Apparatus for assembling belt of variator

An apparatus for assembling a belt of a variator, wherein the belt is automatically assembled into a pair of pulleys held by a pulley holding unit having a pair of holding members for holding the pulleys such that axial lines of the pulleys become parallel to each other, and means for relatively moving said holding members such that a sheave half of each of the pulleys is brought into a groove of the other of the pulleys, said apparatus comprising:

• a belt feeding unit for feeding the belt;
• and
• a belt assembly head for pinching the belt to be fed from said belt feeding unit and extending the belt across the pair of pulleys, said belt assembly head comprising belt pinching means, and movement means for moving said belt pinching means such that one end and the other end of the belt are sequentially assembled into one and the other of the pair of pulleys which are held in a condition in which the sheave half of each of the pulleys is brought into the groove of the other of the pulleys, wherein said belt pinching means comprises:
• a pair of pinching devices for pinching an intermediate portion of one side of the belt and an intermediate portion of the other side of the belt;
• and wherein said movement means comprises:
• parallel-movement means for parallelly moving said both pinching devices at least in two directions of an axial direction of the pulleys and a direction perpendicular to both axial lines of the pair of pulleys;
• tilting means for tilting both said pinching devices about an axis which is in parallel with a direction in which said both pinching devices lie opposite to each other;
• and
• rotating means for respectively rotating said both pinching devices about an axis which is in parallel with an axial line of the pulleys to thereby bend the belt such that a distance between one side and the other side of the belt becomes narrower towards one end portion thereof.