Optimizing Tire Tread Patterns for Better Grip and Handling
38 patents in this list
Updated:
The art of tire design lies in crafting tread patterns that balance grip and handling across diverse conditions. Tires must maintain contact with the road, channel water effectively, and adapt to varying surfaces. This interplay of forces demands precision in tread design, where each groove and block plays a crucial role in performance.
Challenges emerge as engineers strive to optimize these patterns for different vehicles and environments. The task involves managing traction, minimizing noise, and ensuring durability while responding to the dynamic forces at play. Tire designers must consider factors like water evacuation, pressure distribution, and wear resistance.
This page explores a range of innovative tread designs detailed in recent patents, offering insights into asymmetric groove arrangements, hexagonal block configurations, and advanced sipe geometries. These designs aim to enhance grip, improve handling, and ensure consistent performance under various driving conditions.
1. Asymmetric Tire Tread with Differential Groove Arrangement for Inner and Outer Regions
QINGDAO DOUBLESTAR TIRE IND CO LTD, QINGDAO DOUBLESTAR TIRE INDUSTRIAL CO LTD, 2024
Asymmetric tire pattern for electric vehicles that balances braking, grip, stability and wear on both dry and wet roads. The pattern has optimized fine grooves on the blocks to improve performance for electric vehicles. The grooves are arranged differently on the inner and outer tread regions. The inner tread has more pitches for wet grip, while the outer tread has fewer pitches for quieter ride and stability. This balances wet performance, comfort, stability and wear on both dry and wet roads.
2. Tread Pattern with Alternating Hexagonal and Pentagonal Blocks and Protruding Transverse Groove Blocks for Radial Tires
DOUBLE COIN GROUP KUNLUN TYRE CO LTD, DOUBLE COIN GROUP XINJIANG KUNLUN TYRE CO LTD, 2024
A tread pattern design for all-steel load tubeless radial tires that provides good traction, wear resistance, and stone and water ejection performance. The pattern consists of nine equal-part segments with alternating hexagonal and pentagonal blocks in the center and sides, separated by longitudinal and transverse grooves. The transverse grooves have protruding blocks to improve stone and water ejection. This deep groove mixed pattern provides good drivability and wear resistance.
3. Tire Pattern with Zigzag, Stepped, and Linear Circumferential Grooves Featuring Z-Shaped and U-Shaped Connecting Grooves
Qingdao Double Star Tire Industrial Co., Ltd., QINGDAO DOUBLESTAR TIRE INDUSTRIAL CO LTD, 2023
A wear-resistant tire pattern with optimized groove geometry to improve traction, water drainage, and wear resistance. The pattern has three main grooves around the tire circumference: an outer zigzag groove, a stepped middle groove, and a linear inner groove. The stepped middle groove has a gradual change shape to prevent foreign matter accumulation. The inner middle block has a Z-shaped groove and a U-shaped groove that connect to the inner main groove via a steel sheet. This allows quick water drainage to improve wet traction. The groove geometry balances grip, drainage, and wear properties for improved tire performance.
4. Tire Tread Pattern with Helical Shoulder Features and Opposing Sloped Central Rib
CIE GENERALE DES ETABLISSEMENTS MICHELIN, COMPAGNIE GENERALE DES ETABLISSEMENTS MICHELIN, 2022
A non-directional tire tread pattern with reduced lateral tension under driving and braking torque while still maintaining good dry and snow traction. The pattern has a sloped lateral feature in the shoulder region that is generally helical and has a central rib with a sloped lateral feature sloped in the opposite direction. This angled tread design reduces lateral tension forces compared to a continuous rib pattern.
5. Tire Tread with Central Wide Rib and Symmetrical Side Blocks Featuring Circumferential and Transverse Grooves with Radial Steel Sheets
QINGDAO DOUBLE STAR TIRE INDUSTRY LTD CO, QINGDAO DOUBLE-STAR TIRE INDUSTRY LIMITED CO, 2022
A tire pattern with improved wet grip and wear resistance while maintaining low rolling resistance. The tire has a central wide rib flanked by symmetrical side blocks. The side blocks have circumferential grooves, shoulder thin grooves, and shoulder pattern blocks. Open shoulder transverse grooves separate the shoulder blocks. The shoulder blocks each have steel sheets with radians. This pattern provides a wiper-type flow groove in the middle block to quickly evacuate water. The radial steel sheets on the shoulders enhance wear resistance. The symmetrical layout reduces vibration and noise.
