Tire Sipe Chamfer Layout for Wet Grip and Rib Rigidity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Pneumatic tires face a trade-off between steering stability on dry and wet road surfaces due to the formation of sipes, where increased sipes for wet surface stability compromise dry surface stability and wear resistance.
Innovation Solution
A pneumatic tire design featuring chamfered sipes with shorter chamfered portions on leading and trailing edges and non-chamfered regions, where the chamfered portions' depth satisfies a specific ratio, enhances drainage and edge effects for improved wet surface stability while maintaining dry surface stability and wear resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a lot of sipes are disposed in a tread portion to enhance steering stability performance on wet road surfaces, then steering stability performance on wet road surfaces is improved, but steering stability performance on dry road surfaces and uneven wear resistance performance decrease due to lowering of rigidity of rib
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating different regions within the sipe structure: chamfered portions at specific locations versus non-chamfered portions at other locations. This allows different parts of the sipe to serve different functions - the chamfered portions enhance water drainage for wet surface performance, while the non-chamfered portions maintain rib rigidity for dry surface performance and wear resistance.
2Reliability
If sipes are chamfered to improve drainage effect, then steering stability performance on wet road surfaces is improved, but edge effect is lost and steering stability performance on dry road surfaces or wet road surfaces may be insufficiently improved depending on chamfer dimension
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates local quality differentiation by positioning chamfered portions at specific locations (leading side and trailing side edges) while maintaining non-chamfered portions at other locations. This selective chamfering optimizes the balance between drainage effect (for wet surface performance) and edge effect (for dry surface performance and wear resistance), avoiding the pitfalls of complete sipe chamfering.
3Reliability
If chamfered portions are extended to maximize drainage effect, then steering stability performance on wet road surfaces is improved, but area to be chamfered increases and steering stability performance on dry road surfaces decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by implementing chamfered portions only at specific locations (leading side and trailing side edges) rather than extending chamfering along the entire sipe length. This partial chamfering strategy maximizes the drainage effect where most needed while minimizing the impact on rib rigidity and maintaining dry surface performance.
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
The design achieves enhanced steering stability on both dry and wet surfaces by optimizing chamfered and non-chamfered regions, minimizing chamfered area, and maintaining rib rigidity, thus providing compatible performance improvements.
Implementation Method 1
it is possible to enhance a drainage effect based on the chamfered portion
Implementation Method 2
to effectively remove a water film on the non-chamfered region by an edge effect
Data Source
AI summary
In a pneumatic tire including main grooves extending in a tire circumferential direction in a tread portion, and including a sipe extending in a tire lateral direction on a rib defined by the main grooves, the sipe includes an edge on a leading side and an edge on a trailing side, chamfered portions shorter than a sipe length of the sipe are formed on respective edges, non-chamfered regions on which no other chamfered portion exists exist on portions opposing to respective chamfered portions in the sipe, a maximum depth x (mm) of the sipe and a maximum depth y (mm) of the chamfered portion satisfy x×0.1≤y≤x×0.3+1.0, and a sipe width of the sipe is constant in a range from an end portion positioned inside in a tire radial direction of the chamfered portion to a groove bottom of the sipe.