A tyre includes a tread portion including a land portion having a ground contact surface and at least one sidewall. The land portion is provided with a radial channel extending from a radially outer end opened at the ground contact surface to a radially inner end, an internal lateral channel extending under the ground contact surface within the land portion and having one end opened at the at least one sidewall and communicating with the radially inner end of the radial channel, and a sipe opened at the ground contact surface and communicating with the radial channel and the internal lateral channel. The radially outer end of the radial channel has an axial opening width in a range of from 5% to 20% of an axial width of the land portion.

The tread has a total width W and two main grooves. The main grooves divide the tread into a middle region and edge regions. The middle region has an axial width Lm that is 45% to 70% of the total width W. The volume void ratio of the tread when new is less than 17%. An internal surface extends parallel to the tread surface when new and is in contact radially with the innermost points of the deepest main grooves. The middle part has a plurality of transverse sipes, each of which has a depth at least equal to the depth of the main grooves. The transverse sipes open into the main grooves. The middle region has a volume void ratio when new that is less than half the total volume void ratio of the tread, and at least one circumferential channel appears when the tread becomes part worn.

A first tire includes a tread having a circumferential center rib and a circumferential intermediate rib laterally adjacent the center rib, the intermediate rib being separated from the center rib by a first circumferential groove, a second circumferential rib bordering the intermediate rib opposite the first circumferential groove, the tread further including two other circumferential grooves; at least one stiffener element disposed within each of the four circumferential grooves, the stiffener elements having a reduced height relative to a height of the center and intermediate ribs; and the stiffener element having a circumferentially oriented cut extending into an upper surface of the stiffener element toward a bottom of the stiffener element, the cut extending circumferentially through the stiffener element with the cut bounded by opposite laterally inward facing cut sides.

A tire tread (10) having one or more grooves (20.sub.1, 2O.sub.2), one or more split bridges (24) arranged in each groove (20.sub.1, 2O.sub.2), wherein the one or more split bridges (24) having a narrow gap (26) arranged along the width of the corresponding split bridge (24) and extending fully across the length and height of the corresponding split bridge (24), a top side of the one or more split bridges (24) is arranged closest to an outer side (16) of the tread (10), at least a portion of the top side is spaced apart from the outer side (16) of the tread (10) in a direction of a depth of the groove (20.sub.1, 2O.sub.2) by a variable distance, and a bottom side of the one or more split bridges (24) is spaced apart from a bottom of the groove (20.sub.1, 2O.sub.2) to form a void between the corresponding split bridge (24) and the bottom of the groove (20.sub.1, 20.sub.2).

The present invention concerns tire treads having projecting features comprising wear indicators, stone ejectors, and/or noise suppressors arranged within voids submerged below the top, outer side of a tread. Particular embodiments of the invention provide a tire tread having a submerged void extending into to the tread thickness from the bottom side of the tread to a terminal location spaced below the tread top side, the top side forming a ground-engaging side of the tread. Such embodiments further include a plurality of projecting features arranged within the submerged void below the terminal location of the submerged void, the plurality of projecting features being further arranged in a spaced arrangement along a length of the submerged void, each of the plurality of projecting features extending partially across a width of the submerged void, which may comprise a groove, for example. The invention includes methods of forming the tread and a treaded tire.

A tire comprises a tread portion provided with at least one main groove extending continuously in the tire circumferential direction to axially divide the tread portion into land portions. The land portion is provided with axial grooves extending thereacross in the tire axial direction, and each comprising a radially outer portion and a radially inner portion which is wider than the radially outer portion. The radially outer portion of each of the axial grooves is crossed by one ore more sipes.

A tread for a tire includes a first circumferential main groove, a second circumferential main groove, a third circumferential main groove, and a fourth circumferential main groove. The fourth main groove has a stabilizing structure for increasing tread stiffness. The stabilizing structure has a circumferentially extending wavy subgroove in a radially innermost bottom of the fourth circumferential main groove.

A pneumatic tire includes, on a tread surface, a plurality of circumferential main grooves extending in the tread circumferential direction, and a plurality of land portions each defined between circumferential main grooves adjacent in the tread width direction among the plurality of circumferential main grooves, or by a circumferential main groove and a tread edge. A widthwise groove (widthwise sipe) (circumferential sipe) includes a widened portion, on the groove bottom side (sipe bottom side), at which the groove width (sipe width) is larger than on the tread surface side. The storage modulus of tread rubber located in a tire radial direction region including at least a reference depth position is larger than a storage modulus of tread rubber located in regions inward and outward in the tire radial direction from the tire radial direction region.

A pneumatic tire (10) according to the present invention includes blocks (100) arranged adjacent to each other in a tread surface view, each of the blocks (100) having a wheel tread contacted with a road surface. A circumferential edge (100f) of the block (100) is defined against an adjacent block (100B) adjacent to the block (100A) by a sipe (200). An inner side groove (400) is formed at an inner side in a tire radial direction of the sipe (200). At least a part of the inner side groove (400) is communicated with the sipe (200). The circumferential edge (100f) of the block (100A) is defined against the adjacent block (100B) by the inner side groove (400).

A tread for a heavy vehicle tire of total thickness PMU this tread when new having a tread surface is provided and disclosed herein. The tread includes at least one cut opening in the initial condition onto the tread surface, this cut being such that it includes an external part having the form of a groove in the main direction, this groove having a mean depth Pe less than 80% of the thickness PMU, an internal part forming the bottom of the cut, this internal part having the shape of a channel of mean width Le and mean height He, this channel being intended to form a new continuous groove when the part wear of the tread reaches at most 80% of the thickness PMU.