JP6143341B2 - tire - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a tire provided with a rib groove in the outermost land portion in the tire width direction.

  In the tread portion of the tire, a plurality of land portions are generally defined by a plurality of main grooves extending in the tire circumferential direction, and a predetermined tread pattern is formed by various grooves. Moreover, in the tire used on a wet road surface, the performance (wet performance) of the tire on the wet road surface is important, and a tread pattern is set according to the wet performance. In relation to this wet performance, conventionally, a tire having a plurality of rib grooves on a shoulder rib (land portion) disposed at a ground contact end of a tread portion is known (see Patent Document 1).

  In the conventional tire described in Patent Document 1, the drainage performance of the land portion that affects the wet performance of the tire is ensured by draining through the plurality of lug grooves. However, since the plurality of lug grooves are formed up to the tread end across the land portion, the rigidity of the land portion may be reduced. If the rigidity of the land portion decreases, the steering stability performance of the tire may be affected. Therefore, with conventional tires, it is difficult to achieve both the wet performance and the steering stability performance and to obtain sufficient performance.

JP 2006-240592 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its purpose is to ensure the drainage performance and rigidity of the land portion arranged at the ground contact end of the tread portion, and achieve both the wet performance and the steering stability performance of the tire. It is to be.

The present invention has a plurality of main grooves extending in the tire circumferential direction, the tread portion is partitioned in the tire width direction to form a plurality of land portions including an outer land portion, the outer land portion includes a lug groove, and a tire positioned from the tire width direction inner ground contact edge of the tread portion to the tire width direction outside, the lug grooves, the tire width direction inner ground contact edge, the tread end located in the tire width direction outer side of the ground terminal The at least one lug groove formed on the outer land portion is intermittently arranged in the tire circumferential direction, the inner end portion in the tire width direction being inner than the ground contact end in the tire width direction and being narrower than the main groove. It is connected to the formed sub-groove so as to form an L-shaped groove, and the end on the outer side in the tire width direction is located on the outer side in the tire width direction with respect to the ground contact end and on the inner side in the tire width direction with respect to the tread end. Tire.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the drainage performance and rigidity of the land part arrange | positioned at the contact end of a tread part can be ensured, and the wet performance and steering stability performance of a tire can be made compatible.

It is a figure showing the section shape of the tire of this embodiment. It is a top view which shows the tread pattern of the tire of this embodiment.

An embodiment of a tire of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The tire of this embodiment is a pneumatic tire for vehicles (for example, for passenger cars), and is formed in a well-known structure with a general tire constituent member. That is, the tire includes a pair of bead cores, a carcass disposed between the pair of bead cores, a belt disposed on the outer peripheral side of the carcass, and a tread rubber having a predetermined tread pattern.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional shape of the tire 1 of the present embodiment, and schematically shows a cross section in the tire width direction (left-right direction in FIG. 1).
As illustrated, the tire 1 includes a pair of bead portions 2, a tread portion 3, and a pair of sidewall portions 4 positioned between the bead portion 2 and the tread portion 3. A tread pattern (not shown) of the tire 1 is mainly formed in the tread portion 3 between the pair of tread ends 5. The tread end 5 is an end portion on the outer side in the tire width direction of the tread portion 3, and is located at the boundary between the outer peripheral surface 6 and the side surface 7 on the outer surface of the tire 1.

The tire 1 is mounted on a rim and adjusted to a predetermined state in which it can run. When the vehicle equipped with the tire 1 travels on the road surface, the tread portion 3 comes into contact with the ground and the tire 1 rolls. At that time, a part of the outer peripheral surface of the tread portion 3 becomes a ground contact surface with respect to the road surface. The outer end of the tire 1 in the width direction of the tire is the grounding end 8, and the tread portion 3 between the pair of grounding ends 8 is grounded. The ground contact end 8 of the tread portion 3 is located on the inner side in the tire width direction from the tread end 5, and the tread portion 3 between the ground contact end 8 and the tread end 5 is located outside the ground contact surface when the tire 1 is stationary. To do.
Here, the “grounding end” means that the tire is mounted on the applicable rim, is filled with the specified air pressure, and the tire is placed on a flat plate in a vertical posture, and a load corresponding to the specified mass is applied. The side edge of the ground contact surface to the flat plate of the tire.

  FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a tread pattern of the tire 1 of the present embodiment, and schematically shows a part of the tire circumferential direction (vertical direction in FIG. 2). The tire rotation direction R shown in FIG. 2 is a direction in which the tire 1 rotates when the vehicle moves forward, and is designated corresponding to the tread pattern. The tire 1 is mounted on the vehicle such that the (IN) side is located on the inner side of the vehicle and the (OUT) side is located on the outer side of the vehicle.

  As illustrated, the tire 1 includes a plurality of circumferential grooves 10 to 14 extending in the tire circumferential direction, a plurality of land portions 20 to 24 formed along the tire circumferential direction, and a plurality of width-direction narrow grooves 30. 31 and a plurality of lug grooves 32, 33, 40. The circumferential grooves 10 to 14 include circumferential main grooves (referred to as main grooves) 10 to 13 and circumferential sub grooves (referred to as sub grooves) 14, and are formed linearly in the tread portion 3.

  A plurality of (here, four) main grooves 10 to 13 are continuously formed in the tire circumferential direction at predetermined positions separated in the tire width direction (left and right direction in FIG. 2). The tread portion 3 is partitioned in the tire width direction by the plurality of main grooves 10 to 13, and a plurality of (here, five) land portions 20 to 24 extending in the tire circumferential direction are formed. The land portions 20 to 24 are ribs (continuous land portions) continuously extending in the tire circumferential direction or block rows (intermittent land portions) composed of a plurality of blocks arranged in the tire circumferential direction. , 21, one intermediate land portion 22, and two outer land portions 23, 24.

  The central land portions 20 and 21 are ribs having a plurality of narrow grooves 30 and 31 in the width direction, and are located in the center portion of the tread portion 3 in the tire width direction. The width direction narrow grooves 30 and 31 are formed narrower than the main grooves 10 to 13 and are formed from the main grooves 12 and 13 toward the tire width direction. One end portions of the width direction narrow grooves 30 and 31 are connected to the main grooves 12 and 13, and the other end portions of the width direction narrow grooves 30 and 31 are located in the central land portions 20 and 21. The intermediate land portion 22 is a block row divided by a plurality of lug grooves 32, and is positioned between one central land portion 20 and one outer land portion 23. The lug groove 32 extends along the tire width direction and crosses the intermediate land portion 22.

  The outer land portions 23 and 24 are ribs having a plurality of lug grooves 33 and 40, and are located on the outermost side in the tire width direction among the plurality of land portions 20 to 24 of the tread portion 3. Further, the outer land portions 23 and 24 are arranged from the inner side in the tire width direction of the ground contact end 8 of the tread portion 3 to the outer side in the tire width direction. In the present embodiment, the outer land portions 23 and 24 are formed from the inner side in the tire width direction of the ground contact end 8 to at least the tread end 5 and are located in the shoulder portion of the tire 1.

  The lug grooves 33 and 40 are formed in the outer land portions 23 and 24 toward the outer side in the tire width direction so as to extend in a direction intersecting with the main grooves 10 and 13. Further, a lug groove 33 is formed in the one outer land portion 23 from the main groove 10 toward the grounding end 8. The end of the lug groove 33 on the inner side in the tire width direction is connected to the main groove 10, and the end of the lug groove 33 on the outer side in the tire width direction is located in the outer land portion 23. A sub-groove 14 and a lug groove 40 are formed in the other outer land portion 24.

  The sub-groove 14 is a circumferential narrow groove thinner than the main grooves 10 to 13, and is formed intermittently in the tire circumferential direction in the outer land portion 24. That is, the plurality of sub-grooves 14 are arranged at intervals along the tire circumferential direction, and a portion without a groove is provided between the sub-grooves 14. Further, in the outer land portion 24, the auxiliary groove 14 is formed between the ground contact end 8 and the main groove 13 so as to be located on the inner side in the tire width direction from the ground contact end 8 and to extend in the tire circumferential direction. The lug groove 40 is connected to the auxiliary groove 14, and the auxiliary groove 14 is connected to an end (inner end) 41 of the lug groove 40 on the inner side in the tire width direction.

