Automobile safety tires

Claim 2

A safety tire and wheel assembly including: an outer wheel rim; a tubeless tire seated about said rim; and substantially closed-cell, foamed, discrete particles of a partially crystalline polymer of an olefin of from 2 to 6 carbon atoms filling the space between said rim and the interior walls of said tire, said discrete particles having a final diameter of from 3 to 40 mm and a bulk density of from 10 to 100 g/1, said tire being under a gas pressure of from 0.1 to 5 atmospheres gage, said discrete particles further having a reduced size when initially placed within the tire and expanding thereafter under said gas pressure in said tire.

Claim 3

An assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein the particles initially placed in said space are shrunken to from 25 to 75% of the volume of the fully foamed particles.

Claim 4

An assembly as set forth in claim 2 wherein said particles have a diameter of from 5 to 20 mm, a bulk density of from 12 to 50 g/1, wherein said particles substantially fill said space, and wherein said tire is under a gas pressure of from 0.5 to 2.5 atmospheres gage.

Claim 5

A safety tire and wheel assembly including: an outer wheel rim; a tubeless tire seated about said rim; and substantially closed-cell, foamed, discrete particles of a partially crystalline polymer of an olefin of from 2 to 6 carbon atoms filling the space between said rim and the interior walls of said tire, said discrete particles having a final diameter of from 3 to 40 mm and a bulk density of from 10 to 100 g/l, said tire being under a gas pressure of from 0.1 to 5 atmospheres gage, and said discrete particles being formed particles initially having less gas pressure in the closed cells than the gas pressure in the atmosphere surrounding said particles and thereby having been shrunken to from 25 to 75% of the volume of the particles when they are fully foamed, and said particles expanding by diffusion of gas into the cells under said 0.5 to 5 atmospheres gauge gas pressure of said tire and having virtually no inter-particulate channels between said particles.

Claim 6

A safety tire and wheel assembly including: an outer wheel rim; a tubeless tire seated about said rim; and substantially closed-cell, foamed, discrete particles of a partially crystalline polymer of an olefin of from 2 to 6 carbon atoms filling the space between said rim and the interior walls of said tire, said discrete particles having a final diameter of from 3 to 40 mm and a bulk density of from 10 to 100 g/l, said tire being under a gas pressure of from 0.1 to 5 atmospheres gage, and said discrete particles being formed particles initially having less gas pressure in the closed cells than the gas pressure in the atmosphere surrounding said particles and thereby having been shrunken to from 25 to 75% of the volume of the particles when they are fully foamed, and said particles expanding by diffusion of gas into the cells under said 0.5 to 5 atmospheres gauge gas pressure of said tire and having virtually no inter-particulate channels between said particles.