Patent ID: 8337187

Claim:
A tire holding mechanism which holds a tire and which transfers the tire to/from other equipments, the tire holding mechanism comprising: a first support body provided with a substantially annular first flange which supports a first bead at one side of the tire, a lock shaft having a lock mechanism and which protrudes in an axial direction of the first flange to allow the first flange to move in the axial direction of the first flange, and a stopper which restrains the first flange at a proximal end of the lock shaft; a second support body provided with a substantially annular second flange which supports a second bead at the other side of the tire, and an engagement portion with which the lock mechanism is removably engaged; a main body portion which supports the second support body; a moving device which moves the first support body between a tire holding position and a tire transferring position; and a shifting device which shifts the first flange with respect to the lock shaft in the axial direction of the first flange, wherein the engagement portion is movable in an axial direction of the main body portion to adjust a position thereof with respect to the main body portion, the lock mechanism is engaged with the engagement portion at the tire holding position, and the shifting device shifts the first flange toward a distal end of the lock shaft while transferring the tire to/from the other equipments.