Vehicle tire inflation-deflation mechanism

Claim 1

In a vehicle that includes a tubular axle housing, a wheel support hub structure surrounding said housing, bearings trained between the housing and hub structure enabling said hub structure to rotate on the housing, a rotary axle extending within the housing to a point therebeyond, and means external to said housing connecting the axle and the wheel hub structure for conjoint rotation; the improvement comprising compressed air passage means for supplying compressed air to the wheel supported on the hub structure; said air passage means comprising: a. an elongated duct extending within and along the clearance space between the axle housing and axle, said duct having an outer arcuate surface contour conforming to the surface curvatures on the axis housing and axle; b. said duct having an inner end located inboard from the general plane of the aforementioned bearings and an outer end located outboard from the general plane of said bearings; c. an air transfer slip ring mechanism comprising an annular wall (38) connected to the outer end of said duct, and axially spaced slip ring air seals arranged between said annular wall and an inner surface of the hub structure, said slip ring trained between an outer end portion of the elongated duct and the hub structure; said slip ring mechanism being disposed outboard from the aforementioned bearings whereby the slip ring mechanism can be removed without disturbing said bearings; d. means for detachably connecting the aforementioned duct to the axle housing comprising a clamp means, and a pin means (49) trained between the aforementioned annular wall and the outer end of the axle housing; said clamp means comprising a spacer block affixed to the inner end of the duct, and a tubular element (40) extendable through a hole in the axle housing wall, said rubular element and spacer block having interengaged threads enabling the duct to be drawn against the inner surface of the axle housing; said tubular clamp element defining an air conduit operable to transmit compressed air between the external zone surrounding the axle housing to the duct, whereby said air passage means transmits compressed air from an external zone to a wheel independent of any components of the axle, axle housing, and hub structure.