Patent ID: 7506675

Claim:
A safety pneumatic tire which is self-supporting under zero inflation pressure, comprising: a pair of left and right bead cores; a carcass structure extending between the bead cores and wrapping about each bead core; a tread layer disposed at an outermost position of the tire ending in left and right shoulders; a belt package disposed at an outer side of said carcass structure and extending under said tread layer from shoulder to shoulder; a pair of sidewall portions disposed at the left and right of said tread portion extending from tread shoulder to bead core; and a pair of left and right composite sheets disposed underneath said carcass structure extending from bead core to belt end and terminating before reaching the tire equatorial plane, each said composite sheet comprising a matrix of high modulus solid objects extending substantially the entire length and width of the composite sheet and embedded in a low modulus material, said high modulus solid objects being assembled into a plurality of chains, said plurality of chains being disposed substantially parallel to each other and substantially in the radial direction of the tire, each chain having at least one cord passing through each object of the chain, wherein said pair of composite sheets support the tire when the tire operates under zero inflation pressure such that the maximum reduction of the tire's section height is less than 80% of the tire's section height at normal inflation pressure without load.