Pneumatic safety tire

A safety pneumatic tire for a passenger vehicle:

• comprising a circumferentially extending ground-engaging tread portion, a pair of sidewall portions, a pair of shoulder portions, a pair of bead portions, a substantially radial carcass ply structure which extends from said bead portion to said bead portion, said carcass ply structure having at least one layer of parallel reinforcing cords, a reinforcing belt structure placed about said carcass and beneath said ground-engaging tread portion, said belt structure extending from shoulder portion to shoulder portion;
• said tire characterized in that the internal sidewall surfaces are provided with a reinforcing means which extends circumferentially about said tire and uninterruptedly along the internal surface of the tire from a point radially below the maximum section width of said tire to a point beneath said tread portion, said reinforcing means terminating prior to reaching the mid-circumferential plane of the tire, the surface of said reinforcing means facing the tire cavity having generally a corrugated cross-sectional configuration, as viewed in a plane perpendicular to the tire surface and radial plane of said tire, said corrugations lying in a plane substantially perpendicular to the mid-circumferential plane of the tire, the thickness of said corrugations being greater than the thickness of said sidewall of said tire measured at the maximum section width of said tire exclusive of adornment or other indicia, the distance between center lines of adajacent corrugations divided by the thickness of said corrugations being at least equal to two but less than or equal to five, said reinforcing means being made from a rubber compound having a Shore A hardness ranging from 70 to 85 and having a modulus greater than 45 kp/cm.sup.2.

A pneumatic tire and rim assembly for passenger vehicles comprising a tire having a circumferentially extending ground-edging tread portion, a pair of sidewalls, a pair of bead portions, a carcass ply structure which extends from said bead portion to said bead portion, said carcass ply structure having at least one layer of parallel reinforcing cords, said tire mounted on a rim;

• said tire and rim assembly characterized in that the internal sidewall surfaces of said tire are each provided with a reinforcing means which extends circumferentially about said tire and uninterruptedly along the internal surface of said tire from a point radially below the maximum section width of said tire to a point beneath the tread portion, said reinforcing means terminating prior to reaching the mid-circumferential plane of said tire, the surface of said reinforcing means facing the tire cavity having a generally corrugated cross-sectional configuration as viewed in a plane perpendicular to the tire surface and radial plane of said tire, said corrugations lie in a plane substantially perpendicular to the mid-circumferential plane of said tire, the thickness of said corrugations being greater than the thickness of said sidewall of said tire measured at the maximum section width of said tire exclusive of adornment or other indicia, the distance between center lines of adjacent corrugations divided by the thickness of said corrugations being at least equal to two but less than or equal to five, said reinforcing means being made from said rubber compound having a Shore A hardness ranging from 70 to 85 and having a modulus greater than 45 kp/cm.sup.2, the bead seats are spaced a distance apart such that the distance between the bead heel sharp points when the tire is mounted on a standard rim at normal inflation pressure is no greater than the tread width of said tire.