Tire spreader for tire repair

A method for preparing an interior surface of a tire for repair, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a tire having:
• a central opening extending axially through the tire along a rotational axis of the tire being bounded radially by an inner bead diameter;
• an interior tire cavity extending radially outward from the inner bead diameter and being bound by an interior surface of the tire;
• and an interior tire cavity opening extending between opposing an annular beads of the tire, the cavity being positioned between the central cavity and the interior tire cavity;
• securing at least a portion of the first bead of the tire;
• positioning a tire spreader within the central opening of the tire, the tire spreader having a bead engaging portion for engaging a portion of the second bead, the bead engaging portion having a surface for engaging the portion of the second bead, the surface extending in a direction biased relative to a translation direction of the tire spreader;
• and,
• automatically translating the bead engaging portion of the tire spreader generally in an axial direction of the tire to displace the engaged portion of the second bead a desired distance to increase the distance between the opposing beads to form a widened interior cavity opening,
• where the step of positioning a tire spreader within the central opening of the tire includes manually positioning the bead engaging portion of the bead spreader against the portion of the second bead before performing the step of automatically translating the bead engaging portion, the tire spreader being independently moveable from a tire spreader actuator used to translate the bead engaging portion of the tire spreader.