767,497. Tyre-building machines. FIRESTONE TIRE & RUBBER CO. Feb. 8, 1954 [Sept. 29, 1953; Sept. 29, 1953; Sept. 29, 1953], No. 3600/54. Class 144 (1). In a flat-band tyre building machine having a collapsible building drum 10 supported on a cantilever shaft 177 with a stitcher 20, 21 and a bead setting ring 26, 27 at each end thereof for ply-end turnover and bead setting respectively, Fig. 2, the bead setting rings 26, 27 are expanded radially to a diameter to bear against the beads 24, 25 to hold them in their set position against the radially inwardly turned plyends at the drum shoulders whilst the ply-ends are pulled axially outwardly through the beads, Fig. 4. This axial pull out of the ply-ends is effected by pull out plates 22, 23 each movable from a position within one end of the drum, to a position where its peripheral edge presses the plies against the inner periphery of the bead 24, 25 and its axially outer face is aligned with the axially outer edge of the bead to guide the stitcher 20, 21, Fig. 5, on to the plies to effect ply turnover radially outwardly around the beads, Fig. 7, the bead setting ring 26, 27 having been retracted to permit this stitching operation. For initial ply wrapping operations each bead setting ring 26, 27 is arranged within, and axially movable with respect to a ply ring 14, 15 movable to positions adjacent each end of the drum to form extensions thereof, Fig. 1. Outboard assembly.-The outboard assembly comprising the pull-out plate 23, ply ring 15 and bead setting ring 27, Figs. 12 and 21, is mounted on a tubular cantilever shaft 17 supported from a vertical frame 45 pivotally mounted on a carriage 30 which is axially movable towards or away from the drum on rails 32. The frame 45 is normally held with the shaft 17 aligned with the drum shaft 177 by a spring-loaded plunger 65, Fig. 21, engageable in a hole 67 in a bearing plate 52 on the carriage, a centring spigot 40 being arranged at the end of shaft 17 to engage a sleeve 41, Fig. 8, on the drum shaft end. With the carriage retracted and the plunger 65 released the assembly may be swung clear of the drum for bead ring loading on the setting ring 27. The pull-out plate 23 is freely rotatable on a sleeve 80 which is slidable along the shaft 17 and fixed by means of a pin 101 extending transversely through slots 102 in the shaft, to the end of a piston rod 100 reciprocable within the shaft 17 and operable by a pneumatic cylinder arrangement 84, 85. The cylinder 84 is fixedly mounted on the frame head 46 and has a single piston 86 the rod 88 of which is connected through a bracket 89 with the rod 90 of a piston 91 operating in the outboard end of cylinder 85. The cylinder 85 is mounted for bodily movement on guides 77, 78 extending from the frame 45 and comprises two separated inboard and outboard compartments each with its own piston, the inboard compartment having a piston 92 connected to the piston rod 100 above. The strokes of the pistons 86, 91 and 92 are such, and their movements may be so combined, that the pull-out plate 23 is movable as desired between a position within the building drum, a position in alignment with a tyre bead, or each bead in turn of a two bead assembly, and a retracted position clear of the drum. The ply ring 15 comprises a cylindrical shell III connected by a spider 112 to a hub 113 slidable and freely rotatable on a sleeve 114 which is itself slidable on the shaft 17. The ply ring is spring urged toward the inboard end of the sleeve 114 to which is fixed the bead setting ring 27, the sleeve 114 being movable along the shaft 17 by pneumatic cylinders 124, 125 the piston rods 128, 127 of which are connected to a yoke 126 of the sleeve 114. To hold the beadsetting ring clear of the drum shoulders during the ply wrapping operation of Fig. 1, the stroke of the piston rods 127, 128 is limited by a removable buffer block, controlled by a pneumatic cylinder 164, insertable in the path of stop nuts 158 on the end of a rod 153 extending from the yoke 126 parallel with the rods 127, 128. For bead application, the buffer block is removed and the sleeve 114 thereby advanced to the end of the piston rod stroke, the ply ring 111 being forced back along the sleeve 114 against its spring by its contact with the drum edge. The bead setting ring 27 comprises a cylindrical shell of segments 135, Fig. 13, each having radially inwardly extending portions 136, 137, 138 which are radially guided and adjustable on radial members 144 secured to the sleeve 114. The segments 135, which have a periphery 131 shaped to receive a bead ring, are normally urged radially inwardly by a garter spring 147 surrounding flange portions 149 of the segment members 137, but are expandable radially outwardly to bead-holding diameter, Fig. 4, operation, by an inflatable annulus 151 supported by the members 144 to bear on the underside of the segment flange portions 149. Inboard assembly.-The inboard assembly operates and is constructed in the same way as the outboard assembly except for the support and actuation of the component parts. Here the pull-out plate 22, Fig. 10, is freely rotatable on a sleeve 187 slidably keyed to a tubular cantilever support 16 extending from a frame 181 and rotatably supporting therewithin a drum brake tube 179. The ply ring 14 and bead-setting ring 26 are both mounted on a ring 209 which is supported on a concave-surface roller 207 for axial movement along the tube 16. The ply ring 14 is rotatably mounted on the ring 209 and is movable axially with respect thereto, and thereby the bead setting ring 26, against the action of springs 231. Movement of the ply and beadsetting ring assembly is effected by two pneumatic cylinders 265, 266 the piston rods of which are mechanically synchronized and connected to the ring 209. To limit the advancement of the bead-setting ring the piston stroke is limitable as in the outboard arrangement by a pneumatically operable buffer block. For initial advancement or full retraction of the pull-out plate 22 the sleeve 187 may be coupled to the ring 209 by a pneumatic plunger 282 supported on the ply ring assembly and engageable in a hole 283 in the sleeve. From its advanced or idle position within the drum, the plate is retracted, to effect pull out of the plies, into alignment with the bead (or each bead in turn for a two bead assembly), Fig. 4, by operation of a pneumatic cylinder 288, Figs. 8 and 9. The cylinder 288 effects, through a lever 290, a rocker shaft 286 and levers 293, reciprocation of two rods 292 which pass through lugs on the sleeve 114 and have stop-nuts on their ends to engage the lugs, and thereby retract the sleeve, on inboard movement of the rods. Specification 767,498 is referred to.