Patent ID: 7096904

Claim:
An off-road tire having a casing and a tread radially outward of the casing, the tread has an inner tread and a plurality of lug arrays extending radially outwardly from the inner tread, the tread comprises: a plurality of elongated pads, each elongated pad spaced apart from each lug array, each elongated pad being placed between circumferentially adjacent lug arrays and oriented in a direction substantially parallel to the centerlines of the circumferentially adjacent lug arrays, each elongated pad having at least two longitudinal sides, a base width as measured from the inner tread and a radial height X, the base width being varied to cover and protect the inner tread, wherein each elongated pad has a curved centerline, wherein the base width of each elongated pad is widest at the outermost portion of the pad, wherein each elongated pad is spaced apart from circumferentially adjacent lug arrays at the innermost portion of the pad, wherein each of at least two longitudinal sides of each elongated pad intersect the inner tread along a curved line, wherein each elongated pad has a length L of at least 35% of the tread arc width, and wherein the radial height X of each elongated pad is always less than a radial height of the circumferentially adjacent lug arrays.