Process and plant for building tyres

A process for building tyres comprising using a plurality of forming drums, wherein each forming drum is capable of carrying a tyre being processed, and a first work station comprising a first and a second working location, wherein the process for building tyres further comprises:

• submitting a first forming drum to a first process working in the first working location of the first work station;
• transferring the first forming drum from the first working location to a first intermediate transfer location of the first work station and a second forming drum to the first work station, wherein transferring comprises:
• picking up, by a primary handling device, the second forming drum from an entry location of the first work station, wherein the second forming drum is submitted to the first process working in the first working location;
• picking up the first forming drum from the first working location;
• transferring and releasing the second forming drum to the first working location,
• wherein at least one of:
• the first forming drum is transferred, by translation and by a first grip member carried by a first support structure of an intermediate handling device, from the first working location to the first intermediate transfer location and released in the first intermediate transfer location to the primary handling device before being transferred and released by the primary handling device to an exit location of the first work station;
• or
• the second forming drum is transferred by the primary handling device to the first intermediate transfer location and released in the first intermediate transfer location to the first support structure of the intermediate handling device before being transferred, by translation, and released by the first intermediate handling device to the first working location;
• transferring and releasing, by the primary handling device, the first forming drum to the exit location before the first forming drum is transferred from the first work station to a second work station, wherein the second work station is configured for carrying out a second process working on the tyre being processed;
• submitting a third forming drum to a third process working in the second working location of the first work station;
• and
• transferring the third forming drum from the second working location to a second intermediate transfer location of the first work station and a fourth forming drum to the first work station, wherein transferring comprises:
• picking up, by the primary handling device, the fourth forming drum from the entry location of the first work station;
• picking up, by a second grip member carried by a second support structure of the intermediate handling device, the third forming drum from the second working location, the second support structure configured to translate independently from the first support structure;
• translating, relative to the second working location, the second support structure to transfer the third forming drum from the second working location to the second intermediate transfer location;
• transferring, by the primary handling device, the fourth forming drum to the second working location;
• and
• releasing, by the primary handling device, the fourth forming drum to the second working location.