Central tire inflation system with wheel hub including integrated sealing surface
Various systems and methods are provided for a central tire inflation system with a wheel hub including an integrated sealing surface. In one embodiment, a system includes a vehicle wheel hub including a gas passage and a sealing surface shaped to engage directly with a seal to fluidly couple the gas passage to a counterpart gas passage of a stationary vehicle component. The sealing surface may be formed integrally with the vehicle wheel hub and shaped to engage directly with the seal with no other components disposed between the sealing surface and the seal.
1 . A system, comprising:
a vehicle wheel hub or rotating vehicle component including a gas passage and a sealing surface shaped to engage directly with a seal to fluidly couple the gas passage to a counterpart gas passage of a stationary vehicle component, wherein the gas passage comprises an angled connector configured to reverse gas flow from a first direction entering the angled connector to a second direction exiting the angled connector toward the counterpart gas passage, and wherein the sealing surface and the gas passage are integrally formed with the vehicle wheel hub or rotating vehicle component, and wherein the angled connector comprises a 180 degree, U-shaped bend.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the sealing surface is shaped to engage directly with the seal with no other components disposed between the sealing surface and the seal.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle wheel hub or rotating vehicle component is supported by the stationary vehicle component, and wherein the angled connector is supported by a support arranged adjacent to a sealing member.
4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the stationary vehicle component is a steering knuckle or an axle arm.
5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein a chamber is configured to join the gas passage to the counterpart gas passage, and wherein the chamber is between the vehicle wheel hub or rotating vehicle component and the stationary vehicle component bordered at a first end by the seal.
6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the sealing surface is a first sealing surface and the seal is a first seal, and the vehicle wheel hub or rotating vehicle component includes a second sealing surface shaped to engage directly with a second seal.
7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the second sealing surface is arranged on an opposite end of an opening of the gas passage from the first sealing surface.
8 . The system of claim 6 , wherein a chamber is configured to join the gas passage to the counterpart gas passage.
9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein a surface finish of the sealing surface of the vehicle wheel hub forms a fluid-impermeable interface with the seal while the seal is engaged directly with the sealing surface.
10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle wheel hub or rotating vehicle component is formed from a steel material or from a first material with a hardness at least equal to a hardness of steel, and where an average roughness of the steel material or the first material is less than a pre-determined roughness to provide sealing of the vehicle wheel hub or rotating vehicle component against the seal.
11 . A central tire inflation system (CTIS), comprising:
a stationary vehicle component including a first gas passage comprising an angled connector configured to reverse gas flow from a first direction entering the angled connector to a second direction exiting the angled connector;
a wheel hub rotatably coupled to the stationary vehicle component and including a second gas passage and a sealing surface; and
a sealing member engaged directly with the sealing surface and fluidly coupling the first gas passage with the second gas passage, wherein the sealing member forms a sidewall of a chamber joining the first gas passage to the second gas passage, wherein the angled connector extends from the first gas passage to the chamber, and wherein the first gas passage is linear and the angled connector is U-shaped and configured to direct the gas flow in the second direction toward the second gas passage.
12 . The CTIS of claim 11 , further comprising a compressor fluidly coupled to the first gas passage and configured to flow pressurized gas to the second gas passage from the first gas passage.
13 . The CTIS of claim 11 , further comprising an electronic controller including instructions stored in non-transitory memory that when executed, cause the electronic controller to:
flow gas across the sealing member engaged directly with the sealing surface of the wheel hub from the first gas passage formed to the second gas passage.
14 . The CTIS of claim 11 , wherein the sealing member includes a lip shaped to seat in direct face-sharing contact with the sealing surface of the wheel hub with no other components arranged between the lip and the sealing surface.
15 . The CTIS of claim 11 , wherein a first end of the second gas passage is arranged at the first gas passage and a second end of the second gas passage is arranged at an outlet fluidly coupled to a tire coupled to the wheel hub.
16 . A method, comprising:
flowing gas across a seal engaged directly with a sealing surface of a wheel hub from a first gas passage formed in a stationary vehicle component to a second gas passage formed in the wheel hub, wherein the first gas passage comprises an angled connector configured to reverse gas flow toward a chamber between the first gas passage and the second gas passage, wherein the gas flow enters the angled connector in a first direction and exits the angled connector in a second direction, opposite the first direction, toward the chamber, wherein flowing the gas across the seal includes flowing the gas through the chamber bordered by the seal, and wherein the chamber is arranged between an outlet of the angled connector and the first gas passage.
17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising flowing the gas from the second gas passage to a tire coupled to the wheel hub.