Background Art The invention is particularly applicable to the black sidewalls of rubber tires.

Manufacturers have for many years placed numerals, letters, characters or other designations hereinafter referred to generally as"indicia"upon the sidewalls of tires to enhance the appearance and marketability of their products. Such markings are described in U. S. Patent Nos. 4,198,744 and 4,823,856.

The subject matter of U. S. Patent No. 4,198,774, issued April 22,1980, was invented by Roberts and Lowther. The invention describes the use of lineal projections which are substantially straight, parallel, and of substantially identical cross-section to form indicium. An indicium is described as a letter or numeral or the like.

A latter issued patent of Mr. Charles W. Roberts, U. S.

Patent No. 4,823,856, issued April 25,1989, describes the use of serrated markings for the sidewall of a tire. The invention relates to a design of a substantially flat ungrooved portion surrounded by a serrated portion which includes a plurality of ribs separated by grooves. The combination of the flat design surrounded by a serrated band portion defines an indicium.

U. S. Patent No. 5,303,758 discloses the use of two or more distinctive patterns or ridges which create an unusual contrasting effect of light and shadow when viewed from an angular perspective of 60 or less.

The present invention employs the use of at least two distinctive design patterns which improves the visual appearance of an opaque article by increasing the visual contrast of the surfaces of articles. The invention is particularly well-suited for the sidewall of a tire, particularly a black sidewall tire.

The combination of design patterns in at least one embodiment of the invention, has the effect of making the sidewall markings boldly stand out when viewed from any angular perspective.

Summary of the Invention This invention relates to an opaque article having a surface with at least two distinctive design patterns, A and B.

Pattern A has a plurality of ridges (20) of similar cross- sectional shapes, each ridge (20) being substantially parallel to an adjacent ridge (20). Pattern B is superimposed over a portion of the design pattern A. Pattern B has a smooth surface (30) devoid of ridges forming an indicia.

In one embodiment, the article includes a third design pattern C. Pattern C has at least two parallel ridges (40) oriented similarly relative to the ridges (20) of pattern A.

In a preferred embodiment the opaque article is an elastomer containing a pigmented filler. The pigmented filler is carbon black. The article is a tire sidewall (12) wherein pattern A has substantially radially extending ridges (20) forming a decorative outline of surface (30) the indicia pattern B on the surface of the tire sidewall (12). Pattern B is superimposed over a portion of pattern A. Pattern B has a smooth surface (30) forming alpha-numeric markings outlined by pattern A.

In an alternative embodiment pattern A is superimposed over a large pattern B and both patterns A and B lie within a band of parallel ridges forming the pattern C.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the pattern A or the pattern B outlines the other pattern in a substantially uniform manner. The outlining creates a striking appearance.

When pattern B is superimposed over the larger pattern A having ridges the resultant indicia appears to stand out or project out from the sidewall when in fact the pattern B is generally in the same plane as the rest of the sidewall surfaces.

When the pattern A is superimposed over the smooth pattern B, pattern B being larger and outlining the pattern A, the indicia appears to be depressed into the sidewall (12) giving the illusion of a three dimensional appearance substantially greater than is the case.

In another embodiment this concept is used by stacking alternating series of patterns A and patterns B of substantially the same size but only partially overlaying the other pattern.

In this embodiment, the indicia appears to be stacked in a pronounced three dimensional form when in fact the patterns lie in substantially the same plane.

In these last two embodiments the use of pattern C creates a band of substantially parallel or radially extending ridges (40) enhance the visual effect.

Definitions "Axial"and"axially"are used herein to refer to lines or directions that are parallel to the axis of rotation of a tire.

"Circumferential"as used herein means lines forming or enclosing an arc, the arc being within a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the tire.

"Light deflection"means that as light strikes a surface, the reflected light is angularly directed relative to the angle of incidence of the light source yielding what appears to be a light absorbing characteristic to an observer who is positioned in general alignment which with light source.

"Light reflection"means that as light strikes an object, the reflected light is generally aligned with the angle of incidence yielding what appears to be a shiny or reflective characteristic to an observer who is positioned in general alignment with the light source.

"Radial"and"radially"are used to mean directions radially toward or away from the axis of rotation of the tire.

"Sidewall"means that outer portion of a tire between the tread and the bead.

"Tread"means that portion of the tire that comes into contact with the road under normal inflation and load.

Brief Description of the Drawings FIGURE 1 illustrates a side view of a tire (10) with a pattern A and pattern B shown on the sidewall (12) of the tire (10), pattern B being superimposed over pattern A.

