Abstract:
A dual-purpose tire inlet valve connector has a housing, a plunger mounted in a plunger chamber in the housing, multiple steel balls mounted around a periphery of the plunger, a push post and a compression spring mounted inside the plunger, multiple plunger springs mounted between the plunger and the housing, a pressing lever mounted on a top of the housing to abut against a top end of the plunger, and a sealing collar mounted on a bottom of the plunger chamber. The steel balls can be driven by the motion of the plunger and the springs activated by the pressing lever to hold the push post or release the push post for the plunger to abut against and position an American or French tire inlet valve inserted in the dual-purpose tire inlet valve connector to fulfill a universal and fast connection therewith and a smooth air-charging job.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a tire valve connector, and more particularly to a dual-purpose tire valve connector connected to an end portion of a connection hose of an air-charging device, such as air pump or air inflator and universally applied to American inlet valves or French inlet valves of tires. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    Typically, current inlet valves of tires can be classified into two types, namely, American inlet valves and French inlet valves. To inflate an American tire and a French tire, a conventional air-charging device, such as an air pump, an air inflator and the like, is equipped with a dual-purpose tire inlet valve connector connected to an end portion of a connection hose of the air-charging device. 
         [0005]    A conventional tire inlet valve connector includes a body, a nozzle, a pressing lever and a clamping seat. The body has a mounting hole therein and an inlet tube formed on the body, extending in a direction oblique relative to the mounting hole and communicating with the mounting hole. The nozzle is mounted in a bottom end of the mounting hole of the body. The pressing lever and the clamping seat are mounted in a top portion of the mounting hole. The clamping seat has a guiding hole formed at a bottom portion thereof and tapered downwards. A plunger is slidably mounted in the mounting hole to move up and down between the pressing lever and the clamping seat. A restoring spring is mounted between the plunger and the clamping seat such that the plunger can be pressed to move downwards by the pressing lever. The plunger has an axial hole formed on and recessed upwards from a bottom of the plunger. A spring is mounted in the axial hole and a bottom end of the spring is connected with a push post. The push post may stick out of the bottom of the plunger and penetrate into the clamping seat and the nozzle. Multiple movable claws are formed on a bottom end of the plunger to correspond to the guiding hole of the clamping seat, and provide elastic restoring force in a radial direction such that the claws have a holding effect as being limited by the guiding hole when the plunger is pressed by pressing lever to go down. When continuously going down, the plunger squeezes the nozzle to deform and hold a tire inlet valve. Accordingly, the foregoing conventional tire inlet valve connector is applicable to a dual-purpose tire inlet valve connector for American tire inlet value and French tire inlet valve. 
         [0006]    In the foregoing tire inlet valve connector, the pressing lever is used to drive the plunger to go down, the claws are guided by the guiding hole of the clamping seat to jointly hold the push post to go down for the push post to be pressed on a valve core of an American tire inlet valve mounted in the nozzle. Alternatively, the push post is pressed on a French tire inlet valve mounted in the plunger sequentially through the nozzle and the clamping seat. However, after the plunger is operated for a period of time, reduced elasticity of the claws of the plunger arises from elastic fatigue of the claws and leads to unsmooth movement of the push post and malfunction of the conventional tire inlet valve connector upon connection with an American tire inlet valve or a French tire inlet valve. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    An objective of the present invention is to provide a dual-purpose tire inlet valve connector tackling the reduced elasticity of the movable claws in the conventional dual-purpose tire inlet valve connector. 
         [0008]    To achieve the foregoing objective, the dual-purpose tire inlet valve connector has a housing, a pressing lever, a sealing collar, a plunger, at least one plunger spring, multiple steel balls, a push post and a compression spring. 
         [0009]    The housing has a plunger chamber and a tunnel. 
         [0010]    The plunger chamber is formed through the housing in a top-down direction and has a top opening, a bottom opening, an upper wall and a lower wall. An inner diameter of the lower wall is smaller than an inner diameter of the upper wall. 
         [0011]    The tunnel is longitudinally formed through a lateral portion of the housing and communicates with a portion of the plunger chamber surrounded by the upper wall. 
         [0012]    The pressing lever has a handle portion and a pressing portion. 
         [0013]    The pressing portion is formed on one end of the handle portion, and is pivotally mounted in a top portion of the housing by a pin eccentrically mounted through the pressing portion and the housing to correspond to the top opening of the plunger chamber of the housing. 
         [0014]    The sealing collar is mounted inside the plunger chamber to correspond to the lower wall of the plunger chamber, and has a valve insertion mouth communicating with the plunger chamber of the housing. 
         [0015]    The plunger is mounted inside the plunger chamber for upward and downward movement therein, is located between the sealing collar and the pressing lever, and has a shank and a pressurized end. 
