Tire comprising bead core material having characteristics of superelasticity and shape memory

A tire, comprising:

• a toroidal carcass;
• and
• a tread band;
• wherein the toroidal carcass comprises a central crown and two sidewalls,
• wherein each sidewall terminates in an annular bead,
• wherein each annular bead comprises a metallic bead core for anchoring the bead to a corresponding bead seat of a wheel rim,
• wherein at least one bead core comprises one or more annular portions made of a material having characteristics of superelasticity and shape memory,
• wherein the one or more annular portions are progressively heated when the tire is operated in a deflated condition and develop increasing forces of contraction up to a maximum value corresponding to a temperature at which formation of an austenitic structure of the material is complete, and
• wherein the forces of contraction result in tighter gripping of a respective bead to a respective bead seat to prevent the tire from separating from the rim.

A tire, comprising:

• a toroidal carcass;
• and
• a tread band;
• wherein the toroidal carcass comprises a central crown and two sidewalls,
• wherein each sidewall terminates in an annular bead,
• wherein each annular bead comprises a metallic bead core for anchoring the bead to a corresponding bead seat of a wheel rim,
• wherein at least one bead core comprises one or more annular portions made of a material having characteristics of superelasticity and shape memory,
• wherein the material is deformable at ambient temperature in response to a constant force and recovers to an original shape upon removal of the constant force to facilitate mounting the tire on the rim,
• wherein the rim comprises a central channel from which branches off, axially and outwardly, from opposite sides, diverging surfaces each terminating in a peripheral flange,
• wherein the diverging surfaces form the bead seats for respective annular beads of the tire, and
• wherein the one or more annular portions impart to a respective bead core lengthwise contraction stresses when a predetermined temperature of the one or more annular portions is reached during operation of the tire.