Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
"A VALVE FOR MOU~TING ON THE RIM OF WHEELS PROVIDED l~rTH TUBELESS
TYRES"
This inventicn relates to a valve provided with an
external annular gasket which is employed as a sealing member
bet~een the rim and valve body in wheels using tyres without any
tube, normally referred to as "tubeless".
It is the object of the present invention to provide
a valve with its seals, which is highly reliable, very econcmical
and capable of simultaneously allowing a perfect or tight sealing
10- between the rim and valve at any pressure that a tyre may have for
road transports.
The above mentioned object has been achieved by
providing on the valve body an external annular gasket which, when
not mounted, has a diameter of the internal through hole partially
lower than the diameter of the cylindrical portion of the valve body
housing, on which it will be inserted, and partially larger than
the l~tter at the coupling area with the rim, while said gasket
externally has at one end an extended lip directed tcwards the rim,
then an intermediate zone having a larger diameter than that of ~he
20. hole in said rim, and close to said intermediate zone an annular
groove of reduced diameter, while a hollowed impression is provided
on the valve body at the zone where the rim will be positioned.
This valve will be used together with a mechanism of
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a conventional type for valve opening and closing, or tcgether with
further simplified mechanisms.
An embodiment provides a mechanism comprising a pin,
a spring and an internal gasket, said pin being provided at one end
thereof with a support for the spring and at the other end with a
cavity for accomodating said internal sealing gasket of the valve,
and in the hole of the valve body a narrowing being provided, so
that it can perforn the function of both, a second support for the
spring and a closure seat for the valve cooperating with the
10. internal sealing gasket mounted on said pin.
A further improvement provides that said pin has an
enlarged zone with a larger diameter than the narrowing diameter, so
that when inserted in the valve body said pin cannot exit therefrom.
Another embodiment provides a valve mechanism
ccmprising three elements: an externally threaded small tube and a
pin, both of which are made of plastic material, and a gasket
mounted on said pin and disposed to provide the sealing between the
pin and a small tube, said small tube being provided at one end
thereof with a first tapered portion having such a taperir.g as to
20- accomodate the tapering of the valve body in which it is to be
inserted, and a second tapered portion, furthermost than the former,
which has a different tapering than the first tapered portion, such
as to interfer with the tapered portion of the valve body whereby
these second tapered portion will by deforming during screwing down
adhere to the tapered portion of the valve body and seal therewith.
Preferably, this embodiment provides that said end
of the small tube carrying on its external surface the above
described dual tapering is fitted on its internal portion with a
further tapered portion which is used as a seat for the gasket
30- carried by the pin.
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121i~3S9l
Preferably, the pin is made in this case by a spider
having a "Y" shape in cross-section.
The plastic for providing both said sm~ll tu~e and
pin above described is preferably selected of the type having
self-lubricating features.
Finally, the valve may or may not ccmprise a return
spring which prevents ambient air frcm entering the tube when vacuum
has been provided in the latter for control and/or packaging
reasons.
1O. This invention will now be further described with
reference to some exemplary embcdiments as shown in the acccmpanying
drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 is an exploded view of a first embodiment;
Fig. 2 is a view showing the valve of Fig. 1 as
partially mounted;
Fig. 2a is a view showing the enlarged detail A of
Fig. 2;
Fig. 3 is a view of the valve of Fig. 1 when
completely mounted and at closed position;
20- Fig. 4 is an exploded view shcwing another embodiment of the valve
mechanism;
Fig. 5 is a view of the ccmpletely mounted
embodiment of Fig. 4;
Fig. 5a is a view showing the enlarged detail B of
Fig. 5;
Fig. 6 is an exploded view of a further embodiment;
Fig. 7 is a view of the valve of Fig. 6 as mounted;
and
Fig. 7a is an enlarged view of the detail D of Fig.
3~.
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Referring first to Figs. 1 to 3, it will be seen
that reference numeral 2 generally denotes an external gasket with a
hole 27 having partly a lower diameter 21 than the dianeter 19 of
the cylindrical portion 17, valve of body 1 on which said gasket 2
will be inserted. Another portion of said hole 27 has a larger
diameter 21a than the diameter 19 of the portion 17 of the valve
body 1.
Preferably, said gasket 2 has, at the end which will
10- be inside of the tyre, a cavity 25 into which the head 16 of the
valve body 1 will penetrate.
Externally, said gasket has at an internediate zone
thereof an external cylindrical portion 28 having a height nearly
corresponding to the thickness of the rim C. The diameter 26 of this
cylindrical portion 28 is larger than the diameter E of the hole F
in said rim C.
Adjacent to the cylindrical portion 28 and at that
side which will be positioned within the tyre, a lip 22 is provided
directed tcwards said rim C, so as to create a better adherence
20. therewith.
