ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 26 -- United States Patent no. 12,636,914, issued on May 26, was assigned to Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations LLC (Nashville, Tenn.).
"Bi-directional interlocking sipe and slot combination" was invented by Adam D. Singer (Massillon, Ohio) and David M. Severyn (Canton, Ohio).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "In one aspect, a tire is provided, the tire comprising: a tread portion comprising at least one of a tread rib or a tread block, a sipe included in the tread rib or the tread block, the sipe including: a radially outer portion, an interlocking portion radially inward of and directly connected to the radially outer portion, and a base portion radially inward of and dire...