Patent ID: 7216684

Claim:
A pneumatic tire comprising: a carcass; a tread disposed radially outward of said carcass, said tread including an equatorial plane; a sidewall including a shoulder that intersects said tread; and a belt reinforcing structure positioned radially between said carcass and said tread, the belt reinforcing structure including a plurality of cut belts extending axially into said shoulder, a plurality of overlapping spiral wound belt layers positioned radially between said plurality of cut belts and said tread, and a plurality of spiral wound shoulder layers overlapping at least a portion of said plurality of cut belts in said shoulder, said plurality of spiral wound belt layers and said plurality of spiral wound shoulder layers formed by a continuous cord-reinforced strip having a strip width, each spiral wound belt layer of said plurality of spiral wound belt layers characterized by a first winding pitch of greater than or equal to one strip width per revolution, and said plurality of spiral wound shoulder layers characterized by a second winding pitch of less than one strip width per revolution.