Traction augmenting insert for tires

866,590. Shoe soles. GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER CO. May 21, 1959 [June 18, 1958], No. 17280/59. Class 17(2) [Also in Groups XXX and XXXIV] A tyre, conveyer belt, shoe, mat or the like, of rubber has an anti-skid insert 14 of sheet metal embedded in its tread portion to lie normal to the tread surface for the full depth of said tread portion and to extend longitudinally in a non-linear path, the insert being formed with a plurality of parallel transverse slots 17 which terminate short of the longitudinal side edge 19 remote from the tread surface to provide spaced teeth 15. As shown applied to a tyre tread 11 comprising circumferential tread ribs 13, each insert 14 is bent in sinuous or zig-zag fashion throughout the circumference of each rib. In an alternative arrangement, Fig. 3, the insert has an integral continuous longitudinal edge 25, 26 on both sides, the edge 26 which, when embedded, lies adjacent the tread surface being of narrower section so that it is quickly worn away in use to leave the spaced teeth 23. In a further construction the teeth are formed louvre fashion by being bent up from the plane of the insert which is first suitably slit transversely to leave one or both side edges continuous. Two sinuously bent inserts 41, 42 Fig. 7 may be welded together side by side at abutting transverse portions to provide a structure having a series of cells 44. The inserts may be embedded in the tread during moulding and curing thereof.