Patent ID: 8161632

Claim:
An inflator device for inflating a tire-wheel assembly including a tire and a wheel, wherein the tire includes a tire bead, wherein the wheel includes a flange of a rim having: an outboard surface connected to an outboard corner connected to a circumferential perimeter connected to an inboard corner connected to an inboard surface comprising: a seal assembly that maintains, while sealing from ambient pressure, an open air passageway between the tire bead and a wheel bead seat during an inflation procedure, wherein the wheel bead seat includes at least a portion of the inboard surface of the flange, wherein the seal assembly includes a seal that is disposed directly adjacent and sealingly-engages the wheel bead seat during the inflation procedure, wherein the seal includes a ring-shape having a flexible inner periphery, wherein the seal assembly is moved to/from first and second directions to cause the flexible inner periphery to move from a first at-rest position directly adjacent an outboard surface of the wheel bead seat to a first position of orientation directly adjacent a circumferential perimeter of the wheel bead seat to a second at-rest position from the first position of orientation directly adjacent the inboard surface of the wheel bead seat to a second position of orientation directly adjacent the circumferential perimeter of the wheel bead seat to the first at-rest position proximate the outboard surface of the wheel bead seat.