Bi-directional interlocking sipe and slot combination
AssigneeBridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC
InventorsAdam D. Singer, David M. Severyn
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In one aspect, a tire is provided, the tire comprising: a tread portion comprising at least one of a tread rib or a tread block, a sipe included in the tread rib or the tread block, the sipe including: a radially outer portion, an interlocking portion radially inward of and directly connected to the radially outer portion, and a base portion radially inward of and directly connected to the interlocking portion, wherein the interlocking portion includes a plurality of positive interlocking portions and negative interlocking portions forming a sinusoidal wave profile in a plane formed by a circumferential axis C of the tire and an axial axis A of the tire.
Claims18
A tire comprising:
- a tread portion comprising at least one of a tread rib or a tread block,
- a sipe included in the tread rib or the tread block, the sipe including:
- a radially outer portion,
- an interlocking portion radially inward of and directly connected to the radially outer portion, and
- a base portion radially inward of and directly connected to the interlocking portion,
- wherein the base portion tapers radially inwardly from a width BW1 to a width BW2, wherein width BW1 is greater than width BW2, and wherein the base portion tapers with straight sides between width BW1 and width BW2,
- a centerline CL extending through a circumferential center of the radially outer portion and the base portion, wherein
- the interlocking portion includes a plurality of positive interlocking portions and negative interlocking portions forming a sinusoidal wave profile in a plane formed only in a circumferential axis C of the tire and an axial axis A of the tire, and wherein,
- the radially outer portion and the base portion are circumferentially aligned with one another in a plane formed in the circumferential axis C of the tire and the axial axis A such that the centerline CL is parallel to a radial axis R of the tire.
A tire comprising:
- a tread portion comprising at least one of a tread rib or a tread block,
- a sipe included in the tread rib or the tread block, the sipe including:
- a radially outer portion,
- an interlocking portion radially inward of and directly connected to the radially outer portion, and
- a base portion radially inward of and directly connected to the interlocking portion,
- wherein the base portion tapers radially inwardly from a width BW1 to a width BW2, wherein width BW1 is greater than width BW2 and wherein the base portion tapers with straight sides between width BW1 and width BW2,
- a centerline CL extending through a circumferential center of the radially outer portion and the base portion,
- wherein the interlocking portion includes a plurality of positive interlocking portions and negative interlocking portions forming a zig-zag shape in a plane formed by a circumferential axis C of the tire and a radial axis R of the tire, and wherein,
- the radially outer portion and the base portion are circumferentially aligned with one another in a plane formed in the circumferential axis C of the tire and an axial axis A such that the centerline CL is parallel to the radial axis R of the tire.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.