Wheel rim and assembly of wheel rim and tire

A wheel rim for use with a tire having a conventional bead construction or a bead provided with a radially inwardly extending toe, comprising

• a well for mounting a tire,
• a protrusion located axially outside the well,
• a circumferentially extending annular groove located axially outside the protrusion,
• a circumferentially extending hump located axially outside the annular groove, and
• a beadbase located axially outside the hump and having a width of a conventionally standardized dimension, wherein the diameter Da at the top of the hump, the diameter Db at the bottom of the annular groove, and the diameter Dc at the top of the protrusion have the following relationship:
• Db<Dc<Da,
• whereby the beadbase of the wheel rim can accommodate a conventional tire having a bead devoid of a radially inwardly extending toe, or, the annular groove, hump and beadbase can accommodate a tire having a bead with said radially inwardly extending toe.

An assembly composed of a wheel rim and a tubeless tire,

• the tubeless tire having a pair of bead portions, at least one of which is provided with a bead core having a heel end and a radially inward extending toe end located axially inside the bead core and further provided with an annular groove between the toe and the heel of the bead,
• the wheel rim having
• a well for mounting the tire,
• a protrusion located axially outside the well,
• a circumferentially extending annular groove located axially outside the protrusion for receiving the end of the toe of the tire bead,
• a circumferentially extending hump located axially outside the annular groove so as to be engaged with said groove of the tire bead and
• a beadbase located axially outside the hump, wherein
• the diameter Da at the top of the hump, the diameter Db at the bottom of the annular groove of the rim, and having a width of a conventionally standardized dimension, and the diameter Dc at the top of the protrusion having the following relationship:
• D<D<Da,
• whereby the beadbase of the wheel rim can accommodate a conventional tire having a bead devoid of a radially inwardly extending toe, or, the annular groove, hump and beadbase can accommodate a tire having a bead with said radially inwardly extending toe.

A tire-rim assembly, comprising

• a tubeless tire having a bead provided with a bead core and a radially inwardly extending toe located axially inside the bead core and
• a wheel rim having a well for mounting the tire and a protrusion located axially outside the well to define, axially outwardly of the protrusion, a circumferentially extending annular groove for receiving said radially inwardly extending toe,
• said tubeless tire being provided with an annular groove disposed between the toe and the heel of the bead,
• said wheel rim being provided with a hump disposed axially outward of the annular groove to engage with said annular groove of the tire, a beadbase located axially outside the hump, and having a width of a conventionally standardized dimension, and a rim flange located axially outward of the beadbase, said beadbase having a width of a conventionally standardized dimension and can accommodate a conventional tire having a bead devoid of a radially inwardly extending toe, or, the annular groove, hump and beadbase can accommodate a tire having a bead with said radially inwardly extending toe.