Tire inflation gauge

Claim 1

An inflation gauge for a vehicle tire operating on a principle that the tread face of said tire will tend to assume a transversely convex curvature if over-inflated, a transversely concave curvature if under-inflated, and a transversely straight configuration if properly inflated, said gauge comprising: a. a frame, b. a series of elongated tread bars all pivoted coaxially at one end in said frame and extending generally horizontally from said pivot in side by side relation, whereby the upper surfaces thereof in aggregate form a treadway for supporting the weight of a tire positioned thereon with its vertical plane parallel to the longitudinal extent of said tread bars, the transverse width of each tread bar being a small fraction of the tread width of the tire and the aggregate width of said tread bars being at least as great as the tread width of the tire, and c. resiliently yieldable means supporting the end of each of said tread bars opposite from its pivot, and operable to support all of said tread bars at equal elevations when not loaded by a tire, whereby said treadway is substantially planar, and being of equal elastic moduli whereby all of said tread bars will be equally depressed by equal tire weights imposed thereon, as a result of which said tread bars will be unequally depressed by an improperly inflated tire supported on said treadway, the pattern of said unequal depression indicating the nature of the improper inflation, said treadway being of sufficient length to support the entire road-engaging surface of said tire intermediate the ends thereof, whereby the proportion of the weight imposed by said tire on said tread bars which is supported by said resiliently yieldable means may be varied by centering said tire relatively closer to or further from the ends of said bars supported by said resiliently yieldable means.