Compagnie Generale Des Etablissements Michelin

Michelin Recherche Et Technique S.a.

Terence Wallace

Fang Zhu

Stefan Voss

Kai Chun Yang

Clarence Vernon Hair, Jr

Lee A Montgomery

Charles Andrew McPillan

Virgile Ayglon

Paul Crehan

Charles Mcpillan

Clarence Hair

The invention provides for a heavy truck tire tread () having a longitudinal direction, a lateral direction and a thickness direction, said tread having a ground-engaging contact surface (CS) and having a main longitudinal center groove (), two main longitudinal shoulder grooves () and two main longitudinal intermediate grooves (), said five main longitudinal grooves defining six main longitudinal ribs (), said five main longitudinal grooves comprising one hidden groove, two open grooves and two partially hidden grooves; wherein each of said two partially hidden grooves comprises openings () to the ground-engaging contact surface and undersurface channels () connecting adjacent openings, longitudinal sipes () extending substantially along the longitudinal direction and connecting successive openings to the respective channel; and wherein said hidden groove () comprises an undersurface duct (), a longitudinal sipe () extending substantially along the longitudinal direction and connecting said undersurface duct to the ground-engaging contact surface, said hidden groove being the main longitudinal center groove of the tread.

Truck tire tread and truck tire

A heavy truck tire tread is provided that has at least four longitudinal grooves, at least four longitudinal grooves comprising two open grooves and at least two partially hidden grooves. The longitudinal grooves defining two shoulder ribs, two intermediate ribs and at least one center rib, wherein the shape, size and position of the grooves are for any section of tread of any given section length L between 12 to 40 mm, the percentage difference in rubber mass of a rib section compared to a respective neighboring rib section of the same section length L in the same rib is less than a maximum percentage difference, wherein

Tire tread

Growing community of inventors

Fountain Inn, SC, United States of America

Terence Wallace