Bead lock drum for use in the manufacture of vehicle tires

A bead lock drum useful in the manufacture of preform carcasses in the process of manufacturing a vehicle tire comprising

• a central shaft means
• first carriage means movably mounted on one end of said shaft means,
• second carriage means movable mounted on the opposite end of said shaft means,
• third carriage means movably mounted on said first carriage means for independent movement of said third carriage means with respect to said first carriage means, but being capable of being carried longitudinally of said drum upon longitudinal positioning of said first carriage means with respect to said shaft means,
• fourth carriage means movably mounted on said second carriage means for independent movement of said fourth carriage means with respect to said second carriage means, but being capable of being carried longitudinally of said drum upon longitudinal positioning of said second carriage means with respect to said shaft means,
• fifth carriage means movably mounted on said first carriage means for independent movement of said fifth carriage means with respect to said first carriage means, but being capable of being carried longitudinally of said drum upon longitudinal positioning of said first carriage means with respect to said shaft means,
• sixth carriage means movably mounted on said second carriage means for independent movement of said sixth carriage means with respect to said second carriage means, but being capable of being carried longitudinally of said drum upon longitudinal positioning of said second carriage means with respect to said shaft means,
• a plurality of circumference-defining segments, said segments being divided into at least first and second sets of said segments, the segments of each of said sets being of a length which is less than one-half the overall desired width of said drum, said first set of said segments defining the outer circumference of said drum on one side of a transverse plane through said drum and said second set of said segments defining the outer circumference of said drum on the opposite side of said transverse plane,
• linkage means mounting said first set of said circumference-defining segments to said first and third carriage means and mounting said second set of said circumference-defining segments to said second and fourth carriage means respectively whereby movement of said carriage means relative to one another and acting through said linkage means effects radial movement of said circumference-defining segments,
• carcass means disposed about the outer circumference of said drum,
• first and second ring beads disposed about said carcass adjacent respective ones of the opposite ends of said drum with one of said ring beads being in substantially circumferential alignment with, but radially spaced-apart from, respective ones of said fifth and sixth carriage means,
• first and second radially expandable means disposed between said fifth and sixth carriage means, respectively, and respective ones of said first and second ring beads,
• first and second camming means associated with respective ones of said fifth and sixth carriage means for urging respective ones of said expandable means radially outwardly of said drum and into engagement with said respective ones of said ring beads to thereby lock said ring beads in spaced apart relationship to one another, in concentric alignment with said shaft means, in parallelism with one another, and in a transverse plane passing through said shaft means at right angles to the length of said shaft means,
• motive power means associated with said fifth carriage means for moving said fifth carriage means toward said third carriage means whereupon said first camming means associated with said fifth carriage means is urged into expanding engagement with said first radially expandable means which, in turn, expands into locking engagement with its respective ring bead,
• means effecting movement of said third carriage means longitudinally inwardly of said drum to activate said first linkage means to radially expand said first set of said circumference-defining segments and simultaneously carry said ring bead locked to said fifth carriage means longitudinally inwardly of said drum,
• motive power means associated with said sixth carriage means for moving said sixth carriage means toward said fourth carriage means whereupon said second camming means associated with said sixth carriage means is urged into expanding engagement with said second radially expandable means which, in turn, expands into locking engagement with its respective ring bead,
• means effecting movement of said fourth carriage means longitudinally inwardly of said drum to activate said second linkage means to radially expand said second set of said circumference-defining segments and simultaneously carry said ring bead locked to said sixth carriage means longitudinally inwardly of said drum,
• means for moving said first and second carriage means along the length of said shaft means simultaneously but in opposite directions whereby longitudinal movement of said first and second carriage means away from one another in a longitudinal direction serves to longitudinally separate said first and second sets of said circumference-defining segments, and longitudinal movement of said first and second carriage means toward one another serves to bring said first and second sets of segments toward one another longitudinally of said drum, and
• spacer means disposed about the outer circumference of said drum and between and longitudinally aligned with said sets of segments, said spacer means being removable from said drum when said sets of segments are moved away from one another and being captured between said sets of segments when said sets of segments are moved inwardly of said drum.