All-Season Tire Tread Kerf Layout for Dry and Snow Grip
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing all-season tires do not adequately balance handling characteristics on both dry and snow-covered roads, limiting their suitability for year-round use and preventing them from receiving the 3PMSF marking.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating specific groove designs with intersecting cuts and connecting incisions in central profile blocks, enhancing grip on snow-covered surfaces while maintaining uniform stiffness for improved handling on dry roads.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional tire designs are used, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but fuel economy and CO2 emission reduction are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The tire tread is segmented into multiple independent circumferential grooves that divide the contact patch into separate regions. This segmentation allows each groove to function independently in channeling water away, improving wet grip and reducing rolling resistance without complicating the overall manufacturing process, as the grooves are integrated into the standard tire molding operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The tire incorporates localized circumferential grooves with specific cross-sectional shapes and dimensions at the tread surface, while the rest of the tire structure maintains conventional design. This local modification optimizes water evacuation and contact patch characteristics for improved fuel economy without requiring complete redesign of the entire tire, thus maintaining manufacturing simplicity.
2Reliability
If complex tire structures are implemented, then wet grip and rolling resistance are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tread pattern is divided into multiple circumferential grooves that segment the contact patch, improving wet grip by preventing water hydroplaning. The segmentation is achieved through straightforward mold design rather than complex assembly, maintaining manufacturing simplicity while enhancing reliability in wet conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention optimizes parameters such as groove cross-sectional shape, groove width, groove depth, and groove spacing to improve wet grip and reduce rolling resistance. These parameter adjustments are implemented within the conventional tire manufacturing framework, avoiding increases in device complexity while achieving superior performance.
3Productivity
If optimized tread patterns are used, then rolling resistance and fuel consumption are reduced, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention specifies optimized parameters for circumferential grooves including cross-sectional shape, width, depth, and spacing to reduce rolling resistance and improve fuel economy. These parameters are designed to be achievable with standard tire manufacturing tolerances, avoiding the need for specialized high-precision equipment or processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The optimized tread pattern with circumferential grooves is integrated into the conventional tire molding process, combining the performance benefits of the optimized pattern with the manufacturing simplicity of standard production methods. This merging approach achieves improved fuel consumption efficiency without imposing excessive manufacturing precision requirements.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~7
AI summary
Disclosed is a pneumatic vehicle tire having a tread (1) that is designed according to the direction of travel and has diagonal grooves (2, 3) that converge to form V shapes, as well as additional grooves (7a, 7b). The second diagonal grooves (2) each have a groove end portion (2b) that extends beyond the equatorial plane of the tire, is formed between two central tread bars (11) and runs into a second diagonal groove (2) extending to the other tread edge; in each central tread bar (11), on each side of the groove end portion (3a), running into said tread bar, of the first diagonal groove (3), extend: - at least one kerf (19) which extends diagonally in the same direction as the groove end portion (3a), running into the tread bar, of the respective first diagonal groove (3) relative to the circumferential direction when viewed from the top, runs into the adjoining additional groove (7a, 7b), has a width of 0.4 mm to 1.2 mm and a maximum depth of at least 3.0 mm; and - at least one connecting kerf (20) which extends between the kerfs (19) running into the adjoining additional groove (7a, 7b), extends counter-diagonally to said kerfs (19) relative to the circumferential direction, and has a depth (t20) of 1.2 mm to 2.5 mm and a width (b20) of 0.4 mm to 1.6 mm.