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.

There is described a plant for building tyres for vehicle wheels, said tyres being of at least two different models, comprising at least a tyre building line (1) which in turn comprises:—a plurality of work stations (4, 4′, 5, 5′, 6, 12, 14) arranged according to a sequential series, each work station (4, 4′, 5, 5′, 6, 12, 14) being adapted for building at least one structural component of each tyre, assembling at least one elementary component;—at least one handling device (3) for the tyres being processed on the respective forming supports associated to each work station (4, 4′, 5, 5′, 6, 12, 14); and—at least one transfer device (2) adapted for transferring the tyre being processed on its forming support from any first work station (4, 4′, 5, 5′, 6, 12, 14) of said sequential series to any other second work station (4, 4′, 5, 5′, 6, 12, 14) not adjacent thereto of said sequential series, so that the tyre being processed on its forming support only passes in said first and second work station (4, 4′, 5, 5′, 6, 12, 14). There are also described a process for manufacturing tyres for vehicle wheels and a method for selecting work stations (4, 4′, 5, 5′, 6, 12, 14) of a tyre building plant.

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.

A toroidal forming drum and a process for building tyres. The toroidal forming drum (23) is expanded within a shaped carcass sleeve (12), for supporting the carcass sleeve (12) against an abutment surface (“S”) externally provided by the forming drum (23). An elementary semi-finished product (54a, 54b) is applied around the shaped carcass sleeve (12), by pressing the elementary semi-finished product (54a, 54b) towards the abutment surface (“S”). The abutment surface (“S”) has circumferential rows of solid portions (40) alternated with hollow portions (41). The solid portions (40), arranged along axially opposite circumferential edges of the abutment surface (“S”), have a transverse size comprised between 10% and 60% of a transverse size presented by the solid portions (40) arranged in proximity to an axial centreline plane of the abutment surface (“S”).

Methods for controlling curing apparatuses for tyre production, wherein the curing apparatuses are adapted to work on green tyres to obtain corresponding finished tyres by acquiring, through a processing unit, initial parameters describing at least one of the shape and dimensions of the finished tyres. The processing unit computes first parameters describing the green tyres, the first parameters having at least one parameter representative of an axial height of the green tyres; second parameters describing the curing apparatuses, the second parameters having one or more parameters representative of dimensions of the curing apparatuses; and third parameters as a function of the first parameters and the second parameters, the third parameters having one or more parameters representative of positions taken by movable members included in the curing apparatuses. The processing unit generates signals for controlling the movable members of the curing apparatuses.

Methods for controlling curing apparatuses for tyre production, wherein the curing apparatuses are adapted to work on green tyres to obtain corresponding finished tyres, by acquiring, through a processing unit, initial parameters describing at least one of the shape and dimensions of the finished tyres; computing, through the processing unit, as a function of the initial parameters, first parameters describing the green tyres, the first parameters having at least one parameter representative of an axial height of the green tyres; acquiring, through the processing unit, second parameters describing the curing apparatuses, said second parameters having one or more parameters representative of dimensions of the curing apparatuses; computing, through the processing unit, third parameters as a function of the first parameters and the second parameters, the third parameters having one or more parameters representative of positions taken by movable members included in the curing apparatuses; generating, through the processing unit, as a function of the third parameters, control signals for controlling the movable members of said curing apparatuses and for obtaining said finished tyres starting from the green tyres; sending the control signals from the processing unit to the curing apparatuses. Also disclosed are a curing line operating in accordance with the methods, a processing unit programmed for implementing the methods, and an electronic unit included in the processing unit.

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 of manufacturing a tire product comprising: a step of preparing a core-assembly 4 of a rigid core 2 and a rubber member 3 formed on the rigid core 2, wherein the rigid core 2 is attached to a spindle device 7, and the rubber member 3 is to be vulcanization-molded, and constitutes all or a portion of a green tire, a step of conveying the core-assembly 4 from the spindle device 7 into a mold 50, and a step of vulcanization-molding the rubber member 3 on the rigid core 2 in the mold 50. The conveying of the core-assembly includes obtaining the weight of the rubber member 3 included in the core-assembly 4.

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.

The invention relates to a toroidal forming drum and a process for building tyres. The toroidal forming drum (23) is expanded within a shaped carcass sleeve (12), for supporting the carcass sleeve (12) against an abutment surface (S) externally provided by the forming drum (23). An elementary semi-finished product (54a, 54b) is applied around the shaped carcass sleeve (12), by pressing said elementary semi-finished product (54a, 54b) towards the abutment surface (S). The abutment surface (S) has circumferential rows of solid portions (40) alternated with hollow portions (41). The solid portions (40), arranged along axially opposite circumferential edges of the abutment surface (S), have a transverse size comprised between 10% and 60% of a transverse size presented by the solid portions (40) arranged in proximity to an axial centreline plane of the abutment surface (S).