A molding element having a molding surface forming a contact face and a groove forming rib portion forming the groove comprising two opposed rib side faces and a rib top face connecting two rib side faces. The groove forming rib portion provides at least one space opening to at least one of the rib side faces and/or to the rib top face. An insert is received in the space. The insert comprises a cavity for forming a closing device in the groove. The cavity has two opposed cavity faces and opens to at least two faces of the insert corresponding to the faces of the groove forming rib portion. The insert comprises at least one cutting means extending and/or projecting in a direction the groove forming rib portion extends for cutting a material filled in the cavity during demolding.

A pneumatic tire includes a lateral groove that includes a groove bottom surface extending in a direction crossing a tire circumferential direction, and a protrusion provided on the groove bottom surface and extending in an extension direction of the groove bottom surface. The protrusion includes a main body, and an end portion provided on at least one side in a longitudinal direction of the main body and shaped such that a height of the protrusion from the groove bottom surface decreases from an inside to an outside in the longitudinal direction of the main body. The end portion includes an upper surface that forms a circular arc recessed inward in a tire radial direction in a cross section crossing a width direction of the protrusion.

A pneumatic tire according to an embodiment includes a main groove extending in a tire circumferential direction on a tread, and a plurality of protrusions protruding from a bottom of the main groove and connected to walls on both sides in a tire axial direction of the main groove. Each of the protrusions is provided with a narrow groove extending in an extending direction of the main groove and dividing the protrusion into both sides in the tire axial direction, and the bottom of the narrow groove is at a higher position than the bottom of the main groove.

A tire includes a tread portion being provided with circumferential grooves extending continuously in a zigzag manner. One of the circumferential grooves includes first inclined elements inclined in a first direction with respect to the tire circumferential direction, second inclined elements inclined in a second direction opposite to the first direction with respect to the tire circumferential direction, and intersections where the first inclined elements and second inclined elements intersect. Each of the first inclined elements and the second inclined elements is provided with at least one first protrusion that projects outwardly in a tire radial direction from the groove bottom and connects the pair of groove walls. At least one of the intersections is provided with a second protrusion that projects outwardly in the tire radial direction from the groove bottom and is separated from the pair of groove walls.

Disclosed herein, a pneumatic tire having a tread portion is described. The tread portion includes a generally circumferentially extending groove defined therein. The groove has a groove cross-section defined by a groove bottom, a first groove sidewall, hand a second groove sidewall. The second groove sidewall is opposite and substantially parallel to the first groove sidewall. The groove has a groove width defined between the first groove sidewall and the second groove sidewall. A plurality of stone rejectors extend between the first groove sidewall and the second groove sidewall. Each stone rejector in the plurality of stone rejectors is circumferentially spaced from an adjacent stone rejector. Each stone rejector includes a raised platform and a protrusion. The raised platform extends axially from the first groove sidewall to the second groove sidewall. The protrusion extends from a top surface of the raised platform.

A tread (10) for a heavy truck tire having a groove (14) with a bottom (16) and a stone ejector (18) located within the groove (14) that extends upwards from the groove bottom (16) wherein the stone ejector (18) has a front side (20), a back side (22) and an upper surface (24) that extends at different distances upwards at different locations on the upper surface (24) such that a first location (26) on the upper surface (24) is located closer to the back side (22) and extends a longer distance upwards than a second location (28) on the upper surface (24) that is located closer to the front side (20).

A pneumatic vehicle tire, in particular a commercial vehicle tire, includes a tread which has a profile and has at least one circumferential groove (1) which is encircling in the circumferential direction, is embodied to a profile depth (P.sub.T) and in the cross section, starting at the tread external face, is composed of three adjoining groove portions, one outer groove portion (2) that expands in a funnel-shaped manner toward the outside, one 1 mm to 3 mm wide contracted groove portion, and one inner groove portion (4) which lies radially inward, is expanded in relation to the contracted groove portion (3) and has the largest cross-sectional face of all portions, and which is delimited by two cover flanks (4a), lateral groove flanks (4′b, 4″b) that adjoin said cover flanks (4a), and a groove base (4c).

A tread portion has a circumferential groove extending continuously and circumferentially. The circumferential groove has a groove bottom and a pair of groove walls radially extending from the groove bottom to a tread surface. The groove bottom includes groove bottom protruding portions protruding radially outwardly from a groove bottom reference surface parallel to the tread surface at a deepest position of a groove depth of the circumferential groove. Each of the groove bottom protruding portions is formed to be symmetrical about a center line of the circumferential groove in a plan view of the tread portion and has a first groove bottom surface extending radially. The first groove bottom surface includes a first surface portion on one side of the center line and a second surface portion on the other side. An angle between the first surface portion and the second surface portion is from 20° to 170°.

A heavy-duty pneumatic tire comprises a crown rib and a middle rib. The crown rib is provided with crown sipes crossing the crown rib. The middle rib is provided with middle sipes crossing the middle rib and a middle shallow groove having a smaller depth and a larger width than the middle sipes. The middle shallow groove comprises a circumferential middle shallow groove extending in a tire circumferential direction and lateral middle shallow grooves extending from an axially inner side edge (Ema) of the middle rib to the circumferential middle shallow groove so as to terminate at a position thereof.

The invention relates to a utility vehicle tyre having a tread with at least one circumferential channel (2, 2′, 2″) with a channel base (5) and channel walls (4, 4′), wherein base elevations (7, 7′, 7″) are formed on the channel base (5) in a manner distributed over the circumference and acting centrally as stone ejectors, with a height (h.sub.1, h.sub.3) of 25% to 60% of the profile height (T.sub.1) and a greater extent in the circumferential direction than in the axial direction, which base elevations (7, 7′, 7″) either contact the channel walls (4, 4′) or are at distances (a.sub.1) of up to 4.0 mm therefrom in the axial direction and are bounded in the radial direction by a top surface (8, 8′, 8″) having an encircling surface edge, wherein the channel walls (4, 4′) between the base elevations (7, 7′, 7″) have wall portions (4a, 4′a) which converge toward each other.

The top surface (8, 8′, 8″) of the base elevations (7, 7′, 7″) slopes downward uniformly toward the surface edge, wherein the channel walls (4, 4′) have, to the side of the base elevations (7, 7′, 7″), wall sections (4b, 4′b) which are convexly curved toward one another in a plan view, and wherein the surface edge of the top surface (8, 8′, 8″) follows the profile of the wall sections (4b, 4′b) which are convexly curved toward one another, such that the width of the base elevations (7, 7′, 7″) decreases toward those ends thereof which lie in the circumferential direction.