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Goodyear's 'On TheGo' Self Inflating Tire
SternisheFan writes with a bit of maintenance saving tech for drivers. From the article: "When was the last time you checked your tire pressure? If you're scratching your head, you might want to put a set of Goodyear's new self-inflating tires on your ride. The company's Air Maintenance Technology was rolled out of the lab this week for debut at a car show in Germany. Commercial truckers will be the first to put the rubber to test, but a consumer version is in the works. A regulator in the tire senses when tire-inflation pressure drops below a pre-set point and opens to allow air flow into the pumping tube. As the tire rolls, deformation flattens the tube, pushing air through the tire to the inlet valve and then into the tire cavity. All this technology, in Goodyear's words, eliminates the need for 'external inflation pressure intervention.'"
The bike on inflates itself simply by rolling. I would love to have these, but they're not exactly mass production yet and I've got a lot of goofy tire sizes on my bikes.
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So how long before this technology is implemented to other 'inflatable' ummm... technologies?
I'm sure that this has many 'practical' implications for the 'companions' of the slashdot readership?
I think you're missing the point. This is EXACTLY what we need with gas at $4/gallon.
When your tire pressure is low, you get less MPG. So this tire, when the pressure gets low will open a valve to "reinflate" your tire to specified pressure. Ensuring proper ride, handling and better gas mileage.
It's not going to inflate constantly, rather just when the tire drops below a set level. Kind of like a thermostat. but for pressure. A barometricstat.
Currently, I pay around $400-$600 per truck tire in my fleet and this is using my national fleet account from Bridgestone. I would hate to see what the price of this tire is going to be. The current prices are already hard to swallow when I have 80 Heavy-Haul trucks and over 200 trailers. That is a lot of tires!
Apple has filed a lawsuit against Goodyear tire saying their new auto-inflating tire violates their patents. They have "an app for that", and therefore, Goodyear's later tire is cleary a copy of one of their several millions apps. Apple is not sure which one, but they know since there is an "app for everything", Goodyear must be in violation.
They are asking $3.9 billion in damages and a halt on all sales of Goodyear tires. As they've pointed out tires are a clear infringement of their trade dress. Their buttons on their iPhones and iPads are round. And Goodyear tires are round. So that's $1 for every tire Goodyear has sold.
Some cars do display the PSI of the tires via TPMS, it could be combined with this system to let you know "Tire Failure is Eminent" of course this would require some sort of software and memory to keep track of normal air pressure loss. Probably be limited to the more expensive cars.
Those tires need windows you can open to let the air in.
+5 insightful
Bad idea. Foam filled and other "airless tires" all have very high rolling resistance (takes more energy to roll than an air filled tire). Their only applications are where the cost of a flat is very high (or very inconvenient) -- for example military vehicles or wheel chairs.
-5 idiotic to GP post.
Solid tires suck, there is a reason we use pneumatic tires. Foam filled ones ride harshly and weigh more than air filled ones. There are foam filled tires out there, generally used where ride quality is not a concern.
At least, I presume he means that because he says "Don't need air"
Tires with a self sealing foam system still need air. Tires get low because the bead and valve aren't prefect, not because there are holes.
Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
I doubt this will help against spike strips. It sounds more designed for gradual re-inflation.
IIRC they make run on flat tyres designed for use where the ability to escape quickly in the event of a deliberately punctured tyre is needed.
note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
why can we not all have tires that yield not to trivial roadside rubbish?
We can. We just choose not to pay for them
The police, on the other hand, (a) don't have to pay for them--your tax dollars at work--and (b) have an arguably worthwhile need to not have to worry about flat tires.
Just out of curiosity, what do people around here think of "run flat" tires? A new car I'm considering getting comes with them standard and I'm curious...
Where this technology is needed is RV and trailer tires. If a car tire blows, usually one has a time where it runs flat. A travel trailer or a fifth wheel, you don't feel the blown tire until it has blown off the rim and caused significant amounts of damage to the rig. Having something like this wouldn't just save 1-2 MPG, it might save a $50,000 trailer or more if it keeps a tire on the rim.
Not trolling here, but how does it pump only air and not water? I've driven in some wet parts of the country, and many more that were snowy and slushy. There's a lot of dust and moisture down there on the road at times.