  The lug groove 40 is formed from the inner side in the tire width direction of the ground contact end 8 toward the tread end 5 located on the outer side in the tire width direction of the ground contact end 8 and to a predetermined position between the ground contact end 8 and the tread end 5. It is formed. As a result, the end portion (outer end portion) 42 on the outer side in the tire width direction of the lug groove 40 is located on the outer side in the tire width direction with respect to the ground contact end 8 and on the inner side in the tire width direction with respect to the tread end 5. That is, the outer end portion 42 of the lug groove 40 is located between the ground contact end 8 and the tread end 5. On the other hand, the inner end 41 of the lug groove 40 is located on the inner side in the tire width direction than the ground contact end 8.

  In the present embodiment, the lug groove 40 is formed in the outer land portion 24 so as to incline from the auxiliary groove 14 (circumferential groove) toward the outer side in the tire width direction. Further, the width of the lug groove 40 is the narrowest at the inner end 41, gradually becomes wider toward the outer end 42, and becomes the largest at the outer end 42. The width and depth of the lug groove 40 are set according to the drainage performance required for the lug groove 40 on the basis of the width and depth of the main groove 13 that partitions the outer land portion 24. Specifically, the width of the lug groove 40 is in the range of 30 to 50% of the width of the main groove 13, and the depth of the lug groove 40 is in the range of 70 to 90% of the depth of the main groove 13. It is in.

  As the tire 1 is used, the tread portion 3 is worn and the lug groove 40 becomes shallow. In the tire 1, the lug groove 40 is formed so as to remain in the outer land portion 24 even when the tread portion 3 is worn to the use limit. In addition, as before the tread portion 3 is worn, after the tread portion 3 is worn, the outer end portion 42 of the lug groove 40 is on the outer side in the tire width direction from the ground contact end 8 and the tire width is larger than the tread end 5. Located inside the direction. Here, even after the tread portion 3 has been worn down to the height of the upper end of the tread wear indicator, the outer end portion 42 of the lug groove 40 is on the outer side in the tire width direction with respect to the ground end 8 and the tread end. It is located on the inner side in the tire width direction than 5. The treadwear indicator is defined in JATMA, and is provided in the tire 1 based on this rule.

  Here, when the outer end portion 42 of the lug groove 40 is located on the inner side in the tire width direction with respect to the ground contact end 8, the entire lug groove 40 including the outer end portion 42 is disposed in the ground contact surface. As a result, it becomes difficult to drain water out of the ground plane through the lug groove 40. On the other hand, in the tire 1, the outer end portion 42 is located on the outer side in the tire width direction with respect to the ground contact end 8, and thus a part of the lug groove 40 including the outer end portion 42 is disposed outside the ground contact surface. As a result, the water in the contact surface smoothly flows to the outside of the contact surface through the lug groove 40 and is surely drained to the outside in the tire width direction by the lug groove 40.

  Further, the lug groove 40 is not formed up to the tread end 5, and the outer end 42 of the lug groove 40 is located between the ground contact end 8 and the tread end 5. Therefore, the rigidity reduction of the outer land portion 24 can be suppressed, and for example, the rigidity of the outer land portion 24 can be increased as compared with the case where the lug groove 40 is formed up to the tread end 5. Therefore, in this embodiment, the drainage performance and rigidity of the outer land portion 24 arranged at the ground contact end 8 can be ensured, and sufficient both performances can be obtained. Accordingly, both the wet performance and the steering stability performance of the tire 1 can be achieved.

  When the width of the lug groove 40 is gradually increased toward the outer end portion 42, water smoothly flows in the lug groove 40 toward the outer end portion 42. Further, when the lug groove 40 is formed from the auxiliary groove 14 toward the outer side in the tire width direction, water smoothly flows from the auxiliary groove 14 through the lug groove 40 to the outside of the ground contact surface. Accordingly, the drainage performance of the outer land portion 24 can be improved. Since the outer end portion 42 of the lug groove 40 is located between the ground contact end 8 and the tread end 5 before and after the tread portion 3 is worn, the drainage by the lug groove 40 is performed until the tread portion 3 is worn. be able to.

