Method and apparatus for producing a biased belt sheet

A method for producing a continuous sheet of biased cord material comprising the steps:

• cutting a longitudinally-extending rubber strip having a number of cords embedded therein extending parallel to the longitudinal direction of the strip at a desired angle with respect to the longitudinal direction into unit sheets of a desired length each being in the form of a parallelogram, on a cutting conveyor, the cutting conveyor having a first direction of movement parallel to the longitudinal direction, by cutting means, said cutting means being inclinable at a biasing angle with respect to the first direction of movement of the cutting conveyor;
• holding in turn each unit sheet with holding means and transferring in turn each unit sheet from the cutting conveyor to a sheet joining conveyor by moving said holding means with transfer means, said holding means including a first holding member, a second holding member, the first holding member and the second holding member having an included angle therebetween, and an angle changing means for changing the included angle between the first holding member and the second holding member, the angle changing means changing the included angle in accordance with a change in the biasing angle, the sheet joining conveyor having a second direction of movement, the first direction of movement and the second direction of movement lying on horizontal planes, and spatially intersecting each other;
• positioning the unit sheet so that the cut edges of the unit sheet become parallel to the second direction of movement of the sheet joining conveyor, and adhering the forward end of the unit sheet to the rearward end of the preceding unit sheet to form a continuous sheet of biased cord material.