Run-flat tire and hub therefor

Claim 1

A vehicle wheel constituted by a pneumatic tire having a run-flat capability and a hub on which said tire is mounted comprising: a carcass; a tread overlying the crown region of said carcass in circumferentially surrounding relation to the latter; first and second sidewalls overlying the lateral portions of said carcass, said first and second sidewalls terminating in first and second beads respectively at their radially inwardmost ends and merging into said tread at their radially outwardmost ends, the axially outwardmost portions of said sidewalls being generally intermediate the radially inwardmost and outwardmost ends thereof and extending axially outwardly of the axially outwardmost portions of said tread, each of said sidewalls having an annular groove formed therein generally intermediate its radially inwardmost and outwardmost ends for folding each of said sidewalls axially outwardly along sharply defined annular lines upon deflation of the tire, said grooves being formed at locations in said sidewalls corresponding to the axially outwardmost portions of said sidewalls when the tire is deflated under load, said grooves dividing said sidewalls along said sharply defined annular line each into a radially inner portion and a radially outer portion that in a predetermined contour are mutually engageable with one another when the tire is deflated under load; stabilizing means interposed between the bead portions of said sidewalls for preventing inadvertent axial displacement of said bead portions of said sidewalls relative to one another and said hub when the tire is deflated under load, said stabilizing means bridging said bead portions of said sidewalls and cooperating therewith to provide for an axially stable unit that serves to minimize axial displacement of said radially outer portions of said sidewalls relative thereto and lateral oscillation of the tire when it is deflated under load and run flat, each of said sidewalls having an annular recess formed therein, said recesses extending axially and radially outward from the bead regions of the tire; a rigid annulus; a first annular flange extending from one side of said annulus; and a second annular flange extending from the second side of said annulus, one surface of each of said first and second flanges being contoured to conform to the first and second beads, respectively, of said tire and to substantially conform to the annular recesses formed in the first and second sidewalls, respectively, of said tire only upon deflation of said tire.