Close to its external limit, said intermediate zone
28 is provided with a groove 29. When the gasket is mounted within
the hole F of said rim C, the latter by narrowing the cylindrical
portion 28 causes a bulging which provides a second lip 24 having
such a diameter as to retain said gasket 2 in position when inserted
in the rim.
The valve body 1 has an interior ccTprising a
through hole 11, at an intermediate location of which a narrowing 12
is provided. The outside part of said body, nose or outer side, is
i21859~
conventional, that is it has a threading 15 for receiving a normal
cap. The valve head 16, which is provided at the other end of said
body 1, will be placed inside of the rim C and will be of a larger
size than said hole F. Together with an abutment 18 provided on the
external surface O,c said body 1 and cylindrical portion 17
therebet~een, said head 16 provides a housing 8, in which said
external gasket 2 is firmly anchored, preventing the tyre pressure
frcm ejecting said valve frcm the hole F of said rim C. Within its
cylindrical portion 17, said housing 8 has a hollcwed impression 17a
10. arranged at the position to be taken by the rim C.
The val~e opening and closing mechanism has been
simplified to maximum extent, and consists of only three ccmponents,
that is the pin 3, the spring 5 and the internal annular gasket 6.
Said pin 3 is so shaped as to have at one end
thereof a bearing 31 to act as a seat for said spring 5. At another
end thereof, it is provided with an abutment 33 forming together
with a hole creating a ri~Jet 36 a seat for receiving and retaining
the internal gasket 6. Said pin 3 (Fig. 2a) has also an enlargement
34, which is such as to have a maxImum diaT,eter 35 l~hich is larger
20. than the diameter 20 of the narrowing 12 provided in said valve body
1.
This valve can be asse~bled as follows:
(1) The external gasket 2 is placed in the housing 8
of the valve bcdy by a nose facilitating the gasket sliding into the
threaded area 15 of the valve.
(2) The spring 5 is inserted in the hole 11 of the
threaded end 15 (nose zone), whereupon said pin 3 is inserted in the
spring 5 exerting a slight pressure, which is required in order to
overccme the resistance due to the interference existing between the
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-- 6 --
minimum diameter 20 of the narrowing 12 and the diameter 35 of the
enlargement forming thR collar of said abutment 33.
(3) At the other end of the valve body (head side),
the internal gasket 6, which will ~e secured by the rivet 36, is
inserted on said pin 3.
(4) ~JGW the valve can be subjected to sealing test,
etc. and to (optional) assembling of the cap which, in addition to
ensuring an additional air sealing, has a protective functicn
against weather agent, dust, etc.
10. The valve is readily and easily mounted in the rim
by the usual methcds used for "snap-in" type of valves, sir.ce it
lacks threaded ring nut (conversely to the 'Iclamp-in" valves). It is
not rigidly blocked on the rim, but by bending has the capability of
absorbirg impacts without being damaged.
Preferably, said body 1 is made of resin, but it may
also be made of brass or aluminum.
However, the interior of valve la could be also
machined so as to accomodate a conventional mechanism 9 (Figs. 6, 7
and 7a). In this case, the valve body 1a internally has a conical
20. portion which is such as to receive the also conical internal gasket
6a.
Another embodiment has been shown in Figs. 4, 5 and
5a. In this case, the proposed mechanism conprises a small tube 40,
a pin 50 and a gasket 60. The small tube 40 is provided with an
external thread 41 extending from one end to a n~jor portion of the
whole external surface thereof. This end also has a milling 42 which
serves for introducing said small tube into the valve body lb. Said
small tubè 40 also has an internal abutment 43 acting as a seat for
the head 51 of said pin 50 or spring 5. Adjacent to the end opposite
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to that carrying said milling 42, the small tube 40 has a first
external tapered portion 44 having such a tapering as to accomodate
the tapering provided inside of the valve body 1b, as discussed in
the following. Adjacent and furthermost with respect to the ~irst
tapered portion 44 a second tapered portion 45 is pro~rided, which is
of a different tapering to the former and such as to interfere wqth
the tapering 16 of the valve body when said small tube is screl~ed
down within the val~re body 1b. The end of the small tu~e externally
carrying the two tapered portions 44 and 45 is internally provided
10. with a further tapered portion 46, ser ing as a seat for the gasket
60.
The pin 50 is provided with a head 51 forming an
abutment 52, which will serve as a seat for the spring 5. Said pin
has an elongate body ~hich is of '~" shape in cross-section. This
shape is such as to cause said pin to perfectly uniformly and
smoothly slide within the sm21l tube. At the opposite end to that
carrying the head 51, said pin 50 is provided with a seat for the
gasket 60, ccmprising an abutment 53 and a projection 54 terminating
with a hole enabling said gasket to be secured by riveting, obtained
20- by locally deforming said projection 54 to provide the rivet 56.
