Pneumatic tire pre-conditioning system and method
AssigneeAndroid Industries LLC
InventorsDonald Graham Straitiff, Lawrence J. Lawson, Joshua James Hicks, Christopher Michael Bulliner, Anthony Willard Pierce, Kerry Verran, Andrew Douglas Schmidt
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A pneumatic tire pre-conditioning system includes a conveyor system, a belt assembly, a friction device and a drive system. The conveyor system includes a tire engaging surface, a first side, and a second side. The belt assembly is adjacent to the first side of the tire engaging surface. The friction device is adjacent to the second side of the tire engaging surface. The drive system is configured to move a tire along the tire engaging surface in a path between the belt assembly and the friction device.
Claims21
A pneumatic tire pre-conditioning system, comprising:
- a conveyor system including a tire engaging surface, said conveyor system having a first side and a second side;
- a belt assembly adjacent to the first side of the tire engaging surface;
- a friction device adjacent to the second side of the tire engaging surface;
- and
- a drive system configured to move a tire along the tire engaging surface in a path between the belt assembly and the friction device,
- wherein a distance between the belt assembly and the friction device is less than an outer diameter of the tire.
A pneumatic tire pre-conditioning method, comprising:
- compressing a tire between first and second surfaces such that the tire is deformed into a deflected shape;
- moving the first surface, the second surface, or the tire in a way that causes the tire to at least partially rotate about a rotational axis;
- and
- while the tire at least partially rotates about the rotational axis, translating the tire and the rotational axis between the first surface and the second surface in a direction that is perpendicular to the rotational axis.
A method of operating a pneumatic tire pre-conditioning system, comprising:
- providing a conveyor system including a tire engaging surface having a first side and a second side;
- providing a belt assembly adjacent to the first side of the tire engaging surface;
- providing a friction device adjacent to the second side of the tire engaging surface;
- and
- moving a tire along the tire engaging surface in a path between the belt assembly and the friction device, wherein a distance between the belt assembly and the friction device is less than an outer diameter of the tire.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.