Tire bead seating and inflation apparatus

Claim 2

Apparatus for inflating tubeless tires on a vehicle wheel having oppositely disposed rim portions comprising tire bead seating apparatus including an annular tube of larger diameter than the wheel to surround a rim of the wheel, structure extending radially inwardly of said tube for abutment against said rim to position the apparatus with respect to the wheel, orifice means around the inner periphery of the tube for injecting a substantially continuous ring of air under pressure through the space between the wheel rim and the bead of a noninflated tubeless tire mounted on the wheel, and inlet means on the tube for supplying air under pressure to the interior of the tube; said tire bead seating apparatus having no mechanical sealing element capable of sealing a gap between the wheel and the tire.

Claim 3

Apparatus as defined in claim 1, further characterized in that said structure extending radially inwardly of said tube includes a hand engageable member extending across a portion of the apparatus.

Claim 4

Apparatus as defined in claim 2, further characterized in that at least two of said hand engageable members extend across the apparatus, said members being spaced apart and generally parallel.

Claim 5

Apparatus as defined in claim 2, further characterized in the provision of a radially inwardly extending tab on the apparatus on each side of said hand engageable member.

Claim 6

Apparatus as defined in claim 1, further characterized in that said inlet means on the tube comprises a nozzle on the tube, a valve on said nozzle, and an air line secured to said valve, said valve including manually operable means for opening and closing thereof.

Claim 7

Apparatus as defined in claim 5, further characterized in that said valve is a sleeve-type valve including a body and a sleeve slidably mounted thereon, said sleeve being manually movable in one direction to open the valve and manually movable in the opposite direction to close the valve.

Claim 8

Apparatus as defined in claim 6, further characterized in the provision of spring means on the valve biasing the sleeve towards the closed position.

Claim 9

Apparatus as defined in claim 1, further characterized in the provision of a source of air under pressure, a normally closed pilot operated main valve between said inlet means and the source of air under pressure, a pilot valve, said pilot valve being connected between said pilot operated main valve and said source of air under pressure and being effective upon being opened to cause opening of said pilot operated main valve to permit passage of air under pressure into the bead seating apparatus, said pilot operated main valve including means to automatically close upon the closing of said pilot valve.

Claim 10

Apparatus as defined in claim 1, further characterized in that said vehicle wheel includes a conventional tire valve, and a manually releasable chuck attachable to said conventional tire valve for supplying air under pressure to the interior of the tire in addition to the air under pressure supplied by the tire bead seating apparatus.

Claim 11

Apparatus as defined in claim 9, further characterized in the provision of a pair of valves, one of said valves being connected between said chuck and a supply of air under pressure for injecting air under pressure through the conventional tire valve, the other of said valves being connected between said chuck and atmosphere for venting air from a tire to the atmosphere, and an air pressure gauge on said chuck indicating the air pressure in the tire when both of said valves are closed.

Claim 12

Apparatus as defined in claim 1, further characterized in that said annular tube comprises a plurality of segments, the ends of each segment being sealed, said inlet means on the tube including separate inlets to each of the segments for supplying air under pressure to the interior of each segment, the ends of each segment being seParated by a gap of insufficient length to prevent the creation of a substantially continuous ring of air under pressure to the space between the wheel rim and the bead of a non-inflated tubeless tire mounted on the wheel when air under pressure is injected into the apparatus.

Claim 15

Apparatus for inflating tubeless tires on a vehicle wheel having oppositely disposed rim portions comprising tire bead seating apparatus including an annular orifice structure having orifice means provided around a periphery of larger diameter than the diameter of a wheel to surround the rim of a wheel for injecting air under pressure around the periphery of the wheel through the space between the wheel rim and the bead of a non-inflated tubeless tire mounted on the wheel in sufficient amounts, without using a mechanical seal, so that more air will be injected into the tire than may escape with the result that the tire will be expanded to cause the tire beads to sufficiently close on the wheel rims to permit complete inflation through the conventional tire valve, structure extending radially inwardly of said annular orifice structure for abutment against said wheel to position the apparatus with respect to the wheel, and inlet means on said orifice structure for supplying air under pressure to the orifice means.

Claim 16

Apparatus for inflating tubeless tires on a vehicle wheel having oppositely disposed rim portions comprising tire bead seating apparatus including an annular orifice structure having orifice means provided around a periphery of larger diameter than the diameter of a wheel to surround the rim of a wheel for injecting air under pressure around the periphery of the wheel through the space between the wheel rim and the bead of a non-inflated tubeless tire mounted on the wheel in sufficient amounts, without using a mechanical seal, so that more air will be injected into the tire than may escape with the result that the tire will be expanded to cause the tire beads to sufficiently close on the wheel rims to permit complete inflation through the conventional tire valve, structure extending radially inwardly of said annular orifice structure for abutment against said wheel to position the apparatus with respect to the wheel, and inlet means on said orifice structure for supplying air under pressure to the orifice means.