A tire changing machine includes a frame, a rotatable turntable for holding a wheel assembly, a bead breaker assembly engaging the wheel assembly, and a lifting assembly movably attached to the frame. The lifting assembly comprises a lift, a support platform connected to the lift, and a roller assembly movably linked to the support platform. The machine facilitates efficient tire changing operations by providing a stable platform for wheel manipulation and lifting mechanisms for easy access to the wheel assembly, enhancing the overall tire changing process.
A lifting system operably associable with a tire changing machine having a rotatable wheel holder and an arm, the arm having an implement disposed at a distal end thereof. The lifting system comprising first and second selectively extendable actuators configured for placement below the rotatable wheel holder of the tire changing machine and a controller communicatively coupled to the first and second actuators. When the lifting system is operably associated with the tire changing machine having a wheel mounted to the rotatable wheel holder and a tire disposed about the wheel, the controller is configured to extend the first actuator such that at least a portion of the tire is lifted relative to the wheel and the implement of the tire changing machine engages at least a portion of the tire.
B60C 25/138 - Machines for removing and mounting tyres having a tyre support or a tool, movable along wheel axis with rotary motion of tool or tyre support
3.
TIRE CHANGING MACHINE AND METHOD FOR OPERATING TIRE CHANGING MACHINE
A tire changing machine of the present disclosure may comprises a chassis base, a rotatable wheel holder, a tower, and an arm. A linear actuator is attached to the tower via a pivoting arm assembly. The linear actuator includes an implement on a lower end of the linear actuator. The arm includes an elongate portion, a coupler, first and second ends, first and second halves, and first and second claws. The coupler is located at a central portion of the elongate portion and is operable to couple the arm to the implement of the linear actuator. The first and second claw are operable to engage a tread portion of a tire.
09 - Scientific and electric apparatus and instruments
Goods & Services
recorded computer software used in conjunction with wheel balancing equipment for evaluating the radial runout of automotive wheels to improve the runout condition
09 - Scientific and electric apparatus and instruments
Goods & Services
wheel balancing systems, namely, recorded computer software used in conjunction with tire balancing machines for assisting in balancing wheels for land vehicles
6.
Hand-held device for sealing a tire to a rim during tire changing
A hand-held sealing device may be used for sealing a tubeless tire on a corresponding wheel rim. The wheel rim may have a valve stem hole to receive a valve stem. The hand-held sealing device may include a device body. The device body may include an air output nozzle, a directed air outlet defined in the air output nozzle, and an air inlet defined in the device body. The air inlet may be fluidly communicated with the directed air outlet. The hand-held sealing device may also include a valve assembly disposed between the directed air outlet and the air inlet. A cable may be slidably disposed in the air output nozzle. The cable may pass through the directed air outlet. A valve stem engagement member may be configured to removably attach to the valve stem. The valve stem engagement member may be connected to the cable.
Briefly, the present invention relates, in one embodiment, to an air channeling apparatus for sealing a tubeless tire on a corresponding wheel rim. The air channeling apparatus may have a supply end and an insertion end opposite the supply end. The supply end may be directly or indirectly connected to an air supply that supplies pressurized air. The air channeling apparatus is further sized to be inserted through the valve stem hole of a wheel rim. An inner surface of the air channeling apparatus includes threads that can thread onto a valve stem of the wheel. At least one opening in the air channeling apparatus may blast pressurized air into the space between the wheel rim and the tubeless tire.
A dampening system for a tire-bead loosener may have a lever in communication with an operation valve, the operation valve configured to channel a supply flow having a supply flow pressure through a first line into a first port of a cylinder and an exhaust flow having an exhaust flow pressure through a second line out of a second port of the cylinder. A pressure line connecting the first line to the second line may include a preset pressure relief valve, a pressure regulator, and a check valve. A bypass flow of the supply flow may move through the pressure line and achieve a damped pressure, thereby channeling through the second line and into the second port of the cylinder. The supply flow pressure in the first port of the cylinder may be cushioned against the exhaust flow pressure and the damped pressure in the second port of the cylinder.
