Tread Edge Channels for Sustained Water Drainage
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Tire tread performance degradation with wear leads to reduced water drainage capacity, especially at the outer edges, compromising traction and safety during rainy conditions, as existing solutions do not effectively address the curvilinear profile and volume reduction issues.
Innovation Solution
A tire tread design featuring circumferentially oriented grooves that maintain their shape and depth until wear limit, with transverse cutouts on the edges that expand into channels to maintain water drainage capacity, incorporating wear indicators for timely replacement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If the tread has a curvilinear transverse profile with pronounced curvatures at the outer edges, then the aesthetic appearance and structural design are improved, but the thickness of material to be worn is reduced at the edge regions, leading to reduced water drainage capacity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates new grooves in advance during the wear process by forming hollow channels between relief elements. These channels are preliminarily positioned to open at the edge regions, ensuring water drainage capacity is maintained even when the original grooves wear away. The channels are formed at specific depths and positions to proactively address the reduced material thickness issue before it compromises performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different structural characteristics to different regions of the tread. Specifically, the edge regions have channels with specific depth and orientation differences compared to central regions. The channels at outer edges have different depth values and orientation angles to compensate for the reduced material thickness, creating localized quality variations that address the specific needs of each region.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional tread designs are used, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but water drainage capacity is reduced at edge regions during wear, compromising traction and safety
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the water drainage function into multiple independent channels distributed across the tread width. Each channel is formed between adjacent relief elements and opens at the running surface. This segmentation allows each channel to independently contribute to water drainage, ensuring that even if some channels wear or become blocked, others remain functional. The segmentation also allows different channel depths and orientations in different regions to optimize local drainage performance.
3Duration of action of moving object
If the tread wear reaches the legal limit, then the tire must be replaced, but existing designs do not maintain adequate water drainage capacity at this stage, reducing safety
Solution Approach 1:
The patent ensures continuous water drainage functionality throughout the entire service life of the tread. The channels are designed to maintain their drainage capacity from new condition through to the wear limit. The channels are positioned and dimensioned such that they remain effective even when the tread wears down to the legal limit, ensuring uninterrupted water drainage performance throughout the tire's operational life.
Data Source
Figure 1~4
AI summary
Tyre tread (1), this tread having a wear limit indicated by at least one wear indicator and comprising at least two grooves (2, 3) of circumferential overall orientation delimiting intermediate parts (4) and edge parts (5), these grooves of circumferential overall orientation being formed so that they are present at least until the tread has worn down to the tread wear limit, this tread comprising a tread surface (10) in the new state, this tread comprising at least one wear limit indicator formed in a circumferential groove (2, 3) to indicate the limit to which this tread can be worn down during running, this tread on its edge regions (5) comprising a plurality of cuts (6) of transverse overall orientation and of a depth suited to being present until the tread is worn down to the wear limit, each cut (6) of transverse overall orientation being formed of a first part (61) opening onto the tread surface (10) in the new state, this first part (61) being extended toward the inside of the tread by a hollow part forming a duct (63) of mean width greater than the mean width of the groove, this duct (63) being intended to form a new transverse groove after a predetermined amount of partial wear, this tread being characterized in that the cross section of each duct (63), between the bottom of this duct and at least a height equal to the height of the wear limit indicator (8) increases when travelling along the cut (6) axially from the inside of the tread toward the outside of the tread.