Described herein is a process for mounting a tire onto a wheel. The process comprises positioning the tire in respect to the wheel such that a first arc of the bottom bead extends between the wheel's top and bottom bead seats. Next, two fingers are placed in contact with the bottom bead at locations immediately adjacent to opposing ends of the first arc of the bottom bead. The first finger rotates about the central axis in a rotational direction away from the first arc of the bottom bead while applying a force in a direction of the bottom bead to advance all of the bottom bead below the top bead seat. These steps are repeated with the top bead to advance all of the top bead below the top bead seat. During the process, the first finger and the second finger may not contact any portion of the wheel.

A pneumatic tire includes: a protrusion portion projecting outward in a tire lateral direction disposed in a buttress portion; and a linear portion with a linear shape when viewed in a tire meridian cross section, the linear portion constituting a surface of the protrusion portion at a position inward in a tire radial direction from a corner portion, the corner portion being an end portion of the protrusion portion outward in the tire lateral direction; the corner portion being located within a retreading development width position, which is a range in the tire radial direction in which a boundary for removing a tread when retreading is located; and the linear portion having an angle ranging from 45 to 90 with respect to a horizontal line parallel with a tire rotation axis at a position inward of the linear portion in the tire lateral direction.

A pneumatic tire includes: a protrusion portion projecting outward in a tire lateral direction disposed in a buttress portion; and a linear portion with a linear shape when viewed in a tire meridian cross section, the linear portion constituting a surface of the protrusion portion at a position inward in a tire radial direction from a corner portion, the corner portion being an end portion of the protrusion portion outward in the tire lateral direction; the corner portion being located within a retreading development width position, which is a range in the tire radial direction in which a boundary for removing a tread when retreading is located; and the linear portion having an angle ranging from 45 to 90 with respect to a horizontal line parallel with a tire rotation axis at a position inward of the linear portion in the tire lateral direction.

A single-cell workstation for processing a tire-wheel assembly including a tire and a wheel is disclosed. The single-cell workstation includes a mounting and indexing sub-station including a first plurality of tire engaging portions including one or more first tire-engaging surfaces, and a second plurality of tire engaging portions including one or more second tire-engaging surfaces.

An apparatus for processing a tire and a wheel for forming a tire wheel assembly is disclosed. The apparatus includes a tire support member including a first tire support member, a second tire support member and a third tire support member. Each of the first, second and third tire support members include an upper surface and a lower surface. The apparatus includes a plurality of tire engaging devices including a first tire tread engaging post and a second tire tread engaging post. A method for processing a tire and a wheel for forming a tire wheel assembly is also disclosed.

A handling robot includes an articulated arm movable in three directions, which carries a gripper at its free end for gripping and holding pneumatic tires. The pneumatic tire is held on its running surface by the gripper, taken from a provision position and moved to an optional wetting station for wetting the pneumatic tire with lubricant. The wetted pneumatic tire is then moved to an assembly station with a clamping device for releasably holding a wheel rim, which comprises a handling device with an assembly head equipped with assembly tools that can be guided along between the tire bead and the wheel rim flange. Here, the pneumatic tire is mounted on the wheel rim by a coordinated movement of the handling robot and the assembly head.

Described herein is a process for mounting a tire onto a wheel. The process comprises positioning the tire in respect to the wheel such that a first arc of the bottom bead extends between the wheel's top and bottom bead seats. Next, two fingers are placed in contact with the bottom bead at locations immediately adjacent to opposing ends of the first arc of the bottom bead. The first finger rotates about the central axis in a rotational direction away from the first arc of the bottom bead while applying a force in a direction of the bottom bead to advance all of the bottom bead below the top bead seat. These steps are repeated with the top bead to advance all of the top bead below the top bead seat. During the process, the first finger and the second finger may not contact any portion of the wheel.

Described herein is a process for mounting a tire onto a wheel. The process comprises positioning the tire in respect to the wheel such that a first arc of the bottom bead extends between the wheel's top and bottom bead seats. Next, two fingers are placed in contact with the bottom bead at locations immediately adjacent to opposing ends of the first are of the bottom bead. The first finger rotates about the central axis in a rotational direction away from the first arc of the bottom bead while applying a force in a direction of the bottom bead to advance all of the bottom bead below the top bead seat. These steps are repeated with the top bead to advance all of the top bead below the top bead seat. During the process, the first finger and the second finger may not contact any portion of the wheel