Tire building method and apparatus

A tire-building drum having a plurality of circumferentially spaced expandable segments for retaining a turn-up bladder and providing a bead seat characterized by each of said segments having a circumferentially extending channel for mounting a first edge and a second edge of said turn-up bladder, a flange on a first side of said channel, and a removable nose piece on a second side of said channel for removal during mounting of said first edge and said second edge of said bladder in said channel with a minimum stretching of said first edge and said second edge of said bladder said first edge of said turn-up bladder being located at said bead seat and having an increased thickness to provide a resilient mounting for said bead, said turn-up bladder extending from said first edge located under said bead portion of said tire to provide a turn-up of an outer ply of a tire and fixing of an edge of said ply at a predetermined location on said tire upon inflation of said bladder.