Versatile sipe machine

1 . A method of cutting sipe patterns into tire treads, the method comprising:

feeding a first tire tread through a leading roller assembly and toward a plunge cutting assembly along a tread plane in a feed direction;

actuating the plunge cutting assembly to cut a first sipe in the first tire tread at a first angle and a first depth using a blade, the blade operably coupled to the plunge cutting assembly by a plunge fixture;

rotating the plunge fixture relative to the feed direction;

feeding a second tire tread through the leading roller assembly and toward the plunge cutting assembly along the tread plane; and

actuating the plunge cutting assembly to cut a second sipe in the second tire tread at a second angle and a second depth using the blade, wherein the second angle is different from the first angle.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the blade comprises a blade edge extending parallel to the tread plane, the blade edge defining a length greater than a width of the first tire tread.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first depth is different from the second depth.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

pausing the feed of the second tire tread within the leading roller assembly prior to actuating the plunge cutting assembly to cut the second sipe; and

resuming the feed of the second tire tread within the leading roller assembly, following the second sipe being cut.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plunge cutting assembly is actuated to cut the second sipe and a third sipe in the second tire tread while the second tire tread is fed through the leading roller assembly and toward the plunge cutting assembly at a feed speed, wherein an amount of time between actuating the plunge cutting assembly to cut the second sipe and actuating the plunge cutting assembly to cut the third sipe is determined based on the feed speed.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising actuating the plunge cutting assembly to cut a third sipe at the first angle and the first depth using the blade, wherein the first angle is different from the second angle.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising engaging the second tire tread with a trailing roller assembly with the plunge cutting assembly positioned between the leading roller assembly and the trailing roller assembly.

8 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising operating the trailing roller assembly at a first tangential speed and operating the leading roller assembly at a second tangential speed slower than the first tangential speed.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising removing the blade from the plunge cutting assembly and installing a replacement blade, the replacement blade having a different blade profile than a blade profile of the removed blade.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising adjusting a height of the leading roller assembly based on a thickness of the tire tread.