Patent Application
20160101659
1. Technical Field
The present subject matter relates to tools. More specifically, the present subject matter relates to a tool for seating a tubeless tire on a rim configured to reduce the recoil due to the burst of air.
2. Description of Related Art
Many tires for automobiles, trucks and other equipment are designed to be mounted on wheels or rims without using a tube. The tire may be impervious to air with a bead around the inner edges of the tire designed to press against a lip of the rim to create an air-tight seal so that the combination of the tire and rim may be able to hold pressurized air or other gases suitable for inflating a tire. The rim may include a valve stem that may be used to inflate the tire.
After a tire is first mounted on a rim, the bead of the tire may not press tightly against the lip of the rim so that no air-tight cavity is created. In some cases, especially for smaller tires, enough air may be injected through the valve stem to create a pressure differential between the air inside the tire and the outside air so that, even though air may be escaping between the tire and the rim, the bead of the tire is pressed against the rim to create a seal. This may be referred to as seating the tire on the rim. Seating the tire on the rim allows the tire to be pressurized. But in some cases, especially with larger tires, it is just not possible to seat the tire by injecting air through the valve stem of the rim.
It is well known in the art that it may be possible to blow a high volume of air between the rim and the bead of the tire, creating the pressure differential between the pressure of the air in the tire and the outside air pressure, thereby seating the tire on the rim. Devices to accomplish this generally include a large, yet portable, pressurized air tank with a valve leading to a discharge barrel. The discharge barrel is typically a solid, leakproof metal tube rigidly connected to extend from the tank. The tank and discharge barrel may be positioned to blow a high volume of air from the pressurized air tank into the tire.
Various embodiments are drawn to nozzles for seating a tubeless tire on a rim using pressurized gas includes an outlet and a jet configured to accept pressurized gas and emit a stream of gas through an orifice into a chamber in the nozzle. According to one embodiment a nozzle for seating a tubeless tire on a rim using pressurized gas has a coupling neck configured to accept the pressurized gas, a choke point adapter connected to and in gaseous communication with the coupling neck, and a nozzle body configured with a nozzle output. The coupling neck, the choke point adapter and the nozzle body are in gaseous communication such that the pressurized gas entering the coupling neck pass through the nozzle and exits the nozzle output in a burst of the pressurized gas directed between the tubeless tire and the rim. The choke point adapter is configured with a chokepoint surface having a chokepoint angle of at least 30 degrees.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute part of the specification, illustrate various embodiments of the invention. Together with the general description, the drawings serve to explain the principles of the invention. They should not, however, be taken to limit the invention to the specific embodiment(s) described, but are for explanation and understanding only. In the drawings:
The present inventor recognized a problem with conventional design. Namely, the conventional bead seater devices result in considerable kickback when the burst of air is fired between the tire and the rim, often making it difficult for a user to keep the conventional bead seater steady and maintain a grip on it. A burst of air is defined as air travelling at a high rate of speed, at least some of which is travelling at a speed of 100 miles per hour or more. The burst of air is controlled by a high speed valve that rapidly opens and closes to produce the burst. Typically, the volume of the burst of air is equal to at least slightly more than the volume of the inflated tire but no greater than three times the volume of the tire. (Some of the burst leaks out of the tire before the bead is seated.) The various embodiments disclosed herein aid in reducing the amount of kickback experienced when discharging a burst of air from the Bead Bazooka™ bead seater device equipped with the recoil reducing bead seater barrel.
In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth by way of examples in order to provide a thorough understanding of the relevant teachings. However, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present teachings may be practiced without such details. In other instances, well known methods, procedures and components have been described at a relatively high-level, without detail, in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the present concepts. A number of descriptive terms and phrases are used in describing the various embodiments of this disclosure. These descriptive terms and phrases are used to convey a generally agreed upon meaning to those skilled in the art unless a different definition is given in this specification. Some descriptive terms and phrases are presented in the following paragraphs for clarity.
Mounting a tire refers to the act of placing a tire on a rim by sliding both beads of the tire over the rim so that the tire is on the rim with both beads between the two lips of the rim. Seating a tire refers to placing the beads of the tire against the lips of the rim, creating a seal and allowing the tire to be inflated to a desired pressure. For the purposes of this specification and claims, a tire is first mounted on the rim before the tire may be seated. With conventional devices it can be quite difficult to seat the tire on a rim so it can be inflated due to the gap between the tire and the rim once the tire has been mounted. Reference now is made in detail to the examples illustrated in the accompanying drawings and discussed below.
