Patent ID: 7025846

Claim:
A self-supporting tyre for vehicle wheels, comprising: a carcass structure having at least one carcass ply provided with end flaps in engagement with respective annular reinforcing structures disposed in coaxial relationship with a rotation axis of the tyre at positions axially spaced apart from each other and each incorporated into a tyre bead, at least one of said beads exhibiting, at a radially internal position thereof, a rest surface that, in a diametrical section plane of the tyre, defines a profile converging towards the rotation axis of the tyre and away from an equatorial plane of the tyre; a belt structure applied to the carcass structure at a radially external position thereof; a tread band applied to the belt structure at a radially external position thereof; at least one pair of sidewalls each extending between one of said beads and a side edge of the tread band, at a position axially external to the carcass structure; at least one pair of elastic-support inserts incorporated into the carcass structure, each at one of said sidewalls; wherein the elastic-support inserts have respective radially internal apices placed close to the beads, and radially external apices close to side edges of the tread band, wherein said at least one carcass ply comprises axially internal strip-like sections and axially external strip-like sections, wherein the axially internal and axially external strip-like sections are circumferentially distributed around said rotation axis and each extends in a “U”-shaped configuration around the cross-section profile of the carcass structure, to define: two side portions mutually spaced apart in an axial direction, and a crown portion extending at a radially external position between the side portions, wherein said elastic-support inserts are each axially interposed between side portions of the axially internal sections and side portions of the axially external sections.