US Patent Issued to Compagnie Generale des Etablissements Michelin on Nov. 4 for "Tire sipe design with variable teardrop size having larger lateral midpoint" (South Carolina Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 6 -- United States Patent no. 12,459,303, issued on Nov. 4, was assigned to Compagnie Generale des Etablissements Michelin (Clermont-Ferrand, France).

"Tire sipe design with variable teardrop size having larger lateral midpoint" was invented by Jeremy David Trowbridge (Greenville, S.C.), Victor Abarotin (Greer, S.C.) and Arthur Rade (Greenville, S.C.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A tread for a heavy truck tire that has a rib is provided. A sipe is located in the rib and extends from a first lateral surface to a second lateral surface. A first end of a teardrop of the sipe is located at the first lateral surface, and a second end is at the second lateral surface. A middl...