Tire changing device

#Tire mounting and demounting has previously been done manually with tire tools and the like and has also been developed to include mechanical devices for breaking the bead of the tire from the rim and for removal of the same, but many of these mechanical concepts still include a high labor factor and are therefore relatively time consuming.

#Applicant has provided herein a highly efficient, almost totally mechanical method for breaking the beads of tires from rims and for demounting and mounting tires on the rims such that the only practical manual labor required is the placement of the tire and rim upon the unit and the positioning of the various elements of the device in proper position to exert sufficient pressure upon the tire to break the same from the rim and to insure that such pressures will not be applied to the rim thereby causing damage thereto.

#Applicant has provided herein a universal tire mounting and demounting unit which will accommodate a wide range of tire and rim sizes and which is capable of supplying sufficient force to remove the tire from the rim.

#These and other objects and advantages of the invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings in which the same numeral is used to designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views, and in which:

#FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a tire changing unit embodying the concepts of applicant's invention;

#FIG. 2 is an elevation taken from one side of of applicant's device;

#In accordance with the accompanying drawings, applicant's tire changing device is generally designated 20. The device includes many correlated operating elements and may be broken down initially into a base section 21, a rim and tire mounting section 22, a bead breaking section 23 which consists of both an upper 24 and a lower 25 bead breaking pair of elements and a control positioning station designated 26.

#The basic concept of the application is to provide means for mounting and demounting tires from rims and obviously to provide a universal type device, means must be provided for adjusting the device to accommodate various sized tires and rims. A total cross section of the unit is illustrated in FIG. 6 and the various operative portions of the device are best illustrated therein.

#The base structure 21 as utilized comprises a substantially rectangular housing having a bottom 27, ends 28, 29, sides 30, 31 and a top 32. The top 32 is provided with a slot 32a therein such that the bead breaking section 23 may be shifted longitudinally therealong and the slot 32a must obviously be of a size to accommodate the movement of this section 23 and this slot 32a may be covered with a flexible or movable closure element 33 such that dirt or the like will not pass therethrough.