A moisture condensate separator for use with an air compressor and a pneumatic machine includes a body, a separation assembly, and a valve assembly. The body may define an interior chamber including a condensate accumulation zone, a compressor supply inlet, a machine supply outlet, a cylinder, an auxiliary inlet, and a drain hole. The separation assembly may be located in the interior chamber and fluidly communicated with the compressor supply inlet and the machine supply outlet so as to accumulate moisture condensate in the accumulation zone. The valve assembly may include a piston movable between an open and closed position. A biasing member may bias the piston toward the closed position. Auxiliary pressure provided through the auxiliary inlet may act on the piston and move the piston to the open position, thereby allowing the accumulated moisture condensate to drain.
A wheel servicing machine includes a releasable swing arm clamp apparatus attached to a swing arm. The clamp engages a rod slidably attached to and extending from a slide bar mounted on the swing arm. The clamp includes a closed, or locked, position and an open, or unlocked, position. In the closed position, the apparatus includes a rod clamp that can be rotated about the rod for fine adjustment of the angular position of the swing arm. When the rod clamp is in the open position, the angular position of the swing arm can be coarsely adjusted by manually moving the swing arm about a pivoting arm joint. When the swing arm is moved near a desired position, the rod clamp can be closed and can be rotated about the rod in the closed position in some embodiments for fine adjustment of the swing arm angular position.
F16B 37/08 - Quickly-detachable nuts, e.g. consisting of two or more partsNuts movable along the bolt after tilting the nut
B60C 25/138 - Machines for removing and mounting tyres having a tyre support or a tool, movable along wheel axis with rotary motion of tool or tyre support
11.
Auto calibration method and apparatus for wheel balancer equipment
A method of calibrating an electronic wheel balancer includes mounting a calibration wheel on the balancer shaft, the calibration wheel including mounting pins configured to engage mounting holes on a face plate. The balancer emits a visible towards the calibration wheel, the beam indicating a home position for an inner plane calibration weight on the calibration wheel. The calibration wheel is rotated to the home position and an inner weight plane calibration weight is attached to the calibration wheel. The balancer shaft is automatically rotated to obtain sensor data from force transducers on the balancer. Using the sensor data, the balancer automatically calculates and stores inner weight plane reference data. The motor shaft is stopped and the inner plane calibration weight is moved to an outer weight plane position on the calibration wheel. The shaft is again automatically rotated so that the balancer can obtain more sensor data from the force transducers and automatically calculate and store outer weight plane reference data.
A wheel servicing machine has a bead loosener arm powered by an actuator attached to a machine base. The actuator includes a moveable actuator rod coupled to the bead loosener arm at a pivoting joint. The pivoting joint includes a joint having two or more angular degrees of freedom, such as a ball joint, in some embodiments. The pivoting joint allows the actuator rod end to pivot both in a major plane of rotation substantially parallel to the movement of the bead loosener arm as well as in one or more minor vertical planes. In some embodiments, the pivoting joint includes a socket positioned around a ball, forming a ball joint. The socket is coupled to the actuator rod, and a pin is disposed through a passage in the ball to pivotally secure the ball joint to the bead loosener arm.
An apparatus for inflating a tire including a base and a tire inflation line coupled with a pressure sensor. An air blast assembly includes a blast line fluidly coupled to a blast nozzle located on the base and configured to receive and direct pressurized gas from the blast line when the blast nozzle is in an air blast position relative to a tire and wheel assembly supported on the base. A device controller can monitor the pressure of a tire and wheel assembly and sense whether an effective tire bead seal has been formed. The device controller can generate a blast signal when no seal has been formed. A gas flow controller coupled to the air blast assembly and the device controller can be responsive to the blast signal to cause a blast of pressurized gas to be released from the blast nozzle to create an effective tire bead seal.
A tire changing tool head, or a mount/demount head for a tire changing machine, includes a head body and a tongue member. The tongue member is pivotally attached to the head body at a pivoting joint. The tongue member includes a tongue shoulder and a tongue blade for engaging a tire bead during tire installation. The tongue member includes a non-metal material, such as a polymer, for preventing wheel rim damage in some embodiments. The head body includes a bead lifter tool protruding therefrom. In some embodiments, the head body and bead lifter tool include a metal material.
A wheel servicing machine such as a wheel balancer includes an acoustic transducer configured to measure energy of one or more reflected acoustic waves after the waves have bounced off a material boundary surface such as a wheel assembly. In some embodiments, a return energy index signal representative of the measured energy is generated by a transducer and is further processed by a processor to control operations of the machine. The acoustic transducer also measures distance between the transducer and the wheel assembly surface in some embodiments. One or more values in a sample queue of acquired distance data may be flagged, or indexed, based on variation in the magnitude of the return energy signal. Methods of measuring wheel width using sonar measurement of both distance and reflected energy are also provided.
