Tyre Tread with Low-Inclination Sipes and Chamfered Areas
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current tyre tread designs face challenges in achieving optimal performance across various driving conditions, particularly in braking, cornering, and handling, both in wet and dry conditions, for passenger vehicles, where a single design must excel in multiple scenarios.
Innovation Solution
The tyre tread features a sculptured external surface with sipes extending at low inclination angles (15-40 degrees) and chamfered areas, which enhance braking adherence and maintain stiffness, particularly by having larger chamfered regions at the outer sides and variable depth sipes to reduce tread involution during braking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If sipes are designed with traditional high inclination angles, then the tread structure maintains good stiffness, but braking adherence and traction performance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the inclination angle parameter of sipes from traditional high angles to low angles (specifically 15-40 degrees relative to the tread width direction), which fundamentally alters the sipe projection along the tread width direction and improves braking adherence while maintaining structural integrity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different chamfering depths at different locations - larger chamfered areas at outer sides of land portions and smaller chamfered areas in central parts, creating local quality variations that simultaneously improve braking performance and maintain central stiffness
2Strength
If chamfered areas are increased to reduce tread involution during braking, then braking performance improves, but tread stiffness in central regions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements non-uniform chamfering where outer sides of land portions have larger chamfered areas for reduced involution and improved braking, while central parts maintain smaller chamfered areas to preserve tread stiffness and structural stability during operation
Solution Approach 2:
The chamfered areas are designed asymmetrically with respect to depth and distribution, being larger at outer boundaries and smaller in central regions, which optimizes both braking performance and structural rigidity through asymmetric geometry
3Strength
If sipes extend at low inclination angles to improve braking adherence, then traction in wet conditions improves, but the edge-ingredient-effect increases causing potential instability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the inclination angle parameter within a specific range (15-40 degrees) to balance two competing effects: low enough to increase sipe projection for better braking adherence and traction, but controlled to prevent excessive edge-ingredient-effect that could cause instability
Solution Approach 2:
The combination of low inclination angle sipes with location-dependent chamfering creates local quality variations that enhance traction where needed while maintaining stability in critical regions
4Strength
If variable depth sipes are used to reduce tread involution, then braking adherence improves, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements variable depth sipes where the depth parameter changes along the sipe length, with different depths in different regions to reduce tread involution during braking while maintaining manufacturability through systematic depth variation
Solution Approach 2:
The sipes are segmented into different depth zones along their length, creating a stepped or graduated depth structure that reduces involution while being manufacturable through segmented mold cavity design
Data Source
AI summary
A tyre tread (1) having a sculptured external surface including see-through sipes (71, 72, 73) at an intermediate land region (4), wherein each of such sipes extends according to a straight line defining a low inclination angle (α, β, γ) with respect to a tread width direction (W), such sipes being also surrounded by respective chamfered areas (81, 82, 83) (FIG. 1).