Pneumatic tyre

Abstract: A pneumatic tyre comprises a central longitudinal groove (3a) in a tread crown region (Cr) and an outer longitudinal groove (3b) in each tread shoulder region (Sh), the longitudinal grooves (3a,3b) are crossed by lateral grooves (4) to form crossings (6,10) and to define blocks (5a,5b) on each side of each longitudinal groove (3a,3b), the outer longitudinal grooves being provided near the crossings with tie-bars (7), the length (Tc) of each of which is 10 to 40 % of the average length (Bc) of the longitudinal edges of two blocks axially adjacent to the tie-bar (7), each length measured along the longitudinal groove. Preferably, the lateral grooves (4) in the crown region (Cr) are provided near the crossings with tie-bars (10), the length (Ta) of each of which is 10 to 40 % of the average length (Bc) of the lateral edges of two blocks circumferentially adjacent to the tie-bar (10), each length measured along the lateral groove.

Description: The present invention relates to a pneumatic tyre, more particularly to a tread portion improved in wear resistance, as recited in the preamble of claim 1. Such a tyre to known from EP 0 477 542 A. In pneumatic tyres provided with a block type tread pattern comprising a number of blocks, uneven wear, e.g. so called heel/toe wear, shoulder wear and the like is liable to occur. The heel/toe wear is an uneven wear between the heel and toe or the rear and front edges of the blocks. The shoulder wear is an uneven wear between the tread crown region and tread shoulder region, in which the wear is larger in the shoulder region than the crown region. Fig.4 shows the ground contacting area of a block pattern tyre which is viewed from the road surface, wherein the direction and magnitude of movement of tread rubber at various points (a)-(p) during travelling towards the direction S are indicated by a vector. In general, as shown in Fig.4, at the points b2 on the blocks located in the shoulder region, the tread rubber moves toward the tyre equator. However, at the points bl on the blocks in the crown region, the movements are in the circumferential direction rather than the axial direction. If the magnitude of movement is large, the wear is liable to become large. It is therefore, an object the present invention to provide a pneumatic tyre, in which uneven wear and wear resistance are effectively improved. According to one aspect of the present invention, a pneumatic tyre according to claim 1 is provided. Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings: Fig.1 is a developed plan view of an embodiment of the present invention; Fig.2(a) is a cross sectional view of taken along a line A-A of Fig.1; Fig.2(b) is a cross sectional view of taken along a line B-B of Fig.1; Fig.3 is a developed plan view of another embodiment of the present invention; and Fig.4 shows a ground contacting area of a block pattern tyre for explaining a typical movement of tread rubber. According to the present invention, a pneumatic tyre comprises a tread portion 2, a pair of axially spaced bead portions, and a pair of sidewall portions extending between the tread edges and the bead portions. Usually, the tyre is reinforced with a bead core disposed in each of the bead portions, a carcass ply extending between the bead portions through the tread portion and sidewall portions, and a belt disposed radially outside the carcass in the tread portion. Here, a tread is defined as a region between the tread edges E. The tread edges E are the axially outmost edges of the ground contacting area under standard loaded condition in which the tyre is mounted on its standard rim inflated to standard load and then loaded with standard load. The standard rim is the "standard rim" specified in JATMA, the "Measuring Rim" in ETRTO, the "Design Rim" in TRA or the like. The standard pressure is the "maximum air pressure" in JATMA, the "Inflation Pressure" in ETRTO, the maximum pressure given in the "Tyre Load Limits at Various Cold Inflation Pressures" table in TRA or the like. The standard load is the "maximum load capacity" in JATMA, the "Load Capacity" in ETRTO, the maximum value given in the above-mentioned table in TRA or the like. The tread portion 2 is provided with at least three longitudinal grooves extending continuously in the circumferential direction. The longitudinal grooves include a central longitudinal groove 3a disposed in a crown region Cr and an axially outer longitudinal groove 3b disposed in each of two shoulder regions Sh. The crown region Cr is a central third part of the tread with respect to the width in the axial direction, and each of the shoulder regions Sh is a third part of the tread on each side of the crown region Cr. The longitudinal grooves 3a and 3b preferably have a width in the range of from 2.5 to 7 % of the tread width or the width between the tread edges E. Each longitudinal groove 3a, 3b is crossed by lateral grooves 4 arranged at intervals in the circumferential direction so as to form a plurality of blocks 5a, 5b on each side of the longitudinal groove 3a, 3b and to form a plurality of crossings 6, 10 along