Pneumatic Tire Tread Layout for Omnidirectional Snow Traction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Pneumatic tires exhibit directional traction performance issues on snowy and icy surfaces due to the design of inclined lug grooves, which affect traction in non-parallel directions.
Innovation Solution
The tire design incorporates a first and second longitudinal groove, obliquely extending lateral grooves, and trapezoidal blocks with inclined sipes, ensuring traction elements function in all directions by varying groove angles and sipe orientations to improve traction uniformly across the tire width.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If all inclined lug grooves extend obliquely in the same direction to simplify the tread pattern design, then the manufacturing process is easier, but the traction performance becomes directional and greatly different between directions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by configuring the second lateral groove to extend obliquely toward the opposite side compared to the first lateral groove. This creates asymmetric tread blocks with grooves oriented in different directions, allowing the tire to maintain simplified manufacturing while achieving balanced traction performance in multiple directions through the asymmetric groove arrangement.
2Reliability
If inclined lug grooves are designed to improve traction in one direction, then traction performance in that direction is enhanced, but traction performance in intersecting directions becomes significantly different
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by giving different groove orientations to different regions of the tread. The first lateral groove extends obliquely in one direction while the second lateral groove extends obliquely in the opposite direction, creating locally optimized traction characteristics in different areas of the tire that collectively provide balanced all-directional performance.
3Device complexity
If the tread pattern uses parallelogram-shaped blocks defined by circumferential and inclined lug grooves, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the traction performance has strong directionality
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the tread into multiple independent block regions, each containing latera l grooves oriented in different directions. This segmentation allows each block to contribute to traction in its specific orientation, and the collective arrangement of segmented blocks provides simplified structure while achieving omnidirectional traction capability.
Data Source
AI summary
A pneumatic tire includes: a first longitudinal groove and a second longitudinal groove extending in a tire circumferential direction; a first lateral groove extending obliquely with respect to a tire width direction and connected to the first longitudinal groove and the second longitudinal groove; a second lateral groove extending obliquely toward a side opposite to the first lateral groove with respect to a tire width direction and connected to the first longitudinal groove and the second longitudinal groove; and a trapezoidal block defined by the first longitudinal groove, the second longitudinal groove, the first lateral groove, and the second lateral groove. The block includes a first sipe and a second sipe extending obliquely toward opposite sides in the tire width direction.