Insert for non-pneumatic tires

An improvement in a non-pneumatic tire having a solid monolithic tire body made of an elastomer for use on a wheel rim which includes a pair of laterally spaced bead flanges formed with side walls and extending upwardly from the bottom of the wheel rim which comprises:

• said tire body having a circumferentially extending tunnel formed on the inside of said tire body;
• said tire body having inclined side walls that converge at a crown, at least that portion of said tire body which includes the crown wherein said side walls meet with each other forming a contact surface wherein said tire body contacts a road surface;
• each of said tire body side walls terminating in a thickened portion forming a bead shoulder that sits on the top of the bead flanges of said wheel rim and said thickened portion also including a bead extending essentially downwardly, the interior surfaces of said beads forming the lowermost side portions of said tunnel;
• each of said beads fitting into said wheel rim adjacent to one of the side walls of said wheel rim;
• a segment of tubing formed of a semiresilient material and capable of returning to its formed state after being distorted from said formed state by an outside force, said tubing having an integrally formed wall and a hollow interior, said tubular extending circumferentially within said tunnel around the inside of said tire body and contained in a cavity formed by said tunnel and the bottom of said wheel rim, said tubing sized to fit against the interior surfaces of said bead retaining said bead adjacent to said side walls of said wheel rim, at least the portion of said hollow tubing located closest to said contact surface of said tire body capable of being distorted inwardly into the hollow interior of said tubing if contacted by a portion of said tire body when said tire body is distorted in a direction toward said bottom of said wheel rim in response to distortion of said contact surface of said tire body by an object external said tire body;
• said segment of semiresilient hollow tubing is a length of hollow tubing sized to fit within said hollow tunnel such that the respective ends of said length of said hollow tubing are positioned adjacent to one another when said hollow tubing is in said tunnel and said tire body is mounted on said wheel rim;
• said hollow tubing in cross-section has a continuous closed wall shaped essentially as a simple closed curve;
• when said hollow tubing is located within said tunnel said hollow tubing has a greater resistance to distortion of its cross-sectional shape about a dimension which includes said portions of said wall of said tubing which fit adjacent to said interior surfaces of said bead compared to distortion of its cross-sectional shape about a dimension which includes said portion of said wall of said tubing positioned in said cavity closest to said contact surface of said tire body.

An improvement in a non-pneumatic tire having a solid monolithic tire body made of an elastomer for use on a wheel rim which includes a pair of laterally spaced bead flanges formed with side walls and extending upwardly from the bottom of the wheel rim which comprises:

• said tire body having a circumferentially extending tunnel formed on the inside of said tire body;
• said tire body having inclined side walls that converge at a crown, at least that portion of said tire body which includes the crown wherein said side walls meet with each other forming a contact surface wherein said tire body contacts a road surface;
• each of said tire body side walls terminating in a thickened portion forming a bead shoulder that sits on the top of the bead flanges of said wheel rim and said thickened portion also including a bead extending essentially downwardly, the interior surfaces of said beads forming the lowermost side portions of said tunnel;
• each of said beads fitting into said wheel rim adjacent to one of the side walls of said wheel rim;
• a segment of tubing formed of a semiresilient material and capable of returning to its formed state after being distorted from said formed state by an outside force, said tubing having an integrally formed wall and a hollow interior, said tubing extending circumferentially within said tunnel around the inside of said tire body and contained in a cavity formed by said tunnel and the bottom of said wheel rim, said tubing sized to fit against the interior surfaces of said bead retaining said bead adjacent to said side walls of said wheel rim, at least the portion of said hollow tubing located closest to said contact surface of said tire body capable of being distorted inwardly into the hollow interior of said tubing if contacted by a portion of said tire body when said tire body is distorted in a direction toward said bottom of said wheel rim in response to distortion of said contact surface of said tire body by an object external said tire body;
• said hollow tubing in cross-section has a continuous closed wall shaped essentially as a simple closed curve;
• when said hollow tubing is located within said tunnel said hollow tubing has a greater resistance to distortion of its cross-sectional shape about a dimension which includes said portions of said wall of said tubing which fit adjacent to said interior surfaces of said bead compared to distortion of its cross-sectional shape about a dimension which includes said portion of said wall of said tubing positioned in said cavity closest to said contact surface of said tire body;
• said segment of semiresilient hollow tubing is a length of hollow tubing sized to fit within said hollow tunnel such that the respective ends of said length of said hollow tubing are positioned adjacent to one another when said hollow tubing is in said tunnel and said tire body is mounted on said wheel rim;
• in cross-section the outside surface of said wall of said hollow tubing is essentially formed into a circle and the inside surface of said wall of said tubing is also essentially formed into a circle;
• the center of said circle formed by said inside surface is off center from the center of the circle formed by said outside surface and is displaced in a direction toward that portion of said wall of said hollow tubing which is positioned closest to said contact surface portion of said tire body such that the thickness of said wall of said tubing in cross-section of that portion of said tubing located closest to said contact surface portion of said tire body is less than the thickness of that portion of said tubing located furthest from said contact surface portion of said tire body and the thickness of said wall intermediate that portion of said tubing closest to said contact surface of the tire body and that portion of the tubing furthest away from said contact surface portion of the tire body gradually increases in thickness on both sides of said tubing in cross-section between that portion of said tubing closest to said contact surface portion of said tire body and that portion of said tubing furthest away from said contact surface portion of said tire body.

A semiresilient hollow tube sized to fit within the interior of a tire body which includes a circumferentially extending tunnel and a bead flange extending from the side walls of the tire body which comprises:

• a hollow toroidal tube having a wall, said wall having an outside surface and an inside surface;
• said hollow toroidal body formed of a semiresilient material capable of returning to its formed state after being distorted by an outside force from said formed state;
• in cross-section said outside surface of said wall is formed into a circle and said inside surface of said wall is also formed into a circle;
• the center of said circle formed by said inside surface being off center from the center of said circle formed by said outside surface such that the thickness measured between said outside surface and said inside surface of the wall in cross-section is of a different dimension about two points which with respect to the cross-section of said wall lie essentially 180 degrees from each other and said thickness measured between said outside surface and said inside surface of the wall in cross-section both to the right and left of said two points, respectively, gradually change from the dimension of the thickness of the wall at one of said points to the dimension at the other of said points;
• said tube positionable within said tire body such that said thickness of said wall at the one of said points which has the smaller dimension of said two points is located closer to the road surface contact surface of said tire than the other of said two points.