The Goodyear & Tire Rubber Company

Thomas Wood Whitney

Ramendra Nath Majumdar

John Joseph Diggins

Neill Rampton

Carolyn Marie Manning

A pneumatic tire includes a tread, two circumferentially extending annular bead regions, a carcass structure, and an overlay ply. The tread is rotatable about an axis and contacts a road surface. The tread further has an equatorial plane intersecting the axis at 90&#xb0;. The carcass structure extends between the tread and the bead regions. The carcass structure supports the tread about the axis. The carcass structure includes two or more carcass plies having reinforcing cords oriented to cross at opposite angles of 20&#xb0; to 65&#xb0; with respect to the equatorial plane. The overlay ply extends circumferentially and extends radially between the carcass structure and the tread. The overlay ply includes cords oriented between &#x2212;5&#xb0; and +5&#xb0; relative to the equatorial plane.

Motorcycle tire having a hybrid construction

Tire

Tire tread

A pneumatic tire has a crown-reinforcing insert which extends from under the tread substantially, such as at least one-third of the sidewall height, into the sidewall of the tire. Apexes extend from the beads substantially, such as at least one-third of the sidewall height, into the sidewall of the tire, thereby effecting a substantial, such as at least one-third of the sidewall height, 'overlap' between end portions of the crown-reinforcing insert and the apexes. Additionally, at least one belt extends from under the tread substantially into the sidewall, and the turn-ups of at least some of the plies extend quite high, such as at least one-third of the sidewall height, into the sidewall. This combination of features yields superior runflat performance.

Runflat tire having crown-reinforcing insert extending into the sidewalls

Growing community of inventors

Grand Isle, NY, United States of America

Thomas Wood Whitney