The dimensions of the coupling neck 102 vary depending upon the size of the tires to be seated and the parameters of the implementation, e.g., the pressure of the pressurized air used to create a burst of air for seating the tire. However, the coupling neck 102 is typically at least one-half in in diameter up to four inches in diameter, with one and one-half inches to two inches being typical diameter values. The length of the coupling neck 102 may vary as well, but is typically between one-half inch to twenty inches, with one inch to four inches being a typical range for the length.
The coupling neck 102 depicted in
The coupling neck 102, choke point adapter 104 and nozzle body 105 are in gaseous communication. The term “gaseous communication” means that air (or other gas) means that air entering one part passes through to the next part. Hence, the coupling neck 102, choke point adapter 104 and nozzle body 105 are in gaseous communication such that air entering at 101 passes through the nozzle 100 and exits the nozzle output 106 in a burst of air directed between a tire and a rim. In this way the tire is easily and conveniently inflated onto the rim. The bead seater nozzle 100 has two features that aid in reducing the recoil experienced by a user: the chokepoint angle 114 and the neckdown angle 116. Firstly, as air passes through choke point adapter 104 it encounters a chokepoint surface 110, sometimes called a semi-vertical surface. In various embodiments the chokepoint surface 110 is angled by an amount within the range of 45+/−10 degrees from the center axis 112 running down the center of coupling neck 102. This angle is referred to as the chokepoint angle 114.
In some embodiments the chokepoint angle 114 may as little as 5 degrees, while in other embodiments the chokepoint angle may be greater than 90 degrees, e.g., 120 degrees. The chokepoint angle 114 may be any particular value or range within 5 degrees to 120 degrees. A chokepoint angle 114 greater than 90 degrees creates a pocket of air towards the end of the choke point adapter 104, cutting down on the efficiency of the bead seater nozzle 100. A chokepoint angle 114 as little as 5 degrees produces a slight reduction in recoil that is measurable, but may be difficult to detect by a user. A chokepoint angle 114 that is a value from 30 to 60 degrees produces a significant reduction in recoil felt by a user when a burst of air is fired through the bead seater nozzle 100.
A second feature of the bead seater nozzle 100 that aids in reducing recoil is the amount of the nozzle neckdown at the air division point 113, known as the nozzle neckdown angle 116. In some embodiments the nozzle neckdown angle 116 is less than the chokepoint angle 114. However, depending upon the characteristics and environment in which the bead seater nozzle 100 is to be used, the neckdown angle 116 may be as small as 2 degrees or as large as 90 degrees. The neckdown angle 116 may be any particular value or range within 2 degrees to 90 degrees. The neckdown angle 116, like the chokepoint angle 114, tends to inhibit air as it passes through, thus reducing the recoil of the bead seater nozzle 100 due to it rapidly firing a burst of air between a tire and a rim.
The embodiment depicted in
The embodiment depicted in
The chokepoint angle 214 may be any particular value or range within 5 degrees to 90 degrees. A chokepoint angle 214 greater than 90 degrees would create pockets of air near the chokepoint surface 110, causing problems with the air being drawn into the air intake ports 209 of the nozzle 200, which in turn would result in lowering the efficiency of the bead seater nozzle 200. A chokepoint angle 214 as little as 5 degrees produces a slight reduction in recoil that is measurable, but, as discussed above, may be difficult to detect by a user. A chokepoint angle 214 that is a value from 30 to 60 degrees produces a significant reduction in recoil felt by a user when a burst of air is fired through the bead seater nozzle 200.
Various embodiments of tire seating nozzles may have a wide variety of different configurations of varying dimensions. Unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in the preceding specification and attached claims are approximations that can vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by those skilled in the art utilizing the teachings of the present invention. As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to an element described as “a port” may refer to a single port, two ports or any other number of ports. As used in this specification and the appended claims, the term “or” is generally employed in its sense including “and/or” unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. As used herein, the term “coupled” includes direct and indirect connections. Moreover, where first and second devices are coupled, intervening devices including active devices may be located there between.
The description of the various embodiments provided above is illustrative in nature and is not intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses. Thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention are intended to be within the scope of the embodiments of the present invention. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the intended scope of the present invention.
This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application 62/062,247 filed Oct. 10, 2014 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62062247 | Oct 2014 | US |
