Signals and indicators – Indicators – Operator movable
Patent
1983-08-12
1985-10-08
Woodiel, Donald O.
Signals and indicators
Indicators
Operator movable
116 34R, G09F 900
Patent
active
045452466
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to a vehicle tire valve cap with tire pressure indicating means.
It is important for safety and other reasons that pneumatic tires of vehicles be inflated to correct pressures. However the correct pressures of the tires of any given vehicle are often not known or present to the mind of the vehicle owner or other person wishing to check or inflate the tires. In order to avoid this circumstance it has been proposed to display a number representing the correct tire pressure on each vehicle wheel or on a disc carried by the tire valve dust cap.
The foregoing proposals do not provide or do not conveniently provide for variation of the indicated pressure. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device which affords an advantage in this respect.
According to the present invention there is provided a tire cap bearing numerals for visually indicating a tire pressure value, characterised in that the cap incorporates relatively displaceable components forming co-operating parts of a tire pressure selection indicator bearing numerals for indicating various tire pressure values, which recorder by relative displacement of said components can be set to indicate any selected one of such values.
The invention affords significant advantages. Identical caps according to the invention can be fitted to tires requiring different inflation pressures, the caps being individually set to display the correct pressure. This is of particular advantage for example to merchants supplying and fitting replacement tires of a range of different specifications for a variety of vehicles. Caps according to the invention can also of course be marketed separately as an accessory suitable for various user requirements. A user can at any time easily alter the indicated pressure if required, e.g. when fitting the cap to the valve of a different tire or when a given tire is inflated to an above-normal pressure suitable for prolonged high speed travel.
The cap is preferably provided with a female screw profile enabling it to be screwed onto a standard tire valve body in the same way as a conventional dust cap. But the cap can as an alternative be formed for connection to a tire valve body in some other manner.
One component of the cap can for example be a slide component which is linearly slidable relative to the other component either to bring a marker on the slide into register with one of a number of different pressure values displayed on the other component, or to unmask a said displayed value.
An indicator working on a linear slide principle as just described cannot however display many different pressure values while keeping the cap to reasonably small dimensions. In more favoured embodiments of the invention, the indicator comprises numerals distributed around an axis of the cap and the relative angular position of said components about such axis is variable for varying the setting of the indicator. The numerals may for example be displayed at the top of the cap. A said rotary arrangement enables more pressure values to be included in a cap of given dimensions. Preferably the said components can be relatively rotated about said axis while they remain connected together.
The cap components can be relatively displaceable against a frictional resistance sufficient to prevent inadvertent relative displacement thereof, e.g. under the action of vibration. However it is preferred for at least part of one or each component to be elastically deformable and for the components to be shaped with portions which, as the components are brought into any of their relative positions corresponding with the different indicator settings, automatically interlock under elastic recovery forces to prevent such inadvertent displacement.
It is very suitable for the said cap components to have portions formed for snap-fastening one into the other for coupling the components together. For example one component may comprise an axial boss which is elastically deformable for snap-fitting into an undercut recess or bore of the other compon
REFERENCES:
patent: 919658 (1909-04-01), Washburn
patent: 960246 (1910-06-01), Ashmore
patent: 1296160 (1919-03-01), Butterfield
patent: 1467317 (1923-09-01), Harris
patent: 1548901 (1925-08-01), Payzant
patent: 3177724 (1965-04-01), Trinca
patent: 3889530 (1974-06-01), Bluem
Metro Products (Accessories & Leisure) Limited
Woodiel Donald O.
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