CN108995487B

CN108995487B - Tire pressure sensor assembly and wheel comprising same

Info

Publication number: CN108995487B
Application number: CN201810901946.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李红京; 魏立顺
Original assignee: Autel Intelligent Technology Corp Ltd
Current assignee: Autel Intelligent Technology Corp Ltd
Priority date: 2014-05-15
Filing date: 2014-05-15
Publication date: 2021-10-15
Anticipated expiration: 2034-05-15
Also published as: CN106604835A; CN108995487A; CN106604835B; WO2015172351A1

Abstract

A tire pressure sensor assembly and a wheel including the same, the tire pressure sensor assembly (100, 100') having a split structure, comprising: a tire pressure sensor having a tire pressure sensor body (1, 1'); a valve (3, 3') having a stem portion (7, 7'), a body portion (8, 8') and a valve cap (12); and a connecting mechanism via which the tire pressure sensor and the valve are connected together; wherein the main body portion of the valve is made of a rubber material. The tire pressure sensor assembly has a split structure, the inflating valve can be conveniently and independently disassembled and assembled, the whole assembly does not need to be replaced if the inflating valve is damaged, the main body part of the inflating valve is made of rubber materials, the problem of adaptability to the external environment is effectively solved, and meanwhile, the tire pressure sensor assembly also has good environment air tightness.

Description

Tire pressure sensor assembly and wheel comprising same

The application is a divisional application of an application with the application date of 2014, 5, 15, and the application number of 201480077961.0, and the name of the invention is 'tire pressure sensor assembly and wheel comprising the same'.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a tire pressure sensor assembly, and a wheel including the tire pressure sensor assembly.

Background

It is known that the magnitude of tire pressure directly affects the driving safety of a motor vehicle (e.g., an automobile or a motorcycle, etc.), and therefore, a tire pressure sensor assembly is generally installed in a tire of the motor vehicle. The tire pressure sensor assembly mainly comprises a tire pressure sensor and an air valve, and the installation mode of the tire pressure sensor assembly is generally divided into built-in installation or external installation. When the motor vehicle runs, the tire pressure sensor assembly automatically monitors the tire pressure in real time and sends monitoring data (generally including temperature and tire pressure) to a receiver in the motor vehicle, and a driver can judge the safety condition of the running motor vehicle tire by observing the data of the display platform or the alarm sound sent by the receiver.

Fig. 1 shows a built-in tire pressure sensor assembly of the prior art. In the tire pressure sensor assembly, a plastic main body 1 'and a hardware inflating valve 3' of the tire pressure sensor are integrated pieces formed by pre-fusion through a mold, the integrated pieces are fixed with a hub 20 'of a wheel through a hardware inflating valve nut 5', wherein the tire pressure sensor assembly is communicated with the internal pressure of a tire 21 'through an air inlet hole 11', and therefore real-time monitoring of tire pressure is achieved.

However, such a tire pressure sensor assembly has the following problems:

1. since the plastic housing of the tire pressure sensor and the hardware valve are an integral piece, that is, they are fused together by a mold before being mounted to the tire, once the exposed valve is damaged during use, the whole integral piece needs to be replaced completely, which results in increased cost; and

2. because the service environment of the motor vehicle is complex, and the material of the hardware valve is generally aluminum alloy, the brittleness easily occurs under the condition of low temperature, and potential safety hazards exist. In addition, during the process of mounting and tightening, if the oxide film protection layer of the hardware (generally, aluminum alloy) valve nut is locally damaged, the hardware valve nut is easily corroded in an extremely acidic environment, which affects the strength of the hardware valve nut and affects the assembly, disassembly and appearance.

Therefore, a new tire pressure sensor assembly is needed to solve the above problems.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a novel built-in tire pressure sensor assembly, wherein a tire pressure sensor and an air valve are connected together through a connecting mechanism, the novel built-in tire pressure sensor assembly is of a split structure as a whole, the air valve can be conveniently and independently assembled and disassembled, the whole assembly does not need to be replaced if the air valve is damaged, and the main body part of the air valve is made of rubber materials (such as special EPDM), so that the problem of adaptability to the external environment is effectively solved, and meanwhile, the novel built-in tire pressure sensor assembly has good environmental air tightness.

