Pneumatic Tire

• US 20200130419A1
• Filed: 03/15/2018
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2017
• Status: Active Application

• Current Assignee: Yokohama Rubber Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Yokohama Rubber Company Limited
• Inventors: Fukuda, Mina
• Application Number:
  US16/620,423
• Publication Number:
  US 20200130419A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 11/047 the groove bottom comprising stone trapping protection elements, e.g. ribs
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 11/1353 with special features of the groove bottom
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 2011/1361 with protrusions extending from the groove bottom

Abstract

A pneumatic tire rotatable around a tire rotation axis includes a tread portion provided with a circumferential main groove extending in a tire circumferential direction, and a projecting body provided on a groove bottom of the circumferential main groove and projecting outward from the groove bottom in a tire radial direction. The projecting body includes a first portion connected to the groove bottom and a second portion disposed outward from the first portion in the tire radial direction. In a tire lateral direction, a dimension of the first portion is W1 and a dimension of the second portion is W2, and a condition W1<W2 is satisfied.

Claims

1. A pneumatic tire rotatable around a tire rotation axis, the pneumatic tire comprising:

a tread portion provided with a circumferential main groove extending in a tire circumferential direction; and

a projecting body provided on a groove bottom of the circumferential main groove and projecting outward from the groove bottom in a tire radial direction, wherein

the projecting body includes a first portion connected to the groove bottom and a second portion disposed outward from the first portion in the tire radial direction, and

in a tire lateral direction, a dimension of the first portion is W1 and a dimension of the second portion is W2, and a condition W1<

W2 is satisfied.

2. The pneumatic tire according to claim 1, wherein

the second portion includes an end surface that is flat in a meridian cross-section extending through the tire rotation axis.

3. The pneumatic tire according to claim 1, wherein

the second portion includes a pair of leading edge portions that are adjacent in the tire lateral direction with a valley portion interposed between the leading edge portions.

4. The pneumatic tire according to claim 3, wherein

in the tire radial direction, a distance between the groove bottom and the valley portion is hb, a distance between the groove bottom and an opening of the circumferential main groove is H, and a condition 0.1≤

hb/H≤

0.5 is satisfied.

5. The pneumatic tire according to claim 3, wherein

in the tire lateral direction, a distance between a boundary between the groove bottom and the first portion and a groove wall of the circumferential main groove is d, a distance between the boundary and each of the leading edge portions is e, and a condition 0.50≤

e/d≤

0.95 is satisfied.

6. The pneumatic tire according to claim 3, wherein

in the tire lateral direction, a dimension of the first portion at a boundary between the first portion and the groove bottom is f, a dimension of an opening of the circumferential main groove is g, and a condition 0.1≤

f/g≤

0.8 is satisfied.

7. The pneumatic tire according to claim 3, wherein

in a meridian cross-section extending through the tire rotation axis, an angle formed between a first line connecting the valley portion and the each of the leading edge portions and a second line parallel to the tire rotation axis is θ

, and a condition 5°

≤

θ

≤

60°

is satisfied.

8. The pneumatic tire according to claim 1, wherein

the second portion includes, at a central portion in the tire lateral direction, a ridge portion projecting outward in the tire radial direction.

9. The pneumatic tire according to claim 1, wherein

the second portion includes overhang portions connected to the first portion via corner portions and protruding outward from the first portion in the tire lateral direction.

10. The pneumatic tire according to claim 1, wherein

a plurality of the circumferential main grooves are formed in the tire lateral direction, and

each one of the circumferential main grooves provided with the projecting body is the circumferential main groove located at a center of the tread portion in the tire lateral direction or one of the plurality of the circumferential main grooves that is located closest to the center of the tread portion in the tire lateral direction.

11. The pneumatic tire according to claim 4, wherein

in the tire lateral direction, a distance between a boundary between the groove bottom and the first portion and a groove wall of the circumferential main groove is d, a distance between the boundary and each of the leading edge portions is e, and a condition 0.50≤

e/d≤

0.95 is satisfied.

12. The pneumatic tire according to claim 11, wherein

in the tire lateral direction, a dimension of the first portion at the boundary between the first portion and the groove bottom is f, a dimension of an opening of the circumferential main groove is g, and a condition 0.1≤

f/g≤

0.8 is satisfied.

13. The pneumatic tire according to claim 12, wherein

in a meridian cross-section extending through the tire rotation axis, an angle formed between a first line connecting the valley portion and the each of the leading edge portions and a second line parallel to the tire rotation axis is θ

, and a condition 5°

≤

θ

≤

60°

is satisfied.

14. The pneumatic tire according to claim 13, wherein

a plurality of the circumferential main grooves are formed in the tire lateral direction, and

each one of the circumferential main grooves provided with the projecting body is the circumferential main groove located at a center of the tread portion in the tire lateral direction or one of the plurality of the circumferential main grooves that is located closest to the center of the tread portion in the tire lateral direction.