Resilient tires and wheels – Tires – resilient – Anti-skid devices
Patent
1998-09-04
2000-08-22
Maki, Steven D.
Resilient tires and wheels
Tires, resilient
Anti-skid devices
15220922, 15220926, 15220927, 152902, B60C 1111, B60C 1113, B60C10100, B60C10102, B60C12100
Patent
active
06105643&
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a radial pneumatic light truck or automobile tire. More particularly the tire has a tread designed for both on or off road applications.
BACKGROUND ART
With the continuing rise in popularity of light trucks, vans and four-wheel drive sport utility vehicles there exists a need to provide tires at have the ability to be driven on paved roads without excessive noise yet also to be capable of being driven in heavy snow or off paved roads in soft sand or muddy soil. Often these tires will be driven in flooded or wet roadway conditions. As an added condition, these multipurpose traction demands for the tire must be coupled with excellent tread wear.
Historically, tires have been able to meet one or two of the above-referenced design requirements but usually at the sacrifice of the other design features.
Snow tires and off road tires could achieve good traction usually by opening the thread pattern and providing large block type tread elements. These tires generally were very noisy and had poor tread wear when driven at highway speeds on paved roads. The Wrangler MT disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,823,855 is an example of the aggressive style tread pattern need for aggressive off road applications.
A latter developed asymmetric nondirectional tire was developed for the light truck and sport utility vehicles called the Wrangler GSA. This tire employed a unique triple traction feature that provides excellent uniform wear across the tread pattern regardless of the wheel position. The tire has good noise, and more than adequate traction in a variety of conditions such as snow, off road and on read wet or dry. The tread pattern disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,215 was one of the first truly multipurpose tires for these types of vehicles. The Wrangler GSA tire has been commercially very successful.
From that tire, a superior wet traction tire was developed employing two wide aquachannels in combination with the triple traction feature. The tire has been entitled the Wrangler Aquatred and it is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,658,404. This tire demonstrated that deep water traction could be enhanced without sacrificing the wear and other performance features of the original Wrangler GSA tire.
The Wrangler Aquatred demonstrated that while the all around performance of these light truck and sport utility vehicle tires must be very good, some drivers still have special needs or concerns requiring the more specialized type tire performance in one or more feature.
There has been a continual trade-off in attempting to increase the aggressive off road and snow tractive performance of the these tires while maintaining the tread wear durability and noise constraints.
The invention disclosed in this patent application teaches a novel tread that is both quiet and long wearing while also achieving excellent off road traction.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
SUMMARY
An on/off road radial pneumatic light truck or automobile tire 10 has a tread 40, the tread when incorporated in the tire 10 has an axis of rotation R, a first and a second lateral edge 44,46, a tread width (TW) defined as the distance between the lateral edges 44,46. The tread 40 has a tread base 43, a plurality of laterally extending zig-zag grooves 57,58, a plurality of traction elements 42, and a plurality of circumferentially continuous grooves 53,54,55,56. At least one of the circumferentially continuous grooves is a wide groove 54,55 having an average width D,E of at least 7% of the tread width (TW) preferably about 10%. The plurality of laterally extending zig-zag grooves 57,58 intersect the circumferential grooves 53,54,55,56. The traction elements 42 extend radially outwardly from the tread base 43 to an outer surface 52 of the traction element and are oriented in circumferential rows 1,2,3,4,5,6. At least two axially adjacent rows (2,3 or 4,5) of traction elements 42 are separated by one wide groove 54,55.
The tread 40 has a plurality of protrusions 20 extending from traction elements 42 into the wide groove 54 or 55.
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Copy of European Search Report.
Brown Stephanie Carol
Kolowski Michael Alois
Miller Frederick William
Rohweder Efimia Ellen
King David L
Maki Steven D.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
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