Specifically, the present invention provides a tire pressure sensor assembly having a split structure, which includes:

a tire pressure sensor having a tire pressure sensor main body;

a valve having a stem portion, a body portion and a valve cap; and

a connecting mechanism via which the tire pressure sensor and the valve are connected together;

the main body part of the valve is made of rubber material.

In a preferred embodiment of the tire pressure sensor assembly according to the present invention, the connection mechanism includes:

at least one elastic expansion member disposed in the stem portion of the valve, having an extended state in which the elastic expansion member extends outwardly from the surface of the stem portion and has a maximum extension height H, and a retracted state in which the elastic expansion member is retracted into the stem portion and flush with the surface of the stem portion;

a side hole connecting portion provided at a side portion of the tire pressure sensor main body for accommodating a stem portion of the valve, the side hole connecting portion including:

at least one air guide groove which is arranged at one end of the side hole connecting part, is positioned at the outer side of the side hole connecting part and can receive the elastic expansion part in the extending state;

a retention hole provided at the other end of the side hole connection portion, into which the elastic extensible member in the extended state can be engaged, thereby locking the valve and the tire pressure sensor body together; and

a side hole body portion having an inner diameter D and an outer diameter D of the rod portion dimensioned to satisfy: d is not less than D and less than D + H.

In a preferred embodiment of the tire pressure sensor assembly according to the present invention, the side hole connecting part further includes at least one elastic retention piece on which the retention hole is provided.

In a preferred embodiment of the tire pressure sensor assembly according to the present invention, the elastic expansion member protrudes from the rod portion at a height when engaged into the retention hole, which is greater than a height at which it protrudes from the rod portion when inserted through the side hole main body portion.

In a preferred embodiment of the tire pressure sensor assembly according to the present invention, a spring is provided in the rod part to provide an elastic force to the elastic expansion member.

In a preferred embodiment of the tire pressure sensor assembly according to the present invention, the air guide groove has inwardly inclined sidewalls to apply an increasing compressive force to the elastic expansion member.

In a preferred embodiment of the tire pressure sensor assembly according to the present invention, the connecting mechanism further comprises a key subassembly fitted over the stem portion, the key subassembly having:

a sub-spring or leaf spring embedded in the key sub-assembly; and

at least one guide projection vertically pressed against the resilient telescopic element engaged in the retention hole in the extended state.

In a preferred embodiment of the tire pressure sensor assembly according to the present invention, the elastic expansion member is a ball, a spring or an insert.

In a preferred embodiment of the tire pressure sensor assembly according to the present invention, the shape of the elastic expansion member is a sphere, a cylinder, a cone, a cuboid or a cube.

In a preferred embodiment of the tire pressure sensor assembly according to the present invention, the tire pressure sensor main body is further provided with a tire pressure vent hole, and the stem portion is provided with an air outlet hole.

In another preferred embodiment of the tire pressure sensor assembly according to the present invention, the connection mechanism includes:

a side hole connection part provided at a side of the tire pressure sensor body, for receiving a stem part of the valve;

at least one positioning groove arranged on the rod part;

an elastic fastening tab having one end provided with a positioning hole and the other end fixed to an attachment groove of the tire pressure sensor body, and having at least one positioning protrusion extending outward perpendicularly to a side portion thereof, the positioning protrusion being capable of being inserted into and engaged with the positioning groove;

a concave hole provided in the tire pressure sensor body and concentrically arranged with the positioning hole of the elastic fastening piece; and

a screw passing through the positioning hole and the recessed hole to fix the elastic fastening piece with the tire pressure sensor body;

wherein the screw has a tightened state in which the elastic fastening plate is closely attached to the tire pressure sensor body and a loosened state; in the loosened state, one end of the elastic fastening piece with the positioning hole is spaced from the surface of the tire pressure sensor main body with the concave hole by a certain distance; and

wherein a protruding height of the positioning protrusion is set to be smaller than the distance.

