Tire Sidewall Valley Mark Geometry for Mud-Resistant Legibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Pneumatic tire marks with short pitches and different angles are prone to clogging with mud, reducing legibility and making them difficult to clean, especially on muddy roads.
Innovation Solution
The tire features a mark on its sidewall with an outer surface comprising a bottom face of two slope faces tapered into a valley shape, which are inclined inward, reducing mud accumulation while maintaining visibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If the mark includes serrations with short pitches and different angles to make it conspicuous, then the mark becomes more visible and generates light variations, but the mark is easily clogged with mud and becomes difficult to clean
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of making the mark protrude outward (conventional approach), the invention inverts the structure by making the mark recessed into the sidewall. The outer surface of the mark includes a bottom face of only one recess composed of two slope faces tapered into a valley shape, with the axially outermost site being higher than the axially innermost site. This inversion prevents mud from accumulating on the mark surface while maintaining visibility through the recessed geometry that catches light differently.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention applies curvature by designing the slope faces to be smoothly curved rather than flat or sharply angled. Each slope face may be a smooth slope face or include a smoothly curved line, creating a tapered valley shape that allows mud to slide off easily while maintaining the conspicuous appearance of the mark through controlled light reflection.
2Loss of information
If the mark has a complex serrated structure to enhance conspicuousness, then light reflection is improved, but the structure accumulates mud and is hard to maintain
Solution Approach 1:
The invention inverts the conventional protruding mark structure into a recessed mark structure. The outer surface includes a bottom face of only one recess composed of two slope faces, where the axially outermost site is higher than the axially innermost site. This inversion ensures that mud naturally drains away from the mark rather than accumulating on it, making the mark easy to maintain while preserving legibility through the recessed geometry.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the geometric parameters of the mark by creating a recessed structure with specific slope angles and a tapered valley shape. The two slope faces are configured to taper into a valley with the axially outermost site higher than the axially innermost site, creating a self-cleaning geometry that maintains legibility while preventing mud accumulation.
3Illumination intensity
If the mark uses short pitch serrations to create light variations, then the mark becomes more conspicuous, but mud clogging occurs more frequently
Solution Approach 1:
The invention inverts the mark structure from protruding to recessed, with the outer surface including a bottom face of only one recess composed of two slope faces tapered into a valley shape. This inversion makes the mark inherently resistant to mud clogging while maintaining conspicuousness through the recessed geometry that interacts with light differently than flat or protruding surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention adds dimensional complexity by creating a recessed structure with two slope faces tapered into a valley shape, where the axially outermost site is higher than the axially innermost site. This three-dimensional recessed geometry provides both mud resistance through self-cleaning properties and light reflection characteristics that maintain mark conspicuousness.
Data Source
AI summary
A tire includes at least one mark on a sidewall of the tire. The mark has an outer surface including a bottom face of a single recess between two slope faces tapered into a valley shape. One or more circular protrusions protruding axially outward may be disposed around the entire edge of the mark, and the mark may be fringed with the circular protrusions. The recess may have a bottom (line of intersection) extending in a direction slanted at 10° or less relative to a radial direction of the mark.