Pneumatic Tire Tread Groove and Sipe Configuration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Pneumatic tires face challenges in maintaining steering stability on both dry and wet road surfaces due to decreased rigidity caused by narrow grooves, which affect drainage performance and noise reduction.
Innovation Solution
A pneumatic tire design featuring a tread portion with continuous shoulder main grooves and a center main groove, dividing the tread into crown and shoulder land portions, with specific groove and sipe configurations to enhance rigidity and drainage, including asymmetrical tread patterns and sipes that increase axial and lateral rigidity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If narrow grooves are provided in the vehicle outside land portion to improve drainage performance, then drainage performance is improved, but the vehicle outside land portion decreases in rigidity and steering stability on dry road surfaces deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different groove configurations to different regions of the tread. The vehicle inside land portion has no grooves extending across the entire width, maintaining high rigidity for steering stability. The vehicle outside land portion has narrow grooves for drainage. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by optimizing each region for its specific function.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent provides narrow grooves in the vehicle outside land portion but deliberately does not provide grooves extending across the entire width of the crown land portions. This partial action approach maintains sufficient rigidity in the crown land while providing drainage capability where needed in the shoulder regions.
2Reliability
If grooves are provided to improve drainage performance on wet road surfaces, then drainage performance is improved, but the rigidity of the tread portion decreases and steering stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent concentrates drainage features in the shoulder regions (vehicle outside and inside land portions) while keeping the crown land portions groove-free. This local placement of drainage features improves wet road performance without compromising the overall rigidity of the tread portion.
Solution Approach 2:
The tread is segmented into different functional zones: crown land portions for rigidity and steering stability, and shoulder land portions for drainage. The groove configuration is segmented to provide drainage only where it is most effective for wet road performance.
3Reliability
If the vehicle outside land portion is provided with narrow grooves for drainage, then drainage performance is improved, but noise performance may be affected and rigidity is decreased
Solution Approach 1:
The patent provides narrow grooves specifically in the vehicle outside land portion where drainage is most critical for wet road performance. The crown land portions remain groove-free to maintain rigidity. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by optimizing drainage where it matters most while preserving structural integrity.
Data Source
AI summary
A pneumatic tire comprises a tread portion 2 which is divided into shoulder land portions 6, 7 and crown land portions 8, 9. by shoulder main grooves 3, 4 and a center main groove 5. The total width of the circumferential grooves 3, 4 and 5 is 24 % to 28 % of the tread width TW. The crown land portions 8, 9 are provided with a plurality of crown sipes 10 having a width of less than 2 mm. The crown sipes include first sipes 11 comprising a lateral direction part 11a extending parallel with the tire axial direction and an oblique part 11b inclined with respect to the lateral direction part 11a. The ratio ∑Ly/∑Ls of the sum of the lengths Ly of the lateral direction parts 11a and the sum of the lengths Ls of the crown sipes 10 is not more than 0.15.