The present disclosure relates to an air supply system that supplies the air to a tire by using rotation of a wheel.
An existing air supply system of this type has a pump that is attached to the wheel and keeps supplying the air to the tire by operating in concert with the rotation of the wheel. When the pressure inside the tire reaches or exceeds a reference level, the air that the pump discharges is released to the outside air (see, for example, Patent Literature 1).
Patent Document 1: JP 6-510252 T (Page 2, L25 lower left column to L11 lower left column,
The existing air supply system described above sometimes has an issue of pump durability, because of which a technique that makes the pump durability higher than before is being sought to be developed.
An air supply system according to one aspect of the present invention made to solve the above problem includes: a telescopic pump attached to a wheel and discharging compressed air into a tire by extending and contracting in directions perpendicular to a rotation axis of the wheel; and a cam member rotatably supported on the wheel and having a center of gravity eccentric to the wheel and an annular cam surface eccentric to the wheel, wherein the cam member rotating relative to the wheel as the wheel rotates, with one end part of the pump following the cam surface, causing the pump to extend and contract to supply air into the tire by a rotary power of the wheel being transmitted to the pump via the cam member, and the air supply system includes a pump on/off mechanism that is activated upon receiving a pressure inside the tire, allowing the pump to operate when the pressure inside the tire is at or below a reference lower limit, and stopping the pump when the pressure inside the tire is at or above a reference upper limit that is larger than the reference lower limit.
Hereinafter an air supply system 100A according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to
While the air supply system 100A is preferably attached to all the wheels 91 of the vehicle 90, the system may be attached to only one or more of the wheel(s) 91 of the vehicle 90.
As illustrated in
The cam member 21 disposed on the side closer to the base plate 41 includes, as illustrated in
The cam member 21 is symmetrical around a fictional centerline of symmetry connecting the center of gravity G1 and the center axis of the outer circumferential surface 21A, and formed with holes 21C for weight reduction of the cam member 21 on both sides of the centerline of symmetry. Further, a lock hole 23 is opened in the outer circumferential surface 21A on the centerline of symmetry in a thick part of the cam member 21.
The dummy member 22 has the same shape as that of the cam member 21 except for the position of a lock hole 24. This lock hole 24 is located on the centerline of symmetry in a thin part of the dummy member 22 (see
As illustrated in
The interior of the cylinder 32 is connected to the tire 92 by a pipe 63. A pressure receiving plate 33P fixed to the proximal end of the piston 33 inside the cylinder 32 receives pressure inside of the tire 92 to push the piston 33 out of the cylinder 32. Moreover, as illustrated in
More specifically, when the piston 33 is located at the first position shown in
When the piston 33 is located at the second position and the pressure inside the tire 92 lowers and reaches a reference lower limit, the resilient force of the resilient member 60 moves the piston 33 from the second position to the first position against this pressure and the engagement force between the second locking protrusion 33B and the locking portion 32M, where the first locking protrusion 33A and the locking portion 32M engage each other to retain the piston 33 at the first position. When the piston 33 is placed at the first position, it is separated sideways from the cam member 21, and when placed at the second position, it is abutted on the outer circumferential surface 21A of the cam member 21. When the piston comes to face the lock hole 23, the piston goes into the lock hole 23 to lock the cam member 21 to the cylindrical wall 42 so that the cam member can rotate therewith. Namely, the first actuator 31 moves in concert with the pressure inside the tire 92 such as to allow the cam member 21 to rotate when the pressure inside the tire 92 is at or below the reference lower limit, and to lock the cam member 21 when the pressure inside the tire 92 is at or above the reference upper limit.
The second actuator 34 has the same structure as that of the first actuator 31. The cylinder 32 of the second actuator 34 is aligned with the cylinder 32 of the first actuator 31 along the axial direction of the cylindrical wall 42, and fixedly fitted to the cylindrical wall 42A of the cylindrical wall 42. The piston 33 of the second actuator 34 is abutted on the outer circumferential surface of the dummy member 22. The second actuator 34 also moves in concert with the pressure inside the tire 92 to allow the dummy member 22 to rotate when the pressure inside the tire 92 is at or below the reference lower limit, and to lock the dummy member 22 when the pressure inside the tire 92 is at or above the reference upper limit. When the cam member 21 and the dummy member 22 are both locked, the center of gravity G1 of the cam member 21 and the center of gravity G2 of the dummy member 22 are placed at symmetrical positions around the rotation axis J1 of the wheel 91, as shown in
As shown in
A first check valve 58A and a second check valve 58B are connected to the cylinder 11. The first check valve 58A allows the air to be let out of the cylinder 11 and restricts the air from flowing into the cylinder 11. The second check valve 58B, conversely, restricts the air from being let out of the cylinder 11, and allows the air to flow into the cylinder 11. The first check valve 58A has an air outlet connected to the tire 92 by a pipe 61, while the second check valve 58B has an air inlet that is open so that the outside air can be taken in. These allow the air to be supplied from the pump 10 into the tire 92 as the piston 12 moves back and forth in the cylinder 11.
