Patent ID: 8393365

Claim:
A tread for a tire, comprising: at least three rows of tread elements, a center row and a pair of shoulder rows, the center row forming a circumferential rib positioned at an equatorial centerplane of the tread and each of the shoulder rows separated from the center row by a respective circumferentially extending groove; each shoulder row having a repeating circumferential array comprising a plurality of elongate groove fingers, extending upwardly with respect to the center row, adjacent groove fingers within the repeating array of each shoulder row of groove fingers being connected by at least one channel extending along a longitudinal axis in substantially an axial tire direction connecting at opposite ends to the adjacent groove fingers; and each of the channels being submerged from a radially outward tread surface and having a longitudinal centerline plane, each said submerged channel defined a pair of spaced apart channel sidewalls extending to a channel base surface; and the tread having first and second arrays of serrations lining a respective longitudinal side of a respective submerged channel, each serration extending into tread surface from a rearward serration closed end wall to the longitudinal centerline plane of the respective submerged channel defined by inward tapering serration sidewalls extending to a serration base surface, and each serration extending inward to intersect the centerline plane of the channel at an intersection angle substantially equal to ninety degrees.