Patent ID: 8596322

Claim:
A tire support device for supporting the bead area of a tire, the device comprising: an inner support member having a plurality of support vanes mounted to the support member, said support vanes radially extend from the inner support member; a plurality of cover plates forming an outer cylindrical surface for supporting the bead area of a tire; each cover plate having an expansion vane which is slidable under an adjacent cover plate, wherein the outer cylindrical surface of the tire support device is covered by a first rubber sleeve and a second rubber sleeve located over and joined to the first rubber sleeve, wherein the outer lateral ends of the second rubber sleeve are in contact with but not connected to the first rubber sleeve whereby the outer lateral ends are free to move, said cover plates having an inner rib which extends radially inward, said rib having one or more guide members, each guide member being slidably mounted on the support vane, wherein the guide members are slidable from a radially inward position to close the cover plates and conceal the expansion vanes by sliding the expansion vanes under an adjacent cover plate, and to a radially outward position to radially expand the outer cylindrical surface of the tire support device and reveal the expansion vanes.