The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd.

Katuhide Kawaguchi

Naoki Sasaki

Kazuyoshi Yanagisawa

Kouichiro Sugino

According to the present invention, a bead assembly consisting of a combination of a ring shaped bead core, a bead filler and a flipper is manufactured by continuous automated steps, whereby productivity is greatly improved. The present invention is characterized by the steps of providing bead locking drums on the free end portions of a plurality of rotary arms arranged radially around the center of rotation thereof, and turning and stopping these rotary arms sequentially so as to set a bead core on a bead locking drum stopped in a first stopping position A, wind a bead filler around the bead core set on the bead locking drum stopped in a second stopping position B to form a bead assembly, and then take out the bead assembly formed on the bead locking drum stopped in a final stopping position D. A third stopping position C is set between the second and final stopping positions, and a flipper is pasted on the bead assembly stopped in this stopping position C.

Apparatus for manufacturing bead assemblies for tires

A process for building pneumatic radial tires comprising (a) a step of switching a first building drum at a first building position and a second building drum at a second building position in a turret manner by turning a body of a building machine, (b) a step for forming a belt cover layer at said second building position by winding at least one fiber cord continuously and spirally on a reinforcing belt that has been previously wound on the building drum, (c) a step for completing a belt-tread assembly at the first building position by winding a cap tread on a belt cover layer that has been previously been wound on the building drum at the second building position concurrent with the operation for winding the fiber cord that is being carried out at the second building position, removing the tire belt-tread assembly from the building drum, and newly winding a reinforcing belt on the building drum from which the belt-tread assembly has been removed, and (d) repeating said steps (a), (b) and (c).

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Numazu, Japan

Katuhide Kawaguchi