Patent ID: 8708017

Claim:
In tire-building equipment having apparatus defining an outer circumference or an inner circumference to serve as a forming surface or as a circumference-engaging surface wherein the equipment includes two opposite ends and a longitudinal centerline, the improvement comprising: a thrust plate associated with one end of the equipment; an actuator associated with the other end of the equipment, and the thrust plate and the actuator being mounted for movement toward and away from one another along the centerline of the equipment; ramp members upon which the circumference-defining apparatus are mounted for movement radially toward and away from the centerline of the equipment wherein the ramp members are disposed about the centerline of the equipment and adapted to cooperate with the thrust plate and the actuator so that as the thrust plate and the actuator are moved toward and away from one another along the centerline of the equipment, the ramp members and the circumference-defining apparatus mounted thereupon are moved radially toward and away from the centerline of the equipment; and intermediary members which are disposed between the thrust plate and the ramp members and between the actuator and the ramp members wherein the ramp members are adapted to move relative to the intermediary members toward and away from the centerline of the equipment though a first permitted range of radial movement and wherein the intermediary members are adapted to move relative to the thrust plate and the actuator toward and away from the centerline of the equipment through a second permitted range of radial movement so that each of the first and second permitted ranges of radial movement contribute to the total range of permitted radial movement of the ramp members and the circumference-defining apparatus mounted thereupon toward and away from the centerline of the equipment.