Claims
- 1. A method of improving steering performance robustness in a vehicle having a plurality of tire/wheel assemblies, including a number of front tire/wheel assemblies and a number of rear tire/wheel assemblies, each tire/wheel assembly comprising a tire mounted on a wheel, characterized by the step of:
imparting a controlled amount of stiffness non-uniformity to the tire in at least one of the tire/wheel assemblies.
- 2. Method, according to claim 1, further characterized by the step of:
selecting the at least one tire/wheel assembly from one or more of the front tire/wheel assemblies.
- 3. Method, according to claim 1, characterized by the step of:
combining the stiffness non-uniformity in the tire of the at least one tire/wheel assembly with a mass non-uniformity in the at least one tire/wheel assembly and/or with a dimensional non-uniformity in the at least one tire/wheel assembly.
- 4. Method, according to claim 1, further characterized by the step of:
statically and dynamically balancing all of the plurality of tire/wheel assemblies.
- 5. Method, according to claim 1, characterized by the steps of:
imparting the stiffness non-uniformity meridionally symmetrically about the equatorial plane of the tire; and correcting the tire with the stiffness non-uniformity to assure minimum lateral force variation.
- 6. Method, according to claim 1, characterized by:
imparting the stiffness non-uniformity with at least one tire sector having at least one heavy splice.
- 7. Method, according to claim 6, further characterized by the step of:
increasing the width W of each heavy splice sector, both to increase a localized excess mass, and to circumferentially lengthen a localized excess stiffness portion of the tire, thereby increasing both mass non-uniformity and stiffness non-uniformity.
- 8. Method, according to claim 1, characterized by:
imparting the stiffness non-uniformity with at least one extra fabric piece.
- 9. Method, according to claim 8, further characterized by the step of:
selecting the fabric width W′ and the fabric material to provide a desired amount of both mass and stiffness non-uniformities.
- 10. Method, according to claim 1, characterized by:
imparting the stiffness non-uniformity with at least one sector of a tire component having a different stiffness than the remainder of the tire component.
- 11. Method, according to claim 10, further characterized by:
imparting the different stiffness in at least one sector of an apex above each bead, causing stiffness non-uniformity in sidewalls of the tire.
- 12. Method, according to claim 10, further characterized by:
imparting the different stiffness in at least one sector of a tire tread having a pattern by varying the tread pattern.
- 13. A method of improving steering performance robustness in a vehicle having a plurality of tire/wheel assemblies, including a number of front tire/wheel assemblies and a number of rear tire/wheel assemblies, each tire/wheel assembly comprising a tire mounted on a wheel, characterized by the steps of:
imparting a controlled amount of radial force variation and/or tangential force variation to at least one of the tire/wheel assemblies by means of any combination of changes to the mass non-uniformity, dimensional non-uniformity, and stiffness non-uniformity of the at least one tire/wheel assembly; and minimizing lateral force variation in the at least one tire/wheel assembly.
- 14. Method, according to claim 13, characterized by the step of:
selecting the at least one tire/wheel assembly from one or more of the front tire/wheel assemblies.
- 15. Method, according to claim 13, further characterized by the step of:
statically and dynamically balancing all of the plurality of tire/wheel assemblies.
- 16. Method, according to claim 13, further characterized in that:
the combination of changes to the mass non-uniformity, dimensional non-uniformity, and stiffness non-uniformity is made to the tire of the at least one tire/wheel assembly.
- 17. Method, according to claim 13, further characterized in that:
the combination of changes to the mass non-uniformity, dimensional non-uniformity, and stiffness non-uniformity is made to the wheel of the at least one tire/wheel assembly.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application relates to applications entitled METHOD OF IMPROVING STEERING PERFORMANCE ROBUSTNESS UTILIZING MASS NON-UNIFORMITY IN TIRE/WHEEL, Attorney's Docket No. DN2000058USA; and METHOD OF IMPROVING STEERING PERFORMANCE ROBUSTNESS UTILIZING DIMENSIONAL NON-UNIFORMITY IN TIRE/WHEEL, Attorney's Docket No. DN2001103USA; both having a filing date concurrent with that of the present application.