Tire Shoulder Block Notch Step Shape for Snow and Wear
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tires face challenges in achieving both improved snow performance and wear resistance, as current designs often compromise one performance for the other, particularly in all-season tires for pickup trucks and SUVs.
Innovation Solution
The tire design incorporates circumferential main grooves, shoulder land portions, and center land portions with shoulder blocks featuring notch portions that have a step-shaped wall surface, enhancing rigidity and snow discharge effects while maintaining wear resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the shoulder block has a notch portion with an L-shaped wall surface, then the manufacturing is simpler, but the rigidity of the shoulder block is insufficient and uneven wear resistance is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The notch portion transitions from a two-dimensional L-shaped cross-section to a three-dimensional stepped structure with multiple levels. This dimensional enhancement allows the notch to maintain structural rigidity while providing functional benefits for snow discharge, resolving the contradiction between simplicity and performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The notch portion is divided into multiple stepped levels rather than a single continuous surface. This segmentation creates distinct functional zones within the notch that enhance both rigidity and snow discharge capability without significantly complicating the manufacturing process.
2Reliability
If the edge portion of the shoulder block is directly connected to the buttress portion without a notch portion, then the structure is simpler, but the snow performance is poor due to lack of snow discharge effect
Solution Approach 1:
The notch portion is extracted from the solid shoulder block structure, creating a void space that enables snow discharge. This extraction maintains the overall simplicity of the shoulder block while adding the necessary functionality for snow performance without excessive complexity.
3Reliability
If the notch portion has a large volume to improve snow discharge, then the snow performance improves, but the rigidity of the shoulder block decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The stepped configuration utilizes vertical dimensionality to provide sufficient snow discharge volume while maintaining horizontal structural integrity. Each step level contributes to snow discharge capacity without compromising the overall rigidity of the shoulder block.
Solution Approach 2:
The notch is segmented into multiple stepped levels rather than a single large void. This segmentation distributes the snow discharge function across multiple smaller chambers, maintaining structural rigidity while achieving effective snow discharge performance.
Data Source
AI summary
A tire includes a plurality of circumferential main grooves extending in a tire circumferential direction, and a pair of shoulder land portions and one or more rows of center land portions defined by the plurality of circumferential main grooves. Further, at least one of the pair of shoulder land portions includes a plurality of shoulder lug grooves and a plurality of shoulder blocks defined and formed by the plurality of shoulder lug grooves. Additionally, at least a part of the plurality of shoulder blocks includes a notch portion that connects edge portions separated from a tire ground contact edge and a buttress portion. Additionally, the notch portion has a step-shaped wall surface in a cross-sectional view in a tire meridian direction.