Patent ID: 8109308

Claim:
A non-pneumatic tire for supporting an applied load comprising: a generally annular inner ring having an axis of rotation; a deformable generally annular outer ring; and a flexible interconnected web extending between said inner and said outer ring, the interconnected web comprising at least two radially adjacent layers of web elements at every radial cross-section of said tire, the web elements defining a plurality of generally polygonal openings that extend along the axis of rotation, the web elements comprising at least one radial web element that is angled relative to a plane that extends radially through the axis of rotation and at least one tangential web element that is generally traverse to the radial plane, and a substantial amount of said applied load is supported by the plurality of said web elements working in tension, wherein, when the applied load is applied, a plurality of the radial web elements in a region above the axis of rotation are subjected to a tensile force while at least some of the radial web elements in a region between the applied load and a footprint region buckle and a plurality of the tangential web elements distribute the applied load through the flexible interconnected web.