Air pump valve head for gripping both schrader and presta valves

摘要

The valve head of the present invention is designed for engaging both a Schrader and a Presta valve. It includes a housing having generally cylindrical sidewalls and a base wall. A collet is disposed within the housing. The collet has generally cylindrical sidewalls and a plurality of upwardly extending collet fingers. A generally cylindrical gasket member is disposed within the collet. The gasket is composed of a resilient material and has a valve insertion bore formed centrally therethrough. A camming lever is operably engaged to the collet and functions to pull the collet downwardly into the housing. The downward movement of the collet causes the collet fingers to move inwardly, thereby creating an inwardly directed force upon the resilient gasket such that the diameter of the gasket bore is reduced. When a Schrader valve is disposed within the gasket bore, a valve pin depression tip acts to depress the Schrader valve pin, thus permitting pumped air to flow through the Schrader valve. When a Presta valve is disposed within the gasket bore, the tip is prevented from applying undue force to the Presta valve pin by a flexible mounting of the tip within the valve head.