Tire valve

Claim 1

Valve means for a pneumatic tubeless tire mounted upon a vehicle wheel rim, said valve means comprising an elongated body provided with means on one end for securing the body in operating position, the said body having a chamber therein disposed adjacent the said one end with a first passageway in communication with and extending from one side of said chamber through the said one end of said body, said chamber communicating with a pair of parallel generally cylindrical passageways, said parallel passageways in communication with and extending from the opposite side of said chamber through the opposite end of said body, a valve core in one of said pair of passageways permitting fluid under pressure to be introduced or exhausted therethrough, a valve seat of lesser diameter than the internal diameter of said other of the pair of passageways surrounding the communating opening between the latter passageway and said chamber, a cylindrical piston slidably in the said other pair of passageways with one end of said piston for abuttingly contacting said valve seat in fluid sealingly relationship, a compression spring disposed in said other of said pair of passageways with one end of the spring disposed in an axial bore provided in the other end of said piston, a perforate member engaging the other end of said spring, said perforate member having peripheral portions gripping the sidewall of the passageway in which the spring is located for retaining said perforate member at a selected position and thereby provide a pre-selected compression of said spring, said piston having fluid passageways axially thereof radially outwardly of the end area which sealingly engages said valve seat, the cross-sectional area available for fluid passage into said chamber from said one of said pair of passageways being less than that for exhaust of fluid from said chamber through the other of said pair of passageways when the piston is displaced from said valve seat, an imperforate flexible dust cap means normally closing said other of said pair of passageways at the end thereof opposite said chamber, said dust cap means being displaceable by fluid under pressure exiting from said chamber when said piston is displaced from said valve seat, means for retaining said flexible dust cap means upon said body in said displaced condition to indicate a release of pressure, said cap means and retaining means are formed integrally of resilient deformable material with a part thereof frictionally held in the outer end of said other of said pair of passageways and a further part embracing an external portion of said body.