Patent ID: 7526986

Claim:
A method of cutting a strip of elastomeric material into segments of a desired length, the strip having a width W, the strip being formed of a plurality of tire components, at least one of the tire components being a cord reinforced component, the cords being substantially parallel and oriented in the direction of a cutting path formed across the width W of the strip; the method comprising: providing an anvil having a first surface, and a second surface, there being a first angle between the first and second surfaces, wherein a transition point is located at the intersection of the first surface and the second surface; moving a cutting device into cutting engagement of the strip while supporting the strip on said anvil; positioning the cutting edge of the cutting device at a skive angle less than 10 degrees relative to the first surface, said skive angle being substantially equal to said first angle, said positioning being at a gap distance (d) above the transition point and above the second surface of the anvil, wherein the gap distance (d) is slightly less than or equal to the thickness of the cord reinforced component; cutting through the entire strip in a single cutting step while maintaining the gap distance (d) and without cutting the cords, and forming a segment.