Safety tire and wheel rim assembly

Claim 1

A safety tire and wheel rim assembly comprising: a pneumatic tire having a tread, sidewalls and beads, a wheel rim having a pair of bead seats and between the bead seats a substantially uniform diameter, a safety support member to act as a load carrying member in the event of tire deflation, the safety support member comprising a plurality of arcuate segments of rigid material coupled together by means of coupling portions at their ends, a bearing ring of rigid material having a smaller diameter at its mid portion, said mid portion being flat and substantially axially extending with substantially radially extending edges so as to define a channel shape in cross section, providing a bearing in which the support member is rotatably mounted, the bearing ring being divided about a radial plane within the smaller diameter bearing surface of the channel section to facilitate assembly thereof about a support member; locating means contacting both tire beads to locate the bearing ring axially of the assembly and retain the tire beads in position, said locating means comprising a pair of spacer rings of resilient material, one on either side of the bearing ring, said spacer rings frictionally engaging the tire beads and the bearing ring.