A pumping mechanism in accordance with the present invention is used with a pneumatic tire mounted on a wheel to keep the pneumatic tire from becoming underinflated. The pumping mechanism includes a frame having a first chamber and a pump chamber, a strike plate positioned in the first chamber and being connected to a plunger plate, said plunger plate having a nose for engagement with a diaphragm mounted in the pump chamber; said pump chamber being in fluid communication with a pump inlet and a pump outlet; wherein actuation of the strike plate in the first chamber causes engagement of the nose with the diaphragm. Preferably the strike plate is actuated by a permanent magnet mounted on a stationary part, or the strike plate is actuated by an electrically driven magnet.

A system is used with a pneumatic tire mounted on a wheel rim to keep a tire cavity of the pneumatic tire from becoming underinflated from a set pressure. The first system includes a plurality of pumps attached circumferentially to the wheel rim, each pump having a piston for inflating the tire cavity and a weight for moving the piston, and a stop mechanism for each pump, the stop mechanism including a stop piston, a stop cylinder, a first spring, and a second spring, when air pressure in the tire cavity reaches the set pressure, the set pressure overcomes a force of the first spring against the stop piston and moves the stop piston into a stopping engagement with the weight, when air pressure in the tire cavity is below the set pressure, the second spring overcomes the force of the first spring and moves the stop piston away from the weight.

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.

An air maintenance tire assembly includes a tire having a tire cavity bounded by first and second sidewalls extending to a tire tread region, a pressure control assembly attached to an elongate valve stem projecting from a rim, the pressure control assembly being external to the tire cavity, the elongate valve stem projecting outward from the tire cavity and operative to admit pressurized air into the tire cavity through the pressure control assembly, the first sidewall having an annular sidewall air passageway therein operatively located to compress segment by segment responsive to a bending strain introduced into the first sidewall from a rolling tire footprint thereby forcing air, segment by segment, along the annular air passageway, a tube housing joining both ends of the annular air passageway, and a connecting tube extending from the tube housing to the pressure control assembly, the connecting tube operative to sequentially direct air forced along the air passageway, first, into the tube housing, the pressure control assembly and, then, into the elongate valve stem as the tire rolls over a ground surface.

The inflation system includes a pump and a dehumidifier fluidly connected between the pump and a reservoir, such as a tire.

A device for adjustment of pressure in tires includes a chamber with shape memory and a valve. The valve is a three-way valve with inputs interconnected with the external environment and the tire internal space, where one input is fitted with a valve, the next input is connected to one end of the chamber with shape memory, and the last input is interconnected with the closure element. The device for adjustment of pressure in tires includes the chamber with shape memory interconnected with the external environment through an input and with the tire chamber through an output and fitted with at least one valve. The length of the chamber in the direction of tire rotation equals 0.001 to 0.5 of the tire perimeter, where the volume of the chamber before deformation to volume of the chamber during deformation ratio is the same or higher then the desired tire pressure to pressure of the external environment ratio.

An air pressure adjusting device includes a supplying device and a reception circuit configured to receive a detection signal that includes information indicating an air pressure of a tire. The supplying device includes a piston that supplies air to the tire by being moved by rotation of the tire. The air pressure adjusting device includes a switching unit and a controller. The switching unit is configured to be switched between a first state, in which the switching unit allows movement of the piston, and a second state, in which the switching unit prohibits movement of the piston. The controller is configured to control the switching unit. The controller is configured to obtain the information indicating the air pressure of the tire from the detection signal received by the reception circuit, switch the switching unit to the second state when the air pressure of the tire is greater than or equal to a threshold, and switch the switching unit to the first state when the air pressure of the tire is less than the threshold.

A self-inflation device for maintaining pressure in a tire, the self-inflation device includes a body having a piston compartment and an intake opening external to an inner space of the tire and a piston housed in the piston compartment and having a piston opening internal to the inner space. The piston is moved to a pulled position by centrifugal force applied by rotation of the tire to open the intake opening, and moved to a pushed position by air pressure from the inner space to block the intake opening and create a compression chamber within the piston compartment. The self-inflation device further includes a valve separating the compression chamber and the piston opening. The valve is opened when the piston is in the pushed position to allow airflow between the compression chamber and the inner space.

A device for transport of air in the tire P or close to it consisting of a chamber K in the shape of a hollow compressible channel, placed along at least a part of the tire perimeter, characterized by the fact that a ring OK is placed at the inner side of the chamber K with the distance of its outer side from the tire axis of rotation equal to 1 to 1.1 multiple of the distance of the bottom side of the chamber K from the axis of rotation of the tire P.

A self-inflating tire assembly includes an air tube mounted within a tire sidewall groove. The air tube is in contacting engagement with opposite angled groove surfaces surrounding the air tube. A segment of the air tube is flattened from an expanded diameter to a flat diameter by bending and compression of the groove in a rolling tire footprint to force air evacuated from the flattened segment along a tube air passageway. A tube is positioned within the groove, wherein the tube has a circular cross-sectional shape and an outside diameter D, and the groove does not have a circular cross-sectional shape, wherein said groove has a width W and a length L, wherein D is greater than W.