Patent ID: 8613299

Claim:
A pneumatic tire for mounting upon a rim, comprising: a tread portion for contacting a ground surface; a crown portion to support said tread portion, said crown portion positioned radially-inward of said tread portion; a pair of sidewall portions each extending radially inward from an axial edge of said crown portion, each said sidewall portion defining a side of the tire; a pair of beads, each said bead having a circumferentially-inextensible bead core defining a bead core center, each said bead positioned radially-inward of a respective said sidewall portion; a carcass layer constructed from a plurality of radially-oriented carcass layer cords, and extending through said crown portion and between said beads, said carcass layer having a pair of carcass layer ends with each said carcass layer end being anchored in a respective said bead, each carcass layer end extending radially outward from a respective bead core center by a distance h c , this distance h c being less than an amount that would extend the carcass layer end radially past a tire equator, a portion of said carcass layer end following a path in alignment with the carcass layer and said carcass layer being constructed from a plurality of radially-oriented carcass layer cords; at least one crown ply located radially-inward of said tread portion, positioned radially-outward of said carcass layer, and extending between said sidewall portions of the tire; and a pair of reinforcement plies, one located on each said sidewall portions of the tire, each said reinforcement ply extending from a respective said sidewall portion to a position radially-inward of said crown ply by a predetermined distance d from an axial edge of said crown ply, said reinforcement ply being constructed from a plurality of reinforcement ply cords, said reinforcement ply being located radially-outward of the carcass layer; wherein said reinforcement ply cords are oriented parallel to said carcass layer cords and wherein each reinforcement ply overlaps with a carcass layer end in a sidewall portion, said reinforcement ply extending in to a respective side wall portion by a distance f such that each said reinforcement ply terminates at a distance of no more than about 5 to about 30 mm from the equator such that the termination of each of said reinforcement plies is disposed between said respective carcass layer and said respective carcass layer end.