Zigzag Tread Grooves for Heavy Duty Tire Wear and Drainage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Heavy duty tires, particularly those used for garbage trucks, face challenges in achieving both improved acceleration performance on dry and wet road surfaces while maintaining uneven wear resistance, as existing designs often compromise between drainage performance and wear resistance.
Innovation Solution
A tire design featuring a tread portion with a center main groove and outer main groove in a zigzag shape, along with lug grooves that intersect these, optimizing the ratios and phases of their lengths and angles to enhance both dry and wet acceleration performance while reducing uneven wear.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If block-patterned super low-aspect tires are used to improve drainage performance, then drainage performance is improved, but heel and toe wear (uneven wear) is easily generated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies curvature to the groove patterns by using zigzag-shaped center main grooves and arc-shaped lug grooves instead of straight lines. This curved geometry redistributes stress more evenly across the tread blocks during acceleration and deceleration, reducing the concentration of forces that cause heel and toe wear while maintaining effective drainage channels for water evacuation.
2Duration of action of stationary object
If rib pattern is used to ensure rigidity and suppress heel and toe wear, then uneven wear resistance is improved, but drainage performance and acceleration performance on wet road surfaces deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the tread pattern into multiple functional elements: zigzag-shaped center main grooves for structural rigidity, arc-shaped lug grooves for stress distribution, and strategically positioned lateral grooves for drainage. This segmentation allows each element to perform its specific function optimally while working together to prevent uneven wear and maintain drainage capability.
3Productivity
If ground contact area is increased to improve acceleration performance on dry road surfaces, then dry acceleration performance is improved, but groove area decreases resulting in poor acceleration performance on wet road surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different groove patterns and characteristics to different regions of the tread: the center main grooves with zigzag shapes provide rigidity and dry traction, while the lateral grooves and arc-shaped lug grooves in the outer regions enhance drainage and wet acceleration. This local differentiation allows the tire to optimize performance for both dry and wet conditions simultaneously.
Data Source
AI summary
A tire includes a tread portion that includes a center main groove, an outer main groove provided on an outer side in a tire width direction of the center main groove, and a lug groove extending in a direction intersecting with both main grooves. The center main groove has a zigzag shape in which a first linear portion and a second linear portion are alternately connected. The outer main groove has a zigzag shape in which a long linear portion and a short linear portion are alternately connected. The lug groove has a groove center line intersecting with the short linear portion in the zigzag shape of the outer main groove.