Patent ID: 7469734

Claim:
A safety pneumatic tire comprising a tire assembly having: (A) a tubeless tire comprising an annular tread having a pair of sidewalls respectively extending radially inwardly from opposite ends of the tread, and beads each embedded in a radially inner end of the sidewall; (B) a tube disposed within the tubeless tire; and (C) a reinforcing layer covering at least a top portion of the tube, wherein a space is formed between an outer surface of the tube and an inner surface of a crown portion of the tubeless tire in inflated conditions; wherein the reinforcing layer is disposed so as to extend radially outwardly to come into close contact with an inner surface of the tread of the tubeless tire when an inner pressure of the tire decreases, thereby enabling run-flat running; wherein the reinforcing layer is made of a rubber-fiber composite material comprising a non-woven fabric and a rubber, at least a part of the non-woven fabric being made of an organic fiber having a single fiber diameter of 10 to 35 μm and a tensile modulus of 50 GPa or higher, and the non-woven fabric has a ratio D 1 /D 2 of 2 or more, wherein D 1 is a thickness of the non-woven fabric when measured under a pressure of 10 gf/cm 2 (about 981 Pa), and D 2 is a thickness of the non-woven fabric when measured under a pressure of 200 gf/cm 2 (about 19,613 Pa).