Tire Tread Reinforcement for Transverse Grip and Wear Reduction
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional tires face issues with grip performance, particularly in transverse grip, due to shearing and rocking of tread pattern elements, leading to increased pressures and rapid wear, and existing reinforcement methods either compromise grip or increase rolling resistance.
Innovation Solution
A tire design featuring circumferential reinforcement with a rubber mixture of higher stiffness than the tread, positioned radially from the outer surface to the groove bottom, which decreases in width axially and extends partially or fully through the tread thickness, providing compressive and shear stiffness to stabilize tread pattern elements and reduce leading edge pressures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a less stiff rubber tread mixture is used to improve grip, then the actual area of contact with the running surface is increased and grip performance is improved, but shearing and rocking of the tread pattern elements occurs, generating greatly raised pressures and significant heating
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by introducing a circumferential reinforcement with different stiffness properties at specific locations (in the grooves) while maintaining the low-stiffness rubber mixture in the main tread body. This allows the tread to have soft contact surfaces for grip while having stiffened groove regions to prevent shearing and rocking of tread pattern elements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite materials by combining two rubber mixtures with different stiffness characteristics: a low-stiffness mixture for the main tread to ensure grip, and a high-stiffness circumferential reinforcement for structural stability. This composite structure resolves the contradiction between grip and stability.
2Reliability
If circumferential reinforcement with high stiffness rubber mixture is added to stabilize tread pattern elements, then transverse grip performance is improved, but rolling resistance increases due to limiting of transverse and longitudinal flattening processes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the reinforcement function by placing circumferential reinforcement only in the groove regions where it is needed to stabilize tread pattern elements, rather than reinforcing the entire tread. This localized approach provides grip improvement while minimizing the impact on rolling resistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The high-stiffness circumferential reinforcement is applied locally in the grooves rather than throughout the entire tread, providing structural support only where needed to prevent shearing while allowing the rest of the tread to deform naturally for optimal rolling characteristics.
3Reliability
If circumferential reinforcement is positioned to extend from the radially inner surface of the tread to the groove bottom, then tread pattern element stability is improved, but it becomes difficult to mould wear indicators and manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The circumferential reinforcement extends partially through the tread thickness rather than completely from the inner surface to the groove bottom. This partial extension provides sufficient stability to prevent shearing and rocking while leaving space for wear indicator moulding, thus resolving the manufacturing difficulty.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design enhances transverse grip performance, reduces tread wear, and minimizes rolling resistance while allowing full utilization of low-stiffness tread rubber's grip potential, with a significant improvement in braking performance on wet surfaces and comparable cornering stiffness to control tires.
Implementation Method 1
the circumferential reinforcement has a stiffness greater than the stiffness of the rubber mixture of the rest of the tread... provides compressive and shear stiffness to stabilize tread pattern elements
Implementation Method 2
the reinforcing element extends radially from the radially outer surface of the underlayer towards the outside of the tread with an axial width which decreases gradually
Data Source
AI summary
A tire, the tread of which has an underlayer and a circumferential reinforcement made up of a rubber mixture with a stiffness greater than the stiffness of the rubber mixture and the underlayer, has an outer side and an inner side. The circumferential reinforcement has a reinforcing element of tapered shape positioned in the tread pattern elements disposed axially on the outside with respect to the first or the second circumferential grooves of the tread from the outside to the inside and axially close to the circumferential groove.