Beadless non-pneumatic tire with geodesic ply

1. A non-pneumatic tire and wheel assembly comprising:

a ground contacting annular tread positioned radially outward of a shear band; a reinforcement layer positioned radially inward of the tread, said reinforcement layer being formed of one or more strips oriented in a geodesic path, wherein a radially inner end of the one or more strips is clamped to a wheel rim without the use of a bead, and a radially outer end of the one or more strips is secured between the tread and a shear band.

2. The non-pneumatic tire and wheel assembly of claim 1 wherein the one or more strips are oriented in the radial direction.

3. The non-pneumatic tire and wheel assembly of claim 1 wherein the non-pneumatic tire is mounted on a rim of the wheel, wherein the rim is axially adjustable.

4. The non-pneumatic tire and wheel assembly of claim 1 wherein the reinforcement layer makes an angle α with the radial direction.

5. The non-pneumatic tire and wheel assembly of claim 4 wherein the angle α is in the range of −20 to +20 degrees.

6. The non-pneumatic tire and wheel assembly of claim 1 wherein each strip has one or more parallel reinforcements.

7. The non-pneumatic tire and wheel assembly of claim 1 wherein the first end of the reinforcement layer is secured to a clamp mounted on a rim.

8. The non-pneumatic tire and wheel assembly of claim 1 wherein a second end of the reinforcement layer is positioned radially outward of the shear band.

9. The non-pneumatic tire and wheel assembly of claim 1 wherein the strip is made of an elastomer with one or more parallel reinforcements.

10. A non-pneumatic tire and wheel assembly comprising: a ground contacting annular tread; a shear band; a reinforcement layer formed of a plurality of strips of fabric extending between a first radius and a second radius, wherein a first end of the reinforcement layer is positioned radially outward of the shear band, and a second end of the reinforcement layer is secured to the rim without the use of a bead.

11. The non-pneumatic tire and wheel assembly of claim 10 wherein each strip further includes one or more reinforcements.

12. The non-pneumatic tire and wheel assembly of claim 11 wherein each of said plurality of strips is oriented in a geodesic path.

13. A non-pneumatic tire and wheel assembly comprising:

a ground contacting annular tread;

a shear band; and

a reinforcement layer of fabric positioned radially inward of the tread, said reinforcement layer having a first end which extends radially inward and is secured to a first clamp, said reinforcement layer having a second end which extends radially inward and is secured to a second clamp, wherein the first clamp is connected to a first wall, and the second clamp is connected to a second wall, wherein the axial spacing between said first and second walls is axially adjustable the full width of the axial spacing.

14. The non-pneumatic tire and wheel assembly of claim 13 , wherein the first and second ends of the reinforcement layer are oriented an angle α with respect to the radial direction in the range of −10 to 45 degrees.

15. The non-pneumatic tire and wheel assembly of claim 14 , wherein the angle α is adjustable by adjusting the axial spacing of the first and second walls.