Patent ID: 7281553

Claim:
A pneumatic radial ply tire having a tread, a carcass structure, a belt structure, two inextensible annular beads, at least one radial ply and sidewalls, a crown reinforcement structure located on the equatorial plane and disposed radially inward from the belt structure and radially outward from the carcass structure, said tire characterized by: the tire being a runflat tire with the carcass structure including sidewall inserts disposed in the sidewalls; the crown reinforcement structure comprising a hoop structure constructed from the group of materials consisting of thermoplastics, ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene and epoxy resin composites filled with reinforcement fibers; the hoop structure having a width that is between 10% and less than 20% of the width of the tread; the hoop structure includes a continuous, thermoplastic hoop embedded in a coating layer of an elastomeric coating material comprising a rubber compound having a Shore A hardness between 45 and 80 that couples the hoop to the belt structure and the carcass structure; and the coating layer having a thickness in the range of 0.5 to 3.0 mm and being disposed between the hoop and adjacent material of the carcass structure and belt structure.