Mounting head for a tire tool

Claim 1

A tire tool for a tire changing machine of the type having a rotatable centerpost vertically disposed relative to a tire support table, said tire tool comprising a. a mounting head that includes a forehead that is curved on its leading surface and that extends upward and forward, a lip that is curved downward and rearward, the forehead and the lip merging together at a mouth, and the radius of the forehead''s curvature being about the same as the radius of the lip''s curvature, the leading point on the lip''s inner surface being in a vertical plane, the leading point on said forehead extending at least to said vertical plane, and the innermost point of said mouth being disposed rearwardly of said vertical plane, when viewed from the side and when the tool''s x plane is horizontally disposed, and the curvature axis of the lip lying parallel to the tool''s x plane and the curvature axis of the forehead lying in the tool''s y plane, the curvature axis of the lip being transversely disposed relative to the curvature axis of the forehead, the tool''s x and y planes being at right angles one to the other, and the forehead and lip being fully symmetrical about the y plane, said mounting head thereby being adapted to mount a tire''s bead over a wheel''s rim in either the clockwise or counterclockwise direction as desired by the operator and being adapted to withdrawal from the bead/rim interface when jammed therebetween, b. an elongated body portion integral with said mounting head, said body portion being in the tool''s x plane, and c. slot means formed in said body portion, said slot means being engageable about said centerpost such that said tool''s x axis is disposed at an acute angle relative to said table when said tool is operationally engaged with said centerpost.