Other

Baseline Products, Inc.

Simon Roberts

Alex Rhodes

John A Battista

A plug and installation tool for repairing punctures in vehicle tires mounted on motor vehicles. The plug is a generally cylindrical part made of a rubber material with enlarged end portions and an interconnecting cylindrical shank portion. One of the enlarged end portions is a cylindrical head portion and has a circumferential groove for engaging the insertion tool. The other end portion is a spherical tail portion. In the first aspect of the invention an assembly comprised of the plug and a rigid core disposed on the axis of the plug is mounted on the installation tool, elongated by the tool and inserted in a puncture. In the second aspect of the invention, the rigid core is installed in the plug after the plug is inserted into the puncture. When the plug is installed in a puncture it has a generally 'hourglass' shape with sealing surfaces in the puncture and at the inner and outer ends of the puncture. The installation tool is an assembly of a frame and a plunger which slideably engages the frame to elongate and reduce its diameter.

Tire repair plug and installation tool

A plug and tool are provided for repairing and sealing a puncture of a tire. The plug is generally cylindrical in shape and is made from a rubber-like material which is stiffer and more durable than prior repair plugs. The plug has a cylindrical shank portion and adjoining circular head portion. Extending around the outer edge of the head portion is a thin auxiliary sealing ring. On the periphery of the shank portion is a plurality of closely spaced sealing rings with grooves therebetween. When the shank portion is forcibly inserted into a puncture, the sealing rings provide multiple sealing members by individually radially compressing and locally conforming to the size and shape of the puncture. Additional sealing is provided by bonding the head portion to the inner surface of the tire. At the end portion of the plug opposite to the head portion is a metal loop. There is provided a tool having a handle portion and adjoining slender shank portion for forcibly inserting the plug into a puncture. The free end of the shank portion has a hook shape which engages the metal loop for pulling the plug into the puncture.

Tire repair plug and tool

A method and closure are provided for sealing and repairing a puncture of a tire. The closure is a resilient plug of a rubber-like material stiffer and more durable than prior closures having a generally cylindrical shank portion and an adjoining circular head portion. The periphery of the shank portion has a labyrinth of closely spaced sealing rings and grooves therebetween. When the shank portion is forcibly engaged with a puncture, the sealing rings individually radially compress and locally conform to the size and shape of the puncture thereby providing multiple sealing members with the puncture. Additional sealing is provided by an auxiliary sealing ring on the head portion of the closure which is adhesively bonded to the inner surface of the tire, adjacent to the puncture. Tool attaching means are provided on the closure for forcibly engaging the closure with the puncture. The method of repair includes the steps of selectively matching the size of the aforedescribed closure with a puncture, applying an adhesive to the periphery a body and lower head surface of the closure, affixing an assembly tool to the closure, forcibly inserting the closure into the puncture and trimming excess material from one end of the closure.

Tire repair method

An apparatus for detecting the location of a leak in a pneumatic tire. A leaking tire is filled with a suspension which is capable of flowing through a leak of the tire and staining the perimeter of the leak at the outside surface of the tire. The suspension is a powdered fluorescent pigment of small particle size suspended in a propellant and the air inside of the tire. A portable container is provided for storing the powdered pigment and propellant. The container has an outlet valve for controlling the release of the pigment and propellant from the container. One end of a flexible tube is connected to the outlet valve of the container and a fitting at the other end of the tube is connected to an inlet valve of the tire. The fitting has a means for sealing the attachment of the tube to the tire inlet valve and a means for opening the tire inlet valve. When the outlet valve of the container is opened, the pigment and propellant flow into the tire and combine with the air in the tire to form the suspension. The escape of the suspension through the leak deposits some of the powdered pigment on the perimeter of the leak which is easily seen for detecting the location of the leak.

Pneumatic tire leak detector

A method for detecting the location of a leak in a pneumatic tire. A leaking tire is filled with a suspension which is capable of flowing through a leak of the tire and staining the perimeter of the leak at the outside surface of the tire. The suspension is a powdered fluorescent pigment of small particle size suspended in a propellant and the air inside of the tire. A portable container is provided for storing the powdered pigment and propellant. The container has an outlet valve for controlling the release of the pigment and propellant from the container. One end of a flexible tube is connected to the outlet valve of the container and a fitting at the other end of the tube is connected to an inlet valve of the tire. The fitting has a means for sealing the attachment of the tube to the tire inlet valve and a means for opening the tire inlet valve. When the outlet valve of the container is opened, the pigment and propellant flow into the tire and combine with the air in the tire to form the suspension. The escape of the suspension through the leak deposits some of the powdered pigment on the perimeter of the leak which is easily seen for detecting the location of the leak.

Pneumatic tire leak detector and method

A closure is provided for sealing and repairing a puncture of a tire. The closure is a resilient plug of a rubber-like material stiffer and more durable than prior closures having a generally cylindrical shank portion and an adjoining circular head portion. The periphery of the shank portion has a labyrinth of closely spaced sealing rings and grooves therebetween. When the shank portion is forcibly engaged with a puncture, the sealing rings individually radially compress and locally conform to the size and shape of the puncture thereby providing multiple sealing members with the puncture. Additional sealing is provided by an auxiliary sealing ring on the head portion of the closure which is adhesively bonded to the inner surface of the tire, adjacent to the puncture. Tool attaching means are provided on the closure for forcibly engaging the closure with the puncture.

Closure for repairing a tire

An improved tire patch is disclosed herein for use either singularly or jointly with a tire repair plug for sealing a puncture of a vehicle tire. The improved repair patch includes a thick seal portion made of a soft resilient air impervious closed cell elastomer fully encased in a thin outer covering of the same material. The seal portion has parallel upper and lower faces and an aperture in the center portion thereof. A thin cover portion is bonded to the upper face of the thick portion and subtends the aperture thereof. The repair patch, when adhesively applied to the inner surface of a punctured tire with the aperture thereof positioned directly opposite the puncture, improves the durability of the repair, allows the joint use of a tire repair plug and avoids exposure of the repair patch to damage from the ends of broken steel reinforcing wires of steel belted radial ply tires.

Growing community of inventors

Southfield, MI, United States of America

Simon Roberts