Airless Flexible Tire Torque Reducing Track Pattern
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Solution Overview
Problem
Movable agricultural irrigation systems with airless tires face excessive field wear and motor fatigue due to high torque at specific points, making it impractical and costly to switch to lower torque profiles, leading to continued use of high torque wheel assemblies.
Innovation Solution
An airless flexible tire design featuring a circular belt with drive lugs forming high torque points and traction lugs that deflect inwardly to equalize torque and reduce soil erosion, mounted on a rigid wheel with tire supports, allowing for a more even torque distribution and reduced soil imprint depth.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional airless flexible tires with rigid wheel spokes are used, then the wheel assembly provides structural support and traction, but high torque is exerted on the ground at specific points causing excessive field wear and motor fatigue
Solution Approach 1:
The tire tread is designed with differentiated local properties: rigid sections aligned with wheel spokes maintain structural support and torque transmission, while flexible sections positioned between spokes reduce ground contact pressure and torque. This local quality differentiation allows the same tire structure to simultaneously provide strength where needed and reduce harmful torque at other locations, resolving the contradiction between structural support and field wear prevention
2Object-affected harmful factors
If wheel assemblies are switched to achieve lower maximum torque or more evenly distributed torque profile, then field wear and motor fatigue are reduced, but the cost and complexity of operation increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The tire design integrates multiple functions into a single universal component: the same tire structure with its pattern of rigid and flexible sections simultaneously provides structural support, traction, and torque distribution optimization. This eliminates the need to switch between different wheel assemblies for different torque requirements, as one tire design handles all functions, making the system universally applicable and operationally simple
3Shape
If rigid wheel spokes with spaced apart protruding geometry are used, then the wheel maintains its shape and provides drive torque, but the torque distribution becomes highly concentrated at discrete points rather than evenly distributed
Solution Approach 1:
The tire incorporates flexible sections as thin film structures between the rigid wheel spokes. These flexible sections deflect under load to distribute torque more evenly across the contact patch, while the rigid spokes maintain the overall polygon shape and structural integrity. The flexible shell acts as a torque-distributing element that softens the concentrated force points created by the rigid spoke geometry
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The airless flexible tire design reduces torque at high-torque points, decreases soil erosion, and improves traction, resulting in reduced field wear and motor fatigue while maintaining effective soil shedding and traction.
Implementation Method 1
The flexible sections are deflected radially inwardly when the traction lugs engage the ground surface
Implementation Method 2
The drive lugs extend radially inwardly from the inner face of the circular belt and are annularly spaced from each other for engaging the tire supports of the rigid wheel
Data Source
AI summary
An airless flexible tire comprising a belt, drive lugs, and traction lugs. The drive lugs extend inwardly from the belt and form annularly spaced, rigid, high torque points. The traction lugs extend outwardly from the belt and are annularly offset from the drive lugs so as to form flexible sections that deflect radially inwardly when the tire engages the ground. Each traction lug has an effective height as a function of its actual height, the angle that the traction lug extends relative to a radial axis, the angle of the traction lug's distal surface, and the amount the tire deflects radially inwardly near the traction lug so as to at least partially equalize a rolling radius of the wheel to reduce torque generated near the high torque points.