In building tyres, an intermediate portion of a carcass structure is built at a time on a respective forming drum within an intermediate forming line. The forming drum with the intermediate portion of the carcass structure is made available at a first transfer location. The intermediate portion of the carcass structure is completed through n completion locations with n≥1 and then transferred for the subsequent assembling with a crown structure to a second transfer location. At an operating moment in which the first transfer location is occupied by a forming drum coming from the intermediate forming line or intended for the intermediate forming line, from one to n locations selected from the n completion locations and the second transfer location are occupied by respective forming drums.

A tire manufacturing device includes: a molding drum; a first moving portion in which the molding drum moves in order to mold an inner liner layer on the molding drum; a second moving portion in which the molding drum moves in order to mold a ply layer on the inner liner layer; a stitcher position where a carcass band is formed by performing pressing from above the ply layer laminated on the inner liner layer; and a transfer position where the carcass band is transferred from the molding drum to a transport device that transports the carcass band to a subsequent process, and the stitcher position and the transfer position are adjacent to each other.

A stitcher device presses a carcass ply to be pressure-bonded to a rubber member after that the carcass ply is wound around an outer periphery of a building drum movable along a drum guide path via a rubber member. The stitcher device includes an annular frame that is able to surround the outer periphery of the building drum by inserting the building drum thereinto, and a pressure-bonding device provided in the annular frame so as to be able to press the carcass ply from its outer periphery and pressure-bond the carcass ply to the rubber member. The annular frame is provided so as to be openable and closable by being divided into a plurality of parts in a peripheral direction.

A method for managing a carcass structure building line, a plant and a process for building tyre carcass structures, wherein the plant includes a carcass structure building line provided with a plurality of stations including an unloading station and n building stations. A group of forming drums being processed includes m forming drums being processed defining a first size of carcass structure being processed. Three groups of entering forming drums include respective entering forming drums, defining a second size of carcass structure being processed. A pair of support elements being processed includes a first and a second support element being processed and three pairs of entering support elements respectively include a first and a second entering support element. The invention also relates to a method for managing a carcass structure building line.

A process for building tyres for vehicle wheels are disclosed, wherein said building process comprises the following steps carried out in a carcass structure building line: a) associating a pair of support rings with a forming drum in a work station for associating support rings; b) building at least one structural component of the tyre being processed on the forming drum provided with said pair of support rings in at least one work station of the carcass structure building line; c) removing the pair of support rings from the forming drum in a work station for removing support rings; d) transferring the pair of support rings dissociated from the forming drum in a temporary storage for support rings; e) building at least one further structural component of the tyre being processed on the forming drum without the pair of support rings in a work station of the carcass structure building line.

Disclosed is a tire building system including a first drum, a second drum and first stations, a first support, a first carrier that carries the first drum with respect to the first support, a second support and a second carrier that carries the second drum with respect to the second support, wherein the first carrier is movable along the first support in a first positioning plane, wherein the second carrier is movable along the second support in the first positioning plane, wherein the first support is arranged for supporting the first carrier from below the first positioning plane and wherein the second support is arranged for suspending the second carrier from above the first positioning plane. The disclosure further relates to a method for positioning the first drum and the second drum with respect to the first stations with the use of the aforementioned system.

A carcass ply is applied around an outer surface of a building drum, according to an application diameter greater than the fitting diameter of the tyre. An annular anchoring structure defining the fitting diameter is coaxially engaged around each of the end flaps. An outer sleeve including at least one belt structure possibly associated with a tread band is disposed at a coaxially centred position around the carcass sleeve applied onto the building drum. Through axial approaching of two halves forming the building drum, the carcass sleeve is shaped into a toroidal configuration to determine application of same against a radially internal surface of the outer sleeve.

A tire molding apparatus includes: a moving body which moves and stops along a rail; and a position information acquiring device which acquires information of a stop position of the moving body, in which the position information acquiring device includes at least a reflector and a sensor as components, in which one component of the reflector and the sensor is provided facing the moving body in a stopped state, in which the moving body is provided with the other component of the reflector and the sensor, in which the one component is disposed at a position outside a movable range of the moving body, in which a reflection surface of the reflector is inclined with respect to an extension direction of the rail, and in which the information of the stop position of the moving body is acquired on the basis of the distance measured by the sensor.

Disclosed is a pressure roll and a method for pressing a tire layer on a tire building drum in a pressing direction, wherein the pressure roll includes a shaft and a plurality of discs, wherein each disc has an interior part and an exterior part, wherein each interior part is provided with a recess for receiving the shaft, wherein the recess is larger than the shaft in the pressing direction for allowing movement of the disc with respect to said shaft in the pressing direction, wherein the pressure roll includes for each disc one or more actuators for individually moving the disc, wherein one actuator is arranged for moving the respective disc with respect to the shaft in the pressing direction and the same or another actuator is arranged for moving the respective disc with respect to the shaft in a retraction direction opposite to the pressing direction.

A plant for building tyres of at least two different models for vehicle wheels, includes at least a tyre building line, which in turn, includes: a plurality of work stations arranged according to a sequential series, each work station being adapted for building at least one structural component of each tyre and assembling at least one elementary component; at least one handling device for the tyres being processed on the respective forming supports associated to each work station; and at least one transfer device adapted for transferring the tyre being processed on its forming support from any first work station of the sequential series to any other second work station not adjacent thereto of the sequential series, so that the tyre being processed on its forming support only passes in the first and second work stations.