Air Valve Attachment With Sliding Catching Element
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional air valve connecting devices occupy significant space, are difficult to operate, and often fail to effectively grasp different inflation valves, leading to air leakage issues.
Innovation Solution
An air valve connecting device with a housing, sliding member, and catching element that includes a gasket and a radially extended peripheral protrusion to securely engage and prevent air leaks, allowing for easy connection and disconnection of inflation valves.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If conventional air valve connecting devices use traditional fitting structures, then they can receive inflation valves, but they occupy significant space and are difficult to operate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a sliding member that can move between extended and retracted positions within the housing. When extended, it provides a longer engagement surface for user operation; when retracted, it reduces the overall device volume. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction between compact size and ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The device is divided into modular components: housing, sliding member, catching element, and gasket. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently - the housing maintains compact dimensions while the sliding member extends only when needed for operation, resolving the space versus operability contradiction.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional air valve connecting devices use simple fitting structures, then they are easy to manufacture, but they fail to effectively grasp different inflation valves leading to air leakage
Solution Approach 1:
A flexible gasket is employed as the sealing element that can deform to accommodate different inflation valve geometries. This flexible membrane approach provides reliable sealing across multiple valve types without requiring complex rigid structures, maintaining manufacturing simplicity while improving sealing reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The catching element combines rigid structural components with the flexible gasket material. This composite approach allows the rigid parts to provide structural support and positioning while the flexible gasket ensures reliable sealing, achieving both manufacturing feasibility and sealing performance.
3Device complexity
If conventional air valve connecting devices use basic engagement mechanisms, then they have simple structures, but they cannot securely hold different inflation valves
Solution Approach 1:
The catching element features a curved, cup-like structure that conformally engages with the stem of various inflation valves. This curved geometry provides secure holding through geometric interlocking rather than relying on complex mechanical fasteners, achieving strong grasping with minimal structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The engagement interface is locally optimized with specific geometric features on the catching element that match the inflation valve stem. This localized geometric tailoring provides strong engagement for different valve types without requiring the entire device structure to be complex.
4Adaptability or versatility
If conventional air valve connecting devices use fixed fitting ports, then they have simple designs, but they cannot adapt to different inflation valve types
Solution Approach 1:
The catching element with its curved geometry and the flexible gasket are designed to universally accommodate multiple inflation valve types (French, American, Presta). This universal design approach allows a single structure to perform multiple functions across different valve standards without increasing overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible gasket's ability to change its physical parameters (shape, thickness) under compression allows it to adapt to different valve stem diameters and geometries. This parameter variability enables versatility across multiple valve types while maintaining a simple base structure.
Data Source
AI summary
An air valve connecting device or attachment includes a housing having an inlet barrel, a sliding member slidably engaged in the housing and having an upper portion extendible out of the housing, the sliding member includes a pathway for selectively aligning with the inlet barrel, a catching element is attached to the sliding member, a gasket is engaged in the catching element, and an inflation valve is engageable into the gasket for depressing the gasket and the catching element and the sliding member to engage into the housing and for moving the sliding member out of the housing, and the inflation valve is detachable from the housing by depressing the sliding member into the housing.