Patent ID: 8794059

Claim:
In a tire testing machine having a rotatable upper rim, a rotatable lower rim located below said upper rim and means for positioning a tire between said rims, apparatus for positioning the lower rim with respect to the upper rim to the required bead width, comprising: means for raising said lower rim until the space between said upper and lower rims is less than the required bead width, means for inflating a tire between said rims while said lower rim is in the raised position to set the beads on the rims, means for lowering said lower rim to the required bead width while said tire is inflated, a conical recess in the center of said upper rim, a nose cone slidably mounted to the center of said lower rim and engageable with said recess to align said rims, and, a gas spring received by said cone for biasing said cone into tight engagement with said recess to enable torque from said upper rim to be transmitted to said lower rim.