One key element to vehicle safety and performance is the maintenance of proper tire air pressure. To facilitate the maintenance of tire air pressure, consumer air pumps exist in various forms including portable pumps that may powered by a vehicle's auxiliary power outlet. These conventional approaches, however, have limited utility particularly in consideration of larger vehicles and trailers which may both at times require inflation of tires positioned beyond the length of the portable pump's hose.
The inadequacy of conventional portable air pumps is particularly felt by individuals in industries that require considerable travel or movement of materials that necessitates a trailer or other method of expanding the typical carrying capacity of the individual's vehicle. In certain of these industries, such as those relating to construction services, it is not uncommon for the individual to be carrying within the vehicle (or otherwise have access to) a portable drill.
The present disclosure describes a drill-driven compressor head that effectively provides an improved portable air pump utilizing a portable drill as a driving mechanism for the delivery of pressurized air into a vehicle tire. Such an improved portable air pump is not only easy to use but also accommodates circumstances or scenarios conventional pumps are ill-equipped to address.
This description, with references to the figures, presents non-limiting examples of embodiments of the present disclosure.
As depicted in
In these embodiments, compression actuator/drive shaft 116 may be a shaft configured to connect to a portable automatic drill such as a conventional hand drill. To this end, compression actuator/drive shaft 116 may be configured with a quick connect apex bit, chucking drill head, or other conventional means for allowing a shaft to engage with a drill.
In some embodiments, compression assembly/pump 110 may utilize a mechanical piston to produce and deliver pressurized air. Such a compression assembly/pump 110 may include an assembly housing/pump housing 111, a connecting housing/pump housing 111, rotating member 115, and a ring element/piston 113. Ring element/piston 113 may be coupled to connecting rod/pump actuator 112 which is also coupled to rotating member 115. Rotating member 115 may be a crankshaft including a flywheel. Rotating member 115 may be configured to receive one end of compression actuator/drive shaft 116 thereby allowing for rotation of rotating member 115 and actuation of the piston mechanism when rotating member 115 is coupled to compression actuator/drive shaft 116, which itself may be coupled to a drill.
Assembly housing/pump housing 111 may define an interior volume 114 wherein ring element/piston 113 may be disposed. Assembly housing/pump housing 111 may be configured with an airflow element/valve member 120 that partially defines interior volume 114 and allows air to flow into or out of interior volume 114 when ring element/piston 113 is being actuated. In some embodiments, airflow element/valve member 120 may be a reed valve.
Although these embodiments have been described as using a mechanical piston, those of ordinary skill in the art would understand that other compressor structures (such as a rotary screw compressor) may also be used.
Compression assembly/pump 110 may also include a compression cap/cylinder head 130. Compression cap/cylinder head 130 may be configured to couple with assembly housing/pump housing 111 to define a chamber/interior volume 114. Compression cap/cylinder head 130 may be configured with an intake aperture/valve member 120 and an outlet aperture 133. Intake aperture/valve member 120 may be configured to allow air to flow through compression cap/cylinder head 130 into interior volume 114. Outlet aperture 133 may be configured to receive a hose 220 through which pressurized air created by the piston mechanism and contained within chamber/interior volume 114 may be delivered. Compression cap/cylinder head 130 may be further configured to couple with a pressure gauge 210.
In various embodiments, housing element/pump housing 111 may be used to secure the various compression assembly components to one another. As shown in
Although the disclosure has been explained in relation to various embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.