Pneumatic tire with high turnup, locked bead construction

摘要

A pneumatic radial ply tire (10) for heavier load conditions having a reduced weight, high durability bead area is disclosed. The pneumatic tire includes a tire bead (14) and a carcass ply (12) folded about the bead to define a main body portion (16) and a turnup portion (18). The turnup portion is folded around the bead and located adjacent the main body portion radially outward of the bead. The turnup portion has a turnup height of approximately 35-45% of the total section height. A thin rubber strip (36) associated with the bead is disposed between the main body portion and the turnup portion and has an insert height of approximately 25% of the total section height. The pneumatic tire may further include a chafer (28) having a maximum chafer gauge of not more than approximately 1.5 times the thickness of the tire side wall.