Apparatus for making tyres and method for joining or cutting tire components

A tire building apparatus for joining or cutting tire components, wherein the tire building apparatus comprises a rocking member that is movable in a rocking plane in a rocking motion along a rocking line to join or cut tire components, wherein the tire building apparatus comprises a translation guide extending in a translation direction parallel to the rocking line and a carriage that is translationally displaceable in said translation direction along said translation guide, wherein the rocking member comprises a main body that at one end has a convex edge that defines a minor arc of a circle and at an other end extends at least up to a rotation center concentric to said circle, wherein the rocking member is supported by the carriage at the rotation center and is movable in an angular displacement with respect to said carriage about a rotation axis extending perpendicular to the rocking plane through said rotation center, wherein the tire building apparatus further comprises a rotation guide for controlling the angular displacement of the rocking member about the rotation axis that in combination with the translational displacement of the carriage in the translation direction results in the rocking motion, wherein the rotation guide comprises an actuator for providing a control motion and a connecting member that connects the actuator to the rocking member for imposing said control motion onto the rocking member.