Hankook Tire Co., Ltd.

Hankook Tire & Technology Co., Ltd

Sang Tak Joo

Sung Hee Youn

Su Jin Son

Sang Moo Lee

Mu Yeong Kim

Myoung Joong Lee

Min Su Jang

Jin Gyu Nho

Jin Seop Kim

Tire tread

Disclosed herein is a kerf of a winter tire capable of easily discharging snow therefrom and further improving braking performance and drainage performance on a wet road. The kerf includes a kerf inlet portion formed in the shape of a sawtooth-type zigzag wave in a block of one of a tread and a shoulder of the tire in the circumferential direction of the tire, a pipe-shaped flow passage portion formed in a lower portion of the block and having a width that is greater than or equal to the width of the kerf inlet portion, and a connection channel for connecting the kerf inlet portion and the flow passage portion to each other. The sawtooth-type zigzag wave has an amplitude that gradually decreases in the depth direction of the block, and the connection channel has a width that gradually decreases from the kerf inlet portion to the flow passage portion.

Kerf of winter tire

A tread kerf of a snow tire is capable of securing the performance of the tire on a dry road, a wet road, a snowy road, and an icy road, maintaining uniform rigidity of the block, and improving wear resistance. The tread kerf is formed in the outer surface of a tread block of the snow tire in a depth direction of the block in a shape of a polygonal wave extending along the outer surface of the block, wherein the entrance distance of the polygonal wave is less than the bottom distance of the polygonal wave such that side surfaces between the entrance and the bottom of the polygonal wave are formed as inclined surfaces, the distance between which decreases toward the entrance. The polygonal wave is moved in an advancing direction of the polygonal wave while being twisted in the depth direction of the block.

Tread kerf of snow tire

A pneumatic tire for a vehicle is herein disclosed. The pneumatic tire includes a tread, side walls, and beads. A plurality of tread blocks and grooves are formed in the tread. Kerfs are formed in the tread blocks. Each kerf face of each of the kerfs includes a flange portion, a plurality of concave kerf portions, and a plurality of convex kerf portions. The flange portion is formed in the outermost portion of the tread. The concave kerf and convex kerf portions are connected to the flange portion, and are alternately formed in depth and lengthwise directions of the kerf. The concave kerf portions correspond to opposite convex kerf portions. The convex kerf portions correspond to opposite concave kerf portions. The concave and convex kerf portions are configured such that the protrusion directions of the concave and convex kerf portions are opposite to each other.

Pneumatic tire for vehicle

The present invention relates to a kerf structure for a snow tire, including a wave-shaped straight portion and an expansion portion formed expanding from the straight portion, wherein the expansion portion includes unit structures, on each of which central semi-sphere holes and polygonal forms around the semi-sphere holes form protrusions in opposite directions are formed continuously. According to the present invention, the kerf structure for a snow tire provides a symmetric shape, thereby securing uniform block rigidity regardless of the direction of the kerf, and the interlocking effect can be maximized through the combination of the protrusion shape of the polygonal shape and the embossing of the semi-sphere hole. In addition, according to the present invention, the tire performance on dry roads can be ensured by optimizing the collapse of the tire tread portion and the uniform performance of the traction can be maintained until the last stages of tread wear since the polygonal shape is maintained until the last stage of the wear even though the tire is worn.

Kerf structure for snow tire

The present invention provides a kerf structure for a snow tire, including unit structures on each of which spiral-shaped protrusions are continuously formed to be spaced a predetermined distance apart on the outer circumferential surface of a semi-cylindrical shaped column, wherein the continuously formed unit structures are arranged by alternating convex and concave portions in a zigzag formation, which is capable of optimizing the rigidity which can maintain gripping force as an original function of a kerf while ensuring a friction force generated from small blocks of a tread portion partitioned with kerfs by collapsing a block at an optimum level and further ensuring the kerf function on snow even in the last stages of tread wear by lowering the rigidity of the blocks of the tread portion.

Growing community of inventors

Daejeon, South Korea

Sang Tak Joo