Abstract: A tire having a decreasing profile diameter includes an outside sidewall with a greater height than the inside sidewall. The inner diameters of each sidewall are preferably identical. The outer diameter of the outside sidewall is greater than the outer diameter of the inside sidewall. The cross-section of the width of the tread has a substantially constant thickness from the inside tread diameter to the tread surface of the tire. The depth of the tread is preferably constant across the width of the tread surface.

Abstract: A tire (1), a mounting rim (2) therefor and a circumferentially unstretchable ring (3) for supporting the tread (10) of the tire when running at low or zero pressure. The tire (1) has a radial ply casing (13) on which the points that are furthest apart axially are radially apart close to seats (12B) of outwardly sloping beads (12). The seats (12B) engage sloping seats (23', 23") on the rim (2), which may have at least one mounting well (22), at least one cylindrical portion (21) for receiving the supporting ring (3) and a rim flange (24).

Abstract: A tire (1) a mounting rim (2) therefor, and a prop ring (3) for supporting the tread (10) of the tire when running at low or zero pressure. The tire (1) has a radial ply casing (13) on which the points that are furthest apart axially are radially apart close to seats (12B) of outwardly sloping beads (12). The seats (12B) engage sloping seats (23', 23") on the rim (2), which may have at least one mounting well (22), at least one cylindrical portion (21) for receiving the elongatable and circumferentially unstretchable rubber supporting ring (3) and a rim flange (24).

Abstract: The invention is directed to a pneumatic tire that can be mounted on a rim (wheel) to assure good engagement with the rim while preventing the occurrence of rim offsets. The bead portion 4a (as indicated by a solid line in FIG. 1) on the front side of a tire 1 which is later mounted on the rim has a bead base diameter .phi..sub.1, a toe portion angle .phi..sub.1, a contact angle .alpha..sub.1 , and a heel portion radius R.sub.1, whereas the bead portion 4b (as indicated by a dashed line in FIG. 1) on the back side of the tire which is first mounted on the rim has a bead base diameter .phi..sub.2, a toe portion angle .theta..sub.2, a contact angle .alpha..sub.2 and a heel portion radius R.sub.2. The bead portion 4a on the front side has a different shape than the bead portion 4b on the back side and the following two relationships hold between the two bead portions; the angle of .theta..sub.2 of the toe portion on the back side should be greater than the angle .theta..sub.

Abstract: A pneumatic tire having two different bead diameters has handling, ride and treadwear advantages. The tire is made so that the rho.sub.m of the longer sidewall and the rho.sub.m of the shorter sidewall are equal. The rho.sub.m of the longer sidewall is made equal to the rho.sub.m of the shorter sidewall by establishing a belt profile wherein the amount of drop at a belt edge is specified to give a mold drop of 0.30 to 0.33 of estimated tire deflection, applying an inflated shape prediction formula to calculate the inflated belt profile and varying the value of rho.sub.m until the drop at the end of the belt closely matches a specified value, using the cosine law to specify the change in belt angle with radius, choosing a shoulder point under the belt edge that allows a 0.050 inch wedge between the bottom of the belt and the top of the carcass ply and varying the slope of the ply at the shoulder point until the inflated ply line passes through the Y-max location at rho.sub.m.

Abstract: A method of building an unequal bead diameter tire with conventional components and contour lengths which are substantially equal, the contour lengths being measured along the neutral axis of the carcass plies between the beads and a plane containing the mid-circumferential centerline of the tread. The tire is molded in a special configuration not usually employed in shaping a tire, i.e. the tread is unsymmetrical in relation to a plane which normally bisects the tread, and the lateral edges of the tread are radially offset and not equally spaced from the center axis of the mold which is normally the case when the conventional methods are used for molding and vulcanizing a tire.

Abstract: A tire with conventional components having a pair of annular beads with different diameters, and contour lengths which are substantially equal. The contour lengths are referenced to the sidewalls of the tire and are measured along the neutral axis of the carcass plies between the beads and a plane containing the mid-circumferential centerline of the tread.