Patent Application
20110284141
The present disclosure relates to sipes in a vehicle tire.
The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Vehicle tires are often provided with fine grooves or sipes. Sipes improve tire traction on wet surfaces.
A vehicle tire includes tread blocks positioned on the tire. One or more rotating sipes are formed in each of the tread blocks. Each rotating sipe comprises first and second walls that are substantially parallel wherein the first wall includes three points that lie in an imaginary plane and a fourth point that lies outside of the imaginary plane.
In other features the four points are located at respective corners of the rotating sipe. An angle defined by the imaginary plane, the fourth point, and one of the three points is between 5 and 30 degrees, inclusive. The tread blocks can be polygons. Each rotating sipe can include a channel having a width that is greater than a width of the rotating sipe. The channel is positioned at a periphery of the sipe. The sipes are arranged in a directional pattern.
Further areas of applicability of the present disclosure will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the disclosure, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.
The present disclosure will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the disclosure, its application, or uses. For purposes of clarity, the same reference numbers will be used in the drawings to identify similar elements.
Referring now to
Rotating sipe 14 is formed by a first wall 20-1 and second wall 20-2, collectively referred to as walls 20. A void 22 is bounded by walls 20 which are substantially parallel with each other. Walls 20 are not completely planar. Instead, walls 20 have a rotating or twisted shape. The shape of walls 20 can be defined by three points A, B, and C that lie in a common imaginary plane ABC. A fourth point Z is spaced away from the imaginary plane ABC. In some embodiments an angle θ between imaginary plane ABC and a line segment AZ is between 5 and 30 degrees, inclusive.
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Those skilled in the art can now appreciate from the foregoing description that the broad teachings of the disclosure can be implemented in a variety of forms. Therefore, while this disclosure includes particular examples, the true scope of the disclosure should not be so limited since other modifications will become apparent to the skilled practitioner upon a study of the drawings, the specification, and the following claims.
