Method of estimating irregular wear of tires by recording an amount of wear of painted portions of the tire as image information at multiple regular time intervals
A method of estimating irregular wear of pneumatic tires, in which a deformable paint is coated on the tire tread surface in a regular manner. The wearing degree of the paint is recorded as a plurality of image information at regular time intervals, while running the tire under a loaded condition. A predetermined portion of the respective image information is divided into a number of pixels. Weights are applied to the respective pixels corresponding to painted potions, respectively, such that each weight is inversely proportional to the duration of time during which the paint has been worn. Wear information for the painted portion is converted into a wide range wear information which also covers the respective pixels for the non-painted portion, by calculating the wear level values of the respective pixels including the non-painted portion in view of the weight of the pixels and weights of the periphery pixels. The wear level values are mapped and the mapped information is used to estimate irregular wear occurring state on the tread surface.
To provide a method capable of easily analyzing frictional energy of a rolling tire, in-plane pressure Pxy(L) and vertical pressure Pz(L) at one point of a tread produced by rolling the tire are measured, static frictional force R(L) is calculated and the frictional energy is calculated by determining a portion corresponding to the static frictional force R(L) equal to or larger than a primary maximum value as a slipping region LR.
The temperature of the tread surface part of a tire is increased by running the tire in contact with a drum. The increase in the temperature of the tread surface part is due to the heat of friction between the tread surface part and the drum. Because large increases in temperature indicate that the friction is causing a large amount of wear, it is possible to forecast with ease the amount of wear of the tire from the increase in temperature of the tread surface part. The temperature of the tread surface part can be measured using a thermography machine, and the wear in the tread can be determined by looking at an image that shows the temperature.
A tire in which a tire manufacturer has determined the tractive capacity at numerous levels of tread wear, the tire having at least one visual warning indicator located at a tread depth corresponding to a percentage loss of tractive capacity. Also, a method of making the tire and a method improving traffic safety through use of such a tire combined with educating the consumer as to proper use of the tire.
