Shoulder-Block Tire Tread With Dimples for Lower Pattern Noise
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Solution Overview
Problem
SUV tires face challenges in balancing quietness, chipping resistance, and off-road performance due to the trade-offs between tread thickness, sipe presence, and groove capacity, which affect pattern noise, rolling resistance, and off-road capabilities.
Innovation Solution
A tire design featuring at least two circumferential grooves with three land parts, including a shoulder land part divided into grounding and non-grounding zones, with cylindrical dimples in the shoulder blocks and buttress areas to reduce pattern noise while maintaining chipping resistance and off-road performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-generated harmful factors
If a thick tread is used to attenuate input and reduce pattern noise, then pattern noise is reduced, but the mass and rolling resistance of the tire increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies porous materials by incorporating voids (dimples) within the tread blocks. These internal voids create a cellular structure that absorbs impact energy when the tire contacts the road surface, reducing pattern noise without requiring increased tread thickness. The porous structure provides attenuation while maintaining lower mass compared to solid thick tread designs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the tread blocks by creating multiple dimples within each block, dividing the solid structure into smaller compartments. This segmentation allows the tread to deform and absorb impact in a controlled manner, reducing noise transmission while maintaining structural integrity and avoiding the need for uniformly thick tread across the entire tire.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If a sipe is carved in the tread to attenuate input and reduce pattern noise, then pattern noise is reduced, but the sipe may become a starting point of cracks and chipping resistance is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional sipes with porous dimple structures. Instead of creating thin walls that are prone to cracking, the dimples form rounded voids within the tread blocks that do not create stress concentration points. This porous approach provides impact attenuation similar to sipes but without the crack initiation problem, thereby maintaining chipping resistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent inverts the conventional approach by instead of adding material (thick tread) or creating surface features (sipes), it removes material to create internal voids. This inversion allows the tread blocks to deform and absorb impact internally through the dimples without creating vulnerable surface features that could lead to cracking and chipping.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If groove capacity of axial grooves is reduced to reduce pattern noise, then pattern noise is reduced, but off-road performance such as mud performance or rock performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses porous dimples within tread blocks to provide impact attenuation without reducing groove capacity. The internal voids absorb energy locally within the blocks, allowing the grooves to maintain their full depth and width for effective mud and rock evacuation, thus preserving off-road performance while reducing pattern noise.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the noise attenuation function from the groove function by placing dimples within the tread blocks rather than relying on groove geometry. This segmentation allows the grooves to maintain their full capacity for off-road performance while the segmented dimple structures within blocks provide independent noise reduction, eliminating the trade-off between the two functions.
Data Source
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AI summary
A tire is provided that includes a tread 4; in the tread 4 at least two circumferential grooves 36 are carved in the tread, and at least three land parts are formed arranged side by side in an axial direction; among the at least three land parts, a land part located on an outer side in the axial direction is a shoulder land part 38s, wherein the shoulder land part 38s includes shoulder blocks 52 arranged side by side in a circumferential direction; the shoulder land part 38s is divided into a grounding zone ZC from an equatorial plane side to a grounding end PE and a non-grounding zone ZNC from the grounding end to an end of the tread; first dimples 62 having a cylindrical shape are carved in the plurality of shoulder blocks 52 in the grounding zone.