Abstract: A tire building machine having opposed support shafts for engagement with opposed ends of a tire building drum and opposed ply turn down and bead setting mechanisms movable axially along the support shafts toward and away from the drum. The machine includes parallel bearing rails extending substantially the length of the machine. The ply turn down and bead setting mechanisms are carried by opposed housings which are supported by bearings which ride on the bearing rails. The ply turn down and bead setting mechanisms also carry bearings which ride along the shafts during axial advancement thereof. Finally, the turn down mechanism is supported on the housing at multiple points about its periphery to insure correct alignment thereof.

Abstract: A quick release mounting assembly for a tire building drum includes a tapered plug and a chuck, both of which are securable to the hub of the drum. The assembly also includes a tapered rod receivable within the normal push rod of the tire building machine and ball locks movable by the tapered rod into and out of locking engagement with the push rod and chuck. The assembly also includes a flanged sleeve, telescoped over the push rod and movable into and out of axial locking engagement with the tapered plug to urge the drum axially either into or out of engagement with the tire building machine.

Abstract: A shaped decorative article comprising a rigid body of a densified mixture of particulate material and a binder, the body having a plurality of elongated ridges projecting from the outer surface thereof which are separated from each other by valleys, whereas the inner surface of the body forms a plurality of elongated cavities respectively aligned in longitudinal direction with the ridges, each of the ridges has a pair of side faces including an angle with each other and terminating in a tip of rounded cross section constituting the edge of the respective ridge and each of the cavities having an inner end adjacent the tip of the respective ridge. The wall thickness of the body gradually increases from the tip of each ridge to the valleys adjacent thereto to reach its maximum at the center of each valley, and the density of the body gradually decreases from the tip of each ridge toward the adjacent valleys.

Abstract: A mass of fibrous material admixed with binder is accommodated in a space of a mold which is at least in part bounded by a surface having profiling in form of depressions and projections. The mass is compressed against the surface, and in particular it is compressed to a greater extent opposite the depressions in the surface than it is opposite the projections thereof.