Abstract:
An external puncture sealing patch for a vehicle tire is provided. The patch comprises a thin spiked pad made of flexible base and a number of sharp pins partially implanted in the base in a radial arrangement around a central void protruding vertically downward from the bottom surface of the base for penetratively engaging a depth of the tire about its puncture upon depression onto the top surface of the base. A thick coat of an elastomeric sealant is added to the spiked side of the patch for sealingly adhering the spiked pad to the tire as the sealant fills any irregular clearances between the spiked pad and tire to reinforce the attachment thereof. In order to keep the patch effective for an extended period of time, the patch is also provided in a contained form whereby the patch in a dual-purpose container can be quickly deployed at the time of need for application to a tire puncture in a safe and comfortable manner.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to vehicle tire maintenance. More particularly, the present invention relates to a tire puncture treatment patch that can be applied directly or through an instant applicator to permit a temporary long drive of the wheeled vehicles including automobiles and motorcycles. 
     B. Description of the Prior Art 
     As roads and parking lots are becoming more crowded and littered with more trashes, there are increasing numbers of vehicle tires injured by stepping on careless nails, screws and other sharp objects or criminal vandalism, just when more driving miles to the destination or a service station are desperately wished for. At the occurrence of a puncture, the tire eventually looses the air pressure and results in a critical lost control of the vehicle at that wheel support. 
     Traditionally, adhesive patches have been used to cover tire punctures. But because the adhesive force only cannot block the punctured area from the external tread side against the high pressure leak of the air lifting the vehicle the injured tire had to be demounted from wheel rim to cover the injuries from both the inside and the outside of the tire which needs a professional grade of equipments and industry standard skill beyond an immediate roadside remedy. Although known to be an unacceptable repair by itself, rubber plugs have been used in an attempt to block punctured holes in the tire. However, it hardly becomes a good emergency remedy due to a tedious pretreatment required with respect to removal of the puncturing nails and such hazardous objects. Especially in harsh weather, it might be impossible to take time outside of the vehicle to follow the necessary steps recommended. 
     Other available quick remedies include aerosol inflators that contain fluid sealant under pressurized air that is injected into the tire through the tire valve. Although they are supposed to provide a temporary, emergency repair to help get the vehicle off the road traffic and to the nearest tire repair facility, they create an inconvenient remnant for the service personnel who must be informed of the use of such material to eventually remove it completely before starting a repair job. That might create an extra difficult job due to permeations of the liquid under the high tire pressure in the tire structure through the puncture path. Further, some aerosol products of this type use flammable gases, such as butane, propane or isobutene as propellants, which are the environmentally hostile and critically unsafe to the highly frictional tire component in a vehicle. 
     With these conventional methods, once the particular nail hole is temporarily blocked to hold air in the tire it might be easy to ignore the invisible injury until after the insufficient repair causes sudden tire failure at the end of continued air loss. To prevent such incident, there is also a need for a clear indicator to prompt a timely visit to a service station for proper repair. 
     So, the presently available solutions are more suitable to non-emergency situations where the vehicle is affordable to be towed to the service station. In the service station, the tire is supposed to be demounted from the wheel for inspection to determine whether a permanent repair is feasible compared to a replacement. In the first step to condition the tire for treatment, the damaging object must be removed as any remnants from emergency treatment are cleared from the unit body of tire. To be considered a permanent repair of a tire, a combination patch and plug has been recommended wherein a vulcanizing stem is used to fill the tire injury and the proper sized tire repair patch reinforces the inner liner of the tire. 
     Therefore, a practical temporary tire patch that is compatible to this standard practice is necessary to allow even the inexperienced vehicle owners to treat the vehicle punctures right for a safe long drive as well as a future permanent professional repair. Still, such patch treatment is advantageously visible to naked eyes to remind getting a professional repair in reasonable time for the safety of the driver and vehicle. 