In another preferred embodiment of the tire pressure sensor assembly according to the present invention, the other end of the elastic fastening tab is fixed to the tire pressure sensor body by means of bonding or in-mold injection.

In another preferred embodiment of the tire pressure sensor assembly according to the present invention, the tire pressure sensor main body is further provided with an air guide groove and a tire pressure vent hole, and the rod portion is provided with an air outlet hole.

In the tire pressure sensor assembly according to the present invention, the stem portion of the valve is a copper stem.

The invention also provides a wheel which comprises the tire pressure sensor assembly, wherein the main body part of the inflating valve in the tire pressure sensor assembly is connected with the hub of the wheel in an interference fit manner.

Drawings

The invention will be better understood in connection with the following non-limiting exemplary embodiments with reference to the following drawings. It should be understood that the figures are non-limiting, are not necessarily drawn to scale, and that some features may not be shown or labeled based on the limitations of the figures. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an integrated tire pressure sensor assembly of the prior art;

fig. 2 is a perspective view of a tire pressure sensor assembly having a split structure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a perspective view of a tire pressure sensor in the tire pressure sensor assembly of fig. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a valve in the tire pressure sensor assembly of FIG. 2;

fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the tire pressure sensor assembly of fig. 2;

FIG. 6 is a different embodiment of the resilient bellows in the coupling mechanism of the tire pressure sensor assembly of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic view of the tire pressure sensor assembly of fig. 2 mounted to a wheel;

fig. 8 is an exploded perspective view of a tire pressure sensor assembly having a split structure according to another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the tire pressure sensor assembly of fig. 8 in an assembled state, but with the screws in the attachment mechanism not tightened;

FIG. 10 is an assembly schematic view of the tire pressure sensor assembly of FIG. 8 when coupled with a valve;

fig. 11 is a schematic view of the tire pressure sensor assembly of fig. 8 mounted to a hub of a vehicle wheel; and

fig. 12 is another schematic view of the tire pressure sensor assembly of fig. 8 mounted to a hub of a wheel.

Detailed Description

It is to be understood that the following embodiments are illustrative only and are not limiting of the invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the claims. It should also be understood that not all of the features of the embodiments described below need be included in the practice of the present invention, and that various combinations of these features are possible.

In this document, the terms "upper", "lower", "inner" and "outer" are used for convenience of description with reference to the accompanying drawings, and are not meant to limit the scope of the present invention.

Further, those skilled in the art will appreciate that not all of the components in the tire pressure sensor assembly are necessarily described in detail herein for the sake of brevity.

Referring to fig. 2 to 5, a tire pressure sensor assembly 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. As shown in fig. 2 to 5, the tire pressure sensor assembly 100 has a split type structure including: a tire pressure sensor having a tire pressure sensor main body 1; a valve 3 having a stem portion 7, a body portion 8 and a valve cap 12; and a connecting mechanism via which the tire pressure sensor and the valve 3 are connected together; wherein the main body portion 8 of the valve 3 is made of a rubber material.

Referring again to fig. 2-5, the connection mechanism in the tire pressure sensor assembly 100 is further described. The connecting mechanism includes: two

elastic bellows

9a, 9b, provided in the stem 7 of the valve 3, having an extended condition, in which the

elastic bellows

9a, 9b project outwards from the surface of the stem 7 and have a maximum projecting height H, and a retracted condition, in which the

elastic bellows

9a, 9b are retracted into the stem 7 and flush with the surface of the stem 7 (i.e. have a height of 0); a side hole connection part 81 provided at a side of the tire pressure sensor body 1 for receiving the stem part 7 of the valve 3;

