Apparatus for manufacturing a reinforcement for a tire, comprising a guide ring

Abstract

The apparatus for manufacturing a reinforcement for a tire comprises an eyelet 60 through which the cord 4 can slip; the eyelet 60 is carried by a drive mechanism 3 . A guide ring 5 is positioned relative to a main arm 31 in such a manner that this passes through the ring during its cyclical movement. The ring comprises a slot 54 through which the cord passes. The ring 5 comprises a base 50 , two lateral walls 51 which are rigidly connected to the base and which are disposed on either side thereof, two deflectors 52 each rigidly connected to one of the lateral partition walls disposed at the end thereof opposite the base, the two deflectors being oriented towards one another and each ending with a lip 53 , the lips being of similar and opposite shapes, the slot 54 being defined by the lips of the deflectors.

1 - 14 . (canceled) 
   
   
       15 . A method of manufacturing a reinforcement for a tire from a cord supplied continuously and upon demand by a suitable cord distributor, using a revolving form which has an axis of rotation and on which the reinforcement is built up gradually, comprising:
 depositing on the form a layer of uncured rubber at least in the regions for anchoring the ends of the reinforcement;   rotating the form at a speed which is always non-zero, the cord proceeding from the distributor being threaded in a depositing element, synchronously with rotation of the form;   moving the depositing element in which the cord is threaded in a reciprocating movement around the form, so as to deposit the cord gradually on the form, the reciprocating movement making the depositing element pass, in a phase of movement toward the anchoring region at the base of the sidewall, in front of a guide device comprising two adjacent deflectors separated by a slot, the guide device being disposed opposite at least one shoulder of the form, the cord passing through the slot; and   pressing the cord against the form in the anchoring region;   continuing the reciprocating movement so that the depositing element passes again in front of the guide device in a phase of movement returning from the anchoring region, the cord passing through the slot after each passage;   moving the guide device circumferentially and synchronously with the rotation of the form in order to control the arrangement of the cord on the form; and   repeating the above steps until a desired number of sections are deposited on the form surface according to the desired arrangement of the cord.   
   
   
       16 . The method according to  claim 15 , wherein the guide device comprises a ring having a base and two lateral partition walls which are rigidly connected to the base and which are disposed on either side thereof, each of the deflectors being rigidly connected to one of the lateral partition walls and being disposed at the end thereof opposite the base, wherein the reciprocating movement makes the depositing element pass through the ring. 
   
   
       17 . The method according to  claim 15 , wherein the movement of the guide device comprises a phase in which it follows the rotation of the form and a phase in which it moves circumferentially relative to the form in an opposite direction to the direction of rotation of the form. 
   
   
       18 . The method according to  claim 15 , wherein the movement of the guide device comprises a phase in which it moves towards the form in a movement parallel to the axis of rotation of the form, in such a manner that one of the lips is adjacent to the cord previously deposited and determines by a thickness of the lip the spacing between adjacent cords laid on the form, and a phase in which the guide device moves away from the form in a movement parallel to the axis of rotation of the form. 
   
   
       19 . The method according to  claim 15 , wherein the pressing of the cord against the form is performed by a presser that creates a loop in the cord and presses the loop against the form at each end of the reciprocating movement.