Bridgestone Corporation

Railway Technical Research Institute

Bridgestone Corporation 10-1

Yukimasa Yamada

Kenichi Motomura

Hiroshi Ogawa

Hikaru Tansei

Mamoru Mamada

Masahiro Kuroda

Kazuhiro Oda

Hideyuki Takizawa

Masayoshi Azakami

In a tire for a levitation-type vehicle for supporting a load which varies depending upon a change in speed of the levitation-type vehicle at landing and during subsequent traveling thereof, a configuration of a crown and rigidity of the crown are set so as to have a ground-contact configuration in which, when a load of the levitation-type vehicle is equal to or less than 45% at its full load, a ratio of a ground-contact length of a pair of shoulders in a circumferential direction of the tire with respect to a ground-contact length, in the circumferential direction of the tire, of a central portion of the crown in the widthwise direction is 0.6.about.1.5. Accordingly, the tire for the levitation-type vehicle has a wide ground-contact area at an initial stage of landing and traveling.

Radial tire for levitation-type vehicle

A pneumatic tire comprising a tread divided into at least three ribs by at least two main wide grooves extending substantially in a circumferential direction of the tire, wherein a shoulder rib arranged at an outermost end portion of the tread is divided in an axial direction parallel to an axis of rotation of the tire into at least two shoulder rib portions; and between two adjacent shoulder rib portions of said at least two shoulder rib portions, an outer surface of an outer shoulder rib portion is radially inwardly disposed with respect to an extension line of an outer surface of an inner shoulder rib portion arranged inwardly of the outer rib portion. A plurality of sipes may be formed in the vicinity of an outer end of at least one shoulder rib portion other than an outermost shoulder rib portion. Further, a plurality of sipes are formed in the vicinities of outer ends of at least two rib portions other than an outermost rib portion, the quantity of siping being gradually reduced in the axial direction.

Pneumatic tire tread with divided shoulder

A pneumatic tire comprising a tread divided into at least three ribs by at least two main wide grooves substantially extending in a circumferential direction of the tire, wherein a shoulder rib of the ribs arranged at an outermost end portion of the tread is divided in an axial direction parallel to an axis of rotation of the tire into at least two rib portions; and between two adjacent rib portions of the rib portions, an inner end of an outer surface of an outer rib portion is connected through an outer surface of a circumferentially extending sloped portion to an outer end of an outer surface of an inner rib portion so that the outer end of the outer surface of the outer rib portion is lower than the inner end of the outer surface of the inner rib portion.

Pneumatic tire tread with recessed shoulder portion

Growing community of inventors

Kodaira, Japan

Yukimasa Yamada