Inventors seek funding for self-inflating bicycle tyre

ERJ staff report (DS)

San Francisco, California -- A group of inventors is seeking up to $250,000 (euro 200 000) to develop a self-inflating tyre for bicycles. Benjamin Krempel, founder of the PumpTire concept has published a video on YouTuber promoting the idea.

in the video, the inventors say, "The PumpTire concept works by using the rolling motion of the tyre to draw in air from the atmosphere. Located within the tyre is a small-diameter hollow tube which runs circumferentially around the outer tread surface of the tyre. As the tyre rolls, the weight of the bicycle compresses the tube and forces air around the tube and into the tyre, much like squeezing toothpaste in a tube.

The video shows a recording of a small camera monted within a bicycle wheel and focussed on a pressure guage, also mounted within the wheel. The bicycle was then ridden wit the whole assembly. Viewers can see that the pressure in the tyre rises from 22 psi (1.5 bar) to 52 psi (3.8 bar) n the space of a mile or so (1.5 km) of cycling, covered in less than 4 minutes.

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Homepage of PumpTire

US developer seek start-up cash for self-inflating bike tyre BikeBiz (US - California)