Tire with high strength corrugated sidewalls

Abstract

A tire having a pair of high strength sidewalls lying opposite one another, wherein each sidewall has a plurality of plies that are shaped during manufacture to have a series of pleats or corrugations formed therein and stretching from the tire beads radially outward along the sidewalls. Each of the series of sidewall corrugations includes a pattern of alternating inwardly extending depressions and outwardly extending projections that extend continuously around the tire. The corrugations provide the sidewalls with an integral structural reinforcement, whereby the tire is advantageously capable of providing run flat support and avoiding damage to the rim on which the tire is mounted. According to a preferred embodiment, the tire herein disclosed is ideally suited for use on a motorcycle rim.

1 .- 9 . (canceled) 
     
     
         10 . A method for making a tire comprising the steps of:
 molding a pair of sidewalls that lie opposite one another by bonding a plurality of fibrous plies together one on top of the other;   molding a crown extending circumferentially around said tire and located radially outward from said pair of sidewalls;   forming a reinforced bead in each of said pair of sidewalls such that said beads extend around said sidewalls opposite said crown; and   shaping the plurality of fibrous plies of each of said pair of sidewalls so that each sidewall has a series of corrugations extending continuously therearound, and each series of corrugations has alternating inwardly extending depressions and outwardly extending projections that extend side-by-side one another between the crown of said tire and the bead of a respective one of said pair of sidewalls.   
     
     
         11 . The method recited in  claim 10 , comprising the additional step of forming each corrugation from each of said series of corrugations so as to encompass respective ones of the beads of said pair of sidewalls and stretch from said beads radially outward along respective ones of said pair of sidewalls. 
     
     
         12 . A tire, comprising:
 a circumferentially extending crown;   a pair of sidewalls spaced from and lying opposite one another and coextensively connected to the crown;   a bead located within each of said pair of sidewalls such that said beads extend around said pair of sidewalls and lie opposite said crown; and   pluralities of corrugations being formed in at least one of said pair of sidewalls and lying adjacent and side-by-side one another, each one of said pluralities of corrugations having first and opposite ends and alternating inwardly extending depressions and outwardly extending projections that run radially along the at least one of said pair of sidewalls,   wherein the bead that is located within and extends around the at least one of said pair of sidewalls lies inwardly of each of the inwardly extending depressions and each of the outwardly extending projections of each one of said pluralities of corrugations and wherein the first end of each one of said pluralities of corrugations encompasses at least some of said bead.   
     
     
         12 . The tire recited in  claim 12 , wherein the alternating inwardly extending depressions and outwardly extending projections of each one of said pluralities of corrugations formed in the at least one of said pair of sidewalls slope in opposite directions relative to one another. 
     
     
         14 . The tire recited in  claim 12 , wherein the alternating inwardly extending depressions and outwardly extending projections of each one of said pluralities of corrugations formed in the at least one of said pair of sidewalls comprise a plurality of fibrous textile plies that are bonded one above the other to provide said tire with high strength run flat support. 
     
     
         15 . The tire recited in  claim 12 , wherein the opposite end of each one of said pluralities of corrugations extends to the crown of said tire, such that each one of said pluralities of corrugations extends continuously from the crown of the tire to the bead that is located within and extends around the at least one of said pair of sidewalls.