A tyre-removal apparatus includes a base having a support for receiving and rotating a wheel, and a frame joined to the base having an upright with a longitudinal axis substantially parallel to an axis of rotation of the wheel. A support arm associated with the upright is movable substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the wheel. A tool for operating on the wheel is mounted pivoting on the support arm. A sensor associated with the tool detects a parameter representing contact between the tool and the wheel, and is connected to a control unit controlling an actuator associated with the support arm, to pivot the tool between a withdrawn position with respect to the axis of rotation of the wheel and an advanced position with respect to the axis of rotation of the wheel, depending on the parameter representing contact between the tool and the wheel.

A tire changing apparatus for removing a tire from a corresponding rim of a wheel, comprising a frame having a supporting element configured to support the wheel rotatably about an axis of rotation, a bead breaker tool associated with the frame and movable towards and away from the supporting element along a movement direction, an actuator connected to the tool in order to move the latter along the movement direction and control means connected to the actuator. The control means comprise a processor which is set up to receive data representing a curve of the feed speed of the bead breaker tool towards the supporting element and which is programmed to identify a position of contact of the tool with the tire as a function of a deceleration of the bead breaker tool.

Calibration method (200), and related system (100), of a sensor (70) for tyres, comprising, with the sensor (70) mounted at a crown portion (31) of a tyre (99) and during an advancement of a vehicle onto which the tyre (99) is fitted: a) acquiring (1), from the sensor (70), a motion signal representative of a motion of the crown portion (31); b) acquiring (2) a respective current value of one or more operating conditions of the tyre (99); c) processing (3) the motion signal for obtaining from the motion signal a first value representative of a calibration physical quantity associated with the motion of the crown portion (31) at said respective current value of the one or more operating conditions; d) calculating (4) a second value representative of the calibration physical quantity at the respective current value of the one or more operating conditions, by a predetermined mathematical correlation between the calibration physical quantity and the one or more operating conditions; e) iterating steps a), b), c) and d) for obtaining a first set of first values representative of the calibration physical quantity varying the respective current value of the one or more operating conditions, and a corresponding second set of second values representative of the calibration physical quantity; f) calibrating (6) the sensor (70) by a comparison between the first and second set.