Winter Tire Tread Bar Notch Geometry for Stiffness Uniformity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Pneumatic vehicle tires designed for winter driving conditions face issues with uneven tread wear and varying circumferential stiffness due to incisions, leading to impaired dry driving behavior and snow performance.
Innovation Solution
The incisions in the tread blocks are angled relative to the tread block edges, with deeper and shallower edge sections arranged to compensate for differences in circumferential stiffness, ensuring even edge formation and improved snow performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If incisions are made in tread blocks to reduce stiffness and improve dry driving behavior, then circumferential stiffness is reduced, but uneven wear and varying circumferential stiffness occur leading to impaired snow performance
Solution Approach 1:
The incisions are designed with varying depths at different locations within the tread block. The first incision has a first depth and the second incision has a second depth that is different from the first depth. This local variation in incision depth creates different local stiffness characteristics within the tread block, allowing optimization for both dry driving behavior and snow performance without uniform compromise.
Solution Approach 2:
The incisions are arranged asymmetrically within the tread block structure. The first incision and second incision are positioned at different locations and have different depths, creating an asymmetric pattern that compensates for the natural stiffness variations in the tread block. This asymmetric design helps equalize the overall circumferential stiffness while maintaining the benefits of incisions for dry driving.
2Stability of the object's composition
If edge sections of incisions are made shallower to reduce stiffness variation, then circumferential stiffness becomes more uniform, but uneven wear occurs with crowned wear patterns
Solution Approach 1:
Different regions of the tread block have different incision depths tailored to their specific functional requirements. The first incision with its first depth addresses stiffness uniformity in one region, while the second incision with its second depth addresses wear uniformity in another region. This localized differentiation resolves the contradiction between stiffness uniformity and wear uniformity.
Solution Approach 2:
The incision depth parameter is varied across different incisions within the tread block. By changing the depth parameter from the first depth to the second depth between adjacent incisions, the design optimizes both circumferential stiffness uniformity and wear uniformity simultaneously, preventing crowned wear while maintaining stiffness consistency.
3Ease of manufacture
If incisions run parallel to tread block edges, then manufacturing is simplified, but circumferential rigidity varies across tread block width affecting edge formation
Solution Approach 1:
The incisions are positioned at specific local locations within the tread block rather than uniformly distributed. The first incision and second incision are placed at different positions with different depths, creating local stiffness modifications that compensate for the overall circumferential rigidity variations, achieving uniformity despite simplified parallel positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
While the incisions may run parallel for ease of manufacture, their asymmetric positioning and different depths create a balanced stiffness distribution. The asymmetric depth configuration compensates for the symmetric parallel arrangement, maintaining circumferential rigidity uniformity without complex incision paths.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a vehicle tire, in particular for use in winter driving conditions, comprising a tire tread having at least one tread bar row (2) extending all-round in a circumferential direction, the tread bars (4) thereof having tread bar edges (4b) which delimit transverse grooves (6) which separate the individual tread bars (4) from each other within the tread bar row (2), wherein the tread bars (4) each have at least two at least substantially parallel notches (7), the extensions of which in the respective tread bar (4) are oriented on the basis of the progression of the tread bar edges (4b) delimiting the transverse grooves (6) and which notches (7) have a center section and two edge sections, wherein the center section is the deepest and longest section and the two edge sections have differing depths. At least the center section (7b) of those notches (7) which run adjacent to the tread bar edges (4b) that delimit the transverse grooves (6) include an acute angle with said tread bar edge (4b), wherein the edge section having a lower depth connects to the end of the center section which has the smaller distance to the adjacent tread bar edge (4b, 4'b).