Apparatus for manufacturing bead wires for pneumatic tires comprising a head for switching between cutting and crimping tools

An installation for manufacturing a bead wire intended to reinforce a tyre, in particular a pneumatic tyre, said installation including:

• a receiving table that is adapted to receive a braided torus that includes at least one wire, termed “braid wire”, that extends longitudinally from a first end section to a second end section and that is interlaced in helicoidal turns around and along a generatrix line that forms a ring around a principal axis that corresponds to the central axis of said braided torus,
• a cutting tool adapted to section the first end section and the second end section in order to adjust the length of said first and second end sections,
• a crimping tool adapted to crimp a sleeve around said first end section and said second end section in order to join and to fix said first and second end sections to one another, and
• a configuration unit that is adapted to cause said installation to pass automatically from a first working configuration, termed “cutting configuration”, in which the receiving table cooperates with the cutting tool in such a manner as to position the braided torus and the first and second end sections so that said first and second end sections are sectioned by the cutting tool, to a second working configuration, termed “crimping configuration”, distinct from the first working configuration, in which the receiving table cooperates with the crimping tool in such a manner as to position the braided torus and the first and second end sections so that the crimping tool joins said first and second end sections by means of the sleeve.