The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 12, 2011
Filed:
May. 01, 2007
Eric I. Shultz, Mount Joy, PA (US);
Jeffrey B. Murphy, Millersville, PA (US);
Thomas L. Crandall, York, PA (US);
Eric I. Shultz, Mount Joy, PA (US);
Jeffrey B. Murphy, Millersville, PA (US);
Thomas L. Crandall, York, PA (US);
RTI Technologies, Inc., York, PA (US);
Abstract
A method and an apparatus for filling tires with high purity nitrogen involves evacuating and then filling tires with nitrogen. An automated apparatus has a mode of operation which can be selected from among a four tire service, a spare tire service and a top off service, with or without vacuuming during evacuation. With the four tire service, four tires connected to the apparatus are evacuated and then filled to set front and rear tire pressures. With the spare tire service a single tire connected to the apparatus is evacuated then nitrogen filled to a set tire pressure. A five tire service for evacuating and filling two front and two rear tires and a spare tire is also disclosed. The top off service of a tire connected to the apparatus involves sensing the tire pressure and then evacuating or nitrogen filling to obtain a set tire pressure. Evacuation of a tire is automatically stopped when a set minimum pressure level or a set maximum time limit for evacuation is reached. The apparatus permits accurate filling of tires with high purity nitrogen in an efficient manner without requiring the operator to attend the apparatus during the process after initial setup.