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Tesla Patent Reveals New on the Go Tire Inflation System, It's Not Only for Passenger Cars

Musk’s Tesla is actively trying to keep you in motion despite most adversities. Now a new document shows the carmaker has a new patent for a tire inflation system that can work better than the current technology. It can also be used for trucks.
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Photo: Tesla on Twitter
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Tesla is already a car company that has proved itself almost everywhere in the world. It doesn’t matter if you like or dislike Elon Musk. He, his team, the investors, the states, and the federal U.S. government managed to create or/and support an entity that had a courageous starting goal: change the way we look at propulsion systems. Tesla was the catalyst of total automotive electrification. The debates will never stop regarding this issue, but we must acknowledge the important role this company has played in disrupting the established worldwide auto business.

Keeping in touch with its true character, Tesla is once again proving that it can make transportation better. The recently disclosed United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) filing shows there’s a new tire inflation system underway. This one might be useful for passenger cars like the Model X and Y because they’re mostly used by large families for longer trips, but it will work best with trucks or semis. After all, Musk’s company is looking forward to actually start making and delivering Cybertrucks and Semis.

Tesla points out in the abovementioned document that you can find attached at the end of the article that keeping the target pressure in tires is important but difficult. Companies have developed automatic tire inflation systems, but they currently work in a rudimentary way. For example, the much-needed air is fed through axles to a fitting that’s coupled with the air inlets of the tires. This means leaks can easily appear.

Tesla is trying to solve issues like this by introducing valves, a controller, and a plurality of air outlets. These will work in a new system that includes a spindle where the first hosing is coupling a valve of the valves controlled by the computer to the channel formed in the respective spindle. There will also be a rotary air seal between the inner and the outer bearings of the drive axle, which will facilitate keeping the channel intact. This means any kind of leakage is almost impossible. The airstream won’t be contaminated, and the system will have a longer lifespan.

Having the tire pressure remain as recommended by the manufacturer might become very important for transportation. Electric trucks or semis aren’t that efficient yet, so anything that can help here will be used to get these vehicles as far as possible on one charge.
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Editor's note: Pictures shown in the gallery are for illustration purposes only.

 Download: Tesla's USPTO filing (PDF)

About the author: Florin Amariei
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Car shows on TV and his father's Fiat Tempra may have been Florin's early influences, but nowadays he favors different things, like the power of an F-150 Raptor. He'll never be able to ignore the shape of a Ferrari though, especially a yellow one.
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