US-12617244-B2 - Central tire inflation system with wheel hub including integrated sealing surface

US12617244B2US 12617244 B2US12617244 B2US 12617244B2US-12617244-B2

Abstract

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.

Inventors

MARIO BONORA
Alessandro Strauss
Giovanni Mariech
Alberto Cis

Assignees

DANA ITALIA S.R.L.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20220722

Claims (17)

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.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present description relates generally to systems and methods for a central tire inflation system, and in particular, a central tire inflation system with a wheel hub including an integrated sealing surface. BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY Tire inflation systems for vehicles provide a vehicle the versatility of adjusting tire pressures while the vehicle is stationary or in motion. For example, the tire pressure of one or more wheel assemblies in fluid communication with a tire inflation system may be decreased to increase tire traction, or increased to reduce rolling resistance and increase the vehicle's fuel efficiency and tire longevity. Furthermore, tire inflation systems increase a vehicle's maneuverability over differing terrains, and increase a vehicle's mobility through varying environmental conditions. Additionally, tire inflation systems reduce maintenance requirements. Tire inflation systems communicate pressurized fluid to a wheel assembly. Tire inflation systems often include pneumatic connections via pneumatic channels formed in the axle frame and the rotating wheel end. The channels may connect an onboard pneumatic compressor to the tire to provide for inflation and/or deflation of the tire according to user preference. Some systems include a bushing fitted on the wheel end to provide a mating surface for sealing lips to seal the pneumatic connections. However, such configurations may increase a number of sealing components and/or assembly complexity of the system. In one example, the issues described above may be addressed by a system, comprising: 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. It should be understood that the brief description above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES The present disclosure will be better understood from reading the following description of non-limiting embodiments, with reference to the attached drawings, wherein below: FIG. 1 schematically shows a vehicle including a central tire inflation system. FIG. 2 shows a sectional view of a wheel hub with an integrated sealing surface. FIG. 3 shows an enlarged sectional view of the wheel hub of FIG. 2. FIG. 3A shows a detailed view of an inset. FIG. 4 shows a sectional view of another wheel hub with an integrated sealing surface. FIG. 5 shows an enlarged sectional view of the wheel hub of FIG. 4. FIG. 6 shows a sectional view of another wheel hub including an integrated sealing surface. FIG. 7 shows a sectional view of another wheel hub including an integrated sealing surface. FIG. 8 shows a flowchart illustrating a method for flowing gas through a wheel hub including an integrated sealing surface. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The following description relates to systems and methods for a central tire inflation system including an integrated sealing surface. A central tire inflation system (CTIS), such as the CTIS shown by FIG. 1, is configured to control pressurization of at least one tire of a vehicle. The CTIS includes a wheel hub with an integrated sealing surface, such as the wheel hub shown by FIGS. 2-3. The integrated sealing surface may be arranged at an interior side of the wheel hub, such as in the configurations shown by FIGS. 2-5, or an exterior side of the wheel hub, such as in the configurations shown by FIG. 6. The wheel hub with integrated sealing surface may be utilized with steering axles, such as in the configurations shown by FIGS. 2-6, or with non-steering rigid axles, such as in the configuration shown by FIG. 7. The CTIS may control the pressure of gases within the tire coupled to the wheel hub by controlling the flow of gas through components sealed via the integrated sealing surface, as shown by the flowchart of FIG. 8. According to the present disclosure, a sealing surface of a CTIS is integrated directly into a wheel hub. The CTIS includes is configured with a sealing arrangement that integrates a rotary union and hub cap, where a sealing lip works directly on the wheel hub surface without the need for additional sealing components. A CTIS is a system including components within a vehicle axle that controls pneumatic pressure within a tire coupled to the vehicle axle. The CTIS may control pneumatic pressure within multiple tires. For example, the CTIS may control pneumatic pressure within each of two tires arranged opposite to each other at opposing ends of the vehicle axle. The CTIS may increase