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US 2008/0105348 A1Published application
Tire including concave recesses in a circumferential tread
AssigneeBridgestone/Firestone North American Tire, LLC
InventorsFrancis J. Byrne, Keith Dumigan
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A tire having an equatorial plane and a circumferential tread is provided. The tread includes at least one recess defined by at least one concave surface having a plurality of sipes formed therein. Optionally, the at least one concave surface can include one or more channel disposed therein.
Claims26
A circumferential tread of a tire having an equatorial plane, the tread comprising:
- a plurality of concave recesses including first and second concave recesses, each of which:
- is defined by a concave surface,
- has a longitudinal axis oriented at an acute angle relative to the equatorial plane of the tire, and
- includes a channel disposed in the concave surface, the channel having a longitudinal axis oriented at an acute angle relative to the longitudinal axes of the first and second concave recesses.
1 more element
A tire having an equatorial plane, the tire comprising:
- a circumferential tread, the tread includes at least one recess defined by at least one concave surface having at least one sipe formed therein.
A tire having an equatorial plane, the tire comprising:
- a circumferential tread having a plurality of shoulder blocks circumferentially-spaced about the tire, wherein an outer edge of one or more shoulder blocks is at least partially defined by a concave surface that includes a plurality of sipes disposed therein.
A vulcanization mold for producing a tire, the mold comprising:
- a mold housing having tread imparting structure configured to form a tread in a green tire;
- the tread imparting structure having at least one recess-forming element configured to form at least one concave recess in the tread of the tire, the at least one recess-forming element having a longitudinal axis, at least one convex surface, and a plurality of sipe-forming elements configured to form a plurality of sipes in the tread of the tire.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.