         [0016]    The shank has an outer diameter corresponding to an inner diameter of the lower wall of the plunger chamber, is spaced apart from the upper wall of the plunger chamber by gaps, and has a cavity, multiple ball holes and at least one air hole. 
         [0017]    The cavity is formed in the shank and has an opening facing down. 
         [0018]    The ball holes are formed through a periphery of the shank and communicate with the cavity. 
         [0019]    The at least one air hole is formed through a periphery of the shank and communicates with the cavity. 
         [0020]    The pressurized end is formed on a top portion of the shank and contacts the pressing portion of the pressing lever. The at least one air hole is located between the ball holes and the pressurized end. 
         [0021]    The air-tight ring is mounted around a periphery of the pressurized end and hermetically seals the plunger chamber. 
         [0022]    The at least one plunger spring is mounted between the top portion of the housing and the pressurized end of the plunger. 
         [0023]    The steel balls are respectively mounted in the ball holes of the plunger and are pushed into the cavity of the shank through the respective ball holes when the plunger is moved down to the lower wall of the plunger chamber. 
         [0024]    The push post is movably mounted in the cavity of the plunger for upward and downward movement and has a stem, a head, a through hole and a valve end. 
         [0025]    The stem is movable in and out the valve insertion mouth of the sealing collar. 
         [0026]    The head is formed on a top end of the stem. 
         [0027]    The through hole is axially formed through the push post, and communicates with the cavity of the plunger. 
         [0028]    The valve end is formed on a bottom end of the stem. 
         [0029]    The compression spring is mounted inside the cavity of the plunger and has a top end and a bottom end respectively abutting against the head of the push post and the upper wall of the plunger chamber. 
         [0030]    Given the foregoing structure of the dual-purpose tire inlet valve connector, when the pressing lever is pulled down or positioned at a state not pressing the plunger, the plunger and the push post therein are driven by the elastic force of the plunger springs and the compression spring to keep the steel balls holding the push post to position an American or releasing the push post for the plunger to position a French tire inlet valve inserted in the dual-purpose tire inlet valve connector to fulfill a universal and fast connection therewith and a stable air-charging job under a cost-effective premise. 
         [0031]    Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0032]      FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of a dual-purpose tire inlet valve connector in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0033]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the dual-purpose tire inlet valve connector in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0034]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional side view of the dual-purpose tire inlet valve connector in  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0035]      FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional front view of the dual-purpose tire inlet valve connector along line  4 - 4  in  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0036]      FIG. 5  is an operational cross-sectional front view of the dual-purpose tire inlet valve connector in  FIG. 4  when connected with an American tire inlet valve; and 
           [0037]      FIG. 6  is an operational cross-sectional front view of the dual-purpose tire inlet valve connector in  FIG. 4  when connected with a French tire inlet valve. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0038]    With reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a dual-purpose tire inlet valve connector in accordance with the present invention has a housing  10 , a pressing lever  20 , a sealing collar  30 , a plunger  40 , at least one plunger spring  50 , multiple steel balls  60 , a push post  70  and a compression spring  80 . 
         [0039]    With reference to  FIGS. 1 ,  3  and  4 , the housing  10  has a trunk portion  11 , a charging connection portion  12  and a pivot portion  13 . The trunk portion  11  has a plunger chamber  14  defined therein. The plunger chamber  14  has a top opening and a bottom opening. The plunger chamber  14  has an upper wall  141  and a lower wall  142 . The upper wall  141  is larger than the lower wall  142  in inner diameter. The charging connection portion  12  is formed on and protrudes outwards from a periphery of the trunk portion  11 , and has a tunnel  15  longitudinally formed through the charging connection portion  12 , communicating with the plunger chamber  14 , and having two ends including a free end. One free end of the tunnel  15  serves as an air inlet and the other end is directed to the upper wall  141  of the plunger chamber  14 . The pivot portion  13  is formed on a top portion of the trunk portion  11  and is adjacent to the top opening of the plunger chamber  14 . 
         [0040]    The pressing lever  20  has a handle portion  21  and a pressing portion  22 . The pressing portion  22  is formed on one end of the handle portion  21 , and is pivotally mounted in the pivot portion  13  by a pin  23  eccentrically mounted through the pressing portion  22  and the pivot portion  13  of the housing  10  to correspond to the top opening of the plunger chamber  14  of the housing  10 . 
