Tire loader basket

A basket for engaging an uncured tire comprising a frame, a fixed ring of said frame, a rotating ring of said frame supported for rotation relative to said fixed ring, a shoe arm pivotally attached to said fixed ring, a shoe assembly mounted on said shoe arm by a shoe pin, an alignment link pivotally mounted on said fixed ring and attached to said shoe assembly at a pivot pin, and an actuating rod pivotally attached to said shoe arm and said rotating ring, and a fluid actuator selectively moving said rotating ring relative to said fixed ring, said fixed ring, said shoe arm, said alignment link, and said shoe assembly being sized and arranged such that a line through said shoe pin and said pivot pin passes through the center of said fixed ring throughout the movement of said shoe assembly.

A tire curing press loader comprising, a movable loader arm, a loader basket assembly carried by said loader arm, a fixed ring of said loader basket assembly, a rotating ring supported by said fixed ring, a plurality of shoe arms pivotally attached to said fixed ring, shoe assemblies pivotally mounted on each of said shoe arms, alignment links pivotally mounted on said fixed ring and pivotally attached to each of said shoe assemblies, shoe arm actuating rods pivotally attached to each of said shoe arms and said rotating ring for pivoting said shoe arms about said fixed ring so that said shoe assemblies move circumferentially and radially of said fixed ring during movement between collapsed and expanded positions, and means to selectively move said rotating ring relative to said fixed ring.