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US-12617242-B2 - Pneumatic tire

US12617242B2US 12617242 B2US12617242 B2US 12617242B2US-12617242-B2

Abstract

In a pneumatic tire including a decorative portion on an outer surface of a sidewall portion, the decorative portion includes a plurality of decorative elements arranged in a step-like manner along reference lines parallel to each other, each of the decorative elements forms a hexagon in which three regions forming a parallelogram are disposed sharing adjacent sides of the three regions, a plurality of ridges extending in the same direction is formed in each of the regions of each of the decorative elements, and inclination directions of the ridges are different from one another in the three regions forming each of the decorative elements.

Inventors

  • Makoto Ishii

Assignees

  • THE YOKOHAMA RUBBER CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20210624
Priority Date
20200624

Claims (10)

  1. 1 . A pneumatic tire, comprising a decorative portion on an outer surface of a sidewall portion, the decorative portion comprising a plurality of decorative elements arranged in a step-like manner along reference lines parallel to each other, each of the decorative elements forming a hexagon in which three regions forming a parallelogram are disposed sharing adjacent sides of the three regions, the parallelogram of the three regions including at least two different parallelogram shapes, a plurality of ridges extending in the same direction being formed in each of the regions of each of the decorative elements, and inclination directions of the ridges being different from one another in the three regions forming each of the decorative elements, wherein each of the regions of the decorative elements is separated by a boundary portion formed of a protrusion portion or a recess portion, the ridges in each of the regions of the decorative elements terminate at the boundary portion, and each of the regions of the decorative elements is separated by a boundary portion and the ridges in each of the regions of each of the decorative elements extends from the boundary portion on one side to a boundary portion on an opposite side.
  2. 2 . The pneumatic tire according to claim 1 , wherein an intersection angle between the ridges is from 30° to 90°.
  3. 3 . The pneumatic tire according to claim 1 , wherein a height of the ridges is from 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm.
  4. 4 . The pneumatic tire according to claim 1 , wherein a width of the boundary portion is from 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm.
  5. 5 . The pneumatic tire according to claim 4 , wherein a height or a depth of the boundary portion is from 0.1 mm to 0.5 mm.
  6. 6 . The pneumatic tire according to claim 1 , wherein a height or a depth of the boundary portion is from 0.1 mm to 0.5 mm.
  7. 7 . The pneumatic tire according to claim 1 , wherein one of the at least two different parallelogram shapes is a square.
  8. 8 . The pneumatic tire according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of ridges are disposed between boundary portions defining each of the regions.
  9. 9 . The pneumatic tire according to claim 1 , wherein in at least one of the regions, the plurality of ridges extend parallel to at least one of the boundary portions.
  10. 10 . A pneumatic tire, comprising a decorative portion on an outer surface of a sidewall portion, the decorative portion comprising a plurality of decorative elements arranged in a step-like manner along reference lines parallel to each other, each of the decorative elements forming a hexagon in which three regions forming a parallelogram are disposed sharing adjacent sides of the three regions, the parallelogram of the three regions including at least two different parallelogram shapes, a plurality of ridges extending in the same direction being formed in each of the regions of each of the decorative elements, and inclination directions of the ridges being different from one another in the three regions forming each of the decorative elements, wherein each of the regions of the decorative elements is separated by a boundary portion formed of a protrusion portion or a recess portion, the ridges in each of the regions of the decorative elements terminate at the boundary portion, and each of the regions of the decorative elements is separated by a boundary portion having a cross-sectional width greater than a cross-sectional width of an individual one of the ridges.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present technology relates to a pneumatic tire and particularly relates to a pneumatic tire that can provide inconspicuous unevenness of a sidewall portion, improved decorativeness and visibility of a sidewall portion, and reduced drawing time at the time of designing the tire. BACKGROUND ART To make unevenness of the sidewall portion inconspicuous, in a pneumatic tire, a serration formed of a large number of ridges is formed on a sidewall portion (see, for example, Japan Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013-035313 A and International Patent Publication No. WO 2018/162308). In disposing the serration on the sidewall portion, typically, the size and curvature of the serration is changed according to a tire size, and then the serration is annularly disposed along a tire circumferential direction. Unfortunately, such changes may take a large amount of drawing time at the time of designing the tire. SUMMARY The present technology provides a pneumatic tire that can provide inconspicuous unevenness of a sidewall portion, improved decorativeness and visibility of the sidewall portion, and reduced drawing time at the time of designing the tire. A pneumatic tire according to an embodiment of the present technology includes a decorative portion on an outer surface of a sidewall portion. In the pneumatic tire, the decorative portion includes a plurality of decorative elements arranged in a step-like manner along reference lines parallel to each other, each of the decorative elements forms a hexagon in which three regions forming a parallelogram are disposed sharing adjacent sides of the three regions, a plurality of ridges extending in the same direction is formed in each of the regions of each of the decorative elements, and inclination directions of the ridges are different from one another in the three regions forming each of the decorative elements. According to an embodiment of the present technology, in a pneumatic tire including a decorative portion on an outer surface of a sidewall portion, the decorative portion includes a plurality of decorative elements arranged in a step-like manner along reference lines parallel to each other, each of the decorative elements forms a hexagon in which three regions forming a parallelogram are disposed sharing adjacent sides of the three regions, a plurality of ridges extending in the same direction is formed in each of the regions of each of the decorative elements, and inclination directions of the ridges are different from one another in the three regions forming each of the decorative elements. This can improve poor appearance of the sidewall portion. In particular, the hexagonal decorative element has an optical illusion effect, allowing the decorativeness of the sidewall portion to be improved. In addition, a difference in contrast of light reflection caused by sparsity or density between the pattern portion in which the hexagonal decorative elements are gathered and a flat surface around a brand logo in the decorative portion increases attention to the sidewall portion and can improve the visibility of the sidewall portion (particularly the brand logo). Furthermore, since the plurality of decorative elements is arranged along the reference lines parallel to each other, changing the size and curvature of the decoration in accordance with the tire size is unnecessary unlike the related art, and the above-described effects can be sufficiently obtained without such changes. This can reduce drawing time of the sidewall portion at the time of designing the tire. In a pneumatic tire according to an embodiment of the present technology, preferably, each of the regions of the decorative elements is preferably separated by a boundary portion formed of a protrusion portion or a recess portion, and the ridges in each of the regions of the decorative elements terminate at the boundary portion. This clarifies the boundary between each of the regions of the decorative elements and can effectively improve the decorativeness and visibility of the sidewall portion. An intersection angle between the ridges is preferably from 30° to 90°. This can effectively improve the unevenness of the sidewall portion as well as the decorativeness and visibility of the sidewall portion. A height of the ridges is preferably from 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm. This can effectively improve the unevenness of the sidewall portion as well as the decorativeness and visibility of the sidewall portion. A width of the boundary portion is preferably from 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm. This can effectively improve the decorativeness and visibility of the sidewall portion. A height or a depth of the boundary portion is preferably from 0.1 mm to 0.5 mm. This can effectively improve the decorativeness and visibility of the sidewall portion. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view illustrating an example of a pneumatic tire according to an embodiment of the present technology. FIGS. 2A and 2B are enlarged sid