| abstract |
A pneumatic tyre comprises a bead apex (5) disposed in each bead portion (4), and a carcass ply (6) extending between the bead portions and turned up in each bead portion (4) so as to wrap the bead apex (5) therein, the bead apex (5) being made of a hybrid material which is compounded from rubber, synthetic resin and short fibre at least. Preferably, the short fibre has an average diameter of 0.01 to 0.20 mm and an average length of 1.0 to 10.0 mm, and the proportion of the short fibre is 3 to 15 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of the rubber. The hybrid material has a 100% modulus of at least 10.0 MPa, a tensile strength of at least 10.0 MPa, a breaking elongation EB of at least 200 %, a Mooney viscosity of from 30 to 50 ML1+4, and a scorch time (t10) of at least 20 minutes. Optionally, a reinforcing cord layer (8) embedded in the bead apex (5) or a bead core (20) disposed immediately radially inside the bead apex is used. <IMAGE> |