Device for handling a wheel

Abstract

Device (10) for handling a wheel (11) for the purpose of removing weights and adhesive residues when fitting a new tyre (12) onto a motor vehicle rim (13), characterized in that the device (10) has a stable base part (17), a middle part (18) with a positioning device (19) centring different tyre sizes and a head part with an inclined contact surface for the tyre (12) facing away from the fitter.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a device for handling a wheel for the purpose of removing weights and adhesive residues when mounting a new tire on a motor vehicle rim.

[0002] In the current state of the art, when replacing old tires mounted on rims with new tires, the old tires, including the rims, and the new tires are first deposited at the edge of the work area.

[0003] In the first step, the mechanic must lift a tire and transport it to a rotating work surface of a tire demounting / mounting machine, where it is placed. After the air has been removed, the old tire casing is removed from the rim using tools.

[0004] Then a new valve is installed and the old rim is prepared to accept the new tire by applying tire mounting paste.

[0005] After the new tire is placed on the rim, the new tire is filled with compressed air for approximately 2 minutes.

[0006] In the next step, after lifting the tire from the demounting / mounting device, the mechanic, while bending over, removes all old weights from the rim, including any remaining adhesive residue. This is done while the tire is resting on the workshop floor and is necessary because the rim with the new tire casing must be placed in the balancing machine last.

[0007] There, the imbalance of the rim including the new tire is measured and the balancing machine gives the mechanic suggestions as to where weights need to be placed.

[0008] After attaching the weights to the suggested locations, a check is carried out on the balancing machine to ensure that the unbalance limits are met.

[0009] In practice, this approach has proven to be disadvantageous because, on the one hand, changing a tire takes a relatively long time and the resulting costs can hardly be passed on to the customer.

[0010] In addition, the above-described working method is ergonomically problematic for the mechanic, as the constant lifting and lowering of the wheel, particularly with larger tire formats and the corresponding weights, can lead to back problems and resulting sickness absence for the mechanic.

[0011] It has also been shown that the relative uncleanliness of the workplace due to weights and adhesive residue lying around leads to accidents caused by slipping.

[0012] Ultimately, for ergonomic reasons, the old weights and adhesive residue on the rim are often only removed on the balancing machine. Since chisels are used in this process, the resulting impact often causes problems with the balancing machine's highly sensitive measuring instruments.

[0013] The object of the invention is therefore to provide an additional device for handling a wheel for the purpose of removing weights and adhesive residues when mounting a new tire casing on a motor vehicle rim, which not only makes the process faster and more ergonomic, but also allows for a reduced risk of accidents and gentle handling of the measuring devices.

[0014] The solution to the problem arises from a device for handling a wheel according to the following features of claim 1: Device for handling a wheel for the purpose of removing weights and adhesive residues when mounting a new tire on a motor vehicle rim, characterized in that the device has a stable base part, a middle part with a positioning device centering different tire sizes and a head part with an inclined contact surface for the tire facing away from the fitter.

[0015] The device according to the invention essentially has the ergonomic advantage that when changing a tire, the heavy wheel only has to be lifted once by the mechanic and can be transported from workstation to workstation in a fundamentally advantageous ergonomic position.

[0016] The device for handling the wheel offers a very advantageous storage and working position for the wheel including the new tire, on which, after filling with air up to the set pressure, the weights can be removed and adhesive residues can also be removed in an ergonomically advantageous manner.

[0017] Another advantage of the device is that while the tire is being stored in the device and filled with compressed air, the mechanic can place another wheel on the dismounting / mounting device in parallel and begin the tire change, thus saving overall time during the tire change.

[0018] An advantageous embodiment is characterized in that at least the upper part of the device for handling a wheel is designed to be at least partially closed as a splash guard, whereby the weights removed with a chisel do not move uncontrollably through the workshop space, but can bounce off the splash guard and fall into a container below the work area by means of gravity.

[0019] A further improvement is achieved in an embodiment in which a collecting funnel for weights and adhesive residues is arranged below the splash guard in the area of the middle part, so that the aforementioned waste can fall centrally into a bucket placed underneath.

[0020] In a further advantageous embodiment, at least one storage area for tools is arranged at the upper end to the side of the central part, on which the tools necessary for removing the weights and adhesive residues can be deposited in an advantageous manner.

[0021] In a further advantageous device, the centering position device and / or the storage surface are advantageously arranged in a height-adjustable manner so that different body sizes of the fitters can be compensated.

