A carcass sleeve is situated in a radially external position with respect to a toroidal forming drum, arranged in a first radially contracted operative condition. The carcass sleeve is shaped according to a toroidal configuration while the forming drum is positioned inside the carcass sleeve. During shaping of the carcass sleeve, the forming drum is radially expanded up to a second radially expanded operative condition. Upon completed shaping, the carcass sleeve is coupled to the forming drum in the second operative condition. The forming drum, coupled to the shaped carcass sleeve, is arranged in proximity to at least one device for building at least one belt layer at a radially external position relative to the shaped carcass sleeve.

A process and an apparatus for building tyres, wherein, in the process, a carcass sleeve including at least one carcass ply and a pair of annular anchoring structures is transferred to a shaping drum including flange elements that are each engageable with one of said annular anchoring structures. The carcass sleeve is shaped according to a toroidal configuration. Before shaping, annular grip elements respectively carried by the flange elements are radially expanded, each inside one of the annular anchoring structures, in order to engage the carcass sleeve. The annular anchoring structures are moved axially apart from each other before engaging the carcass sleeve by the annular grip elements.

An assembly defining a portion of an arcuate outer surface of a tire building drum, the assembly including first and second interlacing deck segments coupled to a central support member to be moved in a radially reciprocating manner, each of the interlacing deck segments including a plurality of center sections coupled together, a plurality of first grooves between the center sections, a plurality of first finger portions extending from the center sections away from the central support member, a plurality of second finger portions extending from the center sections in an opposite direction over the central support member, and a plurality of second grooves formed adjacent each of the second finger portions, wherein the second finger portions are arranged in parallel over the central support member, and the first grooves in each of the interlacing deck segments align with the second grooves of the other of the interlacing deck segments.

A method for manufacturing a tire comprising a carcass reinforcement comprising a carcass layer and a working reinforcement comprising a single working layer comprising forming, around a support, a wound carcass assembly (52) intended to form the carcass layer and a wound working assembly intended to form the working layer, and then deforming the support. The wound carcass assembly (52) is formed so as to form either a junction (56) by abutment without forming a superposition, or a junction (56) by overlapping, or without forming a junction.

A plant for building tyres, includes: a shaping work station configured for receiving a carcass sleeve; at least one radially expandable/contractible toroidal forming drum engageable in the shaping work station; at least one work station configured for building at least one component of a crown structure on a radially external surface of a tyre being processed, defined starting from the carcass sleeve that is shaped and coupled to the forming drum; transfer devices configured for moving said forming drum along a closed-loop completion path and arranging it in proximity to the work station in order to obtain a green tyre, the closed-loop completion path being extended from an initial work station to a final work station coinciding with the shaping work station; and a pick-up device configured for picking up said green tyre decoupled from the respective forming drum.

An apparatus for building tires for vehicle wheels includes a building drum having at least one first outer circumferential surface, and at least one pair of auxiliary support members removably in engagement with the building drum, each in axial side by side relationship with a respective end of the building drum and having second outer circumferential surfaces extending in the continuation of the first outer circumferential surface so as to support at least one component of the tyre. Each of the second outer circumferential surfaces has at least one non-stick circumferential portion and at least one sticking circumferential portion.

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.

In a process for building tires for vehicle wheels, a carcass sleeve is arranged on a shaping drum including two half-drums and two supports. Each support is operatively associated with one of the half-drums and carries a plurality of turning-up levers having free ends positioned close to the respective half-drum. Two annular anchoring structures are disposed around the carcass sleeve and each of the two supports is locked to the respective half-drum by interposing only stiff mechanical elements in mutual contact between the support and the half-drum. The carcass sleeve is shaped in a toroidal conformation, by setting a threaded shaft in rotation and moving the half-drums dose to each other. Subsequently, each of the two supports is unlocked from the respective half-drum and the threaded shaft is set in rotation to move each support close to the respective half-drum and lift up the free ends of the turning-up levers until the end flaps of the carcass sleeve are turned up around the annular anchoring structures.

In the method for producing a tire carcass ply for a vehicle, the ply is wound onto a drum and contains reinforcements running in planes that are radial to an axis of the drum, of which: at least one assembly member (51, 52) mounted such that it can move in relation to the drum brings the ends of the ply together and assembles them by travelling over the ply in a direction (X) parallel to the ends; and prior to assembly, a blade independent of the one or of each assembly member extends between the drum and the ends without extending between the drum and the rest of the ply.

Disclosed is a tire building drum and a method for building a tire, wherein the tire building drum includes a crown section and a bead-lock section, wherein the bead-lock section defines a bead-lock position, wherein the crown section includes crown segments movable with respect to the base from a crown-down position into a crown-up position in a crown-up direction, wherein the crown segments together form a crown surface, a leading edge and a shoulder, wherein the tire building drum further includes a sleeve that extends around the crown segments in the circumferential direction, wherein the sleeve includes a first circumferential edge that is fixed to the crown segments at a side of the shoulder facing away from the bead-lock section, a second circumferential edge that is located between the shoulder and the bead-lock position, wherein the second circumferential edge is unfixed at least when the crown segments are in the crown-down position.