Tire Tread Sipe Edge Cavities for Material Tearing Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Heavy goods vehicle tire treads experience material tearing at sipe edge corners, leading to uneven wear and reduced grip performance under severe conditions.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating small cavities near sipe edge corners to reduce compression rigidity and enhance flexibility, with cavities having a depth no more than 30% of the total cut depth and positioned within a specific distance from the sipe, which can be in the form of grooves or holes, to prevent material tearing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If sipes are provided on raised elements to improve grip performance, then grip performance is improved, but material tearing occurs at edge corners leading to uneven wear
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing cavities at specific locations (edge corners of sipes) rather than uniformly across the entire tread. These localized cavities reduce compression rigidity only where needed to prevent material tearing, while maintaining the overall structural integrity and grip performance of the tread. The cavities are positioned within a specific distance from the sipe edge corners to address the localized stress concentration problem.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameter of compression rigidity by introducing cavities with specific depth requirements (at most 30% of the total groove depth). This parameter modification allows the tread to be more flexible at critical edge corner locations, reducing the likelihood of material tearing while maintaining adequate rigidity elsewhere for proper grip performance.
2Strength
If cavities are added to reduce compression rigidity at edge corners, then flexibility is enhanced and material tearing is reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the tread structure by dividing it into regions with different properties: areas with cavities at sipe edge corners and areas without. This segmentation allows the complex feature (cavities) to be applied only where necessary to prevent material tearing, rather than throughout the entire tread, thereby limiting the increase in overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by providing cavities only at specific critical locations (edge corners of sipes within a defined distance) rather than uniformly across the entire tread. This partial application of the cavity feature achieves the necessary flexibility enhancement to prevent material tearing while minimizing the added complexity compared to a full-tread modification.
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
The solution effectively reduces material tearing and uneven wear, maintaining grip performance and extending tread life by enhancing flexibility at critical edge corners without compromising the tire's operational integrity.
Implementation Method 1
there is formed at least one cavity having a depth h that is small in comparison with the total depth H of the cut, i.e. that has a depth h at most equal to 30% of the total depth H, this at least one cavity reducing the compression rigidity of the tread in the vicinity of the said at least one edge corner
Data Source
AI summary
Tire with radial carcass reinforcement having a tread of thickness E, this tread having a tread surface and at least one cut opening onto the tread surface to form edge corners. The cut extends into the tread over a total depth H. The cut is in the form of a sipe having a width D. There is also formed, in the vicinity, i.e. at a minimum distance from the said edge corner that is at most equal to five times the width D of the cut, of at least one edge corner of this cut and on the tread surface, at least one cavity having a depth h that is small in comparison with the depth of the cut, i.e. that is at most equal to 30% of the depth H. The at least one cavity reduces the compression rigidity of the tread in the vicinity of the the at least one edge corner.