     In view of the foregoing, an object of the present invention is to provide a combination of an external tire patch with a novel multi-needle hold and an extra sealing means that instantly envelops the puncture injury in a positive manner to provide a longer and safer containment of tire air over an extended temporary drive. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide an emergency long drive patch for tire puncture that is easy even for a novice vehicle operator to apply and is more agreeable to the permanent repair through a cleaner removal compared to prior art aerosol inflators. 
     Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a self-contained tire emergency patch and applicator combined which is easy and safe to handle and cheap to make. 
     Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a tire puncture patch that is clearly visible to prompt a timely visit to a service station for proper repair. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides an external puncture sealing patch for a vehicle tire in its simpler preferred embodiment. The patch comprises a thin flexible base for attachment to the exterior of the injured tire, the base having a top surface and a bottom surface; a number of sharp pins partially implanted in the base in a radial arrangement around a central void protruding vertically downward from the bottom surface of the base to form a large spiked pad for penetratively engaging a depth of the tire about its puncture upon depression onto the top surface of the base; and a thick coat of an elastomeric sealant on the bottom surface of the base for sealingly adhering the spiked pad to the tire as the sealant fills any irregular clearances between the spiked pad and tire to reinforce the attachment thereof. 
     The sealing patch may also comprises an airtight container for holding the patch effective for an extended period of time before an emergency application of the patch to a tire puncture. The base may be molded of a molten rubber material similar to the tire with the pins partially immersed in the molten material to finish the spiked pad in a single step. The pins may be conventional metal thumbtacks. Alternatively, the pins may comprise a plurality of sharp elements of metal each having dual prongs and a flattened head connecting the two prongs. 
     The base may be made of two identical layers bonded together, the respective layers having a number of concentric annular grooves facing inwardly of the base in an opposing manner for firmly holding the implanted pins by an extra amount of glue that fills the grooves and the rest of the opposing layers. Simply, the base may be made of two flat layers bonded together by thick glue, through which the implanted pins penetrating one of the two layers while the other layer provides an enlarged press surface for manual or mechanical depression onto the tire. 
     In another embodiment of the present invention, a contained patch for an external application to a puncture of a vehicle tire is provided. In addition to all the components of the spiked pad of the first embodiment, the contained patch comprises a plunger for protectively containing the spiked pad before its application. The plunger has a shell extending generally vertically and centrally opened to receive the spiked pad; a pusher partially received in the shell so that it normally extends above the shell and abuts at least partial areas of the top surface of the base of the patch where the pins are implanted; an elongated top lid to the shell for removably capping the pusher until it acts on the spiked pad during application; and a bottom closure removably capped on the shell from below. 
     Therefore, an operator may hold the spiked pad by the plunger in one hand with the top lid and bottom closure removed to press the pusher with the thumb of the same hand or with another hand along a straight path onto the patch centrally aligned to the tire puncture to seal the same. 
     In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a contained patch for an external application to a puncture of a vehicle tire is provided with a more compact applicator/container. In addition to all the components of the spiked pad of the first embodiment, the contained patch comprises an applicator for protectively containing the spiked pad before its application. The applicator comprises: an outer shell in a low profile including a top plain an integrally formed central push rod with a bottom opening extending above and below the top plain, a short threaded vertical sidewall; an inner shell partially received in the outer shell for a temporary hold of the spiked pad and having a press plate with a central column for joining the inner shell to the outer shell at the bottom opening of the push rod, a vertical peripheral wall and furrows for flexibly connecting the press plate to the peripheral wall; and a bottom lid tightly threaded onto the vertical sidewall of the outer shell. In the tire emergency, an operator may hold the spiked pad by the push rod in a palm with the bottom lid removed to activate the press plate along a tire puncture to seal the same. 
     The underside sealant after conforming to the tire tread will be cured in a short drive to the tire due to the elevation of tire temperature resulting from high rpm and frictional contact with the pavement. The patch is able to stop airflow through a tire puncture caused by most nail diameters over 3 mm without the nail being removed from the puncture. This stoppage is typically effective for retaining at least about 50 psi of internal pressure within the tire after covering the puncture. Varying the size of the patch of the present invention can seal a wide range of puncture sizes. 
     Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of an emergency long drive tire patch assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a cross sectional view of the tire patch assembly taken along line  2 - 2  of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a series of pin members assembled with the tire patch of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view of an alternative base of a tire patch according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a fragmentary cross sectional view of an automobile tire puncture treated with the emergency patch of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded perspective view of an emergency long drive tire patch as shown in  FIG. 1  or  4  in a plunger/carrier according to a third embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  is an exploded perspective view of an emergency long drive tire patch in an alternative plunger/carrier according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 8  is a cross sectional view of the tire patch of  FIG. 7  in a storage mode in the carrier with an outer shell tightly fastened to a top shell. 
         FIG. 9  is a cross sectional view of the tire patch of  FIG. 7  in a plunger mode for direct application to a tire puncture with the outer shell removed. 
     
    
    
     Similar reference numbers denote corresponding features throughout the attached drawings. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     With reference to  FIG. 1 , a tire patch  10  according to the present invention is shown in an exploded view having a thin base  12  made of tire rubber or other tough substrates of similar characteristics to a tire tread section and multiple sharp pins  14 , which are implanted in base  12  to protrude vertically downwardly with respect to the general plane of base  12 . Also referring to  FIG. 1  base  12  has a top surface  15  and a bottom surface  16  from which sharp metal pins  14  are protruding. In this first embodiment, base  12  is shown to have two superimposed identical layers  18   a  and  18   b  each having concentrically shaped annular recesses  20  and  21  at its inner surface  22  for receiving proximal ends or heads of pins  14  when they are vertically penetrating the lower side layer  18   b.    
     Pins  14  may be lined along recesses  20 ,  21  of a lower layer  18   b  and depressed through thinned walls  23  of base  12  formed by recesses  20 ,  21 . With proximal parts of pins  14  remained in recesses  20 ,  21  glue  24  may be applied to slightly overfill recesses  20 ,  21  and then upper layer  18   a  is pressed onto the spiked lower layer  18   b  until the three members of layers  20 ,  21  and pin set  14  are permanently glued together. Firmly buried in cured glue  24 , pins  14  are strongly supported by base  12  depending from it in vertical position. 
     Alternatively, spiked base  12  may be formed at once through injection molding wherein pins  14  are suspended to protrude into a molding space as a thermoformable base material is introduced to set about pins  14  resulting in an integral spiked tire patch  10 . 
     Patch  10  is also provided with a smaller round patty of an elastomeric sealant  25  that may stick to bottom  18  covering multiple pins  14  to assist pins  14  in sealingly affixing patch  10  to a tire puncture. Arbitrary positioning of recesses  20 ,  21  in base  12  where pins  14  protrude is okay provided that a relatively large central area  26  is formed void of pins  14 . Pins  14  may comprise a plurality of sharp elements  28  respectively having dual prongs  30  and a flattened head  32  connecting the two prongs  30  as shown in  FIG. 3 . Flattened head  32  provides an enlarged area for a stronger attachment to base  12  by glue  26 . Thus, as a whole, base  12  becomes a large thumbnail for multiple pins  14 . With appropriate modifications to conventional methods of manufacturing metal staples, multiple pins  14  may be formed of a single sheet metal and then supplied at once via circumferentially positioned chutes to each of the recesses  20 ,  21  for assembly. 
     The finished tire patch  10  may be safely stored in an appropriate airtight hard container  27  and a mating lid (not shown in  FIG. 1 ) to protectively contain sharp elements  28  and prevent sealant  25  from drying up. A sleek sheet may be placed between the sealant block  25  and container  27  to provide a neat separation of the two. 
       FIG. 4  shows a second embodiment of the present invention wherein a body of a patch  50  is made by two plain flexible sheets  58   a  and  58   b  and multiple thumbtacks  54  with a thin flat head  56 . Sheets  58   a ,  58   b  may be shaped into a circle, triangle or other polygons. Thumbtacks  54  may be pushed through predetermined positions of lower sheet  58   b  and a thick coat of flexible glue may be applied to sheet  58   b  over heads  56  of thumbtacks  54  before upper sheet  58   a  is attached to form patch  50  with spikes. Then, the similar block of sealant  25  may stick to the spiked side of patch  50  for making it similar to patch  10  of the first embodiment. This method of making patch  50  only uses materials off the shelf and is simple to accomplish. 
