Pneumatic Tire Polygonal Block Staggered Rows
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional pneumatic tires with large block patterns face challenges in flexibility and road surface followability, leading to poor on-snow and on-ice performance, as well as increased rigidity and wear in the shoulder region, due to uniform block arrangement and lack of phase difference in longitudinal rows.
Innovation Solution
A pneumatic tire design featuring a polygonal block group with five or more sides, arranged in staggered longitudinal rows and side blocks with varying lengths, offset from the tire equatorial plane, to enhance flexibility and edge effect, while minimizing shoulder wear.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If relatively large blocks are uniformly arranged in the tread ground contact surface, then each block has increased rigidity, but road surface followability and flexibility are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The tread is divided into multiple longitudinal rows of blocks with different phases. Each row contains blocks of varying sizes, creating a segmented structure that provides both rigidity and flexibility. The segmentation allows different blocks to perform different functions - larger blocks provide rigidity while smaller blocks provide flexibility and followability.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the tread are given different block characteristics. The first and second longitudinal rows have different phase arrangements, creating local variations in block size and distribution. This local quality differentiation allows specific areas to optimize for either rigidity or flexibility based on their position and function.
2Ease of operation
If relatively small blocks are uniformly arranged in the tread, then flexibility is improved, but block rigidity decreases leading to poor handling performance
Solution Approach 1:
The tread pattern segments blocks into different size categories and arranges them in alternating phase relationships between longitudinal rows. This segmentation ensures that smaller blocks providing flexibility are balanced by larger blocks providing rigidity, achieving both properties simultaneously through the overall pattern rather than uniform small blocks.
Solution Approach 2:
The first and second longitudinal rows are arranged with different phases, creating an asymmetric pattern where blocks in one row do not align with blocks in the adjacent row. This asymmetry ensures a mix of block sizes and configurations that balances flexibility and rigidity throughout the tread structure.
3Ease of manufacture
If uniform block arrangement is used in the shoulder region, then manufacturing is simplified, but shoulder wear and step-down wear increase
Solution Approach 1:
The shoulder region incorporates blocks with specifically optimized characteristics different from the central tread region. The phase difference between longitudinal rows creates varying block sizes and configurations in the shoulder area, providing enhanced wear resistance through increased edge effect and better stress distribution, while maintaining the overall manufacturability of the pattern.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a pneumatic tire in which a polygonal block group is provided between two circumferential main grooves in a tread ground contact width, the polygonal block group comprising a plurality of polygonal blocks with five or more sides which are demarcated by thin grooves and arranged in at least two longitudinal rows and a plurality of lateral rows, the longitudinal rows being arranged so that the polygonal blocks included in adjacent longitudinal rows differ in phase from each other in a tire circumferential direction; side block rows are provided, one on each of the two sides in the tire width direction of the polygonal block group, the side block rows comprising a plurality of side blocks which are demarcated by the circumferential main grooves, lateral grooves, and the thin grooves and arranged in the tire circumferential direction; and a length in the tire circumferential direction of a first side block included in a first side block row provided on one side is larger than the length in the tire circumferential direction of a second side block included in a second side block row provided on the other side.