Wheelwright machines – Rubber tire mounting and/or demounting apparatus – For collapsing or shifting tire axially
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-11
2001-05-29
Morgan, Eileen P. (Department: 3723)
Wheelwright machines
Rubber tire mounting and/or demounting apparatus
For collapsing or shifting tire axially
C157S001200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06237666
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a kit of removable adapters for converting conventional tire changing machines into tire changing machines for special run-flat tires.
Special tires have long been studied and are currently being manufactured and marketed. Their structure allows, in case of puncture or damage, to avoid their complete deflation despite the lack of internal pressure, accordingly allowing the vehicle to continue to travel without having to replace the damaged tire and thus eliminating the severe consequences of such situations suffered with conventional tires.
The particular structure of these tires, of the tubeless type, entails fitting and rigidly coupling, between the bead seat of the wheel rim and the very tire, a ring of adequate thickness made of an elastomer which, in case of sudden deflation of the tire and consequent reduction of the inflation pressure to zero, continues to bear the weight of the vehicle and allows to continue the regular rolling of the wheel, avoiding any sudden swerving of the vehicle and damages to the tire.
One particularity of these tires is the fact that the inside and outside diameters are different from each other, the former being larger than the latter.
Moreover, the so-called bead has a profile with a particular cross-section and is internally reinforced with an annular steel cable in order to maintain the grip against the edges of the wheel rim.
This in practice makes impossible to use, in order to remove and fit the tires to the wheel rim, the conventional machines that are currently manufactured. Accordingly, due to their limited diffusion owing to the fact that such tires have been marketed only recently, these operations are performed only by hand, by using levers which, during removal, are forcibly inserted between the edge of the wheel rim and the bead of the tire in order to extract it from its seat or to insert it therein during mounting. Heavy hammers are used with which the beads of the tires are struck with rough accuracy in order to force them to pass over the flanges of the tire rims so as to achieve their correct placement and thus complete their mounting.
This operating method is very difficult for operators and is slow and dangerous for the integrity of the wheel rims, since the levers that are employed rest on the edges of the wheel rims in order to be able to apply force in the maneuver for lifting the beads, and the blows inflicted with the hammers sometimes strike the wheel rim instead of the tire.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The aim of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems of the prior art by providing a kit of removable adapters for converting conventional tire changing machines into tire changing machines for special run-flat tires which allows to work quickly and automatically, without effort for the operators and with no danger of damaging the wheel rims, all this without needing to have a specifically conceived and manufactured tire changing machine.
This aim, this object and others are achieved by a kit of removable adapters for converting conventional tire changing machines into tire changing machines for special run-flat tires, characterized in that it comprises: a first element for guiding the beads of the tire, which can be interposed between the beads and the wheel rim and is shaped and fixable according to complementarily shaped profiles and with corresponding means to the lower end of the conventional corresponding vertical tool with which the tire changing machine is provided; a second bead breaker element provided with an auxiliary shoe for contacting and pushing the beads of a tire and with means for removable coupling to the conventional bead breaker shoe with which the tire changing machine is equipped; a lever for the localized extraction of the beads of the tires from the respective flanges of the wheel rims, which can be functionally coupled to means for resting against the wheel rim in order to protect the wheel rim; a base for supporting the wheel rims, which can be rigidly coupled to the rotating platform of the tire changing machine in order to constantly maintain the distance between the platform and the edges of the wheel rim.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3746069 (1973-07-01), Blomgren, Sr. et al.
patent: 4580612 (1986-04-01), Smithkey
patent: 5191934 (1993-03-01), Wicklund
patent: 5806578 (1998-09-01), Gonzaga
patent: 6056034 (2000-05-01), Matnick
Danganan Joni B.
Morgan Eileen P.
Sicam S.r.l.
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