US Patent Issued to COMPAGNIE GENERALE DES ETABLISSEMENTS MICHELIN on Sept. 9 for "Surface texture for a tire tread" (French Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 10 -- United States Patent no. 12,409,682, issued on Sept. 9, was assigned to COMPAGNIE GENERALE DES ETABLISSEMENTS MICHELIN (Clermont-Ferrand, France).

"Surface texture for a tire tread" was invented by Xavier Neau (Clermont-Ferrand, France), Romain Berthier (Clermont-Ferrand, France) and Thomas Lescur (Clermont-Ferrand, France).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The surface state of the treads of tires cured in a vulcanization mold manufactured by 3D printing represents an optimal compromise between cost, appearance, and grip performance of the tire. The texture is formed by an arrangement of contiguous elements of pyramidal shape, each element of pyramidal shape having a ...