Patent ID: 7946324

Claim:
A run flat device for fitting to a tubeless wheel assembly for a motor vehicle, the assembly comprising a wheel rim made up of a plurality of blocks and a tire cover having beads mounted against flanges of said rim, said device comprising: an annular support structure for mounting around the wheel rim in order to support said cover after a drop in the inflation pressure inside the wheel assembly, and subdivided into at least two ring sectors forming said annular structure when circumferentially arranged end to end, each ring sector being in the shape of an arc of a circle; and locking means for locking said beads against said flanges in order to connect said annular support structure to said beads; wherein said ring sectors are interconnected in pairs in the circumferential direction by connection means comprising a male member secured to one of the circumferential ends of each sector and removably mounted in a female member that is formed in the facing circumferential end of the adjacent sector in such a manner that the axial offset between said sectors is minimized in the event of a lateral force being applied to said structure, said male member comprising a projection terminated by an anchor tab, said female member being constituted by a slot having a radially lower zone of axial width greater than the axial width of the tab and adapted to have the tab pushed therein, and a radially upper zone of axial width less than that of said tab and adapted to receive said projection axially locked in a position for anchoring said tab, after the sector incorporating said tab has been raised relative to the sector incorporating said slot.