Heavy-Duty Tire Tread Geometry to Resist Oblique Sipe Chunking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Heavy-duty vehicle tire treads with complex cuts and oblique sipes face issues with chunking, particularly under transverse scrubbing stress, which affects traction and grip on wet surfaces.
Innovation Solution
The tire tread design features substantially longitudinal cuts with external cavities connected by sipes, where oblique sipes are oriented at angles greater than 90° with tangents to the cavity contour, minimizing deformability and risk of chunking, while maintaining sufficient water storage capacity and tread stiffness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If oblique sipes are added to external cavities to improve grip on wet surfaces, then water evacuation capability is improved, but the risk of chunking increases under transverse scrubbing stress
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the oblique sipes, specifically controlling their orientation angle relative to the cavity contour tangents and their depth, to optimize both water evacuation and resistance to chunking
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines multiple sipe types (substantially longitudinal sipes and oblique sipes) within the same external cavity to create a composite cut structure that performs multiple functions: water evacuation and enhanced grip without excessive chunking risk
2Reliability
If grooves are made wider to improve water evacuation, then water flow capability is improved, but tread wear increases due to material deformation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the groove structure into external cavities connected by substantially longitudinal sipes, creating a network of smaller voids that evacuate water effectively while maintaining larger continuous material portions that resist wear
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates different local structures within the cut system: external cavities for water storage and evacuation, and connecting sipes for fluid flow pathways, allowing each region to perform its specific function optimally
3Loss of energy
If complex cuts with internal and external cavities are used to maintain tread stiffness, then rolling resistance is reduced, but water storage capacity may be insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent nests internal cavities within the tread structure and connects them to external cavities through sipes, creating a hierarchical void system that maintains stiffness while providing adequate water storage capacity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent ensures continuous water flow pathways through the cut system by properly connecting internal and external cavities via substantially longitudinal sipes, allowing water to be evacuated continuously from all regions of the contact patch
Data Source
AI summary
A heavy-duty vehicle tire tread to improve resistance to chunking of the oblique sipes opening into the external cavities thereof and having at least one substantially longitudinal cut (3) with at least one external cavity (6) open onto the tread surface (2) along an open section (7) having a closed contour (8). Each cavity (6) is connected to two substantially longitudinal sipes (91) and to an oblique sipe (92) having a mean plot (M2) intersecting the contour (8) at a connection point (I). The mean plot (M2) forms an angle (A1, A2) strictly greater than 90° with at at least two straight lines (T1, T2) tangential to the contour (8) respectively at two points (I1, I2) of the contour (8) that are positioned on either side of the mean plot (M2) and at a curvilinear distance (d1, d2) from the connection point (1) at most equal to 2 mm.