Modular tire turn-up apparatus
AssigneeBridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC
InventorsNikolas R. Tomassoni, Phillip T. Brasher, Jr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A tire turn-up apparatus for selectively engaging a cylindrical tire building drum may include a base and a first plurality of finger assemblies. The tire building drum may be a selected drum from a group of drums of different drum diameters. Each finger assembly may have a backstop connected to the base and a finger pivotally connected to the backstop. Each finger may be moveable between a radially retracted and extended position to turn-up the tire carcass. Each finger may be radially adjustable on its respective backstop to align with different drum diameters.
Claims9
A tire building system comprising:
- a tire building drum including a cylindrical outer drum surface, an inner drum surface, a first drum end, a second drum end, and a lengthwise direction defined between the first and second drum ends, each of the first and second drum ends including a plurality of guide slots disposed between the inner drum surface and the outer drum surface and extending parallel to the lengthwise direction, the guide slots being open at the respective drum end, the guide slots being spaced equally circumferentially around the first and second drum ends;
- and
- a tire turn-up device separable from the tire building drum in the lengthwise direction and configured to move in the lengthwise direction to selectively engage and disengage the drum, the tire turn-up device including a first plurality of fingers configured to be received through the plurality of guide slots from the first drum end or the second drum end as the tire turn-up device moves in the lengthwise direction towards the tire building drum, the first plurality of fingers being movable between a radially retracted position and a radially extended position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.