The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 24, 2004
Filed:
Aug. 03, 2001
Paul M. Neugebauer, Akron, OH (US);
John L. Turner, Akron, OH (US);
Stephen M. Vossberg, Medina, OH (US);
Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire, LLC, Nashville, TN (US);
Abstract
A pneumatic tire includes a tread pattern having circumferential and lateral grooves forming a plurality of circumferentially extending ribs, each rib having a plurality of tread blocks. A plurality of tie bars extend circumferentially across certain of the lateral grooves between adjacent tread blocks in at least two of the ribs which are located equally opposite of a mid-circumferential plane of the tire. The tie bars have a pair of sidewalls and a sloped top surface with the slope of the top surface in one of the ribs being opposite to the slope of the tie bars in the other rib to generate a residual aligning torque (RAT) on the tire.