Pneumatic driver tire for tracked vehicle
AssigneeThe Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
InventorMark Leonard Bonko
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A pneumatic driver tire (10) for tracked vehicles (1) has a carcass reinforcing structure (30) having two or more bias angled plies (32, 34), the cords of the first ply (32) being oppositely oriented relative to the cords of the second ply (34). The tire (10) has no integral belts on breakers and preferably has an aspect ratio of about 100 %. The tire (10) has a tread (12) with voids (70) that extend across the entire tread (12) creating soil discharge channels (70). Preferably the tire tread (12) has a central area (66) exhibiting a high net contact area and axially outer areas (60, 62) having lower net contact areas. The tread lugs (40) also have a radiused portion (48) designed to limit the tires sidewalls (16) from contacting the track.
Claims7
A pneumatic drive tire (10) for a tracked vehicle (1) having a pair of annular beads (24), a carcass reinforcing structure (34) extending radially outwardly from bead (24) to bead (24), an elastomeric sidewall (16) extending radially outwardly from each bead (22) adjacent the carcass reinforcing structure (30) to a radially outer tread (12), the tread (12) being characterized by,
- an inner tread (14);
- a plurality of lugs (40) extending radially outwardly from the inner tread surface (14) a distance (h), the lugs (40) being divided into a first row and a second row, the first row extending from the sidewall (16) toward the center plane of the tread (12), the second row extending from the opposite sidewall (16) toward the center plane of the tread (12), the lugs (40) of the first row being circumferentially offset and similar in shape but oppositely oriented relative to the lugs (40) of the second row, each lug (40) having an enlarged axially inner end (46);
- a shallow circumferentially continuous center rib (50) extending radially outwardly from the inner tread surface (14) a distance of less than half (h);
- and
- wherein the combination of lugs (40), inner tread surface (14) and a shallow central continuous rib (5) are spaced to create voids of continuous soil discharge channels (70) extending across the tread (12) from sidewall (16) to opposite sidewall (16).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.