         [0041]    The sealing collar  30  may be made of soft and resilient material, such as rubber, is mounted inside the plunger chamber  14  to correspond to the lower wall  142  of the plunger chamber  14 , and has a valve insertion mouth  31 , a conic head  32  and a conic bottom  33 . The valve insertion mouth  31  communicates with the plunger chamber  14  of the housing  10 , and corresponds to an end of an American or French tire inlet valve with an air inlet. In the present embodiment, the valve insertion mouth  31  has a step hole with a top inner wall and a bottom inner wall. The bottom inner wall is greater than the top inner wall in diameter. The conic head  32  is formed on a top portion of the sealing collar  30  that is inserted into the plunger chamber  14  of the housing  10 , and is tapered upwards. The conic bottom  33  is formed on a bottom portion of the sealing collar  30 , and is tapered downwards. When the conic head  32  or the conic bottom  33  is squeezed, the conic head  32  or the conic bottom  33  is contracted inwards to increase a holding force on the American or French tire inlet valve mounted in the valve insertion mouth  31 . 
         [0042]    The housing  10  further has an annular cap  16  mounted around a lower portion of trunk portion  11  to fasten the sealing collar  30  inside the bottom opening of the plunger chamber  14 . The annular cap  16  has a central hole  161  formed through the annular cap  16  and communicating with the valve insertion mouth  31  of the sealing collar  30 . In the present embodiment, the annular cap  16  and the lower portion of the trunk portion  11  are combined by threaded connection. The central hole  161  has a conic inner wall  162  expanding upwards in diameter and combined with the conic bottom  33  of the sealing collar  30  by conical connection. 
         [0043]    The plunger  40  has a shank  41 , a pressurized end  42  and an air-tight ring  47 . An outer diameter of the shank  41  corresponds to a relatively-smaller inner diameter of the lower wall  142  of the plunger chamber  14  of the housing  10 . A periphery of the shank  41  and the upper wall  141  of the plunger chamber  14  are spaced apart with gaps. The shank  41  has a cavity  43 , an abutting wall  44 , multiple ball holes  45  and at least one air hole  46 . The cavity  43  is formed in the shank  41  and has a conic opening  431  facing down, expanding downwards in diameter, and corresponding to the conic head  32  of the sealing collar  30 . The abutting wall  44  is located on a top end of the cavity  43 . The ball holes  45  are formed through a central portion of the periphery of the shank  41  and communicate with the cavity  43 . Preferably, the ball holes  45  are tapered in a direction into the periphery of the shank. The at least one air hole  46  is formed through a portion of the periphery of the shank  41  between the ball holes  45  and the pressurized end  42  and communicates with the cavity  43  such that the cavity  43  communicates with the tunnel  15  of the charging connection portion  12  through the at least one air hole  46  and the gap between the upper wall  141  of the plunger chamber  14  and the shank  41 . The pressurized end  42  is formed on a top portion of the top opening of the plunger chamber  14  and contacts the pressing portion  22  of the pressing lever  20 . The air-tight ring  47  is mounted around a periphery of the pressurized end  42  of the plunger  40 . The plunger  40  and the air-tight ring  47  are movably mounted in the plunger chamber  14  to move in an axial direction and are located above the sealing collar  30 . The air-tight ring  47  is movable on a portion of the upper wall  141  of the plunger chamber  14  above the tunnel  15  of the charging connection portion  12 . The air-tight ring  47  forms hermetic seal between the upper wall  141  and the pressurized end  42 . 
         [0044]    The steel balls  60  are respectively mounted in the ball holes  45  of the plunger  40 . A diameter of each steel ball  60  is greater than a wall thickness of the shank  41  of the plunger  40  such that the steel balls  60  can be pushed into the cavity  43  through the respective ball holes  45  when the plunger  40  is moved down to the lower wall  142  of the plunger chamber  14 . 
         [0045]    The at least one plunger spring  50  is mounted between the top portion of the trunk portion  11  and the pressurized end  42  of the plunger  40 . In the present embodiment, the at least one plunger spring  50  includes multiple plunger springs  50 . 
         [0046]    The push post  70  has a stem  71 , a head  72 , a through hole  73  and a valve end  74 . The head  72  is formed on a top end of the stem  71 . An outer diameter of head  72  is larger than that of the stem  71  and corresponds to an inner diameter of the cavity  43 . An outer diameter of the stem  71  corresponds to an inner diameter of the valve insertion mouth  31  of the sealing collar  30 . The through hole  73  is axially formed through the push post  70 , communicates with the cavity  43  of the plunger  40 , and may be a stepped hole reduced downwards in diameter in a stepwise manner. The valve end  74  is formed on a bottom end of the stem  71 , is tapered downwards, and has a notch formed through the valve end  74  to communicate with the through hole  73 . The push post  70  is axially and movably mounted in the cavity  43  of the plunger  40 . The stem  71  of the push post  70  can be inserted into and pulled out of the valve insertion mouth  31  of the sealing collar  30 . In the present embodiment, the head  72  of the push post  70  is conic and is tapered upwards for reducing conflict between the push post  70  and the steel balls  60  when the push post  70  is moved up and down. 
