Method for placing a reinforcing ply on a large dimension drum

A method for laying, on a rotationally driven cylindrical form, a reinforcing ply composed of wires coated in a rubber mixture, parallel to one another and forming a given angle with the longitudinal direction of the ply, comprising steps during which:

• Step A:
• a front edge of the reinforcing ply is made to adhere to the cylindrical form, and, by rotating the cylindrical form in a first circumferential direction, the reinforcing ply is deposited on the cylindrical form until the front edge performs a complete revolution,
• Step B:
• a point of penetration on a cutting line is determined on the ply to form a rear edge intended to be joined with the front edge,
• Step C:
• a cutting blade with which a cutting head that is translationally driven along a transverse axis is equipped, is made to penetrate, between two wires that are placed on the cutting line at said point of penetration and that define a wire gap,
• Step D:
• the cylindrical form is made to rotate in a second circumferential direction, opposite the first circumferential direction, while displacing the cutting head in a first transverse direction until the cutting blade is disposed at a predetermined and non-zero distance from a second selvedge and, without retracting the cutting blade from the wire gap,
• Step E:
• the cylindrical form is made to rotate in the first circumferential direction, while displacing the cutting head in a second transverse direction, opposite the first transverse direction, until the cutting blade emerges at a first selvedge,
• Step F:
• the cylindrical form is made to rotate in the second circumferential direction and the rear edge is made to adhere on the cylindrical form by abutting the rear edge and the front edge,
• Step G:
• the rear edge of the ply is detached at the second selvedge and the joining of the rear edge and of the front edge is completed.