     Patches  10  and  50  in any sealing packages are self sufficient for most vehicle drivers to keep and apply directly to cover a tire puncture. For added convenience in actual use, a protective applicator may be incorporated into the sealing package as will be described below. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates an actual application of tire patch  10  on a pneumatic tire  34  partially shown to suffer from a puncturing nail  36 . Tire  34  generally comprises a rubber tread section  38 , sidewalls  40 , belt layers  42  of cord windings and an inner liner  44  all integrated into a single body during the manufacture. In an unfortunate event, tire  34  attached to a vehicle (not shown) has been injured by nail  36 , which extends from tread section  38  into a pressurized air chamber  46  defined in part by inner liner  44 . Nail  36  might have been driven with its head  48  pushed hard against an exterior surface of tread section  38 . 
     After rotating the injured spot of tire  34  under the vehicle to a convenient side or top position, patch  10  may be taken out of its container and positioned centrally over nail  36  and then pressed down manually to the top of nail  36 . A slight depression will be enough to push in pins  14  due to the thinness of each prong  30  while a strong attachment of patch  10  is provided because of the multiple threading of the numerous sharp elements  28  over evenly distributed region of patch  10  about central area  26 . In addition, sealant  25  cooperates with pins  14  as it is automatically spreading over the tread topography by the depression of patch  10  to sealingly cover up any cracks that may channel air through a hole  49  punctured by nail  36 . Without needing a wait, tire  34  may be slightly advanced so that patch  10  covering hole  49  is laid down on the ground for setting in position. 
     Within several turns of tire  34  under the vehicular load, pins  14  will be pushed in tire  34  completely to secure patch  10 . With the inventive patch  10  there is no need to remove nail  36  at all in the frustrating emergency situation. Just attaching patch  10  and driving off will do. Besides the discrete metal pins  14 , the overall patch  10  is as pliant as tire tread  38  so that patch  10  blends well into tire  34  and behaves as an integral part of the same. 
     After high speed rolls of tire  34  by the vehicle run, tire  34  becomes hot to expedite curing of the pressed sealant  25  on tread  38  and firmly block hole  49  until a subsequent professional repair job is performed to permanently block the puncture. Because sealant  25  adheres to tire  34  with integrity under patch  10  the future removal of the cured sealant  25  will be neat without having trouble with difficult material remnants to clean. For preparation to repair, a sharp edge of a repair tool may be used to first lift sides of base  12  and then the entire patch  10  including sealant  25  before or after demounting tire  34  from its supporting wheel structure to treat the injury. 
     Patch  10  of the present invention reinforces tire  34  at the injury to make it near strong as its original condition to allow the vehicle drives semipermanently until the vehicle owner finds a convenient time to visit a repair service that reconditions the tire to operate for its intended service life safely. Meanwhile, the round patch  10  on the exterior of tire  34  constantly reminds the owner visually by providing top  15  and bottom  16  surfaces with distinctive color and/or texture to see the full service tire repair. 
       FIG. 6  shows a contained patch  100  comprising tire patch  10  and an additional plunger  101  for normally containing patch  10  according to a third embodiment of the present invention. In an emergency situation to apply tire patch  10 , plunger  101  may be ergonomically held by a side grip of one hand of the operator to help push pins  14  of patch  10  precisely centrally of the tire axis to prevent the sharp elements  28  from being deflected. 
     In particular, plunger  101  comprises a shell  102  resembling a bottleneck, a pusher  104 , a smaller top lid  106  and a larger bottom closure  108 . Shell  102  has a narrower top opening  110  and a large bottom opening  112  with an inner diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of patch  10  to provide a temporary hold of patch  10 . Pusher  104  has a rod section  114  normally protruding from top opening  110  of shell  102  and a cone section  116  positioned on patch  10 . Visible through cone section  116  is a large blind hole  118  that extends almost through rod section  114  to lighten the pusher  104 . Yet cone section  16  can sufficiently push patch  10  where sharp elements  28  are located radially. Bottom closure  108  tightly but removably covers bottom opening  112 . To the top opening  110  of shell  102  top lid  106  may be threadedly tightened to provide an airtight closure of plunger  101 . 
