A wheel mounted control assembly receives therethrough the tire valve stem from an air maintenance tire. A control assembly regulator controls a flow of air to and from a tire-mounted air pumping tube. The control assembly includes a bi-directional air distribution flow control system having multiple parallel air pathways, each air pathway coupled to a respective conduit connected to an air pumping tube mounted within a tire sidewall. The pathways alternatively operate to deliver ambient non-pressurized air to the air pumping tube in response to directional tire rotation against a ground surface.

A rapid inflation system is provided for the tires of a machine such as an agricultural machine which must periodically move between field conditions and road conditions. The system can relatively rapidly inflate the tires from a lower field ready state to a higher pressure road ready state by the use of a high pressure reservoir chamber defined within the tire.

The present application relates to a tire (6) comprising: a tread portion (8) and side walls (10), said tread portion (8) and side walls (10) defining a main air chamber (12); at least two auxiliary chambers (14, 16, 18) formed in the tread portion (8); and an air transfer device (28) for transferring air between the main air chamber (12) and each of the auxiliary air chambers (14, 16, 18).

An air maintenance tire assembly includes a tire having a tire cavity bounded by first and second sidewalls extending to a tire tread region, air pumping means for generating pressurized air for maintaining air pressure within the tire cavity at a preset pressure level, the air pumping means including a soft tubing and compression fittings for mitigating dynamic loading on the compression fittings, and a valve housing disposed adjacent an outward end of the valve stem and operative to selectively open and close pressurized air flow from the valve stem internal passageway into the tire cavity. The valve housing is connected to the air pumping means by the soft tubing and compression fittings for mitigating dynamic loading on the compression fittings.

A system for tire inflation including a drive mechanism defining a rotational axis, including an eccentric mass that offsets a center of mass of the drive mechanism from the rotational axis along a radial vector; a pump arranged radially distal the rotational axis of the drive mechanism, including a chamber defining a chamber lumen, and a reciprocating element arranged at least partially within the chamber lumen and translatable along a pump axis; a drive coupler coupled between the drive mechanism at a first position and the reciprocating element at a second position fixed to the reciprocating element; a torque regulation mechanism; and a controller, communicatively coupled to the torque regulation mechanism; wherein the system is operable between at least a first mode and a second mode by the torque regulation mechanism in cooperation with the controller.

A tire inflation apparatuses is provided for maintaining a predetermined inflation pressure of a pair of tires mounted on a dual wheel unit of a vehicle. The apparatus includes a first and a second pump unit that are connected to a housing that includes a mounting structure for engaging a complementary mounting structure of the dual wheel unit. The first and second pump include first and second pump rods configured to translate in response to rotation of the dual wheel unit. A gearset and an eccentric drive mechanism are arranged to reciprocate the first and second pump rods.

A system is disclosed included but not limited to a wheel having a wheel pressure chamber; a tire having a tire pressure chamber, wherein the tire is mounted on the wheel; a tire pressure sensor inside of the tire pressure chamber for measuring a tire air pressure inside of the tire pressure chamber; a wheel outlet valve between the wheel pressure chamber and the tire pressure chamber; a processor that reads a measure of the pressure inside of the tire pressure chamber from the tire pressure sensor and controls the wheel outlet valve to allow gas from the wheel pressure chamber to flow into the tire pressure chamber to increase the pressure in the tire pressure chamber when the tire pressure is less than a reference tire pressure. A method is provided for using the system.

A tire pressure control system can include a pneumatic line with a first end in fluid communication with an interior of a tire and a pressure sensing device configured to acquire pressure data within the tire measured from the single pneumatic line. A motion sensing device can be configured to acquire motion data of the tire pressure control system. A microcontroller can receive the pressure data from the pressure sensing device and the motion data from the motion sensing device. A pneumatic solenoid in fluid communication with a second end of the single pneumatic line can be in an initial, closed position. The microcontroller can open the pneumatic solenoid and release fluid from the interior of the tire when the pressure data and motion data meet preset conditions.

A tire has a carcass with a tread, a bead, a shoulder, and a sidewall. The bead, shoulder, and sidewall partially define a first internal cavity. At least one stiffening line for a pressurized fluid with a second cavity is within the carcass. The second cavity is aligned in an approximately transverse direction relative to the periphery of the tire. The second cavity is connectable to pressurized fluid supply system and can be inflated or deflated to adjust the stiffness of the tire. The stiffening lines may be inflated using a hydraulic fluid to increase the stiffness of the tire. Related wheels, vehicles, and methods are also disclosed.

System for inflating a tire of a wheel, configured to be build inside or onto a hub of a vehicle, comprising a stationary section and a rotary section wherein the stationary section comprises a first clutch part, wherein the rotary section comprises a second clutch part, configured to selectively engage the first clutch part; an actuator, a driving unit, a pumping unit, and a housing, for housing at least the pumping unit, wherein the housing and the pumping unit are arranged to move together with movement of a wheel, in particular rotate together with the wheel.