Flexible guide conveyor

A method and apparatus for conveying and applying a strip component (11) such as a tire tread is disclosed. The method includes the steps of placing the strip component on a belt conveyor (16), determining a guideline (52) of the strip component (11) at an exit end (20) of the belt conveyor (16), and laterally adjusting the exit end (20) of the belt conveyor (16) to align the guideline (52) of the strip component (11) with a predetermined guideline such as the guideline of a tire building drum (12). The apparatus includes a belt support transverse housing (76) which is laterally moveable by a motion controller (64) in response to a sensor (58) which detects the guideline (52) of the strip component (11). Guides on the transverse housing (76) move the belts of the conveyor (16) on slider plates without physically touching the conveyed strip component (11), thereby preventing damage to the component material. The invention described above may be utilized in a single conveyor, or in multiple conveyor apparatus where the conveyors may be keyed together for synchronized transmission of the components.