  The lug groove 40 may be formed linearly along the tire width direction, or may be formed so as to be inclined or curved along the tire width direction. Further, both end portions 41 and 42 of the lug groove 40 may be positioned in the outer land portion 24 without connecting the lug groove 40 to the sub groove 14. The lug groove 40 may be formed from the main groove 13, and the inner end 41 of the lug groove 40 may be connected to the main groove 13. In the present embodiment, the lug groove 40 is formed in one outer land portion 24, but the lug groove 40 may be formed in the other outer land portion 23. The lug grooves 40 may be formed in both outer land portions 23 and 24.

  The secondary groove 14 may be formed continuously in the tire circumferential direction. However, when the auxiliary groove 14 is formed intermittently in the tire circumferential direction, the rigidity of the outer land portion 24 can be increased. On the other hand, the auxiliary groove 14 may not be formed in the outer land portion 24. In this case, the lug groove 40 may be connected to the main groove 13, and the lug groove 40 may not be connected to the main groove 13.

  As described above, the present invention has been described by taking a pneumatic tire as an example, but the present invention can also be applied to a tire filled with a gas other than air and other tires. Further, the tread portion 3 may be formed with sipes or grooves other than those described above.

(Tire test)
In order to confirm the effect of the present invention, the tire of the example corresponding to the tire 1 (referred to as a practical product) and the tires of two comparative examples (referred to as comparative products 1 and 2) were prepared. 2 were tested. The implementation product and the comparison products 1 and 2 were formed so that only the rib groove 40 was different. In the comparative product 1, the outer end 42 of the rib groove 40 is positioned on the inner side in the tire width direction than the ground contact end 8. In the comparative product 2, the outer end 42 of the rib groove 40 is positioned on the outer side in the tire width direction than the tread end 5.

The implementation product and the comparison products 1 and 2 are radial ply tires for passenger cars having a tire size 235 / 65R17 defined by JATMA YEAR BOOK (2012, Japan Automobile Tire Association Standard). The wet performance test and the steering stability performance test were performed under the same conditions using the implemented product and the comparative products 1 and 2.
Table 1 shows the test results. The test result is represented by an index with the comparative product 1 being 100, and the larger the value, the higher the performance.

The wet performance was 100 for the comparative product 1 and 111 for the comparative product 2 and 110 for the actual product. From this, it was found that the wet performance of the implemented product was higher than that of the comparative product 1 and equivalent to the comparative product 2.
The steering stability performance was 95 for the comparative product 2 and 100 for the actual product compared to 100 for the comparative product 1. From this, it was found that the steering stability performance of the implemented product was higher than that of the comparative product 2 and equivalent to the comparative product 1.
From the above results, it was proved that the present invention can achieve both the wet performance and the steering stability performance of the tire.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Tire, 2 ... Bead part, 3 ... Tread part, 4 ... Side wall part, 5 ... Tread edge, 6 ... Outer peripheral surface, 7 ... Side surface, 8 ..Grounding end, 10-13 ... main groove, 14 ... sub-groove, 20, 21 ... central land portion, 22 ... intermediate land portion, 23, 24 ... outer land portion, 30 , 31 ... width direction narrow groove, 32, 33, 40 ... lug groove, 41 ... inner end, 42 ... outer end.

Claims (3)

A plurality of main grooves extending in the tire circumferential direction divide the tread portion in the tire width direction to form a plurality of land portions including an outer land portion, the outer land portion includes a lug groove, and the tread portion is grounded. a tire positioned from the tire width direction inner end to the outer side in the tire width direction,
The lug groove is formed from the inner side in the tire width direction of the ground contact end toward the tread end located on the outer side in the tire width direction of the ground contact end,
At least one of the lug grooves provided in the outer land portion is an auxiliary groove formed by intermittently forming the end portion in the tire width direction on the inner side in the tire width direction with respect to the ground contact end in the tire circumferential direction narrower than the main groove. Are connected so as to form an L-shaped groove, and the end portion on the outer side in the tire width direction is located on the outer side in the tire width direction with respect to the ground contact end and on the inner side in the tire width direction with respect to the tread end. In the tire according to claim 1,
The outer edge of the lug groove in the tire width direction is the tire width direction outer side from the ground contact end and the tire from the tread end even after the tread surface wears up to the height of the upper end of the tread wear indicator. A tire located inside in the width direction. In the tire according to claim 1 or 2,
A tire in which the width of the lug groove gradually increases toward the outer end in the tire width direction.

Images