Innovations in Reducing Tire Noise

Tire tread design for improved noise performance and driving on unpaved roads. It has main grooves, shoulder lug grooves, center lug grooves, and connecting grooves. The center lug grooves extend across the main grooves in a zigzag pattern with alternating reaching the tire equator and terminating early. The center lug grooves are inclined at 45-70 degrees to the tire width. The connecting grooves connect the center lug grooves and are inclined in the opposite direction. This provides traction, drainage, and noise benefits on unpaved roads.

A tire noise damping device that reduces the noise generated by tires as they contact the road surface. The device is an internal foam damper that is inserted into the tire during manufacturing. The foam damper moves within the tire to reduce noise. The damper has a specific design with upper and lower tiers of foam blocks and voids that optimize noise reduction. The foam blocks contact the tire inner surface and the voids allow movement and flexibility. The foam is an open cell type that absorbs vibrations and sound. The damper design can vary in size and shape depending on the tire model.

Tire with improved cornering performance while suppressing deterioration of the noise performance compared to prior art. The tire has chamfered shoulder sipes that are shaped differently at each end. The shoulder sipes have chamfered edges instead of sharp edges which can lift and reduce grip when cornering. The chamfers have larger chamfer volume near the center of the tire and smaller chamfer volume at the tread edge. This provides optimized cornering grip and stability while avoiding excessive tread block movement and noise.

A tire design to improve braking performance without sacrificing noise performance. The tire has shoulder sipes with chamfered edges that gradually increase in chamfer volume from the shoulder to the tread. This allows the edges to flex and grip the road during braking without lifting, while reducing noise compared to conventional sipes.

Pneumatic tire having a reinforcing part inserted into grooves between the tread blocks in order to reduce noise produced when the tire contacts the road. The reinforcing part is a bent metal strip that acts as a resonator chamber within the groove.

A tire with asymmetrical mass distribution along its side portions to reduce noise without sacrificing handling performance. The tire has three points on each side portion - upper, bottom, and intermediate. By making the bottom side portion lighter on one side compared to the other side, the tire reduces dynamic torsional stiffness and improves noise performance. The location and weight of the bottom side portion are optimized to maintain handling performance while reducing noise.

A vehicle tire with improved steering stability, ride comfort and noise performance. The tire tread has designated mounting direction to the vehicle. It has main grooves and land portions dividing the tread. Middle land parts have lateral grooves traversing them completely. The grooves on one side are slightly curved. The other side has lateral grooves that don't traverse.

Passenger vehicle tire tread pattern that reduces noise while maintaining grip on wet and dry surfaces. The tread has central ribs with transverse cuts that are deep and wide or shallow and narrow. The lateral portions have cuts that are shallow and narrow. This combination reduces noise without reducing grip.

An apparatus and process for applying noise reducing elements to a vehicle tire without interfering with service areas used for electronic devices. The process uses a detection portion on a film attached to the inner tire surface to identify a reference position. This allows determining non-service areas on the inner tire surface where noise reducing elements can be applied. The film with detection portion is fed through an apparatus that applies noise reducing elements to those non-service areas.

Device to reduce noise from tires and wheels by attaching perforated sound absorbing panels to the inside surfaces of the tire and wheel. The panels are connected to the tire/wheel inner surface via sidewall sections, with a central panel section positioned away from the surface to form an enclosed inner volume. The panels have a majority of perforations to allow sound to enter the enclosed volume where it is absorbed. This reduces noise transmission from the tire/rim cavity.

An improved tire tread design that balances off-road performance, wet performance, and noise performance. The tire has four main grooves and land portions defined by the main grooves. The main grooves are formed in a step shape with circumferential extending portions at positions differing in the tire width direction. This step shape helps prevent rock damage.

A pneumatic tire designed to reduce interior vehicle noise. The tire includes a sound absorbing device adhered to the inner surface of the tread region. The device is made of spongy foam material. It has multiple foam strips separated by gaps. Adhesive beads secure the foam to the tire. The foam volume is 6-18% of the tire cavity volume. The foam configuration absorbs tire cavity resonance noise in the 180-250 Hz range. It improves interior noise without impacting tire performance.

A process and apparatus for applying noise-reducing elements to tires. The process involves aligning the elements along a feeding direction, compacting them together, and then adhering the compacted group to the tire. The apparatus has a device to adjust the alignment and a compactor to press the elements together. This allows precise positioning of the elements before adhering, even if they are made from materials with high friction.

Pneumatic tire with reduced tire noise and improved steering stability performance. The tire has a tread design with at least one circumferential main groove that is 15% or greater of the ground contact width. This reduces tire noise. The tire also has a carcass, belt layer, and tread rubber with specific configurations and hardnesses that improve steering stability.

A tire with a tread design having specific sipe angles to improve stability and noise performance. The tire has four circumferential grooves and five land portions. The middle land portion has angled sipes that cross the tire and the shoulder land portion has sipes that extend past the tread end. The shoulder sipes have inclined portions while the middle sipes are angled in the opposite direction. The maximum angle of the inclined shoulder sipe portions is not greater than the maximum angle of the middle sipes.

A tire with a tread design for improved steering stability and noise performance. The tire has five ribs with four circumferential grooves between them. Each rib has sipes but no grooves wider than 2.0 mm. The shoulder rib has sipes that extend beyond the edge of the tread. At least one of these sipes has an inclined portion that crosses the tread edge at a small angle.

A tire design that improves steering stability and noise performance. The tire has a tread with five land portions divided by four circumferential grooves. The middle land portion between the tire edges has sipes that traverse the land portion. These sipes have chamfered edges that widen from one side to the other. This design improves steering stability as the chamfered sipes resist deformation during cornering, while the widening chamfer reduces noise by breaking up sound waves.

Tire with improved wet steering stability, vehicle external noise resistance, and wear resistance in a well-balanced manner. The tire design includes grooves and lands arranged in a specific configuration for better wet traction, reduced noise, and longer wear life. The design uses four circumferential grooves with lands between. The lands have chamfered edges and narrow grooves extending circumferentially. This combination of features provides the desired balance of wet steering, noise resistance, and wear.

Tire with a tread design to provide improved noise performance while maintaining good handling. The tread has shoulder regions with a soft rubber layer of specific modulus to reduce tread vibration and noise. The shoulder rubber layer is softer than the rest of the tread. The center region has a thinner rubber layer to balance noise and handling. The tread also has cap ply reinforcement over the shoulders for strength. The combination of these features reduces tread noise without sacrificing handling.

Tire tread design that reduces noise while maintaining handling performance. The tread has compressible contact elements with voids open to the tread surface. These elements are located in the shoulder regions of the tread. The shoulder rubber layer has a lower storage modulus than the center region. This combination of compressible contact elements and softer shoulder rubber reduces tread excitation and noise while maintaining handling.