Fluid handling – Inflatable article – With pressure-responsive pressure-control means
Reexamination Certificate
1998-11-13
2002-04-30
Rivell, John (Department: 3753)
Fluid handling
Inflatable article
With pressure-responsive pressure-control means
C137S223000, C137S614200, C251S149800
Reexamination Certificate
active
06378547
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention concerns an activating pin for a valve connector for connecting to inflation valves, the connector comprising a housing to be connected to a pressure source, within the housing a coupling hole having a central axis and an inner diameter approximately corresponding to the outer diameter of the inflation valve to which the valve connector is to be connected, and a cylinder and means for conducting gaseous media between the cylinder and the pressure source, and which activating pin is arranged for engaging with a central spring-force operated core pin of the inflation valve, is arranged to be situated within the housing in continuation of the coupling hole coaxially with the central axis thereof and comprises a piston part with a piston, which piston is to be positioned in the cylinder movably between a first piston position and a second piston position.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is well-known from PCT/DK96/00055, now U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/837,505, herein incorporated by reference, that an activating pin located within the coupling house can be designed as a piston equipped with a suitable seal and a piston rod that is slidable in the cylinder-shaped coupling house. The piston can be held in a longitudinal position against the cylinder valve without applying physical force so that the piston automatically slides, after the valve connector is placed on the inflation valve, by means of compressed air. This compressed air comes from the pressure source such that the piston, in the proximal position to the valve, (1) opens up the inner valve, (2) opens the air passage to the valve and, (3) tightens less than 100% against the cylinder wall while in the distal position from the valve.
FIG. 14 in PCT/DK96/00055 shows a valve (360) which must be closed against the piston control. The disadvantage is that the above-mentioned two seals must be operational at a certain section of the sliding. This requires very accurate calibration of the cylinder wall and the piston movement. Furthermore, the piston has a precisely defined opening zone and can thus only adjust itself to a minor extent to the tolerances of the pump valve in question.
FIGS. 8, 9, 10, 14, and 15 in PCT/DK96/00055 show various activating pins equipped with a center blind drilling or a center drilling, side drillings and a V-shaped milling at the bottom which is perpendicular to the center axial drilling of the piston. The effect of this is that more force than necessary has to be applied when pumping, especially at high air velocities.
FIG. 9 in PCT/DK96/00055 shows an activating pin which has a center drilling, side drillings and a V-shaped milling at the bottom. When the coupling is connected to e.g. a high pressure pump with a built-in check valve, the spring keeps the valve of the activating pin in a closed position after uncoupling of a Schrader valve. If a tire with a Sclaverand valve has to be pumped immediately afterwards, one has to apply a large force to slide the activating pin which opens the inner valve of the Sclaverand valve. Air will escape and consequently the pumping time will be substantially longer if the tire has already been partly pumped. This last-mentioned problem also exists in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 10 and 15 in PCT/DK96/00055.
THE OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
The purpose of the present invention is to produce a reliable activating pin which is: (1) inexpensive, (2) has low aerodynamic drag making it comfortable to use for pumping purposes, and (3) provides the shortest possible pumping time.
These tasks are solved by the invention where the activating pin further comprises a valve part, the piston part comprises within it a channel, the cross-section of said channel is, at least one part of said piston part, consisting of sectors, wherein in each sector the distance between the center point of the channel cross-section and the outermost limiting surface of the channel is larger than the corresponding distance measured along the line separating the sector from an adjacent sector, and said valve part is positioned movably with respect to said piston part between a first valve position and a second valve position for enabling the conduction of gaseous and/or liquid media through said channel when said valve part is in said first valve position, and inhibiting the conduction of gaseous and/or liquid media through said channel when said valve part is in said second valve position.
The channels are positioned in a mainly longitudinal direction in relation to the center axis of the housing, and can be defined by at least one cross section which approximately can be defined by at least one curve. The curve is closed and can be defined by two unique modular parametrisation Fourier Series expansions, one for each co-ordinate function:
f
(
x
)
=
c
0
2
+
∑
p
=
1
∞
c
p
cos
(
px
)
+
∑
p
=
1
∞
d
p
sin
(
px
)
where
c
p
=
2
π
∫
0
π
f
(
x
)
cos
(
px
)
ⅆ
x
d
p
=
2
π
∫
0
π
f
(
x
)
sin
(
px
)
ⅆ
x
0
≦x≦
2&pgr;,
x&egr;R
p≧
0
,p&egr;N
c
p
=cos-weighted average values of f(x),
d
p
=sin-weighted average values of f(x),
p=representing the order of trigonometrical fineness
thereby resulting in a large flow cross section area. All kinds of closed curves can be described with this formula, e.g. a C-curve. One characteristic of these curves is that when a line is drawn from the mathematical pole which lies in the section plane it will intersect the curve at least one time. A regular curve bounding a region which is symmetric with reference to at least one line which lies in the section plane through the mathematical pole can be defined by a single Fourier Series expansion:
f
(
x
)
=
c
0
2
+
∑
p
=
1
∞
c
p
cos
(
px
)
where
c
p
=
2
π
∫
0
π
f
(
x
)
cos
(
px
)
ⅆ
x
0≦
x≦
2
&pgr;,x&egr;R
p≧
0,
p&egr;N
c
p
=weighted average values of f(x),
p=representing the order of trigonometrical fineness.
When a line is drawn from the mathematical pole it will always intersect the curve only one time. In order to minimize the aerodynamic friction the channels are positioned mainly parallel to the centerline of the activating pin.
When the curves are approximately defined by the following formula, the cross section area of the channels is optimized by a certain given cross section: e.g. a section which combines approximately laminar flow and which can guide a central piston valve rod. It is then also possible to obtain a contact area for a Schrader valve core. This means that a bridge is unnecessary. In the following description, curves defined by the formula have been given the name “flower-shaped”. The formula is:
f
(
x
)
=
c
0
2
+
∑
p
=
1
∞
c
p
cos
(
3
px
)
where
f
(
x
)
=
r
0
+
a
·
sin
2
(
n
2
)
x
2
m
c
p
=
6
π
∫
0
π
3
f
(
x
)
cos
(
3
px
)
ⅆ
x
0
≦x≦
2
&pgr;,x&egr;R
p≦
0
,p&egr;N
c
p
=weighted average values of f(x),
p=representing the order of trigonometrical fineness
and where this cross-section in polar co-ordinates approximately is represented by the following formula:
r
=
r
0
+
a
·
&LeftBracketingBar;
sin
(
n
2
ϕ
)
&RightBracketingBar;
m
where
r
0
≧0,
a≧0,
m≧0, m&egr;R,
n≧0, n&egr;R,
0≦&phgr;≦2&pgr;,
and where
r=the limit of the “petals” in the circular cross section of the activating pin,
r
0
=the radius of the circular cross section around the axis of the activating pin,
a=the scale factor for the length of the “petals”,
r
max
=r
0
+a,
m=the parameter for definition of the “petal” width,
n=the parameter for definition of the number of “petals”,
&phgr;&equal
NVB International
Price and Gess
Rivell John
Schoenfeld Meredith
LandOfFree
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