"Tire Failure is Imminent"
FTFY. Eminent tyre failure isn't really what we want here ;-)
One thing I know, and that is that I am ignorant...
Just out of curiosity, what do people around here think of "run flat" tires? A new car I'm considering getting comes with them standard and I'm curious...
That depends. If you buy a car to get from point A to point B, they aren't that bad. Factor in that replacements are more expensive, wear out quicker, and mechanics often charge more to mount/balance them, versus the extremely occasional flat tire.
However, if you are any sort of auto enthusiast, run-flat tires are the work of the devil. Very small selection, all with bad handling and poor traction. Many people are not buying BMWs any more simply because they all come with run-flats, and the extra added expense of buying four real tires for a brand new old car is just silly.
Typically most drivers don't re-inflate the tires themselves. This is usually done when getting the next oil change or taking a trip to the dealership. But yes, it does require those pesky warning lights to grab their attention and remind them.
Where this technology really has a benefit would be for 18 wheelers like the article states. Living in Houston, I constantly see blown tire tread all curled on the highways. It's a port city, so the level of 18 wheeler traffic is to be expected. But the problem is when tire pressure is low. This generates a lot of heat (in an already hot and humid city) and shortens the life of the tire. Eventually it breaks down and disintegrates all over the public road ways causing a life hazard for other motorists. Tire tread is a lot of mass to be hitting at 65 to 70 MPH. If it doesn't cause you to wreck, at the very least it will cause major cosmetic damage to the front bumper's plastics.
Life is not for the lazy.
Why does your TPMS go off all winter long? It will go off when the air temperature drops. Adjust the tire pressure and you should be good until spring. I've had this feature since '06 and that's always how it has worked out.
The only thing that bugs me is that even on cars with touch screens, they cheap out and don't tell you which tires are at fault.
I don't see how his would help with blowouts other than perhaps by reducing tire wear a bit by maintaining ideal pressure. No amount of "trickle-charging" is going to compensate for the fact that there is a gaping hole preventing the tire from holding air. And the usage scenario for trailers and RVs is generally sit around for months on end and then get driven around for a short while - unless the charge rate is pretty fast you'd still want to top off your tires before you hit the road, though I suppose it would be handy for those absent-minded individuals that forget to do so until they've been on the road for a hundred miles or so.
--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
Tire pressure should be set by the specific application. In a passenger car that generally has a weight that varies only a small amount over its service life, this tire could save a little time, but since it will almost certainly cost more, I don't much see the point. Car tires don't generally leak that much, and thanks to TPMS, (such as the one in my Chevy Impala with which I can see the pressure in each tire displayed on my dashboard) I can check without having to take the valve stem caps off. When it gets a little low, I top off the tires. However, the pressure that should be in each tire corresponds to the characteristics of the tire, AND THE LOAD ON THE TIRE. If you drive on tires with pressure that is too low, you get degraded performance, a spongier ride, increased likelihood of rim damage due to road irregularities, debris, etc., as well as excessive wear to the left and right edges of the tires. If the pressure is too high, depending on HOW MUCH they're too high by, you run risks ranging from degraded performance, increased chance of a blow-out, and the associated loss of control and crash that often occurs with this sort of thing at high speed, especially dangerous if two or more fail simultaneously. As a minimum, you can expect better fuel economy from your over-inflated tires, but decreased tire life span, as you'll see excessive wear in the center of the tread area, which also means greater odds of a flat from puncture than you'd have running over the same thing with a tire having the proper pressure.
As for load, you must understand that the pressure inside the tire is equivalent to the distribution of weight over the entire area of the contact patch, the area of the tires' tread that touches the surface on which you're driving (the road, usually, though occasionally the sidewalk for more adventurous types). So if your tires are inflated to 50 p.s.i., and they're supposed to be at 25, the area in contact with the road should be about half of what it should be. Some people mistakenly believe their tires should be inflated to the MAXIMUM TIRE PRESSURE marking on the sidewall of the tire, and that's simply NOT TRUE under most circumstances. That's a specification that indicates the greatest internal/external pressure differential the tire can safely and reliably handle, under the normal stresses a tire is exposed to, when used in an application for which it was designed, and still give service life as specified and maybe also warranted by the manufacturer.
