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AssigneesCompagnie Generale Des Establissements Michelin, Michelin Recherche et Technique S.A.
InventorsStefan Voss, Eric Arthur DeBenedittis
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Tires in use wear in a host of ways. One negative manner in which tires, especially truck tires, may wear is in an irregular fashion. When this phenomenon happens, the tread of the tire may become unusable, forcing the user to replace the tire, which is undesirable. This patent application poses a new and useful way of preventing irregular wear involving the use of hidden sipes or tread blocks. In some embodiments, these hidden sipes or tread blocks are found in tread blocks or ribs adjacent other tread blocks or ribs that have been determined to be susceptible to irregular wear. In other embodiments, the hidden sipes or tread blocks are formed by a sipe blade that has a connecting member to which two y-branched members are attached, and further comprising dividing members that connect between the y-branched members.
A tire that includes circumferential, radial and axial directions and that has a tread with a plurality of tread blocks or ribs with improved resistance to wear problems comprising:
A tire that includes circumferential, radial and axial directions and that has a tread with a plurality of tread ribs wherein at least one rib has a sipe that extends substantially in the circumferential direction of the tire when the tread is unworn, wherein said tire further comprises y-branched sipes that extend from the circumferentially oriented sipe wherein said y-branched sipes are exposed as the tire wears, wherein said tire further comprises dividing sipes that connect from one y-branched sipe to another y-branched sipe, forming hidden tread blocks that are exposed as the tire wears.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.