Apparatus for producing reinforced elongate bodies

An apparatus for continuously producing a reinforced body which comprises:

• a rotary worm extruder displacing a vulcanizable composition;
• a shear head comprising a narrow annular passage defined around a central body connected to said extruder for intensively shearing said vulcanizable composition at a rate independent of the speed of said rotary worm extruder;
• means defining a further annular passage traversed by said vulcanizable composition and connecting said shear head with a mouth from which said reinforced body emerges;
• a channel defined in said means for delivering at least one reinforcing strand to said mouth for incorporation in said vulcanizable composition and in said reinforced body;
• a vacuum pump;
• means for connecting a region of said channel upstream of a location at which said reinforcing strand meets said vulcanizable composition and directly adjacent said mouth with said vacuum pump to generate suction in said region, thereby preventing inclusion of air at interfaces of said vulcanizable composition with said reinforcing strand, said channel being formed by a thin-wall tube defining an annular gap over substantially the entire length of said tube with a housing formed with said further annular passage;
• and
• a heat-resistant synthetic resin sleeve received in said tube at an inlet end thereof remote from said region and at which said strand enters said tube, said strand passing through said sleeve, the spacing between said sleeve and said region being substantially greater than the spacing between said region and said mouth.