Spare tires on motor vehicles are rarely thought of by the vehicle user until such time that they are needed. When that happens, the vehicle user often finds out that the spare tire is flat or at least severely under inflated. Consequently, in order to be sure that a spare tire is fully inflated, the vehicle user must check the pressure therein from time to time, and this quite often requires removal of the tire from the trunk or moving it around in the trunk, either of which requires considerable effort. This problem is only exacerbated if the tire is secured to the trunk or if the trunk contains other things which must also be moved or removed during the process.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,019,831 to Morrello attempts to solve the aforementioned problem by attaching a pressure hose to the valve stem on the spare tire inside of a trunk and has a pressure hose leading to a valve stem which extends to the outside of the vehicle body and is attached to the vehicle body so that the pressure can be checked at the same time the other tires on the vehicle are checked. It also permits inflation without opening the trunk of the car. While this approach to solving the problem is good in certain respects, it does require alteration to the body of the vehicle and also presents an unsightly valve stem sticking out of the side of the vehicle body. This valve stem extension can catch car wash brushes and can involve considerable expense in drilling through the body of a car and putting it into place.
Consequently, there is a need for an apparatus for maintaining proper inflation of a spare tire without requiring modification to the body of a vehicle.