The structure of the air supply system 100A according to this embodiment is as has been described above. The “locking mechanism” as set forth in the claims includes, in this embodiment, the first locking protrusion 33A, the second locking protrusion 33B, and the locking portion 32M. The “pump on/off mechanism” as set forth in the claims includes the first actuator 31 and cam member 21 as major parts.
Next, the advantageous effects of the air supply system 100A will be explained. When the pressure inside the tire 92 is at or above the reference upper limit, the cam member 21 and dummy member 22 are locked by the first and second actuators 31 and 34 which have received tire pressure so that the cam member and dummy member rotate with the wheel 91. This causes the piston 12 of the pump 10 to be retained in a state abutted on one point on the cam surface 21B of the cam member 21 and to be stopped, so that the pump 10 does not operate during the drive of the vehicle 90.
Even when the pressure inside the tire 92 lowers to a level slightly below the reference upper limit, the lock of the cam member 21 and dummy member 22 by the first and second actuators 31 and 34 is not released, unless the pressure reaches or falls below the reference lower limit. Specifically, unless the pressure inside the tire 92 reaches or falls below the reference lower limit, the resilient force of the resilient members 60 of the first and second actuators 31 and 34 cannot overcome the pressure inside the tire 92 and the engagement force between the second locking protrusion 33B and the locking portion 32M to retract the pistons 33 into the cylinders 32, so that the lock of the cam member 21 and dummy member 22 by the first and second actuators 31 and 34 is not released. This prevents a “hunting phenomenon” or the oscillating motion of the pump 10 frequently and repeatedly stopping and starting in response to slight changes in pressure inside the tire 92 near the reference upper limit.
When the pressure inside the tire 92 reaches or falls below the reference lower limit, the resilient force of the resilient members 60 of the first and second actuators 31 and 34 overcomes the pressure inside the tire 92 and the engagement force between the second locking protrusion 33B and the locking portion 32M, so that the pistons 33 are retracted into the cylinders 32 and move from the second position to the first position. This releases the lock of the cam member 21 and dummy member 22 by the first and second actuators 31 and 34, so that the cam member 21 and dummy member 22 become able to rotate relative to the wheel 91. Even when the vehicle 90 is driven and the wheel 91 is rotated, the cam member 21 and dummy member 22 are kept in a state in which their centers of gravity G1 and G2 are positioned below the rotation axis J1 of the wheel 91. This allows the piston 12 of the pump 10 that rotates with the wheel 91 to follow the cam surface 21B of the cam member 21 and to move back and forth relative to the cylinder 11 (i.e., allows the pump 10 to extend and retract) so that the air is supplied to the tire 92.
In this case, too, even when the pressure inside the tire 92 rises slightly and exceeds the reference lower limit, the cam member 21 and dummy member 22 will not be locked by the first and second actuators 31 and 34 unless the pressure reaches or exceeds the reference upper limit. This prevents the hunting phenomenon or the oscillating motion of the pump 10 frequently and repeatedly stopping and starting in response to slight changes in pressure inside the tire 92 near the reference lower limit.
When the pressure inside the tire 92 reaches or exceeds the reference upper limit, the pressure inside the tire 92 overcomes the resilient force of the resilient members 60 of the first and second actuators 31 and 34 and the engagement force between the first locking protrusion 33A and the locking portion 32M, so that the pistons 33 are pushed out of the cylinders 32 and move to the second position. This causes the first actuator 31 and second actuator 34 to lock the cam member 21 and dummy member 22, which brings the pump 10 to a halt. In this state, the centers of gravity G1 and G2 of the cam member 21 and dummy member 22 are positioned symmetrically around the rotation axis J1 of the wheel 91, which gives a good balance to the wheel and suppresses vibration during the rotation of the wheel 91.
