Tire safety support

Claim 1

A segmental, annular tire safety support for use on a rim of a wheel rotatable about an axis and supporting a pneumatic tire mounted thereon in a deflated condition comprising at least two circumferentially spaced segments, each of said segments including a segmental curved member mountable on a wheel rim inside the tire, each said curved member being comprised of generally rigid material and including a rim-engaging portion, an axially extending tire support portion spaced radially outward from said rim-engaging portion for supporting a portion of the tire from the inside thereof when deflated and an intermediate portion joining said rim-engaging portion and said tire support portion, each said tire support portion being radially deflectable when a radial load is applied thereto by engagement with a deflated tire, each of said segments having spaced-apart end portions and a generally cylindrical, radially outer supporting surface of revolution with a substantially constant radius circumferentially of said curved member between said end portions, radially outer end surfaces at said end portions, said safety support further comprising means connecting adjacent end portions of said segments, said means being spaced below the deflection range of said end surfaces, said end surfaces being spaced from said axis a distance less than the length of said radius of said supporting surface, said end surfaces being spaced from said axis in an amount which is great enough to provide relatively flat end surfaces of a size which will distribute the load over the end portions and generate vibration and noise during operation of said tire in the deflated condition, said vibration and noise being sufficient to be communicated to the vehicle operator to indicate the end surfaces have a sufficient size to prevent failure of said intermediate portions by distribution of the load over the end portions.