Patent ID: 6863106

Claim:
A tire building drum having an axis and a centerplane intersecting the axis, comprising: a plurality of axially extending, circumferentially spaced-apart expanding segments, each of said expanding segments being expandable from a first radius in a collapsed condition of said drum to a second radius in an expanded condition of said drum; a pair of flanges centered about the axis at a fixed distance from one another; a plurality of support elements, each supporting an expanding segment, disposed between the flanges and radially moveable between the flanges; characterized by: a pair of guide rings disposed coaxially between the pair of flanges and axially moveable therebetween; an overlapping linkage mechanism provided between the guide rings and the support element; further comprising: in each flange, a first plurality of grooves disposed on an inner surface thereof and extending radially from the axis, for radially guiding the plurality of support elements.