         [0047]    The compression spring  80  is mounted inside the cavity  43  of the plunger  40 . A top end and a bottom end of the compression spring  80  respectively abut against the push post  70  and the abutting wall  44  of the plunger  40 . 
         [0048]    With reference to  FIGS. 3 and 5 , when the dual-purpose tire inlet valve connector is in use, a free end of the charging connection portion  12  of the housing  10  is connected to a connection hose of an air-charging device. Suppose that an American tire inlet valve A is the one to be connected with. An inlet end of the valve core of the American tire inlet valve A is inserted into the valve insertion mouth  31  of the sealing collar  30 , and the pressing lever  20  is pulled down such that the pressing portion  22  of the pressing lever  20  abuts against the plunger  40  to exert a downward pressing force thereon. Subjected to the downward force, the plunger  40  compresses the plunger springs  50  and is moved toward the sealing collar  30 . As the lower wall  142  of the plunger chamber  14  of the housing  10  has a smaller diameter than that of the upper wall  141 , the steel balls  60  mounted around the shank  41  of the plunger  40  are compressed by the lower wall  142  and are radially moved in an inward direction. Apart of each steel ball  60  protrudes into the cavity  43  through a corresponding ball hole  45  and holds the head  72  of the push post  70 . When the push post  70  is subjected to the pressing force exerted by the steel balls  60  and the elastic force of the compression spring  80 , the valve end  74  of the push post  70  is pushed to open the valve core of the American tire inlet valve A. When the pressing lever  20  is pulled down to push the plunger  40  to move downwards, a downward pressing force is exerted on the sealing collar  30  by the plunger  40  and the conic bottom  33  of the sealing collar  30  further squeezes the conic inner wall  162  of the annular cap  16 . A bottom portion of the sealing collar  30  is thus contracted inwards to increase a clamping force on the American tire inlet valve A. Accordingly, the American tire inlet valve A can be effectively operated in the subsequent air-charging process without having leakage or the issue that the American tire inlet valve A is bounced off by the high-pressure charging gas. 
         [0049]    When outputted through the connection hose of the air-charging device into the dual-purpose tire inlet valve connector, the pressurized gas sequentially passes through the plunger chamber  14 , the at least one air hole  46  of the plunger  40 , the cavity  43 , the through hole  73  of the push post  70  and the American tire inlet valve A to charge a tire. After the charging is done, the pressing lever  20  is pressed down and the dual-purpose tire inlet valve connector is detached from the American tire inlet valve A. 
         [0050]    With reference to  FIGS. 3 and 6 , when the dual-purpose tire inlet valve connector is connected with a French tire inlet valve B, an inlet end of the valve core of the French tire inlet valve B is inserted into the valve insertion mouth  31  of the sealing collar  30  and further extends into the plunger chamber  14  of the plunger  40  to push the push post  70  upwards. Meanwhile, the pressing lever  20  is positioned at a state not pressing the plunger  40  and the steel balls  60  on the periphery of the plunger  40  are positioned on the upper wall  141  of the plunger chamber  14  with a larger diameter and have more room for movement. Hence, when the push post  70  is propped up, the steel balls  60  are moved outwards such that the push post  70  is not held by the steel balls  60  and the inlet end of the valve core of the French tire inlet valve B can reach to an appropriate position inside the plunger  40 . The push post  70  is subjected to a downward elastic force of the compression spring  80  for the valve end  74  of the push post  70  to push open the valve core of the French tire inlet valve B. Furthermore, when the pressing lever is pulled down to press the plunger to move downwards, a bottom of the plunger  40  abuts against the conic head  32  on the top portion of the sealing collar  30  such that the sealing collar  30  is contracted inwards due to the downward pressing force and a clamping force on the French tire inlet valve B is increased. Accordingly, the French tire inlet valve B can be effectively operated in the subsequent air-charging process without having leakage or the issue that the French tire inlet valve B is bounced off by the high-pressure charging gas. 
         [0051]    When outputted through the connection hose of the air-charging device into the dual-purpose tire inlet valve connector, the pressurized gas sequentially passes through the tunnel  15  of the housing  10 , the plunger chamber  14 , the at least one air hole  46  on the periphery of the plunger  40 , the cavity  43 , the through hole  73  of the push post  70  and the French tire inlet valve B to charge a tire. After the charging is done, the dual-purpose tire inlet valve connector is detached from the French tire inlet valve B and the push post  70  is moved downwards to return back in the sealing collar  30  due to the restoring force of the compression spring  80 . 
         [0052]    Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.