Patent ID: 7337816

Claim:
A tire tread for a pneumatic tire, the tread comprising a first tread edge and a second tread edge, a plurality of lateral grooves, wherein the lateral grooves have first and second opposing groove walls, the groove walls having inclination angles relative to a line perpendicular to a tangent to the tread surface, the tread being characterized by: the first groove wall having an inclination angle β in the range of 0°-2° in a radially outer portion of the groove wall and a radially inner portion of the groove wall has a radius of curvature of less than infinity, the intersection point between the radially outer portion and the radially inner portion of the groove wall being at a height of 40-60% of the groove depth, as measured from the groove bottom, and the second groove wall is inclined at an angle α in the range of 20°-60° from the groove bottom to the tread surface.