Three-dimensional sipes for treads
AssigneeThe Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
InventorsJean Joseph Collette, Philippe Marie Manne, André Domange, Pascale De Briey-Terlinden
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Both a mold blade for forming sipes and the sipe so formed in a tire tread element have three dimensional portions. In the formed sipe, the three dimensional portion creates a constant interlocking of the opposing sipe faces. The blade and the sipe have at least one row of alternating polygonal shaped recesses and protrusions. The recesses and protrusions terminate in a vertex; the vertex has a planar, or two-dimensional, configuration that is parallel to either-the blade centerline or the sipe centerline.
Claims19
A tire tread, the tread having a plurality of ground engaging elastomeric elements, whereby at least one of the elements has a sipe, the sipe having a radial depth, a sipe face, an opposing sipe face, and a centerline located equidistant from the sipe faces, each sipe face has at least two horizontal rows of alternating recesses and protrusions of constant thickness, each recess on one sipe face is aligned with a protrusion on the opposing face, wherein,
- each recess or protrusion has at least four planes extending from the sipe centerline, wherein at the sipe centerline, at least one plane of each recess initiates a plane of an adjacent protrusion, and at least one plane of each protrusion initiates a plane of an adjacent recess and
- each recess or protrusion terminates in a planar vertex spaced from the centerline, the planar vertex being parallel to the sipe centerline.
A mold blade for mounting inside a fire mold to form a sipe in a tire tread, the blade defined by a centerline and having planar portions and at least one three dimensional pardon, wherein the three dimensional portion has at least two horizontal rows of alternating recesses and protrusions, wherein each recess or protrusion has at least four planes extending from the blade centerline, wherein at the blade centerline, at least one plane of each recess initiates a plane of an adjacent protrusion, and at least one plane of each protrusion initiates a plane of an adjacent recess and each recess or protrusion terminates in a planar vertex spaced from the blade centerline and the planar vertex is parallel to the blade centerline.
A tire, the tire comprising a tread, the tread having a plurality of ground engaging elastomeric elements, whereby at least one of the elements has a sipe, the sipe having a radial depth, a sipe face, an opposing sipe face, and a centerline located equidistant from the sipe faces, each sipe face has at least two horizontal rows of alternating recesses and protrusions of constant thickness, each recess on one sipe face is aligned with a protrusion on the opposing face, wherein,
- each recess or protrusion has at least four planes extending from the sipe centerline, wherein at the sipe centerline, at least one plane of each recess initiates a plane of an adjacent protrusion, and at least one plane of each protrusion initiates a plane of an adjacent recess and
- each recess or protrusion terminates in a planar vertex spaced from the centerline, the planar vertex being parallel to the sipe centerline.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.