Motorcycle Tire Groove Angles for Turning Stability
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing motorcycle tires fail to provide improved turning performance without compromising other essential performance characteristics such as stability and wear resistance during both straight running and turning.
Innovation Solution
A motorcycle tire design featuring a tread surface with a convex arc-like profile, including inner and outer inclined grooves arranged alternately, with specific angles and positions to facilitate easy banking during turning while maintaining resistance at full banked states, and a carcass structure with inclined cords for enhanced stability and shock absorption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the tire uses a conventional tread pattern with center region and shoulder regions, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the turning performance is unsatisfactory
Solution Approach 1:
The tread surface is divided into multiple functional regions (first region, second region, third region) with different groove configurations. Each region has specifically designed inner inclined grooves and outer inclined grooves with different orientations and angles, allowing optimized performance for different turning phases while maintaining manufacturability through systematic patterning.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the tread surface are given different groove patterns and orientations tailored to their specific functions. The inner inclined grooves in the first region differ from those in the second region, and outer inclined grooves have varying angles (βi at inner end, βo at outer end) to provide localized optimization for easy banking initiation and full banked state maintenance.
2Ease of operation
If the tire is designed for easy banking at the beginning of turning, then turning initiation is improved, but resistance at full banked state may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The groove system provides dynamic characteristics that change with turning phase. During initial turning, the inner inclined grooves facilitate easy banking with angles of 0-20 degrees. As the tire approaches full banked state, the outer inclined grooves with angles of 110-130 degrees at the outer end provide increasing resistance force to maintain the full banked state, creating a progressive transition in mechanical behavior.
Solution Approach 2:
The alternating arrangement of inner and outer inclined grooves creates a periodic pattern that delivers different mechanical actions at different phases of the turning cycle. The grooves work in sequence during the turning motion, providing facilitation during banking initiation and resistance during full banking maintenance.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the outer inclined grooves have large angles for resistance, then full banked state stability is improved, but turning initiation may become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The outer inclined grooves exhibit asymmetric angle distribution with different angles at the inner end (βi: 150-170 degrees) and outer end (βo: 110-130 degrees). This asymmetric configuration allows the groove to provide different mechanical characteristics at different portions, facilitating turning initiation while maintaining full banked state stability through the varied angle profile.
Data Source
AI summary
A motorcycle tire comprises a tread portion having a first region (T1) and a second region (T2) divided by the tire equator (C), the tread portion provided with first inner inclined grooves (10A) provided in the first region and second inner inclined grooves (10B) provided in the second region, first and second inner inclined grooves alternately arranged in a tire circumferential direction, and the inner inclined grooves (10) extending from an axially inner end Ai toward an anti-designated rolling direction (X) to an axially outer end Ao at an angle α of 0-20 to the anti-designated rolling direction (X), the tread portion also provided with first outer inclined grooves (11A) provided in the first region and second outer inclined grooves (11B) provided in the second region, and first and second outer inclined grooves alternately arranged in the tire circumferential direction, the outer inclined grooves (11) extending from an axially inner end Bi toward a designated rolling direction (F) to an axially outer end Bo and each outer inclined groove having an angle βi at the axially inner end Bi of 150-170 degrees and an angle βo at the axially outer end Bo of 110-130 degrees to the anti-designated rolling direction (X) of the tire.