A loading station for forming a fiber mass for micronaire testing. The loading station has a hopper for receiving an unformed fiber mass. A forming chamber receives the unformed fiber mass from the hopper. The forming chamber includes a non-movable back wall and a non-movable bottom plate with ports formed therein. The ports draw an airflow from the hopper into the forming chamber. A selectively movable isolation plate isolates the forming chamber from the hopper, and a selectively movable horizontal forming wall horizontally compacts the fiber mass into a desired horizontal cross-section. A selectively movable vertical forming wall vertically compacts the fiber mass into a desired vertical cross-section. A selectively movable plunger presses axially along the shaped fiber mass.

In a tire 2, load support layers 20 extend, in portions inward of a carcass 10, from portions inward of beads 8, respectively, in the axial direction to portions inward of a tread in the radial direction. When a reference point P represents a point, on an outer surface of the tire 2, which is distant from a bead base line by 25 mm in the radial direction, a distance D1, at the reference point P, from the outer surface of the tire 2 to an outer side surface of a main portion 36 of a carcass ply 34 is greater than or equal to 3 mm and not greater than 10 mm.

A pneumatic tire mountable on a 15° tapered specified rim includes a bead core, a carcass, a steel cord reinforcing layer, a bead rubber layer, and a first reinforcing rubber layer. A distance from a second line segment to a third line segment is from 4 mm to 12 mm, a complex modulus of the first reinforcing rubber layer is from 6 MPa to 10 MPa, an elongation at break of the first reinforcing rubber layer is from 300% to 450%, a complex modulus of the second reinforcing rubber layer is from 10 MPa to 15 MPa, and a complex modulus of a shock absorbing rubber layer is from 2 MPa to 6 MPa.

A run-flat tire includes reinforcing rubber in a sidewall, first bead filler rubber disposed toward the inside of a folded back portion of a carcass layer in a lateral direction, and second bead filler rubber disposed toward the outside of the folded back portion in the lateral direction. The reinforcing rubber has a thickness from a rim base line to a position within 38% to 68% of a tire cross-sectional height being from 90% to 100% of a maximum thickness of the reinforcing rubber. In a range from a position of a rim check line to a position being 38% of the tire cross-sectional height from the rim base line, a total thickness of the reinforcing rubber, the first bead filler rubber, and the second bead filler rubber is from 100% to 140% of the maximum thickness of the reinforcing rubber.

A loading station for forming a fiber mass for micronaire testing. The loading station has a hopper for receiving an unformed fiber mass. A forming chamber receives the unformed fiber mass from the hopper. The forming chamber includes a non-movable back wall and a non-movable bottom plate with ports formed therein. The ports draw an airflow from the hopper into the forming chamber. A selectively movable isolation plate isolates the forming chamber from the hopper, and a selectively movable horizontal forming wall horizontally compacts the fiber mass into a desired horizontal cross-section. A selectively movable vertical forming wall vertically compacts the fiber mass into a desired vertical cross-section. A selectively movable plunger presses axially along the shaped fiber mass.

A run-flat tire having a tread, an inner liner disposed beneath the tread, a body ply, and a pair of sidewalls axially spaced apart from one another is disclosed. The run-flat tire further includes a pair of sidewall-reinforcing portions each disposed in respective sidewall regions and each having a fabric barrier; a first sidewall-reinforcing insert between the fabric barrier and the inner liner; and a second sidewall-reinforcing insert disposed between the fabric barrier and the body ply. The fabric barrier extends not more than an entire length of the sidewall-reinforcing portion.

A run-flat tire includes reinforcing rubber in a sidewall, first bead filler rubber disposed toward the inside of a folded back portion of a carcass layer in a lateral direction, and second bead filler rubber disposed toward the outside of the folded back portion in the lateral direction. The reinforcing rubber has a thickness from a rim base line to a position within 38% to 68% of a tire cross-sectional height being from 90% to 100% of a maximum thickness of the reinforcing rubber. In a range from a position of a rim check line to a position being 38% of the tire cross-sectional height from the rim base line, a total thickness of the reinforcing rubber, the first bead filler rubber, and the second bead filler rubber is from 100% to 140% of the maximum thickness of the reinforcing rubber.

Tyre suitable for running flat comprising a crown, two sidewalls and two beads, a carcass reinforcement anchored in each bead and a sidewall insert placed in each of the two sidewalls axially internally relative to the carcass reinforcement, such that it is equipped with an electronic device comprising at least one radiofrequency transponder and such that the electronic device is embedded in one of the sidewall inserts.

In a side reinforcing type tire 2, when a cross-sectional height of the tire 2 is denoted by L, a height in a radial direction from a bead base line to an outer edge of a core 34 is denoted by HC, a point on a turned-up portion 42 of a carcass ply 38 at which point a height in the radial direction from the bead base line is 0.35 times of the height L is denoted by P1, and a point on the turned-up portion 42 at which point the height in the radial direction from the bead base line is equal to the height HC is denoted by P2, the turned-up portion 42 has, between the point P1 and the point P2, a shape that is a curved line projecting inward in an axial direction, a straight line, or a combination thereof.

A tire having a pair of high strength sidewalls lying opposite one another, wherein each sidewall has a plurality of plies that are shaped during manufacture to have a series of pleats or corrugations formed therein and stretching from the tire beads radially outward along the sidewalls. Each of the series of sidewall corrugations includes a pattern of alternating inwardly extending depressions and outwardly extending projections that extend continuously around the tire. The corrugations provide the sidewalls with an integral structural reinforcement, whereby the tire is advantageously capable of providing run flat support and avoiding damage to the rim on which the tire is mounted. According to a preferred embodiment, the tire herein disclosed is ideally suited for use on a motorcycle rim.