two way compressor configured to pump air from its respective storage chamber to its respective inflation chamber so that operating pressure in the inflation chamber can be increased by operation of the compressor, and to pump air from its respective inflation chamber to its respective storage chamber so that operating pressure in the inflation chamber can be decreased by operation of the compressor.

21. The system of claim 20 , further comprising:
a plurality of valves, each valve being communicated with the storage chamber and the inflation

Assignees

• Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations Llc

Inventors

• Duncan Anthony B
• Stuckey Jon I

Classifications

• B60C23/16

  Arrangement of air tanks mounted on vehicles · CPC title

• B60C23/004 Primary

  the control being done on the wheel, e.g. using a wheel-mounted reservoir · CPC title

• B60C23/10

  Arrangement of tyre-inflating pumps mounted on vehicles · CPC title

• B60C2200/08

  for agricultural vehicles · CPC title