So if a tire mounted to a passenger car that weighs 3000 pounds, and has a recommended tire pressure of 30 p.s.i. front and rear, is designed to have a contact patch that is 75 square inches, and you are routinely carrying 1000 pounds (between you, the driver, and all the cargo, and let's say the weight is more or less evenly distributed throughout the car,) the load on each tire is 4/3 what the specified pressure was intended for. You should therefore increase the COLD pressure for each tire, (measured and filled when the car has NOT just been driven, as per the manual of every car and truck I'VE ever owned...) by the same amount, so each tire should be at about 40 p.s.i., which BTW, if you carefully note the shape of the tire when the car is empty, the size of the contact patch, you should find it is the same when the pressure is bumped up to 40, with the extra weight added.
Failure to adjust will result in tires that are overinflated or underinflated, depending on when you failed to adjust. Obviously, if you're carrying 3000 pounds in a car that weighs 3000 pounds, you'll probably void the warranty on car and tires, may damage both, and since the tires are probably not designed to handle TWICE THE RECOMMENDED PRESSURE for that car, you run the risk of catastrophic tire failure.
On SUV's and pickup trucks, esp. heavy duty ones, you'll note that in point of fact, the tires that come on them usually have a substantial overhead, can be aired up to much higher pressure than the recommended. This is because such vehicles
Had a friend who has a BMW with run flat tires. He got a flat and decided to just run flat. Worked for a few miles then everything came apart. Required a tow truck and much time and expense to put everything back together again. I don't think these tires are very good.
(I'm sure there is a joke in here about iPhone users and BMW drivers but I can't think of it now... perhaps someone more brilliant will come up with it.)
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
No, sorry to be a wet blanket but it wouldn't. Many, moons ago I had a job as a petrol pump jockey, in the 70's people served you at petrol stations, they filled up your tank, cleaned your widscreen, checked your oil, tyres, wiper water, and brake fluid (the aim of this "free service" was to sell tyres, engine oil, wiper blades, etc). I was standing behind the counter watching a guy who had spent ages trying to inflate his own tyre (he was not a paying customer), I was just about to walk over an offer him help when BOOM the tyre exploded with a puff of dust while he was knelt down in front of it. I figure he cannot have put more that 100psi in it since that's was the compressor's output. The guy was unhurt but very pale and shaken, he also had a light coating of tyre dust, no visable damage to the car other than the now totally deflated tyre. Apon hearing the explosion the boss strolled out of the workshop and called out to the guy across the courtyard - "I have new one of those in stock".
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
What if I drive backwards? Does it deflate the tire?
I know a guy who runs a fleet of 500 trucks. If he could save $627 annually per truck that would mean a third of a million dollars back in his pocket every year. Another benefit is if his 500 drivers are each spending 5 minutes a day checking tire pressure, he could possibly reduce that to once per week if he rolled with these tires, saving another $200,000 annually on simple maintenance. (I don't know how anything about how often his drivers check tire pressure manually, or if they have remote sensors, so that could be completely imaginary savings.)
Under-inflated tires fail more often than properly maintained tires, which means less down-time dealing with flats. That doesn't sound like a big deal, but when you realize that tires last only about 80,000 miles each and you have 18 on a rig, that could be a tire failure every 13 days. If all your tires are under-inflated, they would all last about 9% less, which would be a failure every 12 days. Most failed tires are caught by inspection, where the driver is already in a truck stop and repairs are less costly than side of the road service, and some tire failures are drivable to the next truck stop, where the driver will burn some downtime while he's getting it fixed, but not every failure is so convenient. Roadside service will take a couple of hours out of your schedule while you wait for the local guy to come out and fix it. Plus, tires are not cheap (the smaller trailer tires can cost around $500 each for new, (less for retreads,) and steer tires are significantly higher) and if a blowout damages something else, it's even more money. You want to get every mile you can out of those tires.
And what happens if you're running a hot shot, with a significant penalty for failing to deliver on time? One late load can cost a large amount in direct losses, (think six figures) plus the potential loss of business if the big-spending customer never hires that sloppy trucking firm again.
Every little improvement is significant to someone when multiplied by fleet sizes.
John
Under-inflation is a major cause of blowouts.