Tire Tread Sipe Segmentation for Snow Ice Traction and Steering Stability
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tires face challenges in achieving balanced performance on snow and ice while maintaining steering stability, as they often compromise between traction and rigidity.
Innovation Solution
The tire design incorporates a tread part with continuously extending main grooves, crown land portions featuring first and second crown lug grooves, and strategically placed first crown sipes with connecting pieces, which enhance snow column shearing force and steering stability by dispersing force efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a large number of sipes are provided to improve snow and ice performance, then traction on snow and ice is improved, but steering stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The sipes are segmented into multiple pieces (first side crown sipe piece, second side crown sipe piece, and connecting crown sipe piece) rather than being continuous. This segmentation allows the sipes to provide effective edges for snow and ice traction while reducing the overall disruption to the crown land portion's rigidity, thereby maintaining steering stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The sipes are strategically positioned and designed with varying depths and configurations in different regions of the crown land portion. The first and second side crown sipe pieces extend to different depths, and the connecting crown sipe piece links them, creating localized variations that optimize both snow/ice performance and structural integrity for steering stability.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the crown land portion is made more rigid to improve steering stability, then steering stability is improved, but snow column shearing force deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The crown land portion is designed with dynamic characteristics through the incorporation of sipes that can flex and deform under load. The segmented sipe structure allows the crown land to adapt its rigidity - maintaining structural integrity for steering stability while allowing localized deformation to generate effective edges for snow column shearing.
Solution Approach 2:
The sipes are designed with varying depths (extending to different depths from the tread surface) and three-dimensional configurations (connecting pieces linking side pieces). This multi-dimensional structure allows the crown land portion to provide snow column shearing force through vertical edge formation while maintaining horizontal rigidity for steering stability.
Data Source
AI summary
A tire includes a tread part having main grooves and lands demarcated by the main grooves. A crown land between a pair of crown main grooves includes first crown lug grooves extending from one crown groove to tire axial direction inner side and terminated within the crown land, second crown lug grooves extending from the other crown groove to the tire axial inner side and terminated within the crown land, and first crown sipes formed at tire circumferential direction positions and connecting the crown grooves, each first crown sipe includes a first side crown sipe piece extending from one crown groove to the tire axial inner side, a second side crown sipe piece not positioned on an extension line of the first side piece and extending from the other crown groove to the tire axial inner side, and a connecting crown sipe piece connecting the first and second sipe pieces.