the side hole connection part 81 includes: two

air guide grooves

14a, 14b, provided at one end of the side hole connection 81 and outside the side hole connection 81 (i.e., grooved outward from the side hole connection 81), capable of receiving the elastic

extensible members

9a, 9b in the extended state;

retention holes

13a, 13b provided at the other end of the side hole connecting part 81, preferably on both elastic retention tabs 17a, 17b of the side hole connecting part, into which

retention holes

13a, 13b the

elastic expanders

9a, 9b in the extended state can be engaged, thereby locking the valve mouth 3 and the tire pressure sensor body 1 together; and, one side hole main body portion (i.e., inner hole portion) whose inner diameter D and the outer diameter D of the rod portion 7 are sized so as to satisfy: d is not less than D and less than D + H.

The connection process of the valve 3 and the tire pressure sensor main body 1 of the tire pressure sensor assembly 100 via the connection mechanism is as follows:

the configuration of the side hole connection 81 of the connection mechanism is such that the stem 7 of the valve 3 has an insertion process: firstly, the rod 7 with the

elastic expanders

9a, 9b runs in the

air guide grooves

14a, 14b of the side hole connection 81, the air guide grooves on the outside being able to put the

elastic expanders

9a, 9b in the extended state; then, the rod 7 is further inserted, entering the lateral hole body, so that, due to the definition of the internal diameter of the latter, the

elastic bellows

9a, 9b are subjected to a pressure in the vertical direction, causing them to travel in the retracted condition (with an internal diameter equal to the external diameter of the rod) or in the extended condition (with an elastic bellows having a height less than its maximum extended height H); finally, the rod 7 travels to the

retention holes

13a, 13b of the elastic retention tabs 17a, 17b, the pressure in the vertical direction received by the

elastic expanders

9a, 9b is suddenly released and engages into the

retention holes

13a, 13b, thereby locking the valve mouth 3 and the tire pressure sensor body 1 together.

It will be appreciated that the resilient

telescopic elements

9a, 9b, when engaged in the

retention holes

13a, 13b, protrude from the stem 7 to a greater height than they protrude from the stem 7 when inserted through the side hole body, thereby enabling a locking function.

As shown in fig. 4, a spring 10 is provided in the stem portion 7 of the valve 3 between the

elastic bellows

9a, 9b to provide an elastic force to the

elastic bellows

9a, 9b while ensuring that the elastic bellows can protrude out of the surface of the stem portion 7 when not being subjected to a pressure in the vertical direction.

Preferably, the

air guide grooves

14a, 14b in the side hole connection 81 may have inwardly inclined side walls to apply an increasing compressive force to the

elastic expansion members

9a, 9 b.

Referring to fig. 1 and 5, the connection mechanism of the tire pressure sensor assembly may further include a key subassembly 2 fitted over the rod part 7, the key subassembly 2 having: a sub-spring (or dome) 16 embedded in the key subassembly 2; and two guide projections 18a, 18b, vertically pressed against said

elastic bellows

9a, 9b engaged in said

retention holes

13a, 13b in said extended condition.

When the key subassembly 2 is pressed, the guide protrusions 18a, 18b apply a force in the vertical direction to the

elastic expanders

9a, 9b, respectively, forcing the

elastic expanders

9a, 9b to be withdrawn from the

retention holes

13a, 13 b. Thereby, the valve 3 is easily separated from the tire pressure sensor body 1.

It will be appreciated that the

resilient bellows

9a, 9b may be a snap bead (as shown schematically in figure 4), a spring or an insert.

In addition, the shape of the elastic expansion members may be a sphere, a cylinder, a cone, a rectangular parallelepiped, or a cube, or any other suitable shape, and the number of the elastic expansion members is not particularly limited, and may be one or more. In fig. 6 different embodiments of the elastic expansion means are shown, such as a stem 7 'with two elastic expansion means 9 a', or a stem 7 "with one elastic expansion means 9 a".

For the tire pressure sensor assembly 100, it has plug-and-play's split type structure, easy dismounting, easy operation to no screw is fixed, has avoided the screw to shake the problem that the environment work easily drops for a long time, but realizes reliably connecting through a coupling mechanism as above.

