Method of loading green tire on a bladderless tire vulcanizer

A method of loading a green tire on a bladderless tire vulcanizer having a pair of upper and lower pressing members opposite to upper and lower bead rings of upper and lower tire molds, said upper and lower pressing members being expandable, shrinkable, and movable up and down for molding inner surfaces of upper and lower bead portions of the tire, said method being performed using a green tire gripping device having an arm and a disk fixed to the arm, for loading a green tire, a plurality of blocks being arranged slidably in a radial direction of said disk and at intervals on a circumference of said disk, said green tire gripping device having first grip claws with bent distal ends and second grip claws with straight distal ends, said first grip claws and second grip claws being alternately fixed to each of said blocks, said green tire gripping device further having first driving means and second driving means at said arm so that said first driving means is actuatable so as to radially expand or radially shrink said first grip claws via said blocks, and said second driving means is actuatable so as to radially expand or shrink said second grip claws via said blocks, said method comprising the steps of:

• (a) arranging the green tire concentrically above said lower tire mold and above said pressing members while said pressing members remain radially shrunken and while gripping the inner surface of the upper bead portion of the green tire by means of said first and second grip claws of said tire gripping device;
• (b) positioning said pressing members between upper and lower beads of said green tire and subsequently radially expanding said pressing members;
• (c) actuating said first driving means so as to radially shrink said first grip claws thereby guiding said green tire by said second grip claws as the upper bead portion of said green tire is lowered onto said upper pressing member;
• (d) subsequently actuating said second driving means so as to radially shrink said second grip claws, and lowering said lower pressing member until said lower pressing member comes in contact with the lower bead portion of said green tire, thereby causing said lower bead portion to seat on said lower bead ring and pushing said lower bead portion into the lower bead ring;
• and
• (e) subsequently lowering said upper tire mold until the upper bead portion of said green tire is seated on said upper bead ring and pushing said upper bead portion into the upper bead ring.