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 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.

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 plant for building tyres includes a plurality of working locations, at least one first working location being associated with at least two loading/unloading locations, a proximal one and a distal one, each of said working locations and loading/unloading locations being associable with a forming drum. The production cycle is controlled by the method of: (i) loading a first forming drum into the at least one first working location; (ii) loading a second forming drum into the loading/unloading location; (iii) at the end of the working provided in the at least one first working location, unloading the first forming drum into the proximal loading/unloading location.

A first forming apparatus includes a forming drum, a forming unit, a conveyance path, and a conveyance unit that conveys the forming drum along the conveyance path. A tire member is formed with tire components wound on the forming drum by the forming unit. The first forming apparatus also includes a measurement unit that performs, on a downstream side of the forming unit in the conveyance path, measurement on the tire components wound on the forming drum while the forming drum is moving through the measurement unit, in a tire radial direction over a width direction of the forming drum, and an inspection unit that performs inspection on winding states of the tire components based on a measurement result due to the measurement unit.

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 plant for building tyres includes a plurality of working locations, at least one first working location being associated with at least two loading/unloading locations, a proximal one and a distal one, each of said working locations and loading/unloading locations being associable with a forming drum. The production cycle is controlled by the method of: (i) loading a first forming drum into the at least one first working location; (ii) loading a second forming drum into the loading/unloading location; (iii) at the end of the working provided in the at least one first working location, unloading the first forming drum into the proximal loading/unloading location.

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 n1 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.

Two auxiliary support members are operatively engaged with a building drum, in axially approached relationship with respective halves of the drum itself, each auxiliary member having a circumferential rest surface extending in the continuation of an outer circumferential surface of the building drum itself. Applied around the outer circumferential surface of the building drum is at least one carcass ply having axially opposite end flaps each lying on the circumferential rest surface of the respective auxiliary support member. A pair of auxiliary shaping members engaged with the building drum in place of the auxiliary support members, each act against a circumferential abutment edge carried by the building drum, to enable the carcass ply to be shaped into a toroidal configuration concurrently with mutual approaching of the halves of the building drum.

In an assembly station, a carcass sleeve and an outer sleeve manufactured along respective building lines are mutually coupled. Integrated into the assembly station are engagement devices that can be alternatively-coupled to an auxiliary drum carrying an outer sleeve and to a building drum carrying a carcass sleeve. The building drum is engaged on the assembly station before removal of the auxiliary drum. A grip unit picks up the outer sleeve from the auxiliary drum associated with the engagement devices in order to position it around the carcass sleeve carried by the building drum.