Motorcycle Tire Tread Groove Segmentation for Wet Grip and Roll Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional motorcycle tires face challenges in achieving excellent wet performance while maintaining roll property, as additional grooves for improved wet performance can lead to sudden tire response changes and deterioration of roll properties during turning.
Innovation Solution
A motorcycle tire design featuring a tread portion with inclined main grooves and sub-grooves, where the inclined main grooves extend from the tire equator to the tread edge with a specific inclination, and sub-grooves extend towards the equator without communicating with other grooves, enhancing both wet performance and roll property by maintaining sufficient rigidity and generating friction on wet roads.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If additional grooves with larger widths and/or longer lengths are provided on the tread portion to improve wet performance, then wet performance is improved, but tire response changes suddenly and roll property deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The groove system is segmented into multiple types: inner inclined main grooves extending from the equator toward the tread edge, outer inclined main grooves on the tread edge side, and sub-grooves connecting them. This segmentation allows each groove type to perform specific functions - inner main grooves for drainage during straight traveling, outer main grooves for drainage during turning, and sub-grooves for maintaining rigidity while facilitating water evacuation, collectively improving wet performance without compromising roll property
Solution Approach 2:
Different groove configurations are applied to different regions of the tread portion. The inner inclined main grooves are positioned near the equator for straight-line drainage, while outer inclined main grooves are positioned near the tread edge for turning drainage. Sub-grooves with specific width ranges (0.3-1.5 mm) and depths (0.2-1.5 mm) are strategically placed to maintain local rigidity. This localized optimization ensures wet performance improvement without sudden tire response changes
Data Source
AI summary
A motorcycle tire includes a tread portion provided with inclined main grooves arranged between the tire equator and a first tread edge and sub-grooves smaller than the inclined main grooves in groove width. The inclined main grooves include inner main grooves each extending from a first end located on the tire equator side to a second end located on the first tread edge side with an inclination with respect to a tire circumferential direction, wherein no other grooves are provided between the first end of each inner main groove and the tire equator. The sub-grooves include first sub-grooves extending from the inner main grooves toward the tire equator with an opposite inclination direction to the inner main grooves with respect to the tire circumferential direction and terminating on the tire equator side without being communicated with any other grooves.