JP2008132943A - Device for guiding air into tire - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To restrict lowering of the pneumatic pressure of a tire due to a natural leakage of oxygen in the air filled in a tire air chamber. <P>SOLUTION: In a TPMS valve unit 18A fitted to a wheel rim 14a and formed with an air guide path 30 communicating the inside of the tire air chamber 16 with the outside thereof so as to guide air into the tire air chamber 16, a deoxidant 34 is arranged in the air guide path 30. The air guide path 30 is formed to pass through both of the air guide path 30 and a tire pneumatic pressure detecting portion 22. The deoxidant 34 is arranged in a second air guide path 30b, a part passing through the tire pneumatic pressure detecting portion 22 out of the air guide path 30. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an in-tire air introducing device, and more particularly to an in-tire air filling device in which an air introducing path that communicates the inside and the outside of a tire air chamber is formed so that air can be introduced into the tire air chamber.

  A vehicle tire is used in a state where air is filled in a tire chamber. Ordinary air is generally used as the air filled in the tire chamber, but the air contains moisture. A tubular passage having a desiccant so that the filling gas can be dried through the desiccant so as to remove moisture contained in the air filled in the tire air chamber and prevent rusting of the carcass ply cord and the like inside the tire. An air-filling device for tires having a tire is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

On the other hand, in recent years, in order to realize safer driving of vehicles, development of a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS: Tire Pressure Monitoring System) that informs the driver by wirelessly transmitting information such as tire pressure to the vehicle body It has been. In this tire air pressure monitoring system, a unit including an air pressure sensor that detects tire air pressure is often connected to a tire valve and fixed to a wheel rim (for example, see Patent Document 2). A technique for disposing an oxygen scavenger inside a housing of an electronic component disposed in a tire chamber is disclosed in order to suppress oxidation of the electronic component provided in such a unit (see, for example, Patent Document 3). In addition, a pressure detection device in which a vacuum bell rose is installed in a casing in order to suppress deterioration of internal components due to oxygen is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 4).
JP-A-5-346179 JP 2001-174356 A JP 2001-354018 A JP-A-6-247112

  The air filled in the tire chamber contains oxygen in addition to moisture. Moisture and oxygen are more likely to naturally leak from the tire chamber than nitrogen contained in the air. For this reason, filling normal air in the tire chamber may lead to a decrease in tire air pressure. Although a method of filling the tire chamber with nitrogen gas is also conceivable, stores that handle nitrogen gas are limited, and it is actually difficult to fill the tire chamber with nitrogen gas. Nitrogen gas is generally expensive, and it is difficult to reduce the cost when filling the tire chamber with nitrogen gas compared to filling the air.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a subject, The objective is to suppress that the oxygen in the air with which the tire air chamber was filled naturally leaked, and to reduce a tire air pressure.

  In order to solve the above problems, an in-tire air introducing device according to an aspect of the present invention is attached to a wheel rim and communicates the inside and outside of the tire chamber so that air can be introduced into the tire chamber. In an in-tire air filling device in which an air introduction path is formed, an oxygen scavenger is disposed in the air introduction path.

  According to this aspect, the component ratio of oxygen in the air that passes through the air introduction path and is introduced into the tire chamber can be reduced. For this reason, it is possible to suppress a decrease in tire air pressure due to natural leakage of oxygen filled in the tire chamber.

  A valve unit fixed to the wheel rim, and a tire pressure detecting unit fixed to the valve unit and detecting the tire air pressure and transmitting the detected tire air pressure to the outside as tire air pressure information may be further provided. The air introduction path may be formed so as to penetrate both the valve part and the tire air pressure detection part, and the oxygen scavenger may be disposed in a portion of the air introduction path that penetrates the tire air pressure detection part. According to this aspect, it is possible to provide a space for disposing the oxygen scavenger in the air introduction path using the space inside the tire air pressure detection unit.

