Valve actuator for tire pressure management

Claim 1

A valve actuator assembly for a vehicle tire pressure management system of the type that can provide a selected air pressure, said valve actuator assembly comprising, a housing having an inlet adapted to receive said air pressure and an outlet adapted to open to at least one of said vehicle tires, a pressure check valve located in said outlet so as to open and close said outlet, a dimpling disk that moves quickly between a stable, convex free state and a non stable, concave stressed state when a sufficient command pressure is applied thereto and maintained, and which returns automatically and without assistance to the free state when said command pressure is removed, said disk being sealingly fixed within said housing between said inlet and check valve so as to create a signal chamber between the free state convex side of said disk and said inlet and to isolate the opposite side of said disk from said inlet, a plunger assembly sealingly fixed within said housing between said check valve and said disk so as to create both a feed chamber between said check valve and plunger assembly and an expansion and contraction chamber between said plunger assembly and said disk opposite side that is isolated from said feed chamber, said plunger assembly also having a plunger with one end engageable with said disk and the other end engageable with said check valve so as to open and close said outlet as said disk moves between said free state and said stressed state, and a conduit by-passing said expansion and contraction chamber and communicating between said signal and feed chambers, whereby, when said command pressure is supplied to said signal chamber, said disk will move from said free state to said stressed state quickly and substantially without restriction, by virtue of said isolated expansion and contraction chamber, thereby opening said check valve and allowing air pressure to flow freely between said signal and feed chambers, and when said command pressure is removed from said signal chamber, said disk will quickly self return to its free state, allowing said check valve to close.