Pneumatic Tire Auxiliary Portion Segmentation for Stability and Snow Grip
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional pneumatic tires face a trade-off between snow performance and steering stability on dry road surfaces, where increasing the length of the step-shaped auxiliary portion improves steering stability but deteriorates snow performance, and decreasing its length improves snow performance but worsens steering stability.
Innovation Solution
A pneumatic tire design featuring a tread portion with blocks that include a main portion and an auxiliary portion with a first portion extending along the shoulder main groove and at least two second portions radially outward, arranged separately, which enhance both snow performance and steering stability by optimizing rigidity and groove volume.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If the step-shaped auxiliary portion increases in length, then the steering stability on dry road surfaces improves, but the snow performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The auxiliary portion is segmented into multiple protrusions rather than a single continuous structure. This segmentation allows the groove volume to be maintained (improving snow performance) while still providing sufficient rigidity (maintaining steering stability) through the distributed structural support of multiple protrusions.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the auxiliary portion have different functions: the first portion extending along the shoulder main groove provides rigidity for steering stability, while the second portions arranged radially outward are optimized for snow performance. This local differentiation allows each region to contribute to its specific performance requirement without compromising the other.
2Reliability
If the step-shaped auxiliary portion decreases in length, then the snow performance improves, but the steering stability on dry surfaces deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the auxiliary portion into multiple smaller protrusions rather than one large continuous structure, the design maintains groove volume for snow performance while the distributed arrangement of protrusions provides sufficient structural rigidity for steering stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The auxiliary portion utilizes both the longitudinal direction (first portion) and radial direction (second portions) to provide structural support. This multi-dimensional arrangement maintains rigidity for steering stability while preserving groove volume for snow performance.
Data Source
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AI summary
A pneumatic tire includes a tread portion provided with at least one block and a groove adjacent the at least one block. The at least one block includes a main portion with a ground contact surface for coming into contact with a ground and an auxiliary portion located radially inward of the ground contact surface of the main portion and protruding laterally from the main portion. The auxiliary portion includes a first portion extending along in a longitudinal direction of the groove and at least two second portions located radially outward of the first portion and arranged separately from one another in the longitudinal direction of the groove.