Pneumatic Tire Shoulder Block Strain Dispersion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tire technologies struggle to reduce rolling resistance without compromising steering stability, as methods to decrease rolling resistance often affect tread rubber composition and wear resistance, and previous designs that aimed to reduce noise by adding grooves in the tire circumferential direction can lead to reduced rigidity and stability.
Innovation Solution
A pneumatic tire design featuring a tread pattern with lateral grooves and shoulder blocks, including a depression region on the shoulder block surface that extends beyond the ground-contact end, where depressions are open to the lateral groove and segmented in the tire's circumferential direction, dispersing strain and maintaining steering stability by controlling rigidity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a narrow groove extending continuously in the tire circumferential direction is provided in the shoulder block to reduce road noise, then vibration absorption is improved, but rigidity in the tire circumferential direction is reduced causing deterioration of steering stability
Solution Approach 1:
The continuous groove in the circumferential direction is divided into multiple segments by providing grooves in the width direction that intersect the circumferential groove. This segmentation prevents the groove from extending continuously, thereby maintaining rigidity while still providing vibration absorption benefits.
Solution Approach 2:
The groove configuration is designed to be dynamic rather than static - the groove depth and width vary along its length, and the pattern of segmentation creates a flexible structure that can adapt to different operating conditions, absorbing vibration when needed while maintaining structural integrity for steering stability.
2Loss of energy
If the tread rubber composition is changed to reduce rolling resistance, then fuel consumption performance is improved, but steering stability and wear resistance are deteriorated
Solution Approach 1:
Different regions of the tread are given different properties through the groove pattern design. The shoulder blocks have specific groove configurations that differ from other tread regions, allowing local optimization for both rolling resistance reduction and steering stability maintenance without requiring changes to the overall rubber composition.
Solution Approach 2:
The groove parameters (depth, width, spacing, segmentation pattern) are optimized to achieve the desired balance between rolling resistance and steering stability. By carefully controlling these geometric parameters, the invention reduces energy loss while preserving the structural properties needed for stable steering, avoiding the need to change rubber composition.
3Loss of energy
If depressions are formed extensively on the shoulder block surface to disperse strain and reduce rolling resistance, then fuel consumption is improved, but rigidity reduction causes deterioration of steering stability
Solution Approach 1:
The depression region is segmented into multiple discrete depressions rather than forming a continuous large cavity. This segmentation disperses the strain reduction effect across multiple smaller locations, maintaining overall rigidity while still achieving rolling resistance reduction through the cumulative effect of multiple strain dispersion points.
Solution Approach 2:
Depressions are strategically positioned in specific regions of the shoulder block where they provide maximum strain dispersion benefit. The outer side depressions are configured differently from other tread regions, creating local quality variations that optimize both rolling resistance reduction and rigidity maintenance in different functional zones.
Data Source
AI summary
A pneumatic tire has a tread pattern including a lateral groove extending in a direction intersecting a tire circumferential direction and a shoulder block comparted by the lateral groove. A depression region in which a plurality of depressions extending in the tire circumferential direction are arranged in a tire width direction are formed on a surface of the shoulder block in an outer side in the tire width direction than a ground-contact end. The depressions are open to the lateral groove, and are segmented in a center portion in the tire circumferential direction of the shoulder block.