A tire bead winding system which does not require the usual vertical festoon for storing a varying length of coated wire between the extrusion die and the winding drum is disclosed. The supply reel (10) is rotated to pay off wire (18) by a variable speed electric motor (14). The winding drum (22) is rotated by a second motor (24) to pull wire through the extrusion die (20), and both motors are stopped while the wire is cut, the finished bead removed from the drum and the new leading end of the wire clamped in the drum. Both motors are again started, essentially simultaneously, to begin a new winding cycle. A relatively small accumulator (16) is mounted on the same frame as the supply reel and its drive motor. A pneumatic cylinder (44) applies tension to the wire on the accumulator and the speed of the reel drive motor is varied automatically to pay off wire at a rate tending to maintain the amount of wire on the accumulator constant.
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