Tire having tread portion with two different rubbers to control irregular wear

摘要

The present invention provides a tire (10) which comprises a tread layer for contacting a ground surface, a carcass reinforcement (16) extending entirely laterally under the tread layer (32) from one sidewall region to the other sidewall region, and a belt reinforcement (28) extending circumferentially between the tread layer (32) and the carcass reinforcement (16). The tire further includes a reduced rigidity rubber (34) component interposed between the tread layer (32) and the belt reinforcement (28), the reduced rigidity rubber component having a hardness and a geometry such that the maximum longitudinal and lateral contact stresses on the tread layer are reduced relative to a tire without such reduced rigidity rubber component.