Pneumatic tire chuck

Claim 2

In a pneumatic tire chuck of the type having a pair of conjointly rotatable members, one of which is movable away from the other to permit mounting and dismounting of a tire thereon, each member having a circular radially outwardly directed flange for engaging one of the opposite spaced beads on the tire, the tire adapted to be inflated when mounted thereon to perform a processing operation on same, the improvements in combination comprising; a. locking means for releasably locking the movable membEr at a predetermined axial position relative to the other member, b. an air supply valve adapted to be opened for delivering air to the tire for inflating same, c. an air discharge valve adapted to be opened to permit the inflated tire to be deflated, d. a normally closed safety valve disposed downstream and in series with the air supply valve, e. means associated with the locking means and safety valve for first effecting locking of the locking means and thence for opening the safety valve, whereby air may be delivered through the air supply valve and to the tire only when the locking means has been moved to locked position, f. the locking means adapted to be restrained from movement to unlocked position while the tire is inflated, but movable to unlocked position after the tire is deflated through the exhaust valve.

Claim 3

Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein the locking means is restrained from movement to unlocked position by the pressure in the tire.

Claim 4

Apparatus in accordance with claim 2, including a rotatable shaft supporting said members, said locking means comprising a movable device carried by the movable member and engageable within a depression in the shaft, forming a positive clutch therewith.

Claim 5

Apparatus in accordance with claim 3 wherein said movable device comprises a yoke and said depression comprises groove means in the shaft for receiving the yoke.

Claim 6

Apparatus in accordance with claim 4 wherein the safety valve is disposed centrally within the shaft, and a centrally disposed actuator rod within the shaft having one end engaging the safety valve for opening same and an opposite end disposed beyond one end of the shaft adapted to be engaged for axially moving the actuator rod.

Claim 7

Apparatus in accordance with claim 5 including a manually operated lever pivotally carried by the movable member, operatively connected to the yoke and actuating rod in such manner to first move the yoke to locked position and thence engage said opposite end of the actuating rod for opening the safety valve.

Claim 8

Apparatus in accordance with claim 6 wherein said yoke and groove means are so constructed to frictionally lock the yoke to the groove means when the tire is pressurized to prevent the lever from being manually moved to its unlocked position.

Claim 9

Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein each of said members is provided with a peripherally extending outer surface adjacent a flange, of a diameter to receive a tire bead thereon of a minimum desired diameter across the inner peripheral surface of the bead, a first pair of like resilient adapter rings, each being removably mounted on a member and having a flange and outer diameter for seating a tire bead of the next incremental larger inner diameter thereon, a second pair of like integral rings for seating a tire bead of the further next incremental larger inner diameter, and further like pairs for seating tire beads or other tires, the inner bead diameters of which incrementally increase, each pair of rings adapted to be separately used without the use of other pairs, an integral inwardly extending projection on each ring, and a depression in each of said peripherally extending outer surfaces for receiving a projection, for retaining a ring on a member while a tire is being dismounted from the members.

Claim 10

Apparatus in accordance with claim 8 wherein the inwardly extending projection is a circular rib and the depression is a circular groove.

Claim 11

In a pneumatic tire chuck of the type having a pair of conjointly rotatable members, one of which is movable away from the other to permit mounting and dismounting of a tire thereon, each member having a circular radially outwardly directed flange for engaging one of the opposite spaced beads on the tire, each of said members having a peripherally extending outer surface adjacent a flange of a diameter to receive a tire bead thereon of a minimum desired diameter across the inner peripheral surface of the bead, the tire adapted to be iNflated when mounted thereon to perform a processing operation on same, and means for releasably locking the movable member at a predetermined axial position relative to the other member, the improvements, in combination, comprising; a. a first pair of like resilient adapter rings, each being removably mounted on a member and having a flange and outer diameter for seating a tire bead of the next incremental larger inner diameter thereon, b. a second pair of like integral rings for seating a tire bead of the further next incremental larger inner diameter, c. and further like pairs for seating tire beads of other tires, the inner bead diameters of which incrementally increase, d. each pair of rings adapted to be separately used without the use of other pairs, e. an integral radially inwardly extending projection on each ring, and f. a radially inwardly extending depression in each of said peripherally extending outer surfaces for receiving said projection, for retaining a ring on a member when a tire is dismounted from the members.

