Off-Road Tire Tread Layout for Traction and Wear Balance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Tires designed for off-road running face a trade-off between improved traction performance and anti-wear performance, as increasing groove volume for better traction leads to decreased pattern rigidity and impaired anti-wear capabilities.
Innovation Solution
A tire design featuring a tread portion with specific land ratios, crown and shoulder regions, and sub-grooves that balance groove opening area with land region rigidity, including a crown region with a land ratio of 50% to 70% and shoulder regions with a land ratio of 50% to 70%, along with strategically angled and shaped sub-grooves and crown blocks to enhance traction and prevent uneven wear.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the groove volume in the ground contacting surface is increased to improve traction performance, then off-road traction performance is improved, but the pattern rigidity of the land region decreases, causing anti-wear performance to deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different land ratio values to different regions of the tread pattern. Specifically, it sets a first land ratio for the crown region and a second land ratio for the shoulder region, allowing each region to have optimized characteristics for its specific function while maintaining overall performance balance
Solution Approach 2:
The patent optimizes the land ratio parameters within specific ranges (0.30 to 0.70 for crown region, 0.20 to 0.60 for shoulder region) to achieve the desired balance between traction and anti-wear performance, rather than using fixed values
2Productivity
If the land ratio of the crown region is decreased to increase groove opening area, then off-road traction performance is improved, but the crown region becomes prone to protrusion and uneven wear, especially at high inflation pressures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent sets the land ratio of the crown region within the range of 0.30 to 0.70, which optimizes the balance between groove opening area and pattern rigidity. This parameter range prevents excessive crown region protrusion while maintaining adequate traction performance
Solution Approach 2:
The patent assigns a higher land ratio to the crown region compared to the shoulder region, providing the crown region with enhanced rigidity to resist protrusion under inflation pressure while allowing the shoulder region to have lower land ratio for better traction
Data Source
AI summary
A tire includes a tread portion including a pair of shoulder main grooves, a crown region defined between the pair of the shoulder main grooves, and a pair of shoulder regions arranged on both outer sides of the pair of the shoulder main grooves. A land ratio of the crown region is 50% or more and 70% or less. A land ratio of the shoulder regions is 50% or more and 70% or less. The land ratio of the crown region is larger than the land ratio of the shoulder regions.