Patent ID: 7506671

Claim:
A tire filling apparatus adapted to fill air into a wheel-tire combination including a tire mounted on a wheel rim, said tire filling apparatus comprising: a support arrangement adapted to support a first side surface of the wheel-tire combination thereon, and a tire filling bell arranged opposite said support arrangement so as to receive the wheel-tire combination between said tire filling bell and said support arrangement; wherein: said tire filling bell comprises a tire filling plate and a first tire filling ring separate from said tire filling plate, said tire filling plate is arranged spaced apart from said support arrangement and movable along a reference axis that extends through said support arrangement and said tire filling plate, said first tire filling ring is movable into an operating position coaxially centered on said reference axis between said support arrangement and said tire filling plate, and said tire filling plate and said first tire filling ring in said operating position are arranged so that said tire filling plate is adapted to move toward said support arrangement along said reference axis so as to contact a first end of said first tire filling ring, and then said tire filling plate and said first tire filling ring together are adapted to move toward said support arrangement along said reference axis so that a second end of said first tire filling ring opposite said first end is adapted to contact a second side surface of the wheel-tire combination opposite the first side surface of the wheel-tire combination.