Patent ID: 8272861

Claim:
An apparatus for vulcanizing at least a tread of a tire comprising: a top mold section and a bottom mold section, said top mold section being vertically movable with respect to the bottom mold section from a raised open tire receiving position to a lower closed vulcanizing position; the top mold section and the bottom mold section each having a circumferentially extending outer wall, a plurality of mechanisms for locking the top mold section to the bottom mold section when the upper mold section is in the lower closed vulcanizing position are spaced apart around the circumferentially extending outer walls of the top and bottom mold sections, the mechanisms for locking the top mold section to the bottom mold section each comprising: (a) a hydraulic actuator comprising a cylinder, a piston disposed within the cylinder and a piston rod having a first end fixed to the piston and extending through the cylinder to a second end located outside the cylinder, the hydraulic actuator disposed such that the cylinder is at least partially disposed below the bottom mold section, the second end of the piston rod is located radially outward of the circumferentially extending outer wall of the bottom mold section and is movable towards and away from the circumferentially extending outer wall of the bottom mold section, the second end of the piston rod being fixed to a first end of an articulated linkage member comprising a plurality of segments connected to one another in a pivotal manner, a vertically highest segment of the articulated linkage member having a T-shaped locking projection at a second end of the articulated linkage member; and (b) an adjustable securing mechanism fixed directly or indirectly to the circumferentially extending outer wall of the top mold section and circumferentially aligned with the T-shaped locking projection, the securing mechanism having a slot therein that extends radially with respect to the top mold section for receiving the articulated linkage member with the T-shaped locking projection located above the slot, an upper surface of the adjustable securing mechanism having a concave surface disposed on each side of the slot for receiving a complementary surface of the T-shaped locking projection.