[0022] A preferred embodiment of the invention is further characterized in that the centering support device is formed from two tubes attached to the device at a distance from one another, wherein this type of centering support device can also be characterized in a variation of the invention in that the tubes are rotatable, so that in an advantageous manner even heavy wheels can be rotated very easily in the device according to the invention when removing the weights.

[0023] Further advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following dependent claims and from the description of an embodiment described below. They show: Fig. 1 Sketch of the work area in relation to the handling of a wheel when changing tires, Fig. 2 a perspective view of the device according to the invention from the front, Fig. 3 a perspective view of the device according to the invention from behind, Fig. 4 a view of the device according to the invention from above, and Fig. 5 a perspective view of the device according to the invention in use.

[0024] The drawings show a device 10 for handling a wheel 11 for the purpose of removing the weights and adhesive residues when mounting a new tire 12 on a motor vehicle rim 13.

[0025] First, the Fig. 1 the complete working area of a mechanic when changing tires 12.

[0026] At the bottom left, three wheels 11 consisting of rims 13 and old tires 12 can be seen, with a stack of tires 14 arranged next to them. A wheel 11, to which an old tire 12 is still attached, lies on a rotating work surface 15 of a tire disassembly / assembly device 16 for tires 12. On the device 16, the old tire 12 is removed from the rim 13 after the air has been removed.

[0027] Then a valve (not shown) is installed and the rim 13 is prepared to receive the new tire 12 by applying tire mounting paste.

[0028] After the new tire 12 has been arranged on the rim 13, the new tire 12 is transported to the device 10 and connected there to the compressed air filling system D.

[0029] The device 10 has a stable base part 17, a frame-shaped middle part 18 with a positioning device 19 which centers different tire sizes and consists of two tubes 20 arranged at a distance from one another on the frame construction.

[0030] The frame-shaped middle part 18 is provided at its upper end with a frame-shaped inclined contact surface 21 for the tire 12, which is bent at an angle of approximately 30°, so that the tire 12 transported from the dismantling / assembling device 16 to the device 10 is arranged safely and tilted between the tubes 20 and in contact with the contact surface 21 (see Fig. 1 and Fig. 5).

[0031] In addition, storage areas 22 for tools not shown, such as chisels and hammers, are arranged on both sides of the centering device 19.

[0032] A splash guard 23 is attached within the frame-like contact surface 21, to which a collecting funnel 24 for weights and adhesive residues is connected towards the base part 17. Below the collecting funnel 24, as shown in the Fig. 1 and Fig. 5, a bucket 25 should be present as a collecting container for the weights and adhesive residues.

[0033] After removing the weights and adhesive residues from the rim 13, the fitter transports the wheel 11 to the balancing machine 26 and fixes the wheel 11 there on a rotation axis a.

[0034] The balancing machine 26 measures the imbalance of the wheel 11 and indicates where new weights need to be attached to the rim 13. After attaching the weights to the rim 13, the imbalance is finally checked. List of reference symbols 10 Device 11 wheels 12 tires 13 rim 14 stacks of tires 15 rotating work surface 16 Disassembly / assembly device 17 Foot part 18 frame-shaped middle part 19 centering device 20 pipes out of 19 21 frame-like contact surface 22 storage space 23 Splash guard 24 collecting funnels 25 buckets 26 Balancing machine a 26Axis of rotation of D Compressed air filling system

Claims

[1] Device (10) for handling a wheel (11) for the purpose of removing weights and adhesive residues when fitting a new tyre (12) onto a motor vehicle rim (13), characterized by that the device (10) has a stable base part (17), a middle part (18) with a positioning device (19) centering different tire sizes and a head part with an inclined contact surface for the tire (12) facing away from the fitter. [2] Device (10) according to claim 1, characterized by that at least the upper part is at least partially closed as a splash guard (23). [3] Device (10) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by that a collecting funnel (24) for weights and adhesive residues is arranged in the area of the central part (18). [4] Device (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized bythat at least one storage area (22) for tools is arranged at the upper end to the side of the central part (18). [5] Device (10) according to claim 1 or one of the following claims, characterized by that the centering position device (19) and / or the storage surface (22) are height-adjustable. [6] Device (10) according to claim 1 or one of the following claims, characterized by that the centering position device (19) is formed from two tubes (20) attached to the device (10) at a distance from one another. [7] Device (10) according to claim 6, characterized by that the tubes (20) are arranged rotatably. [8] Device (10) according to claim 1 or one of the following claims, characterized by that the device (10) is essentially formed from a frame construction. [9] Device (10) according to claim 1 or one of the following claims, characterized bythat the angle of the inclined contact surface (21) for the tire (12) relative to the vertical is approximately 30°.

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