A pneumatic tire includes a pair of bead portions, a pair of bead cores each disposed in a respective one of the pair of bead portions, a carcass extending between the pair of bead cores, the carcass including a carcass ply that includes a main portion extending between the pair of bead cores and a pair of turn-up portions each turned up around a respective one of the pair of bead cores from axially inside to outside of the tire and extending outwardly in a tire radial direction, and a reinforcing rubber layer disposed in each bead portion and being adjacent to an axially outside of the turn-up portion, wherein the reinforcing rubber layer has a laminated body in which a plurality of sheet-shaped rubber members having different radial lengths are laminated in the tire axial direction.

A plurality of rollers each having a rotary shaft parallel to a rotary shaft of a rotary support body are moved toward a tire member in a synchronized manner so that the tire member is disposed between the plurality of rollers and the rotary support body while the rollers are brought into contact with at least one of the rotary support body and the tire member supported by the rotating rotary support body and the rotary support body is contracted in a state where the tire member is disposed between the plurality of rollers and the rotary support body so that the tire member is delivered from the rotary support body to the plurality of rollers.

The invention relates to an apparatus and a method of forming an annular apex filler for tire beads. Said apparatus comprises a cylindrical former (2) for supporting a cut length of an apex filler strip (91) of elastomeric material, wherein said cylindrical former (2) comprises a hollow rotary shaft (21) and a plurality of rigid, circumferentially spaced apart fingers (22). The fingers (22) are movably connected to support members (24) for flipping the apex filler when wound on the cylindrical former. The support members (24) are movable connected to substantially radially extending guiding members (25). The guiding members (25) are connected to a hollow rotary shaft (21). The fingers (22) are connected via linkages (27) to a driving member (281) which is connected to a push/pull shaft (28) which extends at least partially through the hollow rotary shaft (21). Said apparatus further comprises a setting unit comprising a setting plate (26), said unit being arranged for moving the support members (24) radially inwardly or outwardly, and a feed assembly for feeding said apex filler (91) to said cylindrical former (2).

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.

In a conveying method of a rubber member for receiving the rubber member which is supplied from a supply device and is curved, and transferring the received rubber member to a supply receiving device in a curved state, the method includes a step of winding the rubber member from a leading end portion onto a mounting surface of a rotary table by forwardly rotating the rotary table and receiving the rubber member from the supply device in a state in which a rear end portion of the rubber member is not in contact with the mounting surface, a step of moving the rotary table from a receiving position to a transferring position, and a step of winding back the rubber member from the rear end portion so as to transfer the rubber member to the supply receiving device by reversely rotating the rotary table.

In one general aspect, the present disclosure provides a bead-apex assembly for a vehicle tire. The bead-apex assembly may include a bead with an outer diameter surface, and an apex with a first layer and a second layer, the first layer having an inner diameter located adjacent to the outer diameter surface of the bead, and the second layer having an inner diameter located adjacent to an outer diameter of the first layer.

A tire includes: a tire frame member formed in a ring shape from a frame resin material, and including a pair of bead sections, a pair of side sections, and a crown section; a ring shaped bead core that is embedded in and joined to each of the bead sections, and that is formed by a single strand, or plurality of strands, of bead cord extending in the tire circumferential direction, and covered with, and joined to, a covering resin material; and an extension portion that extends from each of the bead cores in a direction that intersects with the tire circumferential direction when viewed from a tire side face, and that is joined to the tire frame member.

A method for forming a composite apex, the method comprising the steps of: forming a coextruded strip of a first compound and a second compound, wherein the second compound is a compound different than the first compound, wherein the apex is formed from winding the coextruded strip while varying the ratio of the first compound to the second compound.

The invention relates to a bead-apex stitching device, a bead-apex station and a method for stitching an apex to a bead, wherein the bead-apex stitching device comprises 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.

A method for manufacturing pneumatic tire of the present disclosure, the method comprising: a first step of pressure-bonding a bead filler to an outer peripheral portion of an annular bead core, the bead filler being thinned outward of the bead core in a radial direction, and fabricating an annular bead member; a second step of causing a separator to support the bead filler, and mounting the bead member so that the radial direction of the bead core goes along a horizontal direction; and a third step of cooling the bead member.