Continental Reifen Deutschland Gmbh

Wilke Eikermann

Florian Kristen

Alexander Wüst

Frank Steinlüke

Frank STEINLÜKE

A pneumatic tire for a vehicle with a tread having at least one profile rib, which is delimited on at least one side thereof by a circumferential groove. The circumferential groove has, when viewed in cross section, a portion running in the radial direction and having a width of up to 3.0 mm and, adjoining it, a radially inner channel region. The radially inner channel region is delimited by two channel walls and a channel base forming the groove base, and has a larger cross-sectional area and is made wider in each case than the portion running in the radial direction. The profile rib is provided over its circumference with sipes, which merge into the circumferential groove, run at an angle of 0° to 50° with respect to the axial direction and have a width of 0.4 mm to 1.2 mm and a maximum depth of 70% to 100% of the profile depth, and have sipe walls. Each sipe is locally widened by at least one channel which is open to the tread periphery and merges into the radially inner channel region of the circumferential groove. The channel is formed by a depression formed in one sipe wall and a depression formed on the other sipe wall, opposite the first depression.

Pneumatic tire for a vehicle

A pneumatic vehicle tire having a tread () which has a profiling and which has at least one circumferential groove () which runs in encircling fashion in the circumferential direction of the pneumatic vehicle tire and is formed to a profile depth PT and which has, in alternating fashion over the entire tire circumference over partial sections () of the circumference of the pneumatic vehicle tire, a first cross section perpendicular to the circumferential direction and a second cross section perpendicular to the circumferential direction. The first cross section is made up of at least two groove portions adjoining one another in a first radial direction Rof the pneumatic vehicle tire, a first groove portion () which is symmetrical to the first radial direction Rand the width Bof which in the axial direction A of the pneumatic vehicle tire is less than 3 mm and varies by no more than 10%, and a radially inner second groove portion () which extends in the axial direction A in relation to the first groove portion () and has the largest cross-sectional area of all of the groove portions. The second cross section is made up of at least two groove portions which adjoin one another in a second radial direction Rof the pneumatic vehicle tire and are symmetrical to the radial direction R, a first groove portion () which widens outward, and an inner second groove portion () which is narrowed in relation to the first groove portion and the width Bof which varies in the axial direction A of the pneumatic vehicle tire by no more than 10% and is less than 40% of the width Bin the axial direction A of the second cross section on the surface of the tread when the pneumatic vehicle tire is new. The second groove portion () of the second cross section extends here in the radial direction Rover at least 50% of the height Hof the second groove portion () of the first cross section in the radial direction R, and over at least 50% of its height Hin the radial direction Ris at a distance from the surface of the tread (), at which the second groove portion () is located in the first cross section.

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Hannover, Germany

Wilke Eikermann