Patent ID: 8876997

Claim:
A method of manufacturing tyres for vehicle wheels, comprising the steps of: disposing a carcass structure comprising at least one carcass ply on a primary drum; assembling a belt structure comprising at least one belt layer on an auxiliary drum; picking up the belt structure from the auxiliary drum; transferring the belt structure to a coaxially centered position relative to the carcass structure; and shaping the carcass structure into a toroidal configuration to engage the belt structure with the carcass structure, wherein a pair of sidewalls, each extending until close to a radially internal edge of the carcass structure, are laterally applied to the carcass structure on opposite sides, wherein the sidewalls are applied on the primary drum before shaping the carcass structure, and wherein during said step of assembling said belt structure, at least one underbelt insert is associated with said at least one belt layer at a radially internal position, by: applying said at least one underbelt insert onto an expandable support, said at least one underbelt insert having an axially internal portion tapering towards an equatorial plane of the tyre and an axially external portion; radially expanding the expandable support; and joining the at least one belt layer to said at least one underbelt insert, wherein an angular rotation is imposed to said at least one underbelt insert concurrently with the radial-expansion step, whereby the axially internal portion is oriented substantially parallel to an inner surface of the belt structure and the axially external portion is oriented tapering towards a rotational axis of the tyre in consequence of said angular rotation.