the longitudinal groove. The lateral grooves 4 preferably have a width in the range of from 1.5 to 6% of the tread width. In the embodiments shown in Figs.1 and 3, the lateral grooves 4 extend continuously from one of the tread edges E to the other and are inclined with respect to the tyre axial direction towards the same direction to have, for example, a right side upward inclination. In each of the regions Cr and Sh, only one longitudinal groove 3a, 3b is disposed. The central longitudinal groove 3a in the crown region Cr is disposed on the tyre equator C. Therefore, the tread portion 2 is divided into axially inner blocks 5a between the central longitudinal groove 3a and the axially outer longitudinal grooves 3b, and axially outer blocks 5b between the axially outer longitudinal grooves 3b and the tread edges E. The longitudinal grooves 3a and 3b are each a straight groove. But, it is possible to use a combination of a straight groove and zigzag groove. Further, it is also possible to dispose two or more longitudinal grooves in one region. For the lateral grooves 4, a straight groove parallel with the tyre axial direction, a curved groove and the like may be used. According to the present invention, the longitudinal grooves 3b in the shoulder regions Sh are provided with tie-bars 7. Each tie-bar 7 is disposed in the neighbourhood 6a of one of the crossings 6 of the grooves 3b and 4, but not in the crossing 6 so as to connect the walls W of the axially adjacent two blocks 5a and 5b each other. The tie-bar 7 preferably has a length Tc in the range of from 10 to 40 %, more preferably 20 to 40 % of the average Bc of the lengths Bc1 and Bc2 of the longitudinal edges 9 of the axially adjacent two blocks 5a and 5b, each length measured along the longitudinal groove 3b. As shown in Fig.2(a), the height Th of the tie-bars 7 measured from the groove bottom 3d is preferably 50 to 100 %, more preferably 75 to 100 % of the depth Gd1 of the longitudinal groove 3b. If the length Tc of the tie-bar 7 is less than 10% of the average length Bc, the tie-bar 7 decreases in rigidity, and it becomes difficult to control a large axial movement of the blocks. If more than 40%, the volume of the longitudinal grooves 3b decreases, and wet performance is liable to deteriorate. If the height Th of the tie-bar 7 is less than 40% of the groove depth Gdl, it is difficult to control the axial movement of the axially outer blocks 5b. If the tie-bars 7 are disposed in the crossings 6 in the shoulder regions Sh and/or in the lateral grooves 4 in the shoulder regions Sh, the drainage decreases and wet performance deteriorates. If the tie-bars 7 are remote from the crossings 6, uneven wear increases. On the other hand, in the crown region Cr, tie-bars 12 are disposed in the lateral grooves 4. Each tie-bar 12 is disposed in the neighbourhood 11 of one of the crossings 10 of the grooves 3a and 4, but not in the crossing 10 so as to connect the walls of the circumferentially adjacent two blocks 5a each other. The tie-bar 12 preferably has a length Ta in the range of from 10 to 40 % of the average Ba of the lengths Ba1 and Ba2 of the lateral edges 13 of the circumferentially adjacent two blocks 5a, each length measured along the lateral groove 4. As shown in Fig.2(b), the height Th of the tie-bars 12 measure from the groove bottom 4d is preferably 50 to 100% of the depth Gd2 of the lateral groove 4. If the length Ta of the tie-bar 12 is less than 10% of the average length Ba, it becomes difficult to control circumferential movement of the blocks 5s. If more than 40%, wet performance deteriorates. If tie-bars are disposed in the longitudinal groove 3a in the crown region Cr, wet performance greatly deteriorates. With respect to the tie-bars 7 disposed in each of the longitudinal grooves 3b in the shoulder region Sh, the arrangement thereof is such that at least one, preferably not less than two, more preferably not less than three tie-bars 7 always exists in the ground contacting area during running. In the embodiments, between the circumferentially adjacent crossings 6, a pair of tie-bars 7A and 7B are disposed, each adjoining one of the crossings 6, and the edges 13 of the blocks 5a and 5b in the circumferential direction and one edge of the tie-bar 7 are aligned. It is preferable that two tie-bars 7A and 7B always exist in the ground contacting area during running. More preferably, two tie-bars are disposed on both sides of every crossing 6 as shown in Fig.3. If two or more longitudinal grooves are disposed in each shoulder region Sh, it may be possible to dispose tie-bars 7 only in the axially outmost longitudinal groove. With respect to the tie-bars 12 disposed adjacent to each longitudinal groove 3a in the crown region Cr, the arrangement thereof is such that at least one, preferably two or more tie-bars 12 always exists in the ground contacting area during running. More preferably, every crossing 10 is provided on each side thereof with a tie-bar 12 as shown in Fig.3. The tie-bars 7 prevent the blocks 5a and 5b, especially the axially outer blocks 5b, from moving in the axial direction, whereby