Pneumatic Tire Sipe Layout for Ice Grip and Tread Rigidity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pneumatic tires fail to balance the rigidity of the land portion with effective water drainage through sipes, limiting on-ice gripping performance.
Innovation Solution
A pneumatic tire design featuring connected sipes that form sipe units, arranged at a specific density and orientation to terminate within the land portion, maintaining rigidity while enhancing water drainage and gripping performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If sipes are disposed at high density to improve water drainage, then on-ice gripping performance is improved, but rigidity of the land portion is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The sipe structure is segmented into multiple short sipes (first sipes) arranged in parallel, rather than using a single long sipe. These segmented sipes are connected by bridge portions to form connected sipes, which are further arranged as multiple sipe units. This segmentation allows water drainage functionality to be distributed across multiple small units, improving water evacuation efficiency while each individual short sipe causes minimal rigidity loss. The segmentation principle transforms one large drainage feature into many small ones, achieving better overall performance with reduced structural compromise.
Solution Approach 2:
The sipe structure employs a nested arrangement where multiple short sipes are grouped into connected sipes, which are further organized into sipe units with multiple units arranged in the tire circumferential direction. This nested hierarchy (short sipes → connected sipes → sipe units) allows the system to achieve complex water drainage patterns through layered organization. The nesting enables efficient water evacuation through multiple levels of parallel pathways while maintaining land portion integrity through the hierarchical structure.
2Productivity
If long sipes are used to enhance water drainage, then water evacuation is improved, but rigidity of the land portion is significantly reduced
Solution Approach 1:
Long sipes are divided into multiple short sipes (first sipes) that are arranged in parallel and connected by bridge portions. Each short sipe has limited length, preventing excessive rigidity loss, while the collective arrangement of multiple short sipes creates effective water drainage pathways. The segmentation transforms the function of one long sipe into multiple shorter ones, achieving comparable or superior drainage efficiency while preserving land portion rigidity.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of extending sipes in one dimension (length), the invention arranges multiple short sipes in parallel (adding a width dimension to the drainage structure). The short sipes are positioned side-by-side and connected by bridge portions, creating a two-dimensional drainage network. This dimensional transition from single long pathways to multi-directional short pathways improves water evacuation efficiency without the rigidity penalty of long individual sipes.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a pneumatic tire in which sipe units with minute sipes are repeatedly arranged in a land portion; at least one end in an extending direction of the minute sipe of at least one of the minute sipes terminates within the land portion; w1(w2)×h is 150 (mm2) or less, and a sipe density is 0.15 (1/mm) or more.