  A valve unit fixed to the wheel rim, and a tire pressure detecting unit fixed to the valve unit and detecting the tire air pressure and transmitting the detected tire air pressure to the outside as tire air pressure information may be further provided. The air introduction path may be formed so as to penetrate at least the valve part, and the oxygen scavenger may be disposed in a portion of the air introduction path that penetrates the valve part. According to this aspect, it is possible to avoid the space inside the tire air pressure detection unit being occupied by the oxygen scavenger, and to ensure the degree of freedom of arranging components such as the air pressure sensor inside the tire air pressure detection unit. be able to.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it can suppress that the oxygen in the air with which the tire air chamber was filled naturally leaks, and a tire air pressure falls.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as “embodiments”) will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a wheel 10 to which a TPMS valve unit 18A according to the first embodiment is attached. FIG. 1 shows a cross section by a plane including the center of the TPMS valve unit 18A and the central axis of the wheel 10. The wheel 10 includes a tire 12 and a wheel 14. The wheel 14 has a wheel rim 14a formed in a cylindrical shape. A tire air chamber 16 is formed as a space partitioned by the inner surface of the tire 12 and the outer peripheral surface of the wheel rim 14a.

  A vehicle having wheels 10 is provided with a tire pressure monitoring system. Therefore, the TPMS valve unit 18A is attached to the wheel rim 14a in order to detect the tire air pressure in the tire chamber 16. The TPMS valve unit 18 </ b> A includes a valve unit 20 and a tire air pressure detection unit 22.

  The valve portion 20 is formed in an elongated cylindrical shape, and a male screw portion is provided on the outermost part. The tire air pressure detection unit 22 includes a casing 36 and a bush 38. The casing 36 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape and is fixed to one end of the valve unit 20. The bush 38 is formed in an annular shape and is attached so as to surround a portion of the outer surface of the tire air pressure detection unit 22 where the valve unit 20 is fixed.

  The valve portion 20 is inserted from the inside of the tire chamber 16 into a mounting hole 14b provided in the wheel rim 14a, and a nut 26 is fastened to the male thread portion of the valve portion 20 protruding outward via a spacer 24. Thereby, the wheel rim 14a is clamped by the bush 38 and the spacer 24, and the TPMS valve unit 18A is fixed to the wheel rim 14a. The tire air pressure detection unit 22 is disposed in the tire chamber 16 when the valve unit 20 is fixed to the wheel rim 14a.

  Inside the casing 36, a printed circuit board (not shown), a battery (not shown), a pneumatic sensor (not shown), and a transmitter (not shown) are provided. The battery supplies power to the printed circuit board, air pressure sensor, and transmitter. The air pressure sensor detects the air pressure in the tire chamber 16. The detection result of the air pressure sensor is tire pressure information on the printed circuit board, and the transmitter wirelessly transmits the tire pressure information to the outside.

  The receiver provided on the vehicle body receives the tire pressure information transmitted from the TPMS valve unit 18A and outputs the tire pressure information to the electronic control unit also provided on the vehicle body. The electronic control unit displays the detected tire pressure on a display (not shown) provided in the vehicle interior using the input tire pressure information. As a result, the driver can easily check the tire air pressure, and can quickly recognize a decrease in tire air pressure or tire damage. Thus, the TPMS valve unit 18A functions as a wheel state detection device that detects a wheel state such as tire air pressure and wirelessly transmits the detected wheel state to the outside as wheel state information.

