Device for manufacturing a reinforcement for tires

A method of manufacturing a reinforcement comprising adjacent sections of reinforcement wire embedded in an elastomer matrix, a method in which:

• a reception surface on a support is covered with the said elastomeric matrix;
• an assembly comprising a rotary distributor and a member conveying to the distributor is presented in front of the reception surface of the support, the conveying member comprising a final tubular portion substantially perpendicular to the rotation axis of the rotary distributor, the distributor comprising at least one deflector, the deflector forming a corridor receiving the wire on the radially internal side and forming a guide at the exit from the deflector on the radially external side, a space being provided, in the radial direction, between the rotary distributor and the final tubular portion of the conveying member, the presentation being made so that the reception surface is close to the guidance path at the exit from the deflector when the rotary distributor is rotated, and so that the rotation axis of the rotary distributor forms an angle perpendicular to the deposition angle required for the sections on the support;
• the rotary distributor is driven in rotation, at a controlled rotation speed;
• the reception surface is made to travel with respect to the rotary distributor;
• the wire is introduced, at a controlled linear speed, into the conveying member, threading it into the tubular portion;
• a knife is made to act in the space between the tubular portion and the distributor, so that the knife makes it possible to take off a section of wire, the said section being guided as far as and deposited on the reception surface by the said at least one deflector.