     At an event of the tire puncture, top lid  106  and bottom closure  108  may be removed from shell  102  to reveal patch  10  still held in bottom opening  112 . Firmly gripping shell  102  by one hand, a user may position patch  10  to axially align the tire as well as centrally over the puncturing matter and then push the protruded rod section  114  with the thumb of the same gripping hand or the palm of the other hand. Due to the cone section  116  evenly depressing on patch  10 , pins  14  can smoothly enter the predetermined depth of the tread section to fix patch  10  in place. Once patch  10  is deployed, plunger  101  may be reused to contain and apply a fresh supply of patch  10 . 
       FIG. 7  shows a contained patch  200  comprising patch  10  and a simple palm-press applicator  201  having a lid  202  for sealingly containing patch  10  and applying it to a tire puncture according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. Applicator  201  comprises a hard outer shell  204  and a threaded sidewall  206  to which lid  202  may be threadedly fastened. Outer shell  204  has a top plain  208  with a hollow push rod  210  extending integrally through it. To evenly distribute the downward force from push rod  210  onto patch  10 , a round inner shell  212  may be placed between patch  10  and outer shell  204 . 
     Referring further to  FIG. 8 , inner shell  212  may be shaped like a lid of the same plastic as outer shell  204  and has a short central column  214  for press fitting in a bottom opening  216  of push rod  210 . Inner shell  212  also has an annular press plate  218  extending from central column  214  and a vertical peripheral wall  220  that will abut a tire surface about a puncture to support a straight advancement of pins  14  through tire tread section  38 . In order to provide the relative movement of press plate  218  with respect to vertical wall  220 , an annular folds or furrows  222  of a reduced thickness are formed integral to inner shell  212  connecting press plate  218  and vertical wall  220 . 
     In addition, vertical wall  220  terminates short of the tips of pins  14  so that pins  14  may be the first to touch the tire  34  and fully lodged in tire  34  within a shorter travel of push rod  210  as shown in  FIG. 9 . Extending downwardly from a valley  224  of furrows  222  are discrete vertical wall sections  226  for normally abutting the circumference of base  12  but releasing the same as furrows  222  stretch down. 
     Upon assembly of outer shell  204  and inner shell  212 , vertical wall  220  may be located partially inside sidewall  206  of outer shell  204  so that push rod  210  and press plate  218  can make short straight travels under the guidance of vertical wall  220  as  FIG. 9  illustrates contained patch  200  with lid  202  removed has been applied to cover tire  34  over penetrating nail  36 . A side grip  228  formed around push rod  210  facilitates holding the contained patch  200  for removal of lid  202  and centering patch  10  about the tire puncture identified. Manipulating applicator  201  is as easy as positioning the operator&#39;s palm over push rod  210  laid on the tire puncture. Pressing down on push rod  210  with the palm of a hand, the operator may comfortably and effectively tack the patch  10 . And the low profile of applicator  201  helps to apply patch  10  at various positions of the tire puncture with respect to the vehicle body. As nails  14  claw hold of a depth of tire  34 , sealant  25  conforms the irregularities of tread section  38  to increase the adherence of patch  10 . Then, applicator  201  may be lifted off patch  10  without an interference leaving patch  10  appropriately adhering to tire  34 . Blocking the puncture is effective as immediate as the one-touch tacking of patch  10  and a distance of normal driving of the vehicle will automatically perfect the protective blending of patch  10 , tire  34  and the cause of puncture  36 . 
     Therefore, while the presently preferred form of the emergency long drive patch for tire puncture has been shown and described, and several modifications thereof discussed, persons skilled in this art will readily appreciate that various additional changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, as defined and differentiated by the following claims.