  The TPMS valve unit 18 </ b> A has an air introduction path 30 that communicates the inside and the outside of the tire chamber 16 so that air can be introduced into the tire chamber 16. Therefore, the TPMS valve unit 18 </ b> A also functions as an in-tire air introducing device that introduces air into the tire chamber 16. The air introduction path 30 is formed so as to penetrate both the valve unit 20 and the tire air pressure detection unit 22. Specifically, the air introduction path 30 is configured by a first air introduction path 30 a formed inside the cylindrical valve portion 20 and a second air introduction path 30 b formed inside the tire air pressure detection unit 22. The

  Normal air is used as the air introduced into the tire chamber 16. The air contains moisture and oxygen, which are more likely to naturally leak from the tire chamber 16 than nitrogen contained in the air. For this reason, in the TPMS valve unit 18A according to the first embodiment, the chemical agent enclosing unit 32 is provided in the tire air pressure detection unit 22 in order to suppress a decrease in tire air pressure due to natural leakage of moisture and oxygen.

  The chemical agent enclosure 32 is formed in a cylindrical or hollow rectangular shape, and a chemical agent enclosure chamber 32a is provided inside. In the chemical agent enclosure chamber 32a, an oxygen scavenger 34 and a dehydrating agent 35 are enclosed. The oxygen scavenger 34 has a function of removing oxygen from the surrounding air. As the oxygen scavenger 34, for example, an antioxidant or the like is used. The dehydrating agent 35 has a function of removing moisture from the surrounding air. As the dehydrating agent 35, for example, a desiccant such as silica gel is used.

  The chemical agent sealing portion 32 is disposed in the middle of the second air introduction path 30b, and air passage holes are provided at both ends so as to communicate the inside and the outside of the tire chamber 16. For this reason, the chemical agent enclosure chamber 32a of the chemical agent enclosure 32 constitutes a part of the second air introduction path 30b.

  When the worker fills the tire air chamber 16 with air, the air flows from the first air introduction passage 30a to the second air introduction passage 30b, passes through the chemical agent enclosure chamber 32a, and is supplied to the tire air chamber 16. Is done. For this reason, part or all of the oxygen introduced into the tire chamber 16 is removed by the oxygen scavenger 34 and part or all of the water is removed by the dehydrating agent 35. Thus, the tire air chamber 16 is filled with air in which oxygen and moisture, which are likely to naturally leak, are reduced, thereby suppressing a decrease in tire air pressure.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the wheel 10 to which the TPMS valve unit 18B according to the second embodiment is attached. FIG. 2 also shows a cross section by a plane including the center of the TPMS valve unit 18B and the central axis of the wheel 10. The point that the TPMS valve unit 18B functions as a wheel state detection device is the same as the TPMS valve unit 18A. Hereinafter, the same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  The TPMS valve unit 18B includes a valve unit 40 and a tire air pressure detection unit 42. The valve portion 20 is formed in an elongated cylindrical shape, and a male screw portion is provided on the outermost part of the valve portion 20. The tire air pressure detection unit 42 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape and is fixed to one end of the valve unit 40. The TPMS valve unit 18 </ b> B also has an air introduction path 50 that communicates the inside and the outside of the tire chamber 16 so that air can be introduced into the tire chamber 16. For this reason, the TPMS valve unit 18B also functions as a tire air introduction device. The air introduction path 50 is formed so as to penetrate both the valve section 40 and the tire air pressure detection section 42, and the first air introduction path 50 a formed inside the cylindrical valve section 20 and the inside of the tire air pressure detection section 22. The second air introduction path 50b is formed.

  In the TPMS valve unit 18B according to the second embodiment, a chemical agent sealing portion 40a is formed in the valve portion 40. The chemical agent enclosure 40 a is formed in a cylindrical shape having a larger diameter than the other parts of the valve unit 40. A chemical agent enclosure chamber 40b is formed around the inner peripheral surface of the chemical agent enclosure 40a so that the air passage is formed in the center. Since the air passing through the inside of the valve unit 40 also passes through the chemical agent enclosure chamber 40b, the chemical agent enclosure chamber 40b constitutes a part of the first air introduction path 50a. In the chemical agent enclosure chamber 40b, an oxygen scavenger 34 and a dehydrating agent 35 are enclosed.

