Tire Fabric with Breakable Bearing Elements
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional tires face challenges in achieving a good compromise between wear, grip, endurance, rolling resistance, and noise performance due to difficulties in meridian flattening, leading to uneven pressure distribution and increased weight, which affects their lifespan and efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A tire assembly comprising a woven first fabric and a knitted second fabric connected by filamentary bearing elements, where the bearing elements are designed to elongate and break at specific points to allow for improved load distribution and flattening, reducing the weight and energy dissipation while maintaining structural integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional tyre structures are used with high meridian curvature at shoulders, then structural strength is maintained, but flattening performance deteriorates leading to poor wear and grip characteristics
Solution Approach 1:
The tyre structure is segmented into distinct functional layers: a bearing structure with load-bearing elements, a carcass structure, and a tread structure. This segmentation allows the bearing structure to specifically address flattening requirements while other structures maintain their respective functions, resolving the contradiction between maintaining strength and achieving proper flattening geometry.
Solution Approach 2:
The bearing elements are designed with specific local properties - they have a first portion with high elasticity positioned at the shoulder region to enable flattening, while maintaining overall structural integrity. This local quality adjustment allows the shoulder region to achieve the desired low meridian curvature without compromising the tyre's overall strength.
2Reliability
If bearing structures with pressurized compartments are used to improve flattening, then flattening performance improves, but weight increases leading to higher energy dissipation
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the essential load-bearing function from complex pressurized compartment structures and implements it through a simplified bearing structure with elastic bearing elements arranged in a matrix. This extraction removes unnecessary weight while preserving the flattening performance by focusing only on the critical load-bearing mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The bearing elements are designed as flexible, thin-walled structures with high elasticity, allowing them to deform appropriately under load to achieve flattening. This flexible design provides the necessary flattening performance with minimal mass compared to rigid pressurized compartments.
3Strength
If sidewalls are connected to bearing structures to form closed cavities, then structural integrity improves, but meridian flattening becomes difficult due to raised pressures at shoulders
Solution Approach 1:
The bearing elements are designed with asymmetric properties - the first portion has different elastic characteristics than the rest of the element. This asymmetry allows the shoulder region to deform differently under load, enabling proper flattening while the rest of the structure maintains its integrity and supports the load.
Solution Approach 2:
The bearing structure is designed to be dynamic rather than static - the bearing elements can change their stiffness characteristics based on the applied load and position within the tyre. This dynamic behavior allows the structure to adapt during operation, achieving both integrity and proper flattening geometry under service conditions.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables improved flattening of the tire tread, leading to enhanced wear resistance, grip, and reduced rolling resistance, resulting in increased tire life and fuel efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
the first filamentary member has a non-zero elongation and is not broken
Implementation Method 2
there is an elongation of the woven first fabric, less than or equal to (2π×H)/L, beyond which the second filamentary member is broken
Data Source
AI summary
The assembly (24) comprises: a woven first fabric (26) comprising filamentary warp elements (64) comprising first and second filamentary members, a woven second fabric (28), a bearing structure (30) comprising filamentary bearing elements (32) connecting the woven first and second fabrics together. For a length at rest L of the woven first fabric (26): for any elongation of the woven first fabric (26) less than or equal to (2π×H)/L, the first filamentary member has a non-zero elongation and is not broken; there is an elongation of the woven first fabric (26), less than or equal to (2π×H)/L, and beyond which the second filamentary member is broken, in which H0×K≤H where H0 is the distance between the woven first and second fabrics (26, 28) when each filamentary bearing portion (74) is at rest, and K=0.50.