Wheelwright machines – Rubber tire mounting and/or demounting apparatus – For collapsing or shifting tire axially
Reexamination Certificate
1997-11-05
2001-01-16
Smith, James G. (Department: 3723)
Wheelwright machines
Rubber tire mounting and/or demounting apparatus
For collapsing or shifting tire axially
C157S001100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06173751
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a burst protection device for tire removing machines.
When performing work on motor vehicle wheels that entails removing the tire from the wheel and reinstalling it, a serious safety problem related to the inflation of said tire arises.
In case of bursting, the shock wave produced by the air that strikes the operator combines with the violent movement that the wheel undergoes under the thrust of said air.
The event becomes even more severe if the tearing of the tire occurs on the sidewall that is directed toward the worktable of the tire removing machine; said worktable becomes a wall for upward propulsive thrust both for the tire and for the wheel.
In order to solve this dangerous problem, straps are currently used whose corresponding ends are rigidly coupled to the tire removing machine and, after securing the tire in the upward region, are coupled by means of their diametrically opposite ends, with appropriate spring-catches, to an eyebolt that is anchored to the frame of said machine.
Another means used to secure the tires is constituted by a frame that is made of metallic tubular material, is pivoted on one side to the footing of the tire removing machine, and has, on the other side, an engagement seat again for a safety strap which can in turn be rigidly coupled to said eyebolt.
However, it has been observed that due to the violence of the burst, said straps are absolutely insufficient to retain the wheel on the machine; when the burst occurs, said wheel in fact tends to squeeze between said straps, wedging between them, or even tears the eyebolt for coupling the closure spring-catches, even if said metal tube frame is used, or tears the very mesh of the straps, or strips the teeth of their windup mechanism, equally striking the operator, who must stay next to the tire removing machine in order to work on the tire.
Moreover, the operator, due to hurrying and to overconfidence caused by habitual use of the machine, sometimes deliberately does not use the safety straps, with imaginable consequences in case of bursting.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The aim of the present invention is to solve the above mentioned problems of the prior art, by providing a burst protection device for tire removing machines that is absolutely effective in case of intervention, is easy to operate, has a simple structure, and forces the operator to use it without any kind of exception.
In accordance with a preferred aspect of the invention, there is provided a burst protection device for tire removing machines which is characterized by comprising:
a presser means releasably engageable substantially centrally on a rim of a wheel located on a platform of the tire removing machine such as to block an axial movement of the wheel away from said platform; and
a clearance signal-producing device which is actuatable when the presser means engage the rim of the wheel, in which the signal-producing device controls operation of the machine in only an active intervention stage of the presser means.
Advantageously, said burst protection device for tire removing machines is characterized in that said presser means is constituted by a straight rod that is mounted so that it is slidingly guided in a vertical sleeve that is in turn supported by corresponding means associated with said machine, said rod supporting said self-centering adapter at its lowermost end, conventional devices being provided for locking the rod in the sleeve.
Conveniently, said burst protection device for tire removing machines is characterized, as an alternative, in that said presser means is constituted by a vertical rod of preset length which supports, at its lowermost end, said self-centering adapter body and rigidly supports, at its uppermost end, a transverse sleeve inside which it is possible to insert, and lock with corresponding conventional elements, a pin that protrudes radially from a collar that is rigidly fitted on the conventional vertical rod that supports the bead extractor tool.
Still in another variant the burst protection device is characterized in that said wheel locking means comprises a female cylindrical element that is mounted centrally so as to partially protrude upward on the platform for the ordinary resting and retention of the wheels on the machine, said element being provided, in an upward region, with a partial closure diaphragm that is crossed by an opening that is shaped so as to allow the corresponding end of a straight rod to be inserted coaxially, said rod being adapted to pass at right angles through the wheel in the hub hole, preventing its movements from said platform.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4742859 (1988-05-01), Mannen
Automation Engineering—pp. 64-66—Dec. 20, 1993 (First Edition)—S.C. Kuo and S.C. Liu.
Josif Albert
MACIS S.r.l.
Modiano Guido
Smith James G.
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