Patent ID: 7237588

Claim:
A pneumatic tire comprising a tread portion provided in a tread face thereof with tread elements each provided with at least one zigzag sipe, a cap tread rubber defining said tread face, and a base tread rubber disposed radially inside the cap tread rubber, forming a boundary therebetween, the zigzag sipe comprising zigzag segments which are alternating circumferentially-oriented segments and axially-oriented segments, an amplitude center line of zigzag of the zigzag sipe being inclined at an angle (theta) of from 0 to 45 degrees with respect to the tire circumferential direction, and the zigzag sipe having a bottom including alternating deep parts and shallow parts in comparison with the level of said boundary, wherein the axially-oriented segment has an angle (alpha) in a range of from 0 to 15 degrees with respect to the tire axial direction. the deep parts are respectively located in the axially-oriented segments, and the shallow parts are respectively located in the circumferentially-oriented segments, and in the axially-oriented segments, the length of the deep part in each segment is in a range of from 60 to 100 % of the length of the segment.