Granted Patent B2

US 12,673,522 · App. 18/660,068 · Granted Jul 7, 2026

Inventor: Brandon Richardson (Burlingame, CA)

Assignee: Aperia Technologies, Inc.

B60C23/127B60C23/004F24F3/1411F24F3/153B60C23/126B60C23/129F24F2003/1452

Abstract

Claims (38)

1 . A system for tire inflation, comprising:

a housing configured to statically mount to a wheel supporting a tire, the tire comprising a tire inlet;

a pump mounted to the housing and configured to pressurize air from a first pressure to a second pressure, wherein the pump comprises a pump outlet;

a condensate drain fluidly connected to an ambient environment; and

a manifold statically coupled to the housing, the manifold defining a set of fluid paths consisting of:

a fluid path between the pump outlet and the tire inlet; and

a condensate path fluidly connecting the fluid path and the condensate drain, wherein the condensate path is configured to preclude backflow of condensate into the fluid path,

wherein a path of the set of fluid paths comprises:

a first portion with a net radially outward component relative to a central axis of the wheel; and

a second portion with a net radially inward component relative to the central axis of the wheel, wherein the first portion and second portion form an acute angle at a radially extreme point along the path.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the condensate drain comprises a valve.

3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the valve is actively controlled.

4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the valve is powered by on-board power source mounted to the tire.

5 . The system of claim 2 , further comprising a humidity sensor, wherein the valve is configured to actuate responsive to measurements from the humidity sensor.

6 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising an offset mass rotatably mounted to the housing and configured to rotate relative to the wheel to drive actuation of the pump.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the fluid path between the pump outlet and the tire inlet is unobstructed.

8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the condensate path defines the acute angle.

9 . The inflation system of claim 1 , wherein the path of the set of fluid paths is the condensate path.

10 . The inflation system of claim 1 , wherein the fluid path directly fluidly couples the pump outlet to a tire connector at the tire inlet.

11 . An inflation system comprising:

a pump configured to statically mount to a wheel defining a rotational axis, the pump comprising a pump outlet; and

a fluid manifold configured to statically mount to the wheel, the fluid manifold defining a set of channels consisting of:

a first flow channel between the pump outlet and a tire inlet; and

a condensate channel fluidly connecting the first flow channel to a condensate drain arranged along a perimeter of the inflation system,

wherein a channel of the set of channels comprises:

a first portion which extends radially outward from the rotational axis; and

a second portion which extends radially inward towards the rotational axis, wherein the first portion and second portion define an acute bend at a radially extreme point of the channel, wherein the acute bend directly couples the first portion and second portion.

12 . The inflation system of claim 11 , wherein the fluid manifold comprises a set of at least one nucleation point.

13 . The inflation system of claim 11 , wherein the fluid manifold defines a boustrophedonic channel.

14 . The inflation system of claim 11 , wherein the pump is driven by relative motion between the pump and an offset hanging mass.

15 . The inflation system of claim 11 , wherein the pump defines two stages.

16 . The inflation system of claim 11 , wherein the fluid manifold comprises a valve fluidly connecting the condensate channel to an ambient environment.

17 . The inflation system of claim 16 , further comprising a wheel-mounted power source electrically connected to the valve.

18 . The inflation system of claim 17 , wherein the valve comprises a solenoid valve.

19 . The inflation system of claim 11 , further comprising a humidity monitoring system.

20 . The inflation system of claim 19 , wherein the humidity monitoring system comprises a humidity sensor.

21 . The inflation system of claim 11 , further comprising an inlet channel fluidly connected to a pump inlet of the pump, wherein the inlet channel comprises a membrane.

22 . The inflation system of claim 11 , wherein the channel of the set of channels is the condensate channel.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (5)

References Cited (379)