Patent ID: 6887327

Claim:
Apparatus for producing a tire reinforcement from a thread delivered substantially continuously and on request by an appropriate dispenser, the apparatus being intended to be used in cooperation with a substantially toroidal form on which the reinforcement is progressively constructed by laying hoops of the thread between spaced ends of a desired path for the thread on the surface of the form, the apparatus comprising: a guiding member in which the thread can slide freely; an oscillating-arm system having (a) at least a first arm oscillating about a first geometrical axis of rotation and oriented substantially perpendicular thereto, the oscillating first arm comprising a head remote from the first geometrical axis of rotation, the head of the oscillating arm transporting said guiding member directly, or indirectly via one or more other arms, to guide the thread along the desired path by causing said guiding member to pass over, but without substantially contacting, the form, with movement of said guiding member being substantially contained in a movement plane that is substantially perpendicular to said first geometrical axis of rotation; and (b) means for varying a radial distance, in said movement plane, between said guiding member and said first geometrical axis of rotation during said movement of said guiding member; control means for imparting to the oscillating first arm an oscillatory movement about the first geometrical axis of rotation; and pressure means adjacent each of the ends of the path for applying the thread to the form at the respective ends of the path.