Disclosed is a first drum half together with a second drum half forming a tire building drum of a tire building machine, and a method for operating the machine. The machine includes a first drive member and a second drive member movable in the axial direction inside the drum shaft. The first drum half includes a base movable over the drum shaft in an axial direction, a crown-up section having a plurality of crown segments and a displacement member for displacing the crown segments in a crown-up direction, wherein the first drum half further includes a first coupling member for coupling the first drive member to the base to drive the movement of the base and a second coupling member for coupling the second drive member to the displacement member to drive the displacement of the crown segments.

A method and a device for producing tires. The device is made up of, among other things, a tire-building drum including a device for realizing a ply turn-up for producing uncured tire blanks. A plurality of turn-up fingers of the ply turn-up is coupled to a drive unit arranged outside the tire-building drum. The drive takes place via synchronously driven spindles which are coupled to the tire-building drum with the help of movable carriers.

A toroidal forming drum and a process for budding tyres. The toroidal forming drum is expanded within a shaped carcass sleeve for supporting the carcass sleeve against an abutment surface externally provided by the forming drum. An elementary semi-finished product is applied around the shaped carcass sleeve by pressing the elementary semi-finished product toward the abutment surface. The abutment surface has circumferential rows of solid portions alternated with hollow portions. The solid portions, arranged along axially opposite circumferential edges of the abutment surface, have a transverse size between 10% and 60% of a transverse size presented by the solid portions arranged in proximity to an axial centreline plane of the abutment surface.

A tire building drum is rotatably mounted on a central drive shaft and includes a center portion. A center mechanism for the drum is disposed in the center portion and includes a hub that seats on and is secured to the central drive shaft. An axially-extending piston seats on and extends circumferentially about the hub. A cylinder cooperates with the hub and the piston to form a pneumatic chamber. A plurality of links are connected to the piston and a plurality of segment bars are disposed about the circumference of the center mechanism. Each one of the segment bars is connected to selected links and seats between a lip of the cylinder and a distal end plate. When compressed air is introduced into the pneumatic chamber, the piston moves in an axial direction, actuating movement of the links and in turn actuating radial movement of the segment bars.

A tire building drum is rotatably mounted on a central drive shaft and includes a center portion. A center mechanism for the drum is disposed in the center portion and includes a hub that seats on and is secured to the central drive shaft. An axially-extending piston seats on and extends circumferentially about the hub. A cylinder cooperates with the hub and the piston to form a pneumatic chamber. A plurality of links are connected to the piston and a plurality of segment bars are disposed about the circumference of the center mechanism. Each one of the segment bars is connected to selected links and seats between a lip of the cylinder and a distal end plate. When compressed air is introduced into the pneumatic chamber, the piston moves in an axial direction, actuating movement of the links and in turn actuating radial movement of the segment bars.

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 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 process for manufacturing a lot of tires including: selecting a first operating radial position; setting a positioning device to the first operating radial position; setting a turning up device to the first operating radial position; positioning a first annular anchoring structure on an edge of a first carcass ply; turning up the edge of the first carcass ply around the first annular anchoring structure; pulling down the edge of the first carcass ply toward the longitudinal axis of a first forming support; replacing the first forming support with a second forming support; selecting a second operating radial position; setting the positioning device to the second operating radial position; setting the turning up device to the second operating radial position; positioning a second annular anchoring structure on an edge of the second carcass ply; and turning up the edge of the second carcass ply around the second annular anchoring structure.

In a shaping station (13), a toroidal forming drum (23) is positioned within a carcass sleeve (12) comprising at least one carcass ply (3) associated with a pair of beads (6) in radially inner position. The carcass sleeve (12) is toroidally shaped by radial expansion of the forming drum (23). The forming drum (23) carrying the shaped carcass sleeve (12) is removed from the shaping station (13). Tyre components (7, 8, 9) are applied externally on the shaped carcass sleeve (12), carried by the forming drum (23). At the end of the shaping and during the application of the tyre components (7, 8, 9), axially inner sides of said beads (6) are arranged axially against respective circumferential axially outer portions (S1) of an abutment surface (S) carried by the expanded forming drum (23), having shape corresponding to an inner shape of the shaped carcass sleeve (12).

A radially expandable building drum (1), intended for the manufacture of an adapter for mounting a tyre on a rim, comprises a central axis (X-X), and an assembly zone coaxial with the latter and comprising a first set (10) of segments (100) and a second set (20) of segments (200), all the segments being arranged circumferentially around the central axis, in which the segments (100) of the first set (10) and the segments (200) of the second set (20) face one another axially. The external circumferential face of each segment (100, 200) comprises a groove (103, 203) for accommodating a bead wire, and the said drum passes, in the said assembly zone, from a retracted first position of substantially cylindrical shape into an expanded second position of substantially frustoconical shape when the segments (100) are driven by a first cam (300) and the segments (200) by an adjacent second cam (400).