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The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a Patent to Tesla, Inc (US11254170 B2), dated February 22, 2022. According to the specification, Tesla’s latest patent is for an Automatic Tire Inflation System (ATIS).
Proper tire inflation pressure is important once operational a commercial vehicle because it will have an effect on fuel potency and increase tire wear. As per the North American Council for Freight Efficiency, a 0.5-1.0% increase in fuel consumption is seen in commercial vehicles with tires underinflated by ten psi. guaranteeing a commercial vehicle has properly inflated tires additionally decreases the probabilities of edge breakdowns involving tire failures.
In the case of the Tesla Semi, fuel isn’t much of an issue, but efficiency still matters. Tesla’s recent patent reveals it is working on an automatic tire inflation system and #40; ATIS # 41 ;, which makes it possible to overcome one or more causes of under-inflation of utility vehicles. Automatic tire inflation systems can monitor tire inflation pressure through a preset value and inflate tires whenever the vehicle is below the target level.
The abstract of Tesla’s Automatic Tire Inflation System patent states:
“An Automatic Tire Inflation System (ATIS) to be used with a vehicle includes a controller, valves controlled by the controller and, for a minimum of one drive axle having inner bearings and outer bearings, a channel formed during a spindle, first hosing coupling controlled by the controller to the channel formed within the spindle, a channel formed during a hub, a rotary air seal coupling the channel formed within the spindle to the channel formed within the hub, and second hosing coupling the channel formed within the hub to a minimum of one wheel. The rotary air seal may transition from a sealed state that forms a seal between the spindle and therefore the refore the refore the hub to support air flow between the channel formed within the spindle and the channel formed in hub and reside in an unsealed state to negate the seal between the spindle and the hub.”
While full Tesla Semi production has not yet started, a number of the company’s customers are already making active preparations for the all-electric Class 8 truck. In PepsiCo’s case, the food and beverage company has already prepared the primary Megacharger stations for its Tesla Semi fleet at its Modesto, California location.