  When the worker fills the tire air chamber 16 with air, the air passes through the chemical agent enclosure chamber 40b of the chemical agent enclosure 32 in the first air introduction passage 50a, and further passes through the second air introduction passage 50b. The tire air chamber 16 is supplied. For this reason, even if the oxygen scavenger 34 and the dehydrating agent 35 are arranged in the valve portion 40 in this way, part or all of the oxygen and moisture in the air introduced into the tire air chamber 16 can be removed.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and an appropriate combination of the elements of each embodiment is also effective as an embodiment of the present invention. Various modifications such as design changes can be added to each embodiment based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art, and embodiments to which such modifications are added can also be included in the scope of the present invention. Here are some examples.

  A chemical agent enclosure chamber for encapsulating the oxygen scavenger 34 and the dehydrating agent 35 may be provided in both the valve portion and the tire pressure detector. As a result, a large amount of oxygen and moisture can be removed from the air supplied to the tire chamber 16.

  A check valve that suppresses the outflow of air from the inside of the tire air chamber 16 to the outside may be provided in the air introduction path on the tire air chamber 16 side from the chemical agent enclosure chamber. As a result, oxygen and moisture remaining in the air filled in the tire air chamber 16 are removed by the oxygen scavenger and dehydrating agent in the chemical agent-sealed chamber, and a decrease in tire air pressure can be suppressed.

  In the second embodiment, the chemical agent enclosure chamber 40b is not formed around the inner peripheral surface of the chemical agent enclosure portion 40a so as to form an air passage in the center, but the entire area inside the chemical agent enclosure portion 40a. May be. As a result, all of the air introduced into the valve portion 40 passes through the periphery of the oxygen scavenger 34 and the dehydrating agent 35 in the chemical agent sealing chamber 40 b and is supplied to the tire air chamber 16. Therefore, more oxygen and moisture can be removed from the air supplied to the tire chamber 16 than when the oxygen scavenger 34 and the dehydrating agent 35 are arranged around the inner peripheral surface of the chemical agent sealing portion 40a. It becomes possible.

It is sectional drawing of the wheel with which the TPMS valve unit which concerns on 1st Embodiment was attached. It is sectional drawing of the wheel with which the TPMS valve unit which concerns on 2nd Embodiment was attached.

Explanation of symbols

  10 wheels, 12 tires, 14 wheels, 14a wheel rims, 16 tire chambers, 18A and 18B TPMS valve units, 20 valve sections, 22 tire air pressure detection sections, 30 air introduction paths, 30a first air introduction paths, 30b second Air introduction path, 32 Chemical agent enclosure, 32a Chemical agent enclosure, 34 Deoxygenating agent, 35 Dehydrating agent, 40 Valve part, 40a Chemical agent enclosure, 40b Chemical agent enclosure, 42 Tire pressure detector, 50 Air introduction Road, 50a first air introduction path, 50b second air introduction path.

Claims (3)

In the tire air filling device that is attached to the wheel rim and formed with an air introduction path that communicates the inside and outside of the tire chamber so that air can be introduced into the tire chamber.
An in-tire air introducing device, wherein an oxygen scavenger is disposed in the air introducing path. A valve portion fixed to the wheel rim;
A tire pressure detecting unit that is fixed to the valve unit and detects the tire pressure and wirelessly transmits the detected tire pressure to the outside as tire pressure information;
The air introduction path is formed so as to penetrate both the valve part and the tire air pressure detection part,
The in-tire air introduction device according to claim 1, wherein the oxygen scavenger is disposed in a portion of the air introduction path that penetrates the tire air pressure detection unit. A valve portion fixed to the wheel rim;
A tire pressure detecting unit that is fixed to the valve unit and detects the tire pressure and wirelessly transmits the detected tire pressure to the outside as tire pressure information;
The air introduction path is formed so as to penetrate at least the valve portion,
The in-tire air introduction device according to claim 1, wherein the oxygen scavenger is disposed in a portion of the air introduction path that penetrates the valve portion.

Images