F - Mech Eng,Light,Heat,Weapons – 16 – F
Patent
F - Mech Eng,Light,Heat,Weapons
16
F
F16F 15/20 (2006.01) B06B 1/16 (2006.01) B60C 9/00 (2006.01) F16F 15/32 (2006.01)
Patent
CA 2392321
The invention relates to methods for improving vehicle steering performance and robustness of that performance through control of non-uniformities in the vehicle's tires, wheels and tire/wheel assemblies as a way to overcome the tendency of many vehicle types to undergo "steering performance loss." While minimizing lateral force variations (e. g. , couple imbalance), a controlled amount of radial and/or tangential force variation is induced in one or more tire/wheel assemblies by means of mass non- uniformity, dimensional non-uniformity, and/or stiffness non-uniformity. For mass non- uniformity, the preferred method includes imparting a controlled amount of excess mass to tires, especially in the tread region, by means, for example, of a heavy splice, an extra fabric piece, or a sector of a tire component having excess mass. The excess mass is meridionally symmetric so as to induce static but not couple imbalance, thereby imparting a "residual static imbalance" (RSI) to -the tire. Beneficial tangential and/or radial force variations will result in the use of such a tire, even if the tire/wheel assembly is balanced by weights added to the wheel. A method of determining steering performance robustness for a vehicle/wheel/tire construction combination comprises conducting a series of steering performance tests of the vehicle, wherein at least one of the tire/wheel assemblies has its balance condition changed for each test through a progression of values from values favorable to steering performance (e. g., RSI), through neutral values (balanced), to values unfavorable to steering performance (e.g., couple imbalance).
Croissant Bernard
Koeune Thierry
Kunsch Romain
Michel Edouard
Sim & Mcburney
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
LandOfFree
Method of improving steering performance robustness... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Method of improving steering performance robustness..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method of improving steering performance robustness... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFCA-PAI-O-1624472