the shoulder wear is effectively improved. The tie-bars 12 prevent the axially inner blocks 5a from moving in the circumferential direction, whereby heel/toe wear is effectively improved. By using the tie-bars 7 and tie-bars 12 together, the movements in all directions at the various points (a)-(p) as shown in Fig.4 can be effectively controlled. Thus, uneven wear such as heel/toe wear and shoulder wear can be effectively improved. The present invention can be suitably applied to pneumatic tyres for passenger cars comprising a radial carcass ply and a belt ply of high elastic modulus cords such as steel cords and the like. Comparison tests Test tyres of size 195/65R15 were made and evaluated on the following wear energy: Average wear energy at 16 points (a)-(p) shown in Fig.4; Shoulder/crown wear energy ratio, which is the ratio of wear energy (Ea+Eb+Eo+Ep) in shoulder region to wear energy (Eg+Eh+Ei+Ej) in crown region; and Toe/heel wear energy ratio, which is the ratio of wear energy (Eb+Ed) in a toe portion to wear energy (Ea+Ec) in a heel portion. Ea, Eb, Ec --- are the wear energy at the points (a), (b), (c) ---, respectively. Wear energy E = Share strain in X-direction X Rubber slip in X-direction + Share strain in Y-direction X Rubber slip in Y-direction The tread patterns were the same as Fig.3 except for tie-bars. The tie-bars 7 were disposed on both sides, in the circumferential direction, of every crossing 6. The tie-bars 12 were disposed on both sides, in the axial direction, of every crossing 10. The width of the longitudinal grooves 3a and 3b was 4 % of the tread width. The width of the lateral grooves 4 was 3 % of the tread width. The specifications and test results are shown in Table 1. Tyre Conv. Ex.1 Ex.2 Ex.3 Ex.4 Ex.5 Ex.6 Ex.7 Ref.1 Ex.8 Longitudinal grooves' Tie-bar Length Tc/Bc(%) 0 29 29 29 29 10 20 33 50 29 Height Th/Gd1(%) 0 100 75 50 25 100 100 100 100 100 Lateral grooves' Tie-bar Length Ta/Ba(%) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 29 Height Th/Gd2(%) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 100 Ave. wear energy (J/sq.m) 29.7 14.9 17.4 20.6 26.1 28.5 20.8 14.9 14.5 14.7 Sh/Cr wear energy ratio 0.6 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.7 Toe/Heel wear energy ratio 2.2 2 2.1 2.1 2.2 2.2 2.1 2 2 1.3 From the test results, it was confirmed that, in comparison with the Conventional tyre, the Example tyres were greatly decreased in average wear energy. By using the tie-bars 7 in the longitudinal-grooves and the tie-bars 12 in the lateral grooves together, the resistance to shoulder wear was improved by about 10 to 14 % in comparison with the tyres provided with the tie-bars 7 only. Further, when only the tie-bars 12 were provided, heel/toe wear became liable to occur on the blocks 5a in the crown region Cr. When tie-bars were disposed in only the lateral grooves in the shoulder regions, it was difficult to fully suppress the axial movement of the axially outer blocks.

Claims: A pneumatic tyre comprising a tread portion (2), said tread portion comprising a pair of shoulder regions (Sh) and a crown region (Cr) therebetween, each region provided with a longitudinal groove (3a, 3b) extending continuously in the tyre circumferential direction, said longitudinal groove (3a) being crossed by lateral grooves (4) to form crossings (6,10) and to define blocks (5a,5b) on each side of the longitudinal groove, wherein the longitudinal grooves (3b) in the shoulder regions (Sh) are provided near the crossings (6) with tie-bars (7), the length Tc of each of which is 10 to 40 % of the average length (Bc) of the longitudinal edges of two blocks (5a,5b) axially adjacent to the tie-bar (7), each length being measured along the longitudinal groove (3b), characterised in that the two shoulder regions (Sh) and the crown region (Cr) form three equiwidth regions and in that in the crown region (Cr), the longitudinal groove (3a) being a straight groove and not provided with a tie-bar, and the lateral grooves (4) being provided near the crossings (10) with tie-bars (12). A pneumatic tyre according to claim 1, characterised in that the tie-bars (7) in each of the longitudinal grooves in the shoulder regions (Sh) are arranged such that at least one tie-bar (7) always exists in the ground contacting area. A pneumatic tyre according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the tie-bars (7) are disposed on both sides, in the circumferential direction, of each of the crossings (6) in the shoulder regions (Sh). A pneumatic tyre according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterised in that the lateral grooves (4) in the crown region provided near the crossings with tie-bars (11,12), the length (Ta) of each of which is 10 to 40 % of the average length (Ba) of the lateral edges of two blocks (5a) circumferentially adjacent to the tie-bar, each length being measured along the lateral groove.

Inventors: MATSUURA SHINICHI, MATSUURA, SHINICHI
Applicants: SUMITOMO RUBBER IND, SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES LIMITED
Application year: 1999
Main classification: B60C11
IPC codes: B60C11