Bi-directional interlocking sipe and slot combination

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.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.