Pneumatic Tire Zigzag Groove Tread Rigidity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Pneumatic tires face a trade-off between steering stability on dry and wet road surfaces, as increasing the number of lug grooves improves drainage but reduces rigidity, and decreasing them compromises wet road stability.
Innovation Solution
A pneumatic tire design with four main grooves extending in the tire circumferential direction, including a zigzag center main groove and linear shoulder grooves, features lug grooves that terminate in land portions without communicating with the center main groove, ensuring rigidity and drainage performance, with specific inclination directions and bent portions to enhance stability on both surfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the number of lug grooves is increased, then drainage performance is improved, but rigidity of the tread portion decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the drainage function by providing lug grooves only in specific regions (shoulder land portions and center land portions) rather than uniformly across the entire tread. This selective segmentation allows drainage to be provided where most needed (shoulder regions for wet road stability) while preserving rigidity in other areas. The lug grooves are further segmented to terminate in land portions rather than continuing across the entire tread width.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by giving different groove configurations to different regions of the tread. The shoulder land portions have lug grooves extending from shoulder main grooves to provide drainage where wet road stability is critical. The center land portions have lug grooves extending from center main grooves. This localized approach ensures drainage performance is optimized in regions where it matters most while maintaining overall tread rigidity.
2Strength
If the number of lug grooves is decreased, then rigidity of the tread portion is maintained, but drainage performance decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by providing lug grooves in specific critical regions (shoulder and center land portions) rather than across the entire tread. This partial provision of drainage features is sufficient to achieve the needed drainage performance and wet road stability while avoiding the excessive number of grooves that would compromise rigidity. The lug grooves are designed to extend only to the point needed to achieve drainage function, terminating in land portions rather than continuing unnecessarily.
3Reliability
If lug grooves communicate with the center main groove, then drainage performance is improved, but rigidity of land portions decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the drainage pathways by designing lug grooves that terminate in land portions rather than continuously communicating with the center main groove. This segmentation creates discrete drainage segments that provide effective water evacuation while preserving the structural integrity and rigidity of the land portions. The lug grooves are divided into multiple sections that terminate before reaching the center main groove, preventing the formation of large rigidities-compromising continuous channels.
Data Source
AI summary
The pneumatic tire according to the present technology includes a tread portion, sidewall portions, and bead portions, and has a designated mounting direction on a vehicle. The pneumatic tire is provided, in the tread portion, with four main grooves including a pair of center main grooves extending in the tire circumferential direction and a pair of shoulder main grooves located outside the center main grooves and extending in the tire circumferential direction; these main grooves define five rows of land portions; the center main groove on the vehicle outer side has a zigzag shape in the tire circumferential direction; and a plurality of lug grooves extending from the main grooves, except the center main groove having a zigzag shape, toward both sides in the tire lateral direction and terminating in the land portions are provided in the tread portion.