Provided is a drum set for manufacturing a bead-apex for a tire and an assembly including the drum set, wherein the drum set has drum segments which form a drum, wherein the drum segments are radially movable, wherein the drum set is arranged to be movable between an operational position in which the drum set is supported on a base and a storage position in which the drum set is unsupported by the base. The drum set further includes a support member for supporting the drum segments of the drum set with respect to each other, wherein the support member is provided with guides for guiding the radial movements of the drum segments when the drum set is in the operational position, while the guides are arranged for retaining the drum segments of the drum set to the support member when the drum set is in the storage position.

A plant (1) for looping annular anchoring structures (100) includes a looping device (2), a separation station (8a) and a coupling station (8b). A handling apparatus (3) is interlocked to the looping device (2) for managing the plant (1) by moving the plurality of annular anchoring structures (100) coupled to respective separation elements (300), the looped annular anchoring structures (200) coupled to respective separation elements (300) and the separation elements (300a). The separation elements (300) are fed, coupled to respective annular anchoring structures (100), along a feeding section (A1). The separation elements (300a) separated by respective annular anchoring structures (100, 200) are transferred from the separation station (8a) to the coupling station (8b) along a transfer section (T), stationing in at least a first intermediate station (11, 11a). The separation elements (300) are moved away, coupled to respective looped annular anchoring structures (200), along a moving-apart section (A2).

A method and apparatus for forming an apex or an apex in combination with a bead, the method comprising the steps of: winding a strip of rubber onto a rotatable platen to form an apex, wherein the rotatable platen may further include a radially expandable bead chuck for supporting a bead. The rotatable platen may optionally include a nonstick coating such as titanium nitride and optionally include one or more radially oriented bars. The optional one or more radially oriented bars may be movable into a first position flush with the outer surface of the platen, and movable into a second position that preferably is nonflush and protrudes from the outer surface of the platen. The rotatable platen is further optionally retractable from the bead chuck to facilitate removal of the apex from the apparatus.

In a bead filler forming device configured to forma bead filler by annularly applying, to a forming surface of a rotating table, rubber extruded via a mouthpiece from an extruder in a band shaped manner, and by joining end portions of the band-shaped rubber. The mouthpiece includes a leading end surface, a discharge port which is formed in the leading end surface, a land portion which extends from the discharge port in a single cross section, and a flow rate regulating portion which is provided in an upstream side of the land portion and makes a flow rate of the rubber flowing to an outer peripheral side flow path of the land portion larger than a flow rate of the rubber flowing to an inner peripheral side flow path of the land portion.

A tire building machine for applying an apex to a bead to form a bead-apex assembly for a green tire, including a bead holder for holding the bead, wherein the tire building machine includes a first gripper and a second gripper for engaging and moving the apex in a direction of conveyance towards the bead, wherein the first gripper is moveable between a first start position and a first end position and the second gripper is moveable between a second start position and a second end position, wherein the tire building machine is provided with wedges, wherein the grippers are biased to a closed state in which the grippers are arranged to engage the apex, and wherein the wedges are arranged for countering the bias of the grippers when the grippers are at one of the start positions or the end positions.

An intermediate article of manufacture formed as a first stage bead area subassembly for a split ply pneumatic tire carcass is disclosed. The bead area subassembly has an annular bead core; a bead apex; a ply strip; and preferably a sidewall affixed to the ply strip. The subassembly is formed into a disk-shaped bead area monocomponent. The ply strip is wrapped about the bead core and the apex to form a ply turnup and both the ply strip and the ply turnup extend radially outwardly from the bead core. The bead area subassembly when formed into the disk-shaped bead area monocomponent is placed on an annular holder device.

The present invention forms bead apex rubber with good precision on the outer circumferential surface of the bead core. A molding process, in which unvulcanized rubber is made to flow into a bead apex molding chamber that is surrounded by surfaces that include the outer circumferential surface of a circular bead core and the bead apex rubber is formed directly on the outer circumferential surface of the bead core that is rotating around the core axis, is provided. The molding process comprises: a tip forming step that forms the leading end of the bead apex rubber; a middle section forming step that sequentially forms the bead apex rubber to be continuous with the leading end; and a joining step to join the back end and the leading end of the bead apex rubber by inflowing the unvulcanized rubber therebetween.

The invention relates to a calibration tool and a method for calibrating a laser-triangulation measuring system, wherein the calibration tool comprises a tool body that defines a reference plane and that is rotatable relative to the measuring system about a rotation axis perpendicular to said reference plane, wherein the tool body is provided with one or more calibration surfaces that define a pattern of calibration positions, wherein the pattern comprises at least three columns extending in a radial direction away from the rotation axis and at least three rows extending in a circumferential direction about the rotation axis, wherein for each column the calibration positions within said respective column vary in height relative to the reference plane in a height direction perpendicular to said reference plane and wherein for each row the calibration positions within the respective row vary in height in the height direction relative to the reference plane.

A press-up member presses a movable member upward, thus raising a pressing member. A support block is moved forward by means of the press-up member and a moved member. Due to the cam action brought about by such movement, the pressing member is arranged above a filler on a balloon of a molding drum. Then, the press-up member is lowered to press a distal end section of the filler onto the balloon. In this state, the molding drum is rotated to mold the filler in an annular shape. The pressing member is then separated from the filler and the pressing member is arranged at a standby position outside the molding drum. The press-up member and the moved member are separable from each other and, in the separated state, the molding drum is independently rotatable.

A bead-apex stitching device, a bead-apex station and a method for stitching an apex to a bead are disclosed, wherein the bead-apex stitching device includes a first set of first stitching members distributed in a circumferential direction about a central axis for stitching the apex to the bead and a second set of second stitching members for stitching the apex to the bead in a manner different from the first stitching members of the first set, wherein the second stitching members of the second set are distributed in an alternating pattern with the first stitching members of the first set in the circumferential direction.