Patent ID: 7946016

Claim:
A method of removing, from a relative rim, a tire fitted with a rigid inner run-flat ring having first beads, each fitted to the rim inwards of a respective second bead of the tire, the method comprising: fixing the rim and the tire onto a turntable having a central hub and rotating about a first axis coaxial with the hub; inserting, between the rim and one of the first beads of the rigid inner run-flat ring, a hook carried by a lever hinged to the hub; oscillating the lever, with respect to the hub, in a radial plane of the turntable and about a second axis perpendicular to the first axis; rotating the lever with respect to the first axis, so as to exert an axial pull on the one of the first beads of the rigid inner run-flat ring by means of the hook, wherein the rotating of the lever moves a portion of the one of the first beads of the rigid inner run-flat ring axially outwards of a relative flange of the rim in one step with a portion of one of the second beads of the tire which is arranged outwards of the portion of the one of the first beads of the rigid inner run-flat ring and is pushed axially outwards of the relative flange of the rim by the portion of the one of the first beads of the rigid inner run-flat ring; and rotating the turntable about the first axis, with the hook still engaging the one of the first beads of the rigid inner run-flat ring, and with the lever locked angularly about the first axis.