Self-inflating tire and assembling method

A tire having a tread region and first and second sidewalls extending from the tread region and an elongate tubular air passageway enclosed within a flexing region of a tire wall is disclosed. The air passageway comprises an air inlet portal and an outlet portal. The air passageway is configured to operably close segment by segment in reaction to induced forces from the tire flexing region as the flexing region of the tire wall rotates opposite a rolling tire footprint. The elongate air passageway comprises at least one check valve device seated within the axial air passageway dividing the elongate air passageway into a plurality of air passageway segments comprising an upstream air passageway segment and a downstream air passageway segment. The check valve device has an external dimension and configuration such that it is operable to substantially occupy the air passageway. The check valve device has a valve gate to allow pressurized air to directionally pass through the check valve body and to prohibit air from passing through the check valve body from the downstream air passageway segment to the upstream air passageway segment. A flow of pressurized air through the check valve device extends in one axial direction along the air passageway from an inlet portal of the elongate air passageway toward an outlet portal of the air passageway. Also, a method of assembling an air pump for a tire is disclosed.