US 5,309,971 AGranted

Tire flipper structure

AssigneeMichelin Recherche et Technique S.A.

InventorsWilliam C. Baker, Damon L. Christenbury

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Abstract

A tire includes a pair of axially spaced apart beads. A carcass ply extends between and is secured at axially opposite end portions to a respective one of the beads. A pair of bead fillers is also included. Each of the bead fillers is located radially outward of a respective bead. A flipper partially envelopes the bead and further engages and replaces a part of the bead filler. The flipper further includes a plurality of parallel extending reinforcing members. The flipper has a central portion located radially inward of the bead and a pair of leg portions. Each of the pair of leg portions extends radially outwardly from a bead reference. The radial extent of the leg portions is greater than a flange distance, being the radial extent of a flange of a rim, but less than the radial extent of an apex of the bead filler when the tire is properly mounted on the rim. The carcass ply turnup extends radially to approximately the height of the rim flange. Each flipper reinforcing member is made from a polyamide monofilament or a polymeric multifilament, preferably a multifilament.

Claims13

Dependent claims

An improved radial tire comprising a pair of axially spaced apart beads, a carcass ply extends between and is secured at axially opposite end portions to a respective one of said beads and a pair of bead filler, each of said pair of bead fillers is located radially outward of a respective bead which is located by a bead reference parallel to a rotational axis of the tire at the inner periphery of the bead and tapers to an apex, wherein the improvement comprises:

a pair of flippers with a first hysteretic property, each flipper replacing a predetermined portion of a respective one of said bead fillers having a second hysteretic property, each flipper having central portion partially enveloping a respective bead and a pair of leg portions engaging a respective bead filler, said leg portions extend radially outward from the bead reference to a location radially inward of said apex, said replacing of the predetermined portion being defined as specifying an axial distance between the carcass ply and a turnup portion of said carcass ply at a radial distance equal to the extent of an axial end portion of said turnup portion, said first hysteretic property being less than said second hysteretic property, whereas said replacing of the predetermined portion of said bead filler enables the reduction of rolling resistance of said tire by at least 2.6 percent without decreasing the vehicle ride comfort characteristics of said tire.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.