Vehicle Tyre Tread Pattern for Water Discharge and Grip
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional tires face challenges in balancing water drainage and grip on various road surfaces, with grooves reducing contact surface and sipes degrading performance on dry and wet surfaces when not on snow.
Innovation Solution
A tire tread pattern featuring multiple main grooves intersecting in the central region and secondary grooves extending circumferentially, optimized for water discharge and adhesion, with a specific geometry and configuration to maintain performance across different surfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If grooves are added to the tread band to discharge water, then water discharge capacity is improved, but contact surface area is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The tread band is segmented into multiple grooves (main grooves and secondary grooves) that divide the water discharge function across multiple channels. This segmentation allows efficient water evacuation while maintaining sufficient rubber contact areas between the grooves for grip on dry and wet surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the tread band are assigned different groove configurations tailored to local requirements. The central region has grooves optimized for water discharge, while shoulder regions have grooves designed for both water evacuation and maintaining contact patch integrity, creating local optimization of the water discharge versus grip trade-off.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If sipes are added to winter tyre blocks to improve snow grip, then snow surface adhesion is improved, but block deformability under shear stress increases
Solution Approach 1:
The blocks are segmented by adding sipes that create multiple small biting edges while maintaining the overall block structure. This segmentation provides additional snow grip through the sipe edges without completely compromising the block's structural integrity and deformability characteristics.
Solution Approach 2:
The tread compound is formulated as a composite material with specific polymer blends and additives that enhance both the grip properties (through sipe interaction with snow) and the structural strength (to maintain block integrity under shear stress during acceleration and braking).
3Productivity
If the number of main grooves is increased to improve water discharge, then water evacuation capacity is improved, but adhesion to wet road surface deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The water evacuation function is segmented across multiple main grooves and secondary grooves, distributing the drainage load. This allows adequate water discharge capacity while maintaining sufficient rubber contact areas for adhesion on wet surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
Rather than providing excessive groove coverage that would compromise adhesion, the invention uses a carefully calibrated number of grooves (not every possible groove position is used) to achieve just enough water evacuation capacity while preserving the necessary contact patch for wet road adhesion.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
AI summary
A tyre for vehicle wheels comprises a tread band (2) having a tread pattern in which there are defined a central region (5) extending circumferentially and symmetrically across an equatorial plane (X) of the tyre over a width equal to about 60% of an effective width (L) of the tread band, and a first and a second shoulder region (6, 7) which extend at the axially opposing sides of the central region, respectively; the tread band comprises a plurality of main grooves (10) which extend from the central region (5), through the first or alternatively the second shoulder region (6, 7), in order to open at a lateral edge (8, 9) of the tread band, and at least one plurality of secondary grooves (20, 21) which extend in a substantially circumferential direction between consecutive pairs of main grooves (10); the main grooves are arranged in such a manner that any radial plane (R, S) intersects at the central region (5) with at least four main grooves (10) and an initial end (12) of each main groove (10) is substantially positioned at the equatorial plane (X) and extends towards an adjacent main groove.