Patent ID: 6929046

Claim:
A pneumatic tire having a tread, a belt structure and a carcass structure comprising a pair of sidewalls, a pair of bead regions and one or more plies anchored in the bead regions, the tire being characterized by: a plurality of cavities extending along a radially innermost bead surface of each of the pair of bead regions in contact with a wheel rim during normal inflated operation; such that: the plurality of cavities are circumferentially spaced on the bead surface around the circumference of the bead regions; each one of the plurality of cavities is circular in its area of contact with a bead seat of the wheel rim; and each of the cavities is surrounded by elastomeric material that provides an air-tight seal to prevent air from leaking back into the void spaces defined by the cavities and the wheel rim once the tire has been mounted on the wheel.