Formed Flange For Pressure Monitoring Valve Stem Mount

Abstract

A valve stem for mounting and supporting a tire pressure monitoring assembly includes a flange formed after insertion into the wheel rim for preventing movement caused by forces generated during wheel rotation.

1 . A tire pressure monitoring assembly comprising:
 an elastic valve stem including an inner portion, an outer portion and a cavity extending from the inner portion to the outer portion;   a valve body disposed within the cavity and defining a bore;   a fastening member including a first end engageable to the valve body and a second end engaged with the inner portion of the elastic valve stem for deforming the outer portion of the valve stem; and   a sensor housing secured to the valve stem by the fastening member.   
   
   
       2 . The assembly as recited in  claim 2 , including an anti-rotation feature disposed between the sensor housing and at least one of the valve body and the valve stem for preventing relative rotation of the sensor housing relative to the at least one of the valve body and the valve stem. 
   
   
       3 . The assembly as recited in  claim 2 , wherein the anti-rotation feature comprise a tab on one of the valve stem and the sensor housing and an indentation receiving the tab on the other of the valve stem and the sensor housing. 
   
   
       4 . The assembly as recited in  claim 2 , wherein anti-rotation feature comprise a key on the valve body that corresponds to a receiving feature of the sensor housing. 
   
   
       5 . The assembly as recited in  claim 2 , wherein the key and receiving feature provide for an angular adjustment between the valve stem and sensor housing. 
   
   
       6 . The assembly as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the bore of the valve body includes threads corresponding to threads of the fastening member. 
   
   
       7 . The assembly as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the valve body extends outwardly from the inner portion of the valve stem and includes threads on an external surface and the fastening member comprises a nut securable to the threads. 
   
   
       8 . The assembly as recited in  claim 5 , wherein the threads on the valve body include a stop that defines a desired deformation of the outer portion of the valve stem. 
   
   
       9 . The assembly as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the valve body extends outwardly from the inner portion of the valve stem and includes capture features and the fastening member comprises a push nut engageable to the capture features for holding the valve body in a secured position. 
   
   
       10 . The assembly as recited in  claim 9 , wherein the capture features comprise grooves on outer surface of the valve body engageable to threads on an inner surface of the push nut. 
   
   
       11 . The assembly as recited in  claim 10 , wherein the push nut is adapted for unthreading from the capture features. 
   
   
       12 . The assembly as recited in  claim 9 , wherein the capture features include a frangible portion that breaks away responsive to application of a desired load. 
   
   
       13 . A method of securing a tire pressure monitoring sensor assembly to a wheel rim comprising:
 inserting a valve stem comprising an elastically deformable material through an opening in a wheel rim;   seating an inner portion of the valve stem against an inner surface of the wheel rim; and   deforming an outer portion of the valve stem against an outer surface of the wheel rim.   
   
   
       14 . The method as recited in  claim 13 , comprising deforming the outer portion of the valve stem by fastening a fastening member to a valve body disposed within the valve stem. 
   
   
       15 . The method as recited in  claim 14 , comprising, engaging a threaded member to a threaded portion of the valve body for compressing the outer portion of the valve stem and forming a flange in the valve stem against the outer surface of the wheel rim. 
   
   
       16 . The method as recited in  claim 14 , comprising, pulling on a valve body in a first direction aligned with the valve stem and pushing on the fastening member in a second direction opposite the first direction for forming a flange in the valve stem against the outer surface of the wheel rim. 
   
   
       17 . The method as recited in  claim 16 , wherein the fastening member comprises a push-on nut engageable to features on the valve stem for compressing the outer portion of the valve stem.