Process and apparatus for moulding and curing tyres

A process for molding and curing tires, includes introducing a green tire into a curing mold, the mold including a first sidewall plate and a second sidewall plate, a ring of circumferential sectors circumscribing a mold cavity, an expandable bladder delimited by a membrane, and at least one bead molding ring which is movable between a first contracted operating position and a second extended operating position; and molding and curing the green tire in the curing mold; and between introducing the green tire and molding and curing it, the process includes extending the at least one bead molding ring from the first contracted operating position to the second extended operating position; forming a circumferential bearing surface which bears against a first axially inner surface portion of a first annular fixing structure of the green tire; pressing a second axially inner surface portion of the first annular fixing structure by expanding the membrane at a pre-molding pressure which is lower than a molding pressure, so as to bring the first annular fixing structure into contact with the first sidewall plate thus shaping an axially outer surface portion of the first annular fixing structure by means of the first sidewall plate and shaping the first axially inner surface portion of the first annular fixing structure by means of the circumferential surface of the at least one bead molding ring.