Tire Tread Block Sipe Geometry for Ice Traction and Wear
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tires with sipes for improved on-ice/snow performance suffer from reduced rigidity, leading to uneven wear issues such as heel and toe wear.
Innovation Solution
A tire design featuring a tread portion with zigzag shoulder main grooves, middle lateral grooves, and middle blocks with full and semi-sipes, where the full sipe connects between edges with bent portions and semi-sipes extend linearly within the blocks, maintaining rigidity and enhancing traction on icy/snowy surfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If sipes are provided in blocks to improve on-ice/on-snow performance, then traction on icy/snowy surfaces is improved, but rigidity of the blocks decreases leading to uneven wear
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by differentiating sipe configurations across different block types. Middle blocks are provided with sipes (full sipes extending between grooves, semi-sipes extending from grooves) to improve ice/snow traction, while shoulder blocks are deliberately designed without sipes to maintain rigidity and prevent uneven wear. This localized differentiation allows each region to optimize for its specific functional requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The tread is segmented into functionally distinct regions: middle blocks with sipes for ice/snow traction and shoulder blocks without sipes for stability and wear resistance. The middle blocks are further divided by lateral grooves into multiple sub-blocks, each potentially with different sipe patterns, allowing fine-tuned optimization of traction while managing rigidity requirements.
2Reliability
If full sipes with bent portions are provided in middle blocks, then on-ice/snow traction is enhanced, but wear resistance may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
Bent portions in full sipes are strategically positioned within the sipe structure rather than at the edges. The bent portions create micro-edges that enhance biting into ice and snow, while the overall sipe configuration and termination points are designed to minimize stress concentration that would lead to premature wear. This localized optimization of sipe geometry balances traction enhancement with wear resistance.
3Reliability
If middle blocks are divided by multiple middle lateral grooves, then snow and ice fragments are sheared effectively improving traction, but block rigidity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The middle blocks are divided into multiple smaller sub-blocks by lateral grooves extending from the shoulder main groove toward the center. This segmentation creates multiple shear planes for snow and ice fragments, enhancing traction. The grooves are positioned and sized to provide effective snow shearing while maintaining sufficient mass and structural integrity of each sub-block to prevent excessive deformation and uneven wear.
Data Source
AI summary
A tyre comprises a tread portion. The tread portion includes a shoulder main groove extending continuously in a zigzag manner in a tyre circumferential direction on a side of a tread edge, a plurality of middle lateral grooves each extending inwardly in a tyre axial direction from the shoulder main groove, and a plurality of middle blocks divided by the plurality of the middle lateral grooves. Each of the middle blocks has a ground contacting surface defined between a first edge and a second edge extending in the tyre circumferential direction. At least one of the middle blocks has a full sipe extending so as to connect between the first edge and the second edge and having at least one bent portion, and a semi-sipe extending linearly from the first edge or the second edge and terminating within the at least one of the middle blocks.