US 12,269,296 B2
Tire
Takashi Hagihara, Kobe (JP); Ryota Ikeda, Kobe (JP); Takuya Fujimoto, Kobe (JP); Daichi Takatsuki, Kobe (JP); Masahiro Tatsuta, Kobe (JP); and Kengo Fukuda, Kobe (JP)
Assigned to SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES, LTD., Hyogo (JP)
Filed by SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES, LTD., Hyogo (JP)
Filed on Dec. 23, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/560,558.
Claims priority of application No. 2020-218185 (JP), filed on Dec. 28, 2020; and application No. 2021-174925 (JP), filed on Oct. 26, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2022/0203773 A1, Jun. 30, 2022
Int. Cl. B60C 11/04 (2006.01); B60C 11/03 (2006.01); B60C 11/12 (2006.01)
CPC B60C 11/1218 (2013.01) [B60C 11/0304 (2013.01); B60C 11/033 (2013.01); B60C 11/1236 (2013.01); B60C 11/1263 (2013.01); B60C 11/1281 (2013.01); B60C 2011/0353 (2013.01); B60C 2011/1209 (2013.01); B60C 2011/1213 (2013.01); B60C 2011/1227 (2013.01); B60C 2011/1254 (2013.01); B60C 2011/129 (2013.01)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A tire for which a mounting direction to a vehicle is specified, comprising: a tread portion having a first tread edge and a second tread edge to be positioned outboard and inboard, respectively, of the vehicle,
wherein
the tread portion is provided with four circumferential grooves extending continuously in the tire circumferential direction so as to axially divide the tread portion into five land portions,
the five land portions are a first shoulder land portion including the first tread edge, a second shoulder land portion including the second tread edge, a first middle land portion adjacent to the first shoulder land portion, a second middle land portion adjacent to the second shoulder land portion, and a crown land portion between the first middle land portion and the second middle land potion,
each of the five land portions is provided with sipes,
under a 50% load state of the tire defined such that the tire mounted on a normal rim and inflated to a normal pressure is contacted with a flat horizontal plane at a camber angle of 0 degree and loaded with 50% of a normal tire load,
axial widths W1s, W1m, Wc, W2m and W2s of ground contacting surfaces of the first shoulder land portion, the first middle land portion, the crown land portion, the second middle land portion, and the second shoulder land portion, respectively, satisfy the following condition:
W1s>W1m>Wc>W2m=>W2s,
the first middle land portion has a first axial edge on the first tread edge side, a second axial edge on the second tread edge side, and the ground contacting surface between the first axial edge and the second axial edge,
the sipes provided in the first middle land portion are first middle sipes,
the first middle sipes include:
an outer first middle sipe extending from the first axial edge and terminated to have a terminal end within the first middle land portion; and
an inner first middle sipe extending from the second axial edge and terminated to have a terminal end within the first middle land portion,
each of the outer first middle sipe and the inner first middle sipe comprises:
a main portion extending in a tire radial direction; and
a widening portion opened at the ground contacting surface and having a width larger than the main portion,
the widening portion has an inclined surface extending from the main portion to the ground contacting surface, and
the width of the inclined surface of the outer first middle sipe at the end on the first axial edge side is smaller than the width of the inclined surface of the inner first middle sipe at the end on the second axial edge side.
 
8. A tire for which a mounting direction to a vehicle is specified, comprising: a tread portion having a first tread edge and a second tread edge to be positioned outboard and inboard, respectively, of the vehicle,
wherein
the tread portion is provided with four circumferential grooves extending continuously in the tire circumferential direction so as to axially divide the tread portion into five land portions,
the five land portions are a first shoulder land portion including the first tread edge, a second shoulder land portion including the second tread edge, a first middle land portion adjacent to the first shoulder land portion, a second middle land portion adjacent to the second shoulder land portion, and a crown land portion between the first middle land portion and the second middle land potion,
each of the five land portions is provided with sipes,
under a 50% load state of the tire defined such that the tire mounted on a normal rim and inflated to a normal pressure is contacted with a flat horizontal plane at a camber angle of 0 degree and loaded with 50% of a normal tire load,
axial widths W1s, W1m, Wc, W2m and W2s of ground contacting surfaces of the first shoulder land portion, the first middle land portion, the crown land portion, the second middle land portion, and the second shoulder land portion, respectively, satisfy the following condition:
W1s>W1m>Wc>W2m=>W2s,
the first shoulder land portion is provided with only a plurality of pairs of two wavy sipes arranged side by side in the tire axial direction along a straight line at a distance of 6 to 12 mm in the tire axial direction, and
the second shoulder land portion is provided with only a plurality of pairs of two wavy sipes arranged side by side in the tire axial direction along a straight line at a distance of 6 to 12 mm in the tire axial direction.