Iowa Mold Tooling Co., Inc.

Larry G Cotton

A tire manipulating apparatus has a rotatable head and means for raising and lowering the head. Tire gripping means consists of a pair of spaced, parallel tubular housings which are secured to the head in a common plane, and two L-shaped members, each of which has a first arm telescoped in a housing and a second arm, said second arms being inclined with respect to the first arms so that their free ends are coaxial. Linear motors extend and retract the L-shaped members to grip a tire. Opposed tire gripping elements on the free ends of the arms are rotatable about a common axis by coordinately operable power units to turn a tire gripped by the elements.

Tire manipulating apparatus

Tire servicing apparatus including a tire gripping tool base adapted to be mounted on a vehicle, a crane boom or the like. The base movably mounts a pair of opposed tire gripping members which may be moved towards and away from each other to grip or release a tire for servicing purposes. Hydraulic cylinders are provided for moving the tire gripping members relative to the base and an elongated flexible strap is operatively connected to both of the tire gripping members and has a length sufficient to define a loop of a size to be circumferentially received about a tire. When the loop is so disposed, the motors may be operated to move the tire gripping members away from each other to diminish the size of the loop in the strap to squeeze the tire about its tread thereby seating the beads of the tire on a rim associated therewith.

Growing community of inventors

Clear Lake, IA, United States of America

Larry G Cotton