PERISTALTIC TUBE AIR MAINTENANCE TIRE ASSEMBLY AND METHOD

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tire assembly incorporating air maintenance function for compensating for a decrease in tire air pressure as a time passes by inflating a tire again without the intervention of a driver.SOLUTION: An elongate air tube 84 is positioned in a tire sidewall cavity in contacting internal engagement with the tire sidewall 30 to form an assembly. The air tube 84 includes an internal elliptic elongate air passageway 86 and wing projections projecting in opposite directions at an axially inward body portion. The wing projections seat within cavity pockets 106, 108 to retain the air tube 84 within the cavity. An air tube body operatively compresses responsive to impinging stress forces from the tire sidewall 30 against the air tube body, whereby the air tube body reconfiguring from an expanded unstressed configuration into a compressed configuration to constrict the air passageway. The air tube body decompresses into the expanded configuration upon reduction of the impinging stress forces against the air tube body.