Inflation work station
An inflation work station for inflating a tire-wheel assembly including a tire mounted to a wheel is disclosed. The inflation work station includes at least one inflation probe including a female portion and a male portion. The male portion is arrangeable with respect to the female portion in one of a non-mated orientation such that the at least one inflation probe is arranged in an offline orientation and a mated orientation such that the at least one inflation probe is arranged in an online orientation. The inflation work station further includes a working device including a controller, at least one movement actuator connected to the controller and the at least one inflation probe. The at least one movement actuator imparts movement to the male portion to result in the online/offline orientation of the at least one inflation probe. The inflation work station includes at least one valve connected to the controller and the at least one inflation probe. The inflation workstation includes at least one pressurized fluid source connected to the at least one inflation probe by way of the at least one valve to permit or deny communication of a pressurized fluid of the at least one pressurized fluid source to a cavity formed by the tire-wheel assembly for inflating the tire-wheel assembly. A method is also disclosed.
1. An inflation probe for inflating a tire-wheel assembly including a tire, the inflation probe comprising:
a female portion; and
a male portion that mates with the female portion by extending at least partially through a passage defined by the female portion, the male portion including a channel that carries a fluid to inflate a cavity within the tire-wheel assembly.
2. The inflation probe of claim 1 , wherein the passage includes a substantially square-shape-tubular dimension and wherein, the passage is formed by an upper passage surface, a lower passage surface, a left side passage surface and a right side passage surface.
3. The inflation probe of claim 2 , wherein the male portion mates with the female portion by contacting a portion of the upper passage surface and a portion of the lower passage surface.
4. The inflation probe of claim 1 , wherein the passage extends through a thickness of a distal end of the female portion, wherein the thickness is bound by a front surface of the distal end of the female portion and a rear surface of the distal end of the female portion.
5. The inflation probe of claim 1 , wherein the male portion fluidly seals the passage when mated with the female portion.
6. The inflation probe of claim 5 , wherein the male portion fluidly seals the passage by directly contacting opposing surfaces of a distal end of the female portion.
7. The inflation probe of claim 6 , wherein the tire-wheel assembly includes a wheel and the tire, the cavity is formed by a circumferential rim of a wheel and an inner surface of the tire.
8. The inflation probe of claim 7 , wherein the female portion contacts a bead of the tire and a flange surface of the wheel during inflation.
9. The inflation probe of claim 1 , wherein the male portion includes a distal end, and wherein the channel includes a first end and a second end, and wherein the channel forms an opening in the distal end.
10. The inflation probe of claim 1 , wherein the male portion can be decoupled from the female portion to be arranged in a non-inflation orientation.
11. An inflation probe comprising:
a female portion; and
a male portion that mates with the female portion by extending through a passage of the female portion in an online orientation, the male portion including a channel that carries a fluid to inflate a cavity within a tire-wheel assembly, the male portion is in a non-mated orientation in an offline orientation.
12. The inflation probe of claim 11 , wherein the male portion fluidly seals the passage when mated with the female portion in the online orientation.
13. The inflation probe of claim 12 , wherein the male portion contacts opposing surfaces of a distal end of the female portion in the online orientation.
14. The inflation probe of claim 11 , wherein the female portion contacts a bead of the tire and a flange surface of the wheel during inflation in the online orientation.
15. The inflation probe of claim 11 , the passage includes a substantially square-shape-tubular dimension, the passage is formed by an upper passage surface, a lower passage surface, a left side passage surface and a right side passage surface.
16. The inflation probe of claim 11 , wherein the passage extends through a thickness of a distal end of the female portion, wherein the thickness is bound by a front surface of the distal end of the female portion and a rear surface of the distal end of the female portion.
17. The inflation probe of claim 11 , wherein the male portion includes a distal end, the channel includes a first end and a second end, the channel forms an opening along a surface of the distal end.
18. The inflation probe of claim 11 , wherein the male portion can be decoupled from the female portion to be arranged in the offline orientation.
19. A method of inflating a tire, the method comprising:
contacting the tire and a wheel rim with a female portion of an inflator;
extending a distal end of a male portion of the inflator through a passage within the female portion, the male portion including a channel that terminates with a fluid channel opening along a surface of the distal end;
forming a seal between the male portion and the female portion; and
injecting a fluid through the channel of the male portion into a cavity.
20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising decoupling the male portion from the female portion.