Pneumatic Tire Block Segmentation for Ice Braking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional pneumatic tires with sipes on the tread surface struggle to balance increased edge pressure and ground contact area for improved on-ice braking performance, leading to reduced effectiveness in on-ice friction.
Innovation Solution
The tire design features blocks divided into first and second block pieces with varying widths in the tread circumferential direction, where the first piece gradually decreases and the second piece gradually increases towards the central portion, with inclined sipe walls and optional bottom raised portions to enhance edge pressure and ground contact area.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Force
If sipes are added to increase edge pressure for digging into ice, then on-ice braking performance improves, but ground contact area of blocks is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The block is divided into multiple block pieces by sipes, creating both edge pressure through the sipe walls and maintaining ground contact area through the divided block pieces. The segmentation allows simultaneous achievement of digging effect and contact area preservation
Solution Approach 2:
The sipe structure creates localized edge pressure at the sipe walls while the block pieces between sipes maintain ground contact. This local differentiation allows different regions of the block to serve different functions - edge digging and area contact
2Area of stationary object
If sipes are designed with varied amplitude in depth direction to increase block piece contacting area, then ground contact area improves, but edge pressure for every block piece is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The block is segmented into multiple block pieces by sipes, where each piece contributes to ground contact area while the collective arrangement maintains sufficient edge pressure. The segmentation distributes the force requirements across multiple elements
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the effects of multiple block pieces working together. While individual block pieces have reduced edge pressure, their collective arrangement and the sipe structure as a whole maintain sufficient total edge pressure for effective ice penetration
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a pneumatic tire to improve on-ice braking performance. A pneumatic tire comprises plural blocks on a tread surface of the tire defined by plural circumferential grooves extending in a tread circumferential direction and plural lateral grooves extending in a tread width direction and provided with plural sipes extending in the tread width direction, wherein each of the blocks is divided into plural block pieces including at least a set of a first block piece and a second block piece which are arranged next to each other, the first block piece has a width in the tread circumferential direction gradually decreasing from end portions toward a central portion of the block in the tread width direction, the second block piece has a width in the tread circumferential direction gradually increasing from end portions toward a central portion of the block in the tread width direction, the width of the first block piece in the tread circumferential direction gradually decreases toward the tread surface, and the width of the second block piece in the tread circumferential direction gradually increases toward the tread surface.