Method of building a tire and a longitudinal cutter for plies

Abstract

The present invention is directed towards a method of building a tire having at least one cord reinforced belt ply. The method is comprised of layering various tire components on a tire building drum. Prior to placing the belt ply on the building drum, at least one belt ply is longitudinally cut, forming a plurality of belt ply segments. The belt ply segments are placed onto the building drum and the cords in each belt ply segment are oriented in the same direction. Also disclosed is a longitudinal cutter for dividing belt ply material into the plurality of belt ply segments. The cutter has at least a pair of shear cutters and a cutting surface against which the shear cutters rotate to cut the continuous belt ply. The shear cutters are mounted on a rail and are moveable along the length of the rail.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.