Tire with improved resistance to sidewall damage

1. A tire having a sidewall and improved protection against obstacles damaging the sidewall, the tire having an equator, an LPN, and an LPG, the tire also having tread blocks and tread grooves positioned along a shoulder of the tire, the tire comprising:

a plurality of block-based tread features located along the sidewall of the tire, each said block-based tread features positioned along the sidewall of the tire at a location that is radially-outward of the equator, radially below the LPN, and within a first area in which an obstacle would move along the sidewall of the tire if the obstacle slipped off a tread block as the tire moved past the obstacle; and

a plurality of groove-based tread features located along the sidewall of the tire, each said groove-based tread features positioned along the sidewall of the tire at a location that is radially above the LPN, radially below the LPG, and within a second area in which an obstacle would move along the sidewall of the tire if the obstacle slipped off a tread groove as the tire moved past the obstacle.

2. A tire having improved protection against obstacles damaging the sidewall as in claim 1 , wherein said groove-based tread features and said block-based tread features each have a thickness in the range of about 3 mm to about 15 mm.

3. A tire having improved protection against obstacles damaging the sidewall as in claim 1 , wherein said groove-based tread features are positioned closer to the tread blocks of the tire than said block-based features.

4. A tire having improved protection against obstacles damaging the sidewall as in claim 1 , wherein the position of each block-based tread feature along the sidewall of the tire is coextensive with a block-based contact region defined by the equator, LPN, and the first area.

5. A tire having improved protection against obstacles damaging the sidewall as in claim 1 , wherein the position of each groove-based tread feature along the sidewall of the tire is coextensive with a groove-based contact region defined by the LPN, LPG, and the second area.

6. A tire having improved protection against obstacles damaging the sidewall as in claim 1 , wherein the radial depth of each groove-based tread feature extends beyond LPN and the thickness of each groove-based tread feature is less than 3 mm.

7. A tire having improved protection against obstacles damaging the sidewall as in claim 1 , wherein the radial depth of each block-based tread feature extends beyond equator and the thickness of each block-based tread feature is less than 3 mm.

8. A tire having improved protection against obstacles damaging the sidewall as in claim 1 , wherein the distance along the radial direction between the top and the bottom of each groove-based tread feature is at least 10 mm.

9. A tire having improved protection against obstacles damaging the sidewall as in claim 1 , wherein the distance along the radial direction between the top and the bottom of each block-based feature is at least 10 mm.

10. A tire having improved protection against obstacles damaging the sidewall as in claim 1 , wherein said first area and said second area are determined using the following equations:

where:

R=radius of the tire

θ=the amount of the tire's rotation

L o =the initial horizontal position of the obstacle P0 relative to the tire center O

H o =the initial vertical position of the obstacle P0 relative to the tire center O

r=the radial coordinate of the obstacle

α=the angular coordinate of the obstacle.

11. A tire having improved protection against obstacles damaging the sidewall as in claim 1 , wherein said first area and said second area are determined experimentally.

12. A tire having improved protection against obstacles damaging the sidewall as in claim 1 , wherein said LPN and said LPG are determined experimentally.

13. A tire having improved protection against obstacles damaging the sidewall as in claim 1 , wherein said LPN and said LPG are determined by mathematical modeling.

14. A tire having improved protection against obstacles damaging the sidewall as in claim 1 , wherein said groove-based features and said block-based tread features are staggered along the circumferential direction of the sidewall.

15. A tire having improved protection against obstacles damaging the sidewall as in claim 1 , wherein said groove-based features and said block-based tread features have different thicknesses.

16. A tire having a sidewall and improved protection against obstacles damaging the sidewall, the tire defining a radial direction and having an equator, an LPN, and an LPG, the tire having tread blocks and tread grooves positioned along a shoulder of the tire, the tire comprising:

a plurality of block-based tread features located along the sidewall of the tire, each of said block-based features positioned radially below respective tread blocks located along the shoulder of the tire at a location that is radially above the equator, radially below the LPN, and within a first area in which an obstacle would move along the sidewall of the tire if the obstacle slipped off a respective tread block as the tire moved past the obstacle;

a plurality of groove-based tread features located along the sidewall of the tire, each of said groove-based features positioned radially below respective tread grooves located along the shoulder of the tire at a location radially that is radially above the LPN, radially below the LPG, and within a second area in which an obstacle would move along the sidewall of the tire if the obstacle slipped off a respective tread groove as the tire moved past the obstacle; and

wherein said groove-based tread features are positioned closer to the tread blocks of the tire than said block-based tread features.

17. A tire having improved protection against obstacles damaging the sidewall as in claim 16 , wherein the radial depth of each groove-based tread features extends radially below LPN.

18. A tire having improved protection against obstacles damaging the sidewall as in claim 17 , wherein the radial depth of each block-based tread feature extends radially above LPG.

19. A tire having improved protection against obstacles damaging the sidewall as in claim 18 , wherein said groove-based tread features and said block-based tread features are staggered along the sidewall of the tire.

20. A tire having improved protection against obstacles damaging the sidewall as in claim 16 , wherein each block-based feature has a top located at LPN and a bottom located at the equator.