Radial tires provided with a stiffening structure in the sidewalls

Claim 1

A pneumatic tire for vehicle wheels comprising a radial carcass provided with beads for assembly with a corresponding rim, a tread, and an annular reinforcing structure inserted between the carcass and tread, said annular reinforcing structure being substantially inextensible and having a width which is at least as wide as the tread, said carcass comprising at least one ply of textile or metallic cords lying in substantially radial planes and extending from one bead to another, and turned-up from the inside towards the outside of the tire, around a bead-core contained in each bead, said tire being characterized in that it comprises in each sidewall, a mixed textile-metallic reinforcement member comprising a strip of textile cords doubled over to provide two skirts having different widths, the cords of said skirts being inclined with respect to the radial direction of the carcass cord, and by a strip of metallic cords inclined with respect to said radial direction and narrower then the longer skirt inserted between said skirts to the folded-edge of said strips, said larger skirt being disposed axially outside of said carcass ply and its turned over portion and radially extended from the bead zone to the tire' s shoulder, the smaller skirt extending radially towards the inside from said shoulder to a point disposed in the sidewall, to a height between 66% and 20% of the tire's section height, said metallic cord strip extending from the folded edge of said textile strip to a point situated at a height between 50% and 20% of the section height of the tire.