Foldable tire removal and installation tool assembly
OwnerShawn McGuireinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to a portable, hand-operated, and foldable tire removal and/or installation tool assembly and a method of removing and installing a tire on the rim of a wheel. The portable, hand-operated, and foldable tire removal and/or installation tool assembly comprises a handle, a bead gripper, a rim bracer, and a connection mechanism. The handle, the rim bracer, and the bead gripper are rotatably connected by the connection mechanism. The handle and the rim bracer include integrated tire levers that eliminate the need to carry separate tire levers. The connection mechanism is configured to be operated to arrange the handle, the rim bracer, and the bead gripper in a folding position to occupy minimal space to allow for convenient storage.
Claims17
A portable, hand-operated, and foldable tire removal and/or installation tool assembly (100, 100′, 100″), comprising:
- a handle (110) comprising a gripping portion (112) that is configured to be gripped and manipulated by the hands of a user, the handle (110) further comprises an integrated tire lever (114) to facilitate the removal of the tire from a rim of a wheel;
- a rim bracer (120) comprising a rim engaging portion (122) at a first side (120A) that is configured to engage with an edge of the rim of the wheel, the rim bracer (120) further comprises an integrated tire lever (124) disposed at an opposite second side (120B) to facilitate removal of the tire from the rim of the wheel;
- a bead gripper (130) comprising a bead engaging portion (132) that is configured to engage with a tire bead, wherein the bead engaging portion (132) of the bead gripper (130) is further configured to displace the tire bead relative to the rim of the wheel;
- wherein the handle (110), the rim bracer (120), and the bead gripper (130) are rotatably connected by a connection mechanism (140);
- wherein the connection mechanism (140) is configured to selectively deploy the portable, hand-held, and foldable tire removal and/or installation tool assembly (100) in either:
- a deployed position or a folding position by enabling rotation of at least one of:
- the handle (110), the rim bracer (120), and the bead gripper (130);
- wherein the connection mechanism (140) is further configured to be operated to selectively enable disassembly and reassembly of the portable, hand-held, and foldable tire removal and/or installation tool assembly (100);
- and
- wherein the handle (110) comprises a detent (115), and the rim bracer (120) comprises a curvilinear slot (123) to limit the angular range of the rotation of the rim bracer (120) relative to the handle (110);
- and wherein the detent (115) and the curvilinear slot (123) are shaped to have an undercut feature on their respective contact surfaces.
A method of removing and installing a tire on a rim of a wheel comprising the steps of:
- providing a tool kit comprising a handle (110), a rim bracer (120), a bead gripper (130), and a connection mechanism (140);
- removing the tire from the rim of the wheel by using at least one of:
- an integrated tire lever (114) of the handle (110), and an integrated tire lever (124) of the rim bracer (120);
- connecting, the handle (110), the rim bracer (120), the bead gripper (130), and the connection mechanism (140) to thereby assemble a portable, hand-held, and foldable tire removal and/or installation tool assembly (100, 100′, 100″) in a deployed position;
- wherein the handle (110), the rim bracer (120), and the bead gripper (130) are rotatably connected by a connection mechanism (140);
- and
- gripping and manipulating a gripping portion (112) of the handle (110) to engage a rim engaging portion (122) of the rim bracer (120) with the rim of the wheel and engage a bead engaging portion (132) of the bead gripper (130) with the tire bead, and further manipulating the gripping portion (112) of the handle (110) to displace the tire bead relative to the rim of the wheel by the bead engaging portion (132) of the bead gripper (130), to thereby install the tire on the rim of the wheel,
- wherein the handle (110) comprises a detent (115), and the rim bracer (120) comprises a curvilinear slot (123) to limit the angular range of the rotation of the rim bracer (120) relative to the handle (110), and wherein the detent (115) and the curvilinear slot (123) are shaped to have an undercut feature on their respective contact surfaces.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.