Tire Repair Tool

Heretofore, tire repair tools have included a tube which is adapted to be inserted into a tire to provide a passageway for the introduction of tire repair material. Such tubes have been rigidly connected to a handle by means of which the tube could be inserted through the wall of the tire. With the advent, however, of steel belted tires, the tubes, being relatively thin in wall thickness, have fractured easily due to the increase in pressure required to force the tube through the tire wall. When such fracture occurred, it was necessary to discard the entire assembly of tube and handle thus requiring each tire repair station to maintain a supply of the handle and tube assemblies for replacement purposes.

The invention of the present application has reduced the loss incident to the fracture of a tube by making the tube removable from the handle and enabling the replacement tube to be quickly installed on the handle. This reduces the necessity for the customer to carry tube and handle assemblies in stock and to carry only relatively inexpensive tubes for replacement purposes.

In the Drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a tube assembled onto a retainer or handle in accordance with the invention set forth in the present application;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the assembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are sections taken on planes indicated by the correspondingly numbered lines in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a section taken on a plane indicated by the line 5--5 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the assembly of FIG. 1 with a tire wall piercing member having a threaded shaft which is affixed to a second handle for coacting with the assembly of FIG. 1, in making a tire repair; and

FIG. 7 is a section taken on a plane indicated by the line 7--7 in FIG. 6.

The tire repair tool which embodies the invention of the present application includes a hand actuated tubular member which is adapted to be inserted through the wall of a vehicle tire at the point of injury to the tire. The tube, when inserted into the tire, provides a passageway through which a tire repair strip may be inserted by means of a forked needle until the trailing part of the material is approximately flush with the outer surface of the tire. The needle is then withdrawn, whereupon the tube is withdrawn, thereby leaving the tire repair material embedded within the tire.

In the embodiment shown in the drawings, a tube 10 is fastened at one end to a retainer 11 which in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 is shown as an open frame embodying a one-piece structure having a portion 12 which is provided with an aperture 13 through which the tube extends. Arms 15 and 16 extend laterally from the ends of the portion 12 and terminate in inturned portions 17 and 18 respectively and provide finger grips by means of which the tool may be manipulated.

The tube 10 is shown as being cylindrical except for the portion thereof adjacent the retainer, the latter of which is non-circular in shape and preferably is rectangular in cross-section as shown at 20 in FIG. 5, and as fitting into a complementary shaped opening 21 in the portion 12. Such arrangement provides a shoulder 22 in the portion 12 which serves to limit movement of the tube in an axial direction outwardly from the retainer, and also serves to prevent rotation of the tube with reference to the retainer.

The tube is shown as being attached to the retainer by a fastener which has a generally rectangular base 25 with upwardly projecting resilient fingers 26 which yield sufficiently to enable the tube to be passed through the opening between the ends of the fingers and which then grip the tube frictionally so as to prevent it from moving axially in a direction inwardly of the retainer. Such fastener may be removed for replacing the tube 10 by prying upwardly upon the fingers 26 and sliding the fastener off the tube, whereupon the fastener may be re-used for attaching a new tube to the retainer.

To facilitate introduction of the tube 10 through the wall of the tire, the threaded end 30 of a gimlet is inserted through the tube until the end 36 of an enlarged shank portion 37 engages one end of the tube 10 at which time the handle 31 of the gimlet engages the inturned portions 17 and 18 respectively of the retainer. At the same time the inner side walls 32 and 33 of the handle 31 engage the top and bottom faces 34 and 35 respectively of the retainer inturned portions 17 and 18. At such time, the handle of the gimlet and the retainer are interlocked against rotation with respect to each other, thus enabling the assembly to be manually rotated until the spiral portion of the gimlet shank has passed through the wall of the tire. The assembly is then pushed axially into the tire, thereby moving the tube through the tire wall until the retainer portion 12 engages the outer face of the tire wall. During such operation, the end 36 of the shank portion 37 is pushing against the adjacent end of the tube 10 and is operating to restrain the tube from moving with relation to the retainer and away from the tire. Tire repair material may then be inserted through the tube after which the tube is withdrawn, thus leaving the repair material embedded in the wall of the tire.

A suitable form of tire repair material may comprise a strip of flat rubber-like material which is fitted into a forked opening at the end of a needle in the customary manner. After the repair material is inserted, the needle is withdrawn and the tube is withdrawn, thereby leaving the repair material embedded within the wall of the tire and filling the opening therein.