Tire Lateral Groove Chamfer Design for Snow Traction

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing tire designs face challenges in simultaneously enhancing both dry braking and snow traction performance, leading to the need for separate summer and winter tires or costly specialized architectures, which are not cost-effective for 'all season' tires.

Innovation Solution

A tire design featuring lateral grooves with chamfers of specific dimensions and angles, integrated with circumferential grooves and sipes, optimizing tread block geometry to improve snow traction while maintaining dry braking performance.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If specialized tire architecture is used to improve both dry braking and snow traction performances, then both performances are improved, but tire cost increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedry braking performanceVSAvoidtire cost
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The patent modifies existing tread parameters (groove width to 2-4mm, chamfer depth to 1.5mm, chamfer angle to 45 degrees) rather than implementing complex specialized architectures. These parameter adjustments achieve dual performance improvement using conventional manufacturing processes, avoiding the cost increase associated with specialized tire designs

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentEP2504179B1Tire with a lateral groove having a chamfer for improved snow performance
Publication Date: 2014.10.22 MICHELIN RECH & TECH SA
  • EP2504179B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2504179B1 patent drawingFigure 2~3
  • EP2504179B1 patent drawingFigure 4A~4D

AI summary

A tire with improved snow performance and dry braking performance is provided that has at least one lateral groove with a chamfer found where the groove intersects the circumference of the tire. In some cases, a second chamfer is found opposite first chamfer on the groove. In most cases, a plurality of similarly configured lateral grooves with chamfers is found along the circumference of the tire. Typically, the width of the lateral groove is approximately 2 to 4 mm, and preferably between 2.6 and 3.6 mm. Also, the angle the chamfer forms with the tangent of the circumference of the tire may be approximately 45 degrees. The angle the sweep path of the lateral groove forms with the lateral direction of the tire ranges from approximately 0 to 45 degrees.