Claim 12

In a pneumatic tire chuck of the type having a pair of conjointly rotatable members, one of which is movable away from the other to permit mounting and dismounting of a tire thereon, each member having a circular radially outwardly directed flange for engaging one of the opposite spaced beads on the tire, each of said members having a peripherally extending outer surface adjacent a flange of a diameter to receive a tire bead thereon of a minimum desired diameter across the inner peripheral surface of the bead, the tire adapted to be iNflated when mounted thereon to perform a processing operation on same, and means for releasably locking the movable member at a predetermined axial position relative to the other member, the improvements, in combination, comprising; a. a first pair of like resilient adapter rings, each being removably mounted on a member and having a flange and outer diameter for seating a tire bead of the next incremental larger inner diameter thereon, b. a second pair of like integral rings for seating a tire bead of the further next incremental larger inner diameter, c. and further like pairs for seating tire beads of other tires, the inner bead diameters of which incrementally increase, d. each pair of rings adapted to be separately used without the use of other pairs, e. an integral radially inwardly extending projection on each ring, and f. a radially inwardly extending depression in each of said peripherally extending outer surfaces for receiving said projection, for retaining a ring on a member when a tire is dismounted from the members.

Claim 13

Apparatus in accordance with claim 10 including means for adjusting the axial spacing of the members, whereby a single pair of members and a selected pair of adapter rings may be employed to receive tires of various bead diameters, and the adjusting means may be employed to receive tire beads having varying axial spacing therebetween.

Claim 14

Apparatus for supporting an inflated tire while performing an operation on same, such as applying a strip of tread material to the periphery thereof, comprising; a. a rotatably mounted shaft having a central aperture extending between inboard and outboard ends of same, b. a first disc-like member affixed to the shaft having a peripheral flange adapted to engage one bead portion of the tire, c. a second disc-like member slidably mounted on the shaft having a like peripheral flange adapted to engage the other bead portion of the tire, the second member being axially removable from the outboard end of the shaft to permit mounting of the tire between said members and removing same from therebetween, d. a conduit communicating said central aperture with the space between said flanges for inflating the tire, e. a movable yoke engageable with an annular groove in the shaft for releasably locking said second member to the shaft in a predetermined position thereon; f. a stationary swivel air connection associated with said conduit adjacent the inboard end of the shaft adapted to permit the shaft to rotate relative to same, g. an upstream main air supply and exhaust valve communicating with the swivel air connection, h. a normally closed safety valve in said central aperture, i. an actuator rod disposed in said central aperture having one end engageable with said safety valve and the opposite end disposed adjacent said outboard end, and j. manual means for moving said yoke into locked position and thence for moving said actuating rod and safety valve to open position, the main valve adapted to be actuated thereafter to inflate the tire and also apply axial pressure on said second disc-like member and frictionally lock the yoke and prevent unlocking of same until said main valve is operated to exhaust position, whereby said second disc-like member may not be unlocked from the shaft while the tire is pressurized.

Claim 15

Apparatus for supporting an inflated tire while performing an operation on same, such as applying a strip of tread material to the periphery thereof, comprising; a. a rotatably mounted shaft having a central aperture extending between inboard and outboard ends of same, b. a first disc-like member affixed to the shaft having a peripheral flange adapted to engage one bead portion of the tire, c. a second disc-like member slidably mounted on the shaft having a like peripheral flange adapted to engage the other bead portion of the tire, the second member being axially removable from the outboard end of the shaft to permit mounting of the tire between said members and removing same from therebetween, d. a conduit communicating said central aperture with the space between said flanges for inflating the tire, e. a movable yoke engageable with an annular groove in the shaft for releasably locking said second member to the shaft in a predetermined position thereon; f. a stationary swivel air connection associated with said conduit adjacent the inboard end of the shaft adapted to permit the shaft to rotate relative to same, g. an upstream main air supply and exhaust valve communicating with the swivel air connection, h. a normally closed safety valve in said central aperture, i. an actuator rod disposed in said central aperture having one end engageable with said safety valve and the opposite end disposed adjacent said outboard end, and j. manual means for moving said yoke into locked position and thence for moving said actuating rod and safety valve to open position, the main valve adapted to be actuated thereafter to inflate the tire and also apply axial pressure on said second disc-like member and frictionally lock the yoke and prevent unlocking of same until said main valve is operated to exhaust position, whereby said second disc-like member may not be unlocked from the shaft while the tire is pressurized.

Claim 16

Apparatus in accordance with claim 12 wherein said disc-like members are of a diameter to receive a tire of minimum diameter across the beads of same, a plurality of pairs of resilient adapter rings adapted to be disposed around the disc-like members, providing flanges for engaging the beads of larger tires which increase in diameter by conventional increments, each pair being usable independently without use of other pairs, both of any of the pairs each having an annular rib thereon engageable with an annular groove in a disc-like member for locking it against lateral movement, whereby a tire may be removed from the disc-Like members without disturbing the locked relation of the adapter rings therewith.