As described above, the air supply system 100A of this embodiment allows the pump 10 to operate in concert with the rotation of the wheel 91 to automatically supply the air to the tire 92. When the pressure inside the tire 92 reaches or exceeds the reference upper limit, this pressure activates the pump on/off mechanism to stop the pump 10. Namely, when air supply to the tire 92 is not necessary, the pump 10 is paused even when the wheel 91 is rotating, so that the pump 10 can have higher durability than before.
The air supply system 100B of this embodiment does not include the first and second actuators 31 and 34 described in the first embodiment. When the pressure inside the tire 92 reaches or exceeds the reference upper limit, a pump 10 locks the cam member 21 so that the cam member rotates with the pump 10.
Specifically, the pump 10 has a similar structure as that of the first embodiment, and is connected to the tire 92 via the first check valve 58A (see
The lock of the cam member 21 by the pump 10 cannot be released in a case where the pressure inside the tire 92 lowers only slightly below the reference upper limit due to the fluid resistance when the air is supplied from the cylinder 11 to the tire 92, the resistance when opening the first check valve 58A, etc. Accordingly, the hunting phenomenon is prevented. The lock of the cam member 21 by the pump 10 is released only when the pressure inside the tire 92 has lowered to or below the reference lower limit.
Abutment parts (not shown) are provided between the cam member 21 and the dummy member 22 that abut each other to cause the dummy member 22 to rotate with the cam member 21 when the center of gravity G1 of the cam member 21 and the center of gravity G2 of the dummy member 22 come to symmetrical positions around the rotation axis J1 of the wheel 91 (see
The structure of the air supply system 100B according to this embodiment is as has been described above. The air supply system 100B of this embodiment uses its own pump 10 that supplies the air to the tire 92 to stop the pump 10 itself by stopping the cam member 21 relative to the wheel 91 when the pressure inside the tire 92 reaches or exceeds the reference upper limit. The air supply system 100B of this embodiment thus makes efficient use of the pump 10.
The air supply system 100C of this embodiment is illustrated in
The cylinder 32 is fixed to the base plate 41. When the pressure inside a tire 92 is at or below the reference lower limit, the piston 33 is retracted into the cylinder 32 so that the block 27 is positioned near the center of the base plate 41. In this state, the center of gravity of the entire balancer device 26 is positioned on or near the rotation axis J1 of the wheel 91. When the pressure inside the tire 92 reaches or exceeds the reference upper limit, the piston 33 is pushed out of the cylinder 32 so that the block 27 is positioned away from the center of the base plate 41. In this state, the center of gravity of the entire balancer device 26 is placed symmetrically to the center of gravity G1 of the cam member 21 with respect to the rotation axis J1 of the wheel 91.
The air supply system 100D of this embodiment is illustrated in
Specifically, a pair of actuators 31W having the same structure as that of the first actuator 31 described in the first embodiment are provided one each on both sides of the pump 10, and cylinders 32 of this pair of actuators 31W are fixed to the base plate 41. The pistons 33 of the pair of actuators 31W protrude in the opposite direction to the direction in which the piston 12 of the pump 10 protrudes. A first band plate 28A extends between the distal ends of both pistons 33. The cylinder 11 of the pump 10 is fixed to this first band plate 28A. A second band plate 28B links the proximal ends of the cylinders 32 of the pair of actuators 31W. The piston 12 of the pump 10 is slidably supported in a through hole formed in this second band plate 28B.
When the pressure inside the tire 92 is at or below the reference lower limit, the pistons 33 are retracted into the cylinders 32 so that the distal end of the piston 12 of the pump 10 abuts on the cam surface 21B of the cam member 21, allowing the piston 12 to follow the cam surface 21B and to move back and forth relative to the cylinder 11 as the cam member 21 rotates relative to the wheel 91 (see
(1) In the first to fourth embodiments described above, the cam member 21 has a ring shape, its inner circumferential surface serving as the cam surface 21B. Alternatively, for example as illustrated in the conceptual diagrams of an air supply system 100E in
(2) In the first to fourth embodiments described above, a roller 12R is provided to the distal end of the piston 12. Alternatively, the roller 12R may be omitted, and the distal end part of the piston 12 may make slidable contact with the cam surface 21B.
While specific examples of techniques included in the claims are disclosed in the specification and drawings, the techniques set forth in the claims are not limited to these specific examples but rather include various modifications and alterations of the specific examples, as well as partial extracts from the specific examples.
10
11
12
12P
12R
20
21, 21X
21B
22
27
31, 31W, 34, 34W
32M
33A
33B
91
92
100A to 100E
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2020/047496 | 12/18/2020 | WO |