Pneumatic tire bead area construction for improved chafer cracking resistance during run-flat operation
First Claim
1. A pneumatic tire having one or more carcass plies extending between two inextensible beads adapted for mounting on a wheel rim that has a rim flange on each axial side of the tire, and each bead being surrounded by a bead area including a chafer that comprises the portion of the bead area that is in contact with the rim flange, the tire characterized by:
- a chafer reinforcement fabric component positioned at a surface where the chafer contacts the wheel rim flange.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A pneumatic tire bead area construction for improved chafer cracking resistance during run-flat (uninflated) tire operation comprises a chafer reinforcement fabric component that is positioned at the surface of the chafer wherever it may contact the wheel rim flange during normal tire operation, and especially during uninflated tire operation. The fabric component may be anchored by extending it around the bead. The fabric component may replace the toeguard, thereby further reinforcing and protecting the bead area by extending the chafer reinforcement fabric component along the surfaces of the bead area wherever surfaces of the tire can contact the wheel rim and rim flange during mounting of the tire and during operation of the tire.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A pneumatic tire having one or more carcass plies extending between two inextensible beads adapted for mounting on a wheel rim that has a rim flange on each axial side of the tire, and each bead being surrounded by a bead area including a chafer that comprises the portion of the bead area that is in contact with the rim flange, the tire characterized by:
a chafer reinforcement fabric component positioned at a surface where the chafer contacts the wheel rim flange. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
11. A chafer reinforcement for a pneumatic tire having one or more carcass plies extending between two inextensible beads adapted for mounting on a wheel rim that has a rim flange on each axial side of the tire, and each bead being surrounded by a bead area including a chafer that comprises the portion of the bead area that is in contact with the rim flange, the chafer reinforcement characterized by:
a chafer reinforcement fabric component positioned at a surface where the chafer contacts the wheel rim flange. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
19. A method of constructing a pneumatic tire having one or more carcass plies extending between two inextensible beads adapted for mounting on a wheel rim that has a rim flange on each axial side of the tire, and each bead being surrounded by a bead area including a chafer that comprises the portion of the bead area that is in contact with the rim flange, the method comprising the steps of:
-
constructing a chafer reinforcement fabric component from fibers;
positioning the chafer reinforcement fabric component at the surface of the chafer where the chafer contacts the wheel rim flange; and
orienting the fibers at an angle of approximately 30 degrees to approximately 60 degrees to the radial direction. - View Dependent Claims (20)
-
Specification