As shown in fig. 7, in the tire pressure sensor assembly 100, the tire pressure vent hole 15 is further formed on the tire pressure sensor main body, the tire pressure sensor assembly 100 is assembled to the hub 20 of the tire 21, and the tire pressure monitoring of the tire 21 is realized by the air valve and the air outlet holes 11a and 11b formed on the stem, and then communicated with the tire pressure sensor through the

air guide grooves

14a and 14b and the tire pressure vent hole 15.

Referring next to fig. 8 to 12, a tire pressure sensor assembly 100' according to another embodiment of the present invention is shown. In this tire pressure sensor assembly 100', the connection mechanism includes: a side hole connection part 81 'provided at a side of the tire pressure sensor body 1' for receiving the stem part 7 'of the valve 3'; two positioning grooves 7a, 7b arranged on the rod part 7'; an elastic fastening plate 4 having one end provided with a positioning hole 42 and the other end 41 fixed to one attachment groove 31 of the tire pressure sensor body 1', and the elastic fastening plate 4 having two positioning protrusions 4a, 4b extending outward perpendicularly to the side thereof, the positioning protrusions 4a, 4b being capable of being inserted into and engaged with the positioning grooves 7a, 7 b; a concave hole 32 provided in the tire pressure sensor body 1 and concentrically arranged with the positioning hole 42 of the elastic fastening plate 4; and a screw 5 passing through the positioning hole 42 and the recessed hole 32 to fix the elastic fastening plate 4 with the tire pressure sensor body 1; wherein the screw 5 has a tightened state in which the elastic fastening plate 4 is attached to the tire pressure sensor body 1 and a loosened state; in the loosened state, the end of the elastic fastening tab 4 with the positioning hole 42 is spaced a distance D from the surface of the tire pressure sensor body 1 with the concave-in hole 32 (the state shown in fig. 9); and wherein the protruding height of the positioning protrusions 4a, 4b is set to be smaller than the distance D.

The connection process of the air valve 3' and the tire pressure sensor body 1' of the tire pressure sensor assembly 100' via the connection mechanism is as follows:

first, one end 41 of the elastic fastening tab 4 is aligned with the attachment groove 31 of the tire pressure sensor body 1 'by means of bonding or in-mold injection, while the positioning hole 42 of the other end of the elastic fastening tab 4 is concentrically aligned with the female hole 32 of the tire pressure sensor body 1';

secondly, the screw 5 is preliminarily installed into the positioning hole 42 and the recessed hole 32 without tightening the screw 5, and then the stem portion 7' of the valve 3' is inserted into the side hole connecting portion 81 ' of the tire pressure sensor body 1' to be fitted in place such that the

positioning grooves

7a, 7b on the stem portion 7' are respectively brought into mating engagement with the

positioning projections

4a, 4b on the elastic fastening piece 4;

finally, the screw 5 is screwed down to realize the locking and fixing between the inflating valve 3 'and the tire pressure sensor body 1'.

During the assembly of the tire pressure sensor assembly 100', since the screw 5 is not tightened and the protruding height of the

positioning protrusions

4a, 4b is set to be less than the distance D (i.e., the distance by which the end of the elastic fastening piece 4 with the positioning hole 42 is spaced from the surface of the tire pressure sensor body 1' with the recessed hole 32, as shown in fig. 9), the design of this "assembly step" does not affect the insertion of the stem portion 7' of the valve mouth 3' in the side hole connecting portion 81 '. In addition, in the process of detachment, as long as the screws 5 are appropriately loosened, the

positioning projections

4a, 4b of the elastic fastening piece 4 are upwardly ejected from the

positioning grooves

7a, 7b, whereby the valve 3' can be easily pulled out, and detachment and attachment are very easy.

Preferably, in the tire air pressure sensor assembly 100', the other end 41 of the elastic fastening tab 4 is fixed to the attachment groove 31 of the tire air pressure sensor body 1' by means of bonding or in-mold injection.

