# US 11,993,103 B2 · Pneumatic tire

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- Number: US 11,993,103 B2
- Document ID: US11993103B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/975,018
- Filed: 2022-10-27
- Published: 2023-05-04
- Granted: 2024-05-28
- Earliest claimed: 2021-10-29
- Assignees: Toyo Tire Corporation
- Applicants: Toyo Tire Corporation
- Inventors: Tetsuji Miyazaki
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11993103B2

## CPC

- B60C 11/0304: {Asymmetric patterns}
- B60C 11/1369: {Tie bars for linking block elements and bridging the groove}
- B60C 11/0311: {Patterns comprising tread lugs arranged parallel or oblique to the axis of rotation}
- B60C 11/1392: {with chamfered block edges}
- B60C 2011/0346: {with zigzag shape}
- B60C 2011/0348: {Narrow grooves, i.e. having a width of less than 4 mm}
- B60C 2011/0355: {characterised by depth}
- B60C 2011/0369: {with varying depth of the groove}
- B60C 2011/0374: {Slant grooves, i.e. having an angle of about 5 to 35 degrees to the equatorial plane}
- B60C 2011/1213: {sinusoidal or zigzag at the tread surface}
- B60C 2011/1245: {being arranged in crossing relation, e.g. sipe mesh}
- B60C 2011/1338: {comprising protrusions}
- B60C 2011/1361: {with protrusions extending from the groove bottom}
- B60C: VEHICLE TYRES; TYRE INFLATION; TYRE CHANGING; CONNECTING VALVES TO INFLATABLE ELASTIC BODIES IN GENERAL; DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS RELATED TO TYRES

## Abstract

A tire has a tread including: a first circumferential groove which is closest to a center in a tire width direction among a plurality of circumferential grooves; center land portions placed adjacent to the first circumferential groove at a side near the center in the tire width direction, and a lug groove which extends between a plurality of the center land portions, and which opens to a side near the first circumferential groove. A bridge having a bottom surface which is bulged is formed at a portion of the lug groove near the first circumferential groove. The bridge has a cross-sectional shape of a trapezoid with tapered surfaces in which side surfaces of the lug groove at an end near a center in a longitudinal direction and an end near the first circumferential groove are inclined with heights thereof reduced toward corresponding ends of the bridge.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A pneumatic tire comprising
a tread including: a first circumferential groove which is closest to a center in a tire width direction, among a plurality of circumferential grooves formed along a tire circumferential direction; center land portions placed adjacent to the first circumferential groove at a side near the center in the tire width direction; and a lug groove which extends from a first side in the tire width direction toward a second side between a plurality of the center land portions and which opens to a side near the first circumferential groove, wherein
the lug groove has a first side surface formed by a wall surface of a first center land portion among the center land portions on a first side in the tire circumferential direction and a second side surface formed by a wall surface of a second center land portion among the center land portions on a second side in the tire circumferential direction,
a bridge having a bottom surface which is bulged is formed at a portion of the lug groove on a side near the first circumferential groove,
the bridge has a cross-sectional shape of a trapezoid with a first tapered surface having an end near the center in a longitudinal direction and a second tapered surface having an end near the first circumferential groove,
the first tapered surface has only three edges, with an upper edge contacting an upper surface of the bridge, a first side edge contacting the first side surface of the lug groove, and a second side edge opening to the lug groove, and
the second tapered surface has only three edges, with another upper edge contacting the upper surface of the bridge, a third side edge that contacts the second side surface of the lug groove, and a fourth side edge opening to the first circumferential groove, the third side edge being higher on a side near the lug groove.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The pneumatic tire according to claim 1, wherein the third side edge tapers down towards the fourth side edge.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The pneumatic tire according to claim 2, wherein
in the lug groove, a wide-width portion having a width in the tire circumferential direction that is increased at a side nearer to the first circumferential groove than a side near the center of the lug groove, is formed on an end of the lug groove near the first circumferential groove, and
the second tapered surface being positioned at the wide-width portion.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The pneumatic tire according to claim 3, wherein
the bridge includes an upper surface which is inclined with respect to the tire circumferential direction, and
the upper surface is disposed between the first tapered surface and the second tapered surface.