Patent ID: 8028732
Filing Date: 2011-10-04
Classification: B60C

Abstract:
1. A tire inflation system comprising: an axle enclosing a pressurized fluid and supporting a wheel; a tire mounted to the wheel, the tire providing an external surface; a hub cap secured to the wheel, the hub cap providing an internal surface and an external surface, the external surface of the hub cap adjacent the external surface of the tire, said external surfaces of the hub cap and the tire are each environmentally unprotected; a conduit disposed internal to each the axle and the hub cap, the conduit transfers the pressurized fluid the axle to the tire adjacent the hub cap; and a seal formed in a housing at an interface of a rotating surface with a non-rotating surface, the rotating surface rotates relative to the conduit, the housing is attached to the exterior of the hub cap from the exterior of the hub cap, the housing rotates environmentally unprotected with the hub cap relative to the axle, and wherein the conduit remains non-rotating while the rotating surface rotates with the housing when the hub cap rotates relative to the axle and the non-rotating conduit.