6. Tire Tread Pattern Featuring 3-Level Sipe Geometry with Hidden Voids and Interference Profiles
BRIDGESTONE EUROPE NV/SA, 2022
A tire tread pattern with enhanced 3-level sipe geometry that improves dry performance while maintaining wet/snow performance throughout the tire's life. The sipe design has hidden voids that mitigate the decrease in wet/snow grip during wear. The sipes have interference profiles and contact surfaces that allow rolling contact during dry conditions. This provides improved dry performance compared to conventional sipes that sacrifice dry grip for hidden voids. The contact surfaces prevent full sipe closure during wear, maintaining wet/snow performance.
7. Motorcycle Tire with Unique Tread Pattern Featuring Short Circumferential Grooves
PIRELLI, PIRELLI TYRE SPA, 2021
Motorcycle tire with improved grip and wear characteristics for sport touring bikes. The tire has a unique tread pattern with circumferential grooves that extend for shorter distances compared to the full circumference. This provides additional bite points on the road for acceleration traction, especially in low friction conditions. The shorter grooves in the middle of the tread prevent excessive wear during straight line and shallow turn driving.
8. Method for Designing Tire Tread Patterns Using Optimal Transverse Groove Angle Analysis
NEXEN TIRE CORP, 2021
A method for designing tire tread patterns that reduces hydroplaning and improves traction in curve sections. The method involves analyzing hydroplaning performance in curves, extracting the optimal transverse groove angle, and using that angle to design the tire tread pattern. This tailors the tire tread to minimize hydroplaning and provide better grip in curves.
9. Asymmetric Pneumatic Tire with Notched Shoulder Blocks, Narrow Grooved Central Blocks, and Protruded Circumferential Grooves
ANHUI GITI RADIAL TIRE CO LTD, 2021
High-control low-noise pneumatic tire with improved steering, noise, and durability compared to conventional tires. The tire has a unique tread pattern design that uses features like notches, narrow grooves, and convex bulges. The inner shoulder block has notches between central grooves. The outer central block has narrow transverse grooves. The circumferential grooves have protrusions with specific sizes and spacing. This asymmetric pattern reduces noise, improves steering, and prevents water trapping. The bulges in the wider grooves disperse noise. The notches and narrow grooves control steering and prevent water buildup. The protrusions in the circumferential grooves reinforce and disperse noise.
10. Tire Tread Profile with Outermost Tread Constraining Feature
CONTINENTAL REIFEN DEUTSCHLAND GMBH, 2020
A tire tread profile design that allows reducing the maximum lateral force capacity of the tire while maintaining good handling and traction. The design limits the lateral force capacity by constraining the outermost portion of the tread outside the contact patch. This prevents excessive lateral forces from overloading the tire and promotes stability in vehicles with narrow track widths. The tread profile has a regular inner section for handling and traction, but the outer section tapers off and extends beyond the normal tire footprint. This limits the lateral forces that can be transferred beyond the normal contact patch. It allows reducing the maximum lateral force capacity while maintaining normal handling and traction performance.
11. Tire Tread with Continuous Land Section and Axially Limited Grooves in Matrix Arrangement
SUMITOMO RUBBER IND, SUMITOMO RUBBER IND LTD, 2020
Tire with balanced grip, stability, and wear performance for racing applications. The tire has a tread with a continuous land section and small grooves extending axially less than 2.0mm. The grooves have edges in the land. Closest to the tire axis, the grooves are surrounded by adjacent small grooves arranged in a matrix. This configuration improves grip, stability, and wear compared to longer axial grooves or circferential-only small grooves.
12. Method for Determining Functional Relationships Between Tire Tread Pattern Parameters and Dynamic Water Lift Force
JIANGSU UNIVERSITY, UNIV JIANGSU, 2019
A method for designing tire tread patterns that improve aquaplaning resistance. The method involves determining relationships between specific tread pattern features and the dynamic water lift force that can occur during aquaplaning. By analyzing test data on tread patterns and water lift, functional relationships are established between pattern parameters like groove depth, width, and spacing, and the dynamic water lift force. These relationships can then be used to optimize tread design for reduced aquaplaning risk.
13. Tire Tread Pattern Design Method with Variable Rib Element Count for Noise Reduction
BRIDGESTONE FIRESTONE NORTH AMERICAN TIRE LLC, 2012
Design method for tire tread patterns that minimizes unwanted tire squeal while maintaining good traction and wear. The method involves balancing the number of tread elements in adjacent circumferential ribs to prevent unfavorable squeal when the tire contacts the road. By designing the tread with rib groupings having different numbers of elements, the ribs provide a pitch sequence that reduces single-frequency squeal. The method allows customizing tread patterns with specific spacing sequences for optimal noise and performance.
