Pneumatic Tire Tread Pattern for Steering Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tire designs that improve wet performance by forming main and lug grooves compromise steering stability at high speeds and may lead to a decline in wet steering stability.
Innovation Solution
A pneumatic tire with a tread pattern featuring an outer main groove, shoulder lug grooves closed on one end, and vertical sipes that cross the shoulder lug grooves, providing enhanced drainage and rigidity to improve high-speed steering stability while maintaining wet steering stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If main grooves and lug grooves are formed to improve wet performance, then drainage properties are improved, but the rigidity of the land portion is reduced, deteriorating steering stability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the groove system into main grooves for drainage and closed-loop lug grooves for rigidity preservation. The lug grooves are divided into multiple segments that connect to form closed loops within the land portion, rather than extending continuously. This segmentation allows drainage functionality to be separated from the land portion structure, preventing rigidity loss while maintaining wet performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different groove configurations to different regions of the tread. The shoulder land portion region receives closed-loop lug grooves that preserve rigidity, while the central region maintains main grooves for drainage. This local differentiation ensures that areas requiring rigidity (shoulders) maintain it, while areas requiring drainage (center) provide it, resolving the overall contradiction.
2Stability of the object's composition
If lug grooves are closed in the land portion region to maintain rigidity, then steering stability is improved, but high-speed steering stability becomes insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces vertical sipes that extend through the closed-loop lug grooves, creating a dynamic groove system. These sipes are arranged to be discontinued between adjacent lug grooves, forming a pattern that adapts to different operating conditions. At high speeds, the sipe configuration provides additional edge effects and rigidity support, while maintaining the closed-loop structure's benefit of preserving land portion rigidity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds the vertical dimension to the groove system by introducing deep sipes that extend through the lug grooves. This creates a three-dimensional groove structure rather than simple surface grooves. The vertical sipes provide additional edge effects and structural support at high speeds, enhancing high-speed steering stability while the horizontal closed-loop configuration maintains overall rigidity.
3Reliability
If vertical sipes are introduced to enhance drainage, then wet steering stability is improved, but the complexity of the tread pattern increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the drainage function and the rigidity function into a single integrated tread pattern structure. The vertical sipes are combined with the closed-loop lug grooves to form a unified pattern where the sipes extend through the lug groove segments. This merging eliminates the need for separate drainage grooves and rigidity-preserving structures, reducing overall complexity while achieving both wet steering stability and high-speed steering stability.
Data Source
AI summary
The tread pattern of the pneumatic tire includes an outer main groove, shoulder lug grooves, and vertical sipes. The outer main groove extends in the tire circumferential direction on an outer side of the tire centerline in the tire width direction. The shoulder lug grooves are spaced apart in the tire circumferential direction and provided in the shoulder land portion regions on an outer side of the outer main groove in the tire width direction, extend from the outer side in the tire width direction toward the outer main groove, are closed in a shoulder land portion region. Each of the vertical sipes has a narrower width than each of the shoulder lug grooves, crosses each of the shoulder lug grooves and extends in the tire circumferential direction. Each of the vertical sipes has a depth greater than a groove depth of each of the shoulder lug grooves.