A clamp for securing a wheel with a rim on a rim-holding tire changer. The clamp includes a base portion, a gripping plate secured to the base portion, and a support plate secured to the base portion such that the gripping plate is disposed between the base portion and the support plate. The gripping plate is configured with a first portion for engaging the rim of a wheel and the support plate is configured with a first portion to engage the rim of the wheel.
A tire changing machine comprises a chassis base and a rotatable wheel holder configured to retain a wheel rim. A tower, carrying a mount/demount head movable toward and away from the wheel rim, extends upward from the chassis base. An inflation cage is fixed with respect to the chassis base. The inflation cage defines an interior accessible through a first opening for ingress and egress of a vehicle wheel. Preferably, the inflation cage may be located at a back of the tire changer to rest on a common floor surface with the chassis base.
A wheel servicing machine provides a rotatable shaft having a retractable rod slidably disposed in a center bore of the rotatable shaft, wherein the retractable rod is longitudinally moveable relative to the shaft. A rotatable locking member is disposed on the distal end of the retractable rod. The locking member includes one or more mounting studs protruding radially therefrom for engaging a centering cone or a wheel clamp. A tool support arm including a stage protrudes from the base. A tool adapted for engaging a sidewall of a tire is attached to support arm. A second stage including a second tool configured for engaging the opposite sidewall of the tire may also extend from the base. A platform assembly having one or more spring-loaded rollers is attached to the base in some embodiments. A longitudinally moveable travel arm includes a jointed auxiliary arm. The auxiliary arm in some embodiments includes a wheel support extending from one of the auxiliary arm members. A wheel clamp having a plurality of arms is provided wherein at least one arm is moveable relative to at least one other arm. A method of securing a wheel to a wheel servicing machine is also provided.
12 - Land, air and water vehicles; parts of land vehicles
Goods & Services
Powered tire changing machines for land vehicles Inflation kits comprising a tire safety cage, digital pneumatic tire inflator, and mounting hardware for a tire changing machine
A wheel balancer utilizing a novel calibration technique in which the operator must only measure and enter one dimension of the tire. By requiring the operator to measure only one dimension of the tire, the probability of introducing measurement error into the system is reduced.
A tire changer apparatus comprises a rotor operative to support a wheel rim. A toolhead is movable into engagement with the wheel rim during a tire changing operation. A gas distribution network is provided for routing compressed gas to pneumatic mechanisms in the tire changing apparatus. An oil injector has an outlet in fluid communication with the gas distribution network. The oil injector is operative to introduce lubricating oil into the gas distribution network. Preferably, the oil injector may include a plunger which reciprocates to inject the lubricating oil. For example, the oil injector may be operative to introduce the lubricating oil into the gas distribution network when the plunger reciprocates a selected number of times. The plunger may be moved by a foot pedal on the tire changer apparatus.
A wheel balancer for balancing a wheel having a rim and tire. The wheel balancer comprises a chassis and a driven shaft extending away from the chassis for rotating the wheel. An A&D arm, pivotal and axially extendible with respect to the chassis, is also provided. A first laser device is operable to produce a laser spot at a desired weight placement location on an inner surface of the rim. The first laser device is manipulable by an operator to move the laser spot to the desired weight placement location. A second laser device is attached to the A&D arm and movable therewith. The second laser device produces a visible marker on the inner surface of the rim for determining when the A&D arm is in a plane of the desired weight placement location.
A wheel balancer for balancing a wheel having a rim and tire. The wheel balancer comprises a chassis and a driven shaft extending away from the chassis for rotating the wheel. An A&D arm, pivotal and axially extendible with respect to the chassis, is also provided. A first laser device is operable to produce a laser spot at a desired weight placement location on an inner surface of the rim. The first laser device is manipulable by an operator to move the laser spot to the desired weight placement location. A second laser device is attached to the A&D arm and movable therewith. The second laser device produces a visible marker on the inner surface of the rim for determining when the A&D arm is in a plane of the desired weight placement location.
Parts for automotive and truck wheel and brake service equipment, namely, mount and dismount tools for power-operated tire-changers having a duck-like appearance
