TIRE WITH TREAD WEAR SENSOR PLUG

A tire (12) with a tread wear sensor plug (10) is disclosed. The tire (12) comprises a pair of sidewalls (20), each one of which extends radially outwardly from a respective bead area (16) to a tread (22), the tread (22) being formed with a plurality of tread elements (32) and a radially outer surface (34), and a sensor unit (28) mounted to the tire (12), the sensor unit (28) including a pair of electrical contacts (54). The tread wear sensor plug (10) includes a cylindrical projection (56) extending through an opening formed in a selected one of the tread elements (32), a flange (58), and a wire (60) including proximal ends (62) disposed in the flange (58) and a distal end (64) near a radially outer surface (66) of the projection (56). An electrical circuit is formed by each proximal end (62) of the wire (60) electrically contacting a respective one of the sensor unit electrical contacts (54), whereby when the selected one of the tread elements (32) and the cylindrical projection (56) wear down to the distal end (64) of the wire (60), the distal end (64) of the wire (60) breaks, thereby breaking the electrical circuit.