Post cure inflator
AssigneeNRM Corporation
InventorsLeonard G. Turk, Gerald J. Yuhas, Armindo Cantarutti
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A trunnion type post cure inflator includes a pre-positioning platform and a loader to pick up a tire and bring it to a precise center and in parallelism with an open inside multi-stepped PCI ring, one of a pair capable of sealing different bead diameter tires. The loader works partly in conjunction with the PCI opening and closing mechanism so that the PCI is cleared for loading and the loader cleared for locking, each simultaneously. Tire holding devices are provided to permit cooling without inflation and dump unloading when the trunnion is rotated. Precision centering is obtained minimizing "no PCI" defects and enabling use of multi-step rings so that such rings do not require changing for different tire bead diameters.
Claims24
A post-inflation ring for inflating tires of different bead sizes comprising an essentially conical outer edge having a plurality of bead engaging steps including at least an innermost and next adjacent step, each step having a radially extending tread and an axially extending height, the tread of each step being at least slightly more than the respective height of each step whereby the angle of said conical outer edge with respect to a line normal to the axis of said ring is slightly less than 45.degree., and straight chamfers relieving the radially outer third of the treads of said innermost step and at least said next adjacent step, each straight chamfer having an angle with respect to a line normal to the axis of said ring of about 45.degree. to avoid interference with the side wall of a tire thus to preclude improper seating of the tire for sealing, and each straight chamfer having a radially inner edge forming a corner with the tread of each respective step and said corner being rounded.
A post cure inflator for use with a tire press comprising a pair of vertically separable tire inflating chuck rings, means to position a tire adjacent said post cure inflator within an external stop tolerance to a first position at one side of said post cure inflator after it is released from the tire press, loader means including expansible chuck means having a chuck center operative then to pick up the tire and position the same concentric with said chuck center, and means to shift horizontally said chuck means and the tire from such first position to a second position with said chuck center in alignment with the center of one of said chuck rings, said chuck means being operative in such second position to place the tire properly centered on said one of said chuck rings in said post cure inflator.
A post cure cooler for a just cured tire including a movable frame, a tire support secured to said frame including means for receiving a tire thereon, and retractable tire holding means operative to hold a tire to said support and thus said frame without closing the interior of the tire for movement of the tire with said support and movable frame, said tire holding means including a holding bar movable from a position outside the tread of the tire to a position in engagement with the side wall of the tire, and vice versa.
A post cure inflator of the flip-over type which includes a rotatable frame, a first tire inflating rim secured to said frame, a second tire inflating rim, means for locking said second rim to and for removing said second rim from said first rim, and tire holding means operative to hold a tire to said first rim and thus said frame for rotation therewith when said second rim is removed and to release the tire therefrom upon rotation of said frame.
A post cure inflator for use with a tire press including vertically separable chucks, means to restrain a tire rolling free from the tire press before entering said post cure inflator to hold the tire within a location tolerance outside of said post cure inflator, loader means having a loader center operative to pick up the tire from its restrained position and bring the tire into alignment with said loader center, and means then to shift said loader means and the tire thus centered to alignment with one of said chucks of said post cure inflator and place the same in contact with said one of said chucks prior to release of the tire by said loader means to ensure that the tire is properly positioned in said post cure inflator before it closes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.