2011-02-25 00:00:09.115999+00 by Dan Lyke 10 comments
Self-inflating tires. We already have tire pressure monitoring on cars, why aren't they inflating themselves too? (Yeah, there may be some issues here with knowing when you've got a leak)
comments in descending chronological order (reverse):
#Comment Re: made: 2011-08-26 16:32:27.124544+00 by: Dan Lyke
Kickstarter link at http://www.kickstarter.com/pro...tire-self-inflating-bicycle-tire , see also http://pumptire.com/
#Comment Re: made: 2011-03-04 20:52:56.53594+00 by: dexev
These tires get their pumping energy from, eventually, the engine. The question is, how much? And how much of an improvement is there in fuel efficiency? And how much of the surplus is going to be captured by the patent holder and the licensees? That was three questions. Still some neat tech.
#Comment Re: self-inflating tires made: 2011-03-04 10:03:00.791458+00 by: Jack1
That's actually a neat concept - hopefully they will start using such technologies in cars, especially if it will help improve gas mileage.
#Comment Re: made: 2011-02-27 23:53:52.627928+00 by: Dan Lyke
Yeah. This is something that could be cast into the tire, and should add no more price to the product than a traditional valve. Some of the modern tire pressure monitoring systems just work by looking at differential wheel motion, although they're moving to more accurate systems, but I think the Humvee uses electric pumps for tire inflation, not just tire movement, and pressure sensing is more complex than a spring and a needle valve.
#Comment Re: made: 2011-02-27 22:43:03.605489+00 by: ebradway
Andy: I'm betting the cost effectiveness of the tire inflation system on the Humvee isn't an operational parameter. There's a good chance that each wheel on the Humvee costs more than my entire car.
#Comment Re: made: 2011-02-27 00:16:50.422055+00 by: andylyke
I may be missing something here, or be misinformed about the Humvee. I believe that the military model can inflate and deflate on the run to accommodate leakage or variations in terrain (e.g. sand, mud, etc.) And if you can monitor pressure, then surely you know when it's time to add air, no?
#Comment Re: made: 2011-02-25 17:46:03.967619+00 by: Dan Lyke
dexev nails it: The device is fairly simple, and adding monitoring about how much leakage is occurring actually complexifies things to the point where it isn't useful any more.
#Comment Re: made: 2011-02-25 02:01:09.32452+00 by: dexev
Larry, if I'm reading the linked page correctly, the inflation happens independent of pressure monitoring. The tire incorporates an internal pump powered by wheel motion, with a pressure-actuated valve to keep proper pressure. Which is a very neat idea. The last inflation time is always 'right now'.
#Comment Re: made: 2011-02-25 01:08:16.606247+00 by: ebradway
Whatever happened to the twheel? I thought it was supposed to make tires obsolete by now.
#Comment Re: made: 2011-02-25 00:36:37.656261+00 by: Larry Burton
There shouldn't be an issue with leak detection. If you know when to inflate the tires you also know when you inflated your tires and it's simple enough to time the intervals between inflations. You should also know the time it is taking to inflate your tires and be able to know when that rate of inflation is increasing. All the data is there, just alarm at the proper set points.