Pneumatic tire
AssigneeThe Firestone Tire & Rubber Company
InventorsJames Dennis Gardner, Robert William Glasscock
Life of this patent
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Abstract
This disclosure relates to a pneumatic tire construction which has a decoupled bead latch located axially outwardly of the rim flange in the lower sidewall area of the tire. This decoupled feature of the bead latch is obtained by incorporating a circumferential groove therein, a series of radial grooves therein, or a combination of both. The decoupled bead latch permits it to act independently of the tire body; thereby, lessening the abrasion type of wear (chafing) which occurs on its periphery.
Claims7
A pneumatic tire comprising an annular, road-engaging tread surface, two sidewalls each connecting a side of said tread surface to an annular bead, and a bead latch member located in the lower sidewall area of each sidewall, said bead latch member having an axially outer wall and a substantially vertical wall, said substantially vertical wall being adapted to receive the rim flange of the rim which said tire is designed to be mounted upon, a portion of said bead latch extending axially outwardly radially inwardly of the rim flange when said tire is mounted on the rim it is designed for, thereby engulfing the rim flange, said axially outer wall of said bead latch member containing at least one groove which extends axially inwardly from said outer wall, said groove designed to collapse in response to the forces acting upon the tire when the tire is run flat or under-inflated thereby permitting said bead latch member to operate independently of said forces.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.