Pneumatic Tire Shoulder Block Projections for Wear Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Pneumatic tires experience significant heel and toe wear due to uneven friction energy distribution in the shoulder block row, leading to slip and wear issues, while existing solutions either fail to adequately suppress this wear or compromise drainage performance.
Innovation Solution
The tire features a shoulder main groove with inclined circumferential components connected by a lateral groove, a first block positioned in the rear, and a second block with smaller top surface area, and projections elevated from the groove bottom that are larger on the trailing side, spaced in the circumferential direction to reduce slip and maintain drainage efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a protrusion portion or convex portion is provided to reinforce the block side wall, then heel and toe wear is reduced, but drainage performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies local reinforcement only at the trailing side of the second block where heel and toe wear occurs most significantly, rather than reinforcing the entire block side wall. This localized approach minimizes interference with drainage while providing targeted wear protection.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of providing full reinforcement across the entire block, the invention uses a partial reinforcement structure (protrusion portion) that extends only to the necessary extent to suppress wear, leaving the rest of the block side wall open for drainage functionality.
2Reliability
If a reinforcing portion is provided in the trailing side of the block, then wear is suppressed, but slip amount in the leading side and center does not change
Solution Approach 1:
The protrusion portion is strategically positioned at the trailing side of the second block where wear occurs, providing localized reinforcement without attempting to control slip in areas (leading side and center) where it naturally occurs and is less problematic.
3Volume of moving object
If the block size is reduced to fit the shoulder block row, then the tire structure is compact, but friction energy becomes insufficient leading to increased slip
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the effective friction parameters by adding the protrusion portion that increases local friction energy at the trailing side of the second block, compensating for the reduced block size and preventing excessive slip despite the compact configuration.
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
This design effectively suppresses heel and toe wear by minimizing slip direction change and maintaining drainage performance, enhancing steering stability through reduced volumetric capacity reduction and increased block rigidity.
Implementation Method 1
projections which are elevated from a groove bottom of the shoulder main groove and protrude out of a side wall of the second block are provided so as to be spaced at a distance in the tire circumferential direction
Data Source
AI summary
A shoulder main groove has a plurality of circumferential components inclined to an inside in a tire width direction toward a forward in a tire rotating direction. The circumferential components are communicated with each other via a lateral groove. A shoulder block row includes a first block positioned in a rear side in the tire rotating direction of the circumferential component, and a second block which has a smaller area of a top surface than the first block, and is adjacent to the first block with the lateral groove sandwiched therebetween. A plurality of projections elevating from a groove bottom and protruding out of a side wall of the second block are provided. A volume of the projection positioned in a trailing side of the second block is larger than a volume of the projection positioned in a leading side.