Tire changing apparatus

Claim 2

Tire bead seating apparatus comprising: at least one, and no more than a relatively few, nozzle(s) having an outlet end adapted to be directed at the interface of a tire bead and wheel rim, said nozzle(s) further having a linear, internal passage terminating at said outlet end and having a straight line length extending from said outlet of at least 1/4 inch; said internal passage over said straight line length having a substantially uniform cross section said nozzle(s) providing a highly directionalized fluid stream(s); means for supplying air under pressure to said internal passage; and means supporting said nozzle(s) and orienting the same in sufficiently close proximity to a tire on a wheel such that said highly directionalized stream(s) will impinge upon a tire bead and wheel surface without appreciably diverging and as a discrete stream(s).

Claim 3

Tire bead seating apparatus comprising: a support structure for engagement in a predetermined relation with a wheel having a tire loosely received on the wheel; air conduit means; and a plurality of a relatively few nozzles mounted on said support structure at widely spaced locations thereon and connected to said conduit means, each said nozzle having an outlet end directed at the interface of a wheel and the bead of a tire on the wheel when said wheel is engaged with said support structure in said predetermined relation for directing air under pressure toward said interface, each said nozzle having an interior passage having a linear extent terminating at said outlet end, said linear extents being at least 1/4 inch, the cross section of the internal passage of each nozzle over said linear extents being substantially uniform, said nozzles generating highly directionalized air streams from air received from said conduit means, the spacing between said nozzles and the location of said outlet ends with respect to said support structure when in said predetermined relation with a wheel having a tire loosely received thereon being such that a discrete air stream will emanate from the associated outlet end and be directed towards said interface without substantial spreading over the distance from each said outlet end to said interface and without appreciably diverging to interact with streams of air emanating from adjacent nozzles.

Claim 4

Tire bead seating apparatus comprising: a support structure for engagement in a predetermined relation with a wheel having a tire loosely received on the wheel; air conduit means; and a plurality of a relatively few nozzles mounted on said support structure at widely spaced locations thereon and connected to said conduit means, each said nozzle having an outlet end directed at the interface of a wheel and the bead of a tire on the wheel when said wheel is engaged with said support structure in said predetermined relation for directing air under pressure toward said interface, each said nozzle having an interior passage having a linear extent terminating at said outlet end, said linear extents being at least 1/4 inch, the cross section of the internal passage of each nozzle over said linear extents being substantially uniform, said nozzles generating highly directionalized air streams from air received from said conduit means, the spacing between said nozzles and the location of said outlet ends with respect to said support structure when in said predetermined relation with a wheel having a tire loosely received thereon being such that a discrete air stream will emanate from the associated outlet end and be directed towards said interface without substantial spreading over the distance from each said outlet end to said interface and without appreciably diverging to interact with streams of air emanating from adjacent nozzles.

Claim 5

Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the linear extent of each said internal passage of each said nozzle is at least 3/8 of an inch.

Claim 6

Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said support structure includes means for receiving a wheel rim with a tire thereon and for locating the wheel rim with respect to said nozzles such that air discharged from said outlet ends will be directed toward said interface of the tire bead and the wheel rim.

Claim 7

Tire bead seating apparatus according to claim 2 wherein there are no more than about four of said nozzles.

Claim 8

Tire bead seating apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said conduit means is adapted to be connected to a source of air under pressure and has a given air passage area; the sum of the cross sectional area of the linear extents of said nozzles being substantially no less than the cross sectional area of said conduit means to deliver the entire volume of air available from said source through said given air passage area.