Patent ID: 7249622

Claim:
A radial ply pneumatic tire assembly comprising a cured tire and a cured circumferentially extending ring, the tire comprising: a) an annular tread, the tread having at least one circumferentially extending groove and a pair of lateral tread edges, the axial distance between the lateral tread edges defining the tread width, b) at least one pair of reinforcing belts located radially inwardly of the tread, c) a pair of sidewalls, each sidewall extending radially inwardly from each lateral tread edge, and d) a tire carcass structure comprising a pair of bead cores, each bead core being located radially inwardly from each sidewall, and a carcass reinforcing structure radially inward of the reinforcing belts extending circumferentially about the tire from one of the pair of bead cores to the other one of the pair of bead cores, the carcass reinforcing structure having at least one ply, each ply having a pair of turnup ends; and the ring being manufactured and cured separately from the cured tire and comprising a coated inextensible material, the circumferentially extending ring being placed in the at least one circumferentially extending grooves of the cured tire wherein, in the tire assembly, the ring is radially inward of the at least one pair of reinforcing belts.