Tire tread with radially nested cavities for winter grip
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current tire tread designs for winter conditions do not effectively maintain grip on snow- or ice-covered roads throughout the tire's service life, as they fail to consistently clear particles and maintain contact pressure.
Innovation Solution
The tire tread features a series of grooves with recesses that have multiple cavities arranged radially, allowing each cavity to become active as the tread wears, increasing contact pressure and particle collection without compromising tread rigidity, and includes secondary cavities for easier molding and reduced damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple cavities are arranged radially in recesses, then particle clearance and contact pressure are improved throughout tread life, but tread structure complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tread band is segmented into multiple elements in relief, each containing recesses with multiple cavities arranged radially. This segmentation allows each cavity to function independently at different wear stages, maintaining grip consistency without requiring an overly complex overall structure.
Solution Approach 2:
Cavities are arranged in the radial dimension (from tread surface towards inside of tread band) rather than only in the circumferential or longitudinal directions. This radial arrangement allows cavities to become sequentially active as the tread wears, extending the functional life of the tread while maintaining a relatively simple geometric pattern.
2Quantity of substance
If recesses with multiple cavities are formed deep in the tread, then particle storage capacity increases, but manufacturing difficulty and tread rigidity are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple cavities are nested within each recess, with cavities positioned at different radial depths. This nesting arrangement maximizes particle storage capacity within the available tread depth without requiring excessively deep single cavities that would be difficult to manufacture and would compromise tread rigidity.
Solution Approach 2:
The recesses with multiple cavities are positioned specifically on certain elements in relief that contact the road surface, rather than uniformly throughout the entire tread. This localized approach concentrates particle storage capacity where it is most needed for grip while preserving tread rigidity in other areas.
3Reliability
If the tread surface has many edges and hollows for particle clearance, then grip on snow and ice improves, but tread stability and structural integrity are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The tread band is divided into multiple discrete elements in relief with recesses positioned on specific elements. This segmentation creates edges and hollows for particle clearance while maintaining the overall structural integrity of the tread through the distributed arrangement of these features.
Solution Approach 2:
Recesses with particle-clearing features are positioned locally on specific elements in relief that contact the road surface, rather than modifying the entire tread surface. This localized modification provides grip enhancement while preserving the stability and structural integrity of the main tread body.
Data Source
AI summary
Tread band for a tire having a tread surface and comprising a plurality of recesses of total depth H* opening onto the tread surface, each recess comprising at least two cavities of a first type of cavities, each of these cavities of a first type being delimited by a main wall and having a depth Hi, the main wall of each cavity of the first type is such that its intersection with a virtual surface parallel to the running surface in the new condition and passing through the points of the said wall that are furthest towards the outside of the tread forms an exterior contour that is closed and of length Ce, the main wall of each cavity of the first type is such that its intersection with a virtual surface parallel to the running surface in the new condition and passing through the points of the main wall furthest towards the inside of the tread forms an interior contour which is closed and of length of length Ci, this tread band being characterized in that the cavities of a first type are arranged at different levels in a direction oriented from the tread surface towards the inside of the tread strip, and in that the length Ce of the exterior contour of a cavity is greater than the length Ci of the interior contour of the same cavity.