As shown in fig. 11 to 12, in the tire pressure sensor assembly 100', the tire pressure sensor main body 1' is further provided with air guide grooves 14a ', 14 b' and a tire pressure vent hole 15 ', and the stem portion 7' is provided with air outlet holes 11a ', 11 b'; after the tire pressure sensor assembly 100 'is assembled to the wheel hub 20', the tire 21 'is mounted, and the tire pressure monitoring of the wheel tire 21' is realized by communicating the air valve 3', the air outlet holes 11 a', 11b 'on the rod portion 7', the air guide grooves 14a ', 14 b' on the tire pressure sensor body 1 'and the tire pressure vent hole 15' with the tire pressure sensor.

In the tire pressure sensor assembly of the present invention, the stem portions 7, 7 'of the air valves 3, 3' are preferably copper rods.

In the tire pressure sensor assembly 100', the inflating valve 3' and the tire pressure sensor body 1 'are connected by the elastic fastening piece 4, which is more reliable than direct fixation by only using screws, and the difficulty of the assembly and disassembly process is greatly reduced by the design of' assembly section difference 'between the elastic fastening piece 4 and the tire pressure sensor body 1'; this split configuration of the tire pressure sensor assembly 100' also does not render the entire assembly unusable due to damage to one of the components.

In addition, in the tire pressure sensor assembly, the main body part of the inflating valve is made of rubber materials, so that the tire pressure sensor assembly can well cope with the external environment, and the problems of aging, brittleness, corrosion and the like can be avoided.

It is to be understood that any improvements, variations or modifications to the present invention without departing from the true spirit thereof are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.

List of reference markers:

1. 1', 1 ": a tire pressure sensor main body;

2: a key subassembly;

3. 3': an air valve;

3": a hardware valve;

4: an elastic fastening tab;

41: one end of the elastic fastening piece;

42: positioning holes of the elastic fastening pieces;

4a, 4 b: a positioning protrusion;

5: a screw;

5": hardware nuts;

7. 7', 7 ": a rod portion;

7a, 7 b: positioning a groove;

8. 8': a main body portion;

9a, 9b, 9 a', 9a ": an elastic extensible member;

10: a spring;

11a, 11b, 11a ', 11 b', 11 ": an air outlet;

12: a valve cap:

13a, 13 b: a position-retaining hole;

14a, 14b, 14a ', 14 b': a gas guide groove;

15. 15': a tire pressure vent hole;

16: a sub-spring (or leaf spring);

17a, 17 b: an elastic retention tab;

18a, 18 b: a guide projection;

20. 20', 20 ": a hub;

21. 21', 21 ": a tire;

31: an attachment slot;

32: a female aperture;

81. 81': a side hole connection part;

100. 100': a tire pressure sensor assembly.

Claims

1. A tire pressure sensor assembly, its characterized in that, this tire pressure sensor assembly has split type structure, includes:

a tire pressure sensor having a tire pressure sensor main body;

a valve having a stem portion, a body portion and a valve cap; and

the main body part of the inflating valve is made of rubber materials;

wherein the connecting mechanism comprises:

at least one positioning groove arranged on the rod part;

wherein a protrusion height of the positioning protrusion is set to be smaller than the distance.

2. The tire pressure sensor assembly of claim 1, wherein the other end of the elastic fastening tab is fixed to the tire pressure sensor body by means of bonding or in-mold injection.

3. The tire pressure sensor assembly of claim 1, wherein the tire pressure sensor body is further provided with an air guide groove and a tire pressure vent hole, and the rod portion is provided with an air outlet hole.

4. The tire pressure sensor assembly of claim 1, wherein the stem portion of the valve is a copper stem.

5. A vehicle wheel comprising a tire pressure sensor assembly according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the main body portion of the valve in the tire pressure sensor assembly is connected to the hub of the vehicle wheel by an interference fit.