Pneumatic Tyre Tread Sipes and Groove Elements for Noise and Wet Braking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Pneumatic tires face a challenge in improving noise performance while maintaining wet braking performance, as existing designs often compromise on one aspect at the expense of the other.
Innovation Solution
The tire design incorporates specific sipe and groove configurations on the tread portion, including sipes less than 1.5 mm wide and groove elements equal to or more than 1.5 mm wide, with lengths not exceeding 15% of the tread's axial width, and a unique arrangement of these features to mitigate stiffness and enhance water discharge, along with a specialized tire mold for manufacturing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If shoulder lateral grooves and sipes are extended to improve wet braking performance, then braking performance on wet road conditions is improved, but noise performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by differentiating the functions of sipes and groove elements based on their dimensions and positions. Sipes with width less than 1.5 mm are optimized for water discharge to improve wet braking, while groove elements with width 1.5 mm or more and limited length (≤15% of land portion width) are designed to reduce noise. This localized functional differentiation resolves the contradiction by assigning different geometric properties to different features in the same land portion.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the water discharge function into two distinct components: sipes (narrow features <1.5 mm) for primary water evacuation and groove elements (wider features ≥1.5 mm) for noise reduction. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently - sipes for braking performance and groove elements for noise control - thereby resolving the trade-off between wet braking and noise performance.
2Strength
If the land portion is made stiffer to maintain structural integrity, then strength is improved, but impact noise increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of groove elements (width ≥1.5 mm, length ≤15% of land portion maximum width) to create features that reduce impact noise without significantly compromising structural strength. The controlled dimensions ensure that while the land portion maintains adequate stiffness for strength, the groove elements provide noise reduction by disrupting vibration patterns and reducing contact stiffness locally.
Data Source
AI summary
A pneumatic tyre includes a tread portion being provided with a land portion divided by a main groove extending continuously in a tyre circumferential direction. The land portion is provided with two or more sipes having a width less than 1.5 mm on a ground contacting surface of the land portion and two or more groove elements having a width equal to or more than 1.5 mm on the ground contacting surface. Lengths in a tyre axial direction of the groove elements are equal to or less than 15% of a maximum width in the tyre axial direction of the ground contacting surface of the land portion, and at least one of the sipes is in communication with one of the groove elements.