14. Tire Tread with Extended Ribs and Circumferential Grooves for Enhanced Rigidity and Water Evacuation
CONTINENTAL REIFEN DEUTSCHLAND, CONTINENTAL REIFEN DEUTSCHLAND GMBH, 2012
Tire tread design with reduced handling compromise between dry grip and aquaplaning resistance. The tread has extended tread ribs that are limited by circumferential grooves. This provides high rigidity and grip on dry roads while still absorbing and evacuating water for aquaplaning prevention. The extended ribs reduce the number of transverse grooves compared to traditional treads, which reduces softening and handling penalties. The circumferential grooves restrict rib width and spacing. This maintains rigidity while allowing water absorption through the ribs and additional circumferential grooves.
15. Asymmetric Tire Tread with Raised Elements Featuring Sub-Millimeter Incisions
COMPAGNIE GENERALE DES ETABLISSEMENTS MICHELIN, MICHELIN RECHERCHE ET TECHNIQUE S.A., 2012
Asymmetric tire tread design with enhanced grip and reduced noise. The tread has an asymmetric pattern with raised elements that have small, shallow incisions opening onto the rolling surface. This pattern repeats along the circumference. The incisions have width less than 1 mm and depth of at least 3 mm. The tread design aims to provide improved grip compared to traditional tread patterns while also reducing road noise. The specific incision density and pattern layout is optimized for grip and noise reduction.
16. Tire Tread Design with Blocks Featuring Axially Extending Internal Transverse Grooves with Sloped Internal Ends
CONTINENTAL REIFEN DEUTSCHLAND, CONTINENTAL REIFEN DEUTSCHLAND GMBH, 2011
A tire tread design with blocks having internal transverse grooves that extend axially along the tread. The internal ends of these grooves are located within the blocks. At the internal ends, the grooves have a slope edge between the tread periphery and groove bottom. This internal block feature provides improved traction and handling by preventing snow and mud from packing into the blocks and improving block-to-block contact on dry surfaces.
17. Pneumatic Vehicle Tire with Circumferential Belt System Featuring Profile Blocks with Sipes and Raised Edges
CONTINENTAL REIFEN DEUTSCHLAND, CONTINENTAL REIFEN DEUTSCHLAND GMBH, 2010
A pneumatic vehicle tire with improved wet grip performance while maintaining dry grip. The tire has a carcass with a belt system consisting of circumferential belts. The belts have profile blocks with sipes and raised edges. The sipes allow water evacuation, while the raised edges provide additional biting edges in wet conditions. The belt geometry is optimized to balance dry grip and wet traction. The belts have elevations that extend radially outward. This improves wet grip without compromising dry grip.
18. Pneumatic Radial Tire Tread Pattern with Edge Abrasion Suppression and Enhanced Water Evacuation Features
KUMHO TIRE CO INC, 2009
Heavy-duty pneumatic radial tire tread pattern design to improve durability, rain drainage, and curve stability while reducing uneven wear at the tire edges. The tread pattern has features to suppress edge abrasion, improve water evacuation, and enhance stability during curving. The design aims to overcome issues like erosion wear, reduced traction, and separation that arise from conventional heavy-duty tire tread patterns with large ground contact areas.
19. Ribbed Tread Pattern with Semi-Grooves for Heavy-Loaded Pneumatic Radial Tires
KUMHO TIRE CO INC, 2009
A tread pattern for heavy-loaded pneumatic radial tires that improves wear resistance and traction compared to conventional patterns. The pattern has a unique rib shape with semi-grooves between the main grooves. The semi-grooves have specific dimensions to balance traction and wear. The semi-groove extension height is 5-15 mm to prevent excessive wear while still allowing good traction. The semi-groove width is 1-5 mm to improve traction without reducing block rigidity. This pattern prevents abnormal wear between ribs and at the shoulders compared to conventional patterns.
20. Asymmetric Tread Pattern Tire with Off-Center Circumferential Main Groove and Equal Width Transverse Grooves
BRIDGESTONE CORP, 2006
Asymmetric tread pattern tire design that improves cornering and wear resistance on all road surfaces. The tire has a wide circumferential main groove off-center. The tread is divided into wider and narrower regions around the main groove. The negative (unloaded) tread width ratios are made equal in both regions. This optimizes grip and wear balance for cornering and uneven wear on dry, wet, snowy roads. The design features equal width transverse grooves between main groove and tread ends, matching side blocks widths, central block widths, and sipes in the wider region.
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