Pneumatic Tire Shoulder Groove Structure for Drainage and Block Rigidity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Pneumatic tires with blocks formed by a main groove and lateral grooves face reduced rigidity at corner parts, affecting steering stability, and improving rigidity can impair drainability.
Innovation Solution
A pneumatic tire design with shoulder main grooves, intermediate land areas, and shoulder land areas featuring aligned blocks, first and second lateral grooves, and protrusions that incline towards the main groove, ensuring overlap with the groove opening to maintain groove volume and enhance rigidity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If protrusions are provided over a wide range or made to protrude largely from side walls of the blocks, then the rigidity of the blocks is improved, but drainability of the main groove is impaired due to reduction in groove volume
Solution Approach 1:
The protrusions are strategically positioned only at the corner parts of the blocks rather than uniformly across the entire block structure. This localized approach reinforces the corner regions which have reduced rigidity without extensively encroaching on the main groove volume, thereby maintaining drainability while improving block rigidity where needed most.
Solution Approach 2:
The protrusions are designed with optimized dimensions that provide sufficient reinforcement at the corner parts without excessive protrusion into the main groove. The protrusions extend only to the extent necessary to improve corner rigidity while preserving adequate groove volume for water drainage, avoiding the excessive action that would compromise drainability.
2Stability of the object's composition
If protrusions are provided on side walls of blocks to reinforce the blocks, then steering stability is improved, but groove volume of the main groove is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The protrusions are specifically positioned at the corner parts of the blocks where rigidity is most needed for steering stability. This localized reinforcement provides the necessary steering control improvement without extensively reducing the main groove volume, as the protrusions are confined to specific corner regions rather than occupying the entire block perimeter.
Data Source
AI summary
A pneumatic tire capable of securing drainability of the main groove while improving rigidity of blocks and improving steering stability wherein an intermediate land area formed on an inner side of a shoulder main groove includes a plurality of intermediate blocks provided to be aligned in a tire circumferential direction, first intermediate lateral grooves provided between the intermediate blocks, and a plurality of first protrusions protruding from side walls of the intermediate blocks facing the shoulder main groove to the inside of the shoulder main groove. The first protrusion includes a first protrusion inclined surface connected to a ground contact surface of the intermediate block, a protruding height of which from a groove bottom of the shoulder main groove becomes smaller as going to a tip end, and at least part of a tip end of the first protrusion overlaps with a shoulder opening in a tire axial direction.