FIGURE 2A is a cross-sectional view of the tire (10) of FIG. 1.

FIGURE 2B is a cross-sectional view of the patterns A and B.

FIGURE 3 is an side view of a tire with patterns, A, B and C, wherein pattern A is superimposed over pattern B, and both patterns A and B lie within a band formed by pattern C.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of patterns A, B and C taken from FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is an alternative embodiments of patterns A, B and C illustrating the use of a series of repeating patterns.

FIGURE 6 shows a prior art tire sidewall.

FIGURE 7 is an alternative embodiment of the repeating pattern of FIGURE 5.

Detailed Description of the Invention An opaque article made according to the invention is shown in FIGURE 1. A side view of a tire (10) with design patterns A and B, on the sidewall (12) of the tire (10) is illustrated in FIGURE 1.

In the preferred embodiment shown in exemplary FIGURE1, pattern A forms a wide decorative indicia outline comprised of ridges (20). The ridges (20) of pattern A each extend in a substantially radial direction. In the illustrated preferred embodiment, ridges (20) of pattern A extend equally in length

and have similar cross-sectional shapes. Each radially extending ridge (20) appears to be parallel to an adjacent ridge (20).

Design pattern B is illustrated in FIG. 1 superimposed over a portion of the larger design pattern A. Pattern B has a similarly flat or smooth surface (30) devoid of the ridges of pattern A, pattern A outlining pattern B. Pattern A forms a background for the pattern B markings.

FIGURE 2A illustrates a cross-sectional view of the tire (10) of FIGURE 1 taken along lines 2-2. The tire (10) has an axis of rotation (A/R), a pair of annular beads (14), carcass plies (16) wrapped around the annular beads (14), a tread (18) disposed over the carcass plies (15) in a crown area of the tire and sidewalls (12) disposed between the tread (18) and the beads (14). A sidewall (12) of the tire (10) has the design patterns A and B located on the exterior annular surface (13) of the sidewall. Near the bead region a secondary decorative band (15) is illustrated.

As shown in FIGURE 2B the ridges (20) of pattern A are preferably of trapezoidal shape which approximate a triangular cross-section. The bases of the trapezoidal cross-sections are ideally positioned very close or intersect such that pattern A exhibits minimal surfaces parallel to the tire sidewall (12).

The use of these trapezoidal cross-sections yield a generally light deflecting or non-reflective background when viewed from a perpendicular position relative to the sidewall (12).

The design pattern B as illustrated at FIG. 2B is smooth in shape approximating flat shapes. The ridges (20) of pattern A are spaced a sufficient distance to provide a light shadowing space outlining the flat light reflecting surface (30). The flat surfaces (30) yield a pattern B exhibiting a light contrasting appearance whereby the observer can readily distinguish the design patterns B which stand out when compared to the outlining background pattern A.

In FIGURE 3 an alternative embodiment tire sidewall according to the invention the first pattern A having parallel ridges is superimposed over the second pattern B having a flat surface, both pattern A and pattern B forming similar indicia.

The indicia of pattern A is smaller than the indicia of pattern B. Both patterns A and B are located within a third pattern C, pattern C having substantially parallel ridges (50) that arranged to form a wide circumferential band around the tire's sidewall. Preferably the patterns forming the larger indicia extend rather uniformly from the superimposed indicia of pattern A or pattern B. As shown, the letters or indicia are closely spaced the outlining pattern blend seamlessly into an adjacent letter, however, it is important that the resultant effect is that both adjacent letters are clearly discernable to the observer.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion, of pattern C taken from FIGURE 3. The ridge (40) of pattern C has an identical cross-section to those of the pattern A in the preferred embodiment as illustrated. The shape and size of the ridges (40) of design pattern C alternatively could be dissimilar. One of the primary functions of design pattern C is to provide a circumferential band for the overall sidewall design formed by the combination of patterns A, B and C. The pattern C also provides a means to improve venting of gases in the region of the sidewall during the molding of the tire.

FIGURE 4 also shows an enlarged cross-sectional view of pattern A taken from FIGURE 3. The view illustrates the trapezoidal ridges (20) of generally triangular cross-sectional shape. To facilitate molding and mold construction, the adjacent bases (22) may be spaced a distance (d) of less than 1\2 the height (h) of the ridge (20) and the space (d) should be less than 50% the width (w) of the base (22). This insures that the flat surface (23) formed by the spacing of the ridges (20) is minimized. The spaced distance (d) is effectively shadowed

by the adjacent ridges (20) insuring a light deflecting or non- reflective background. The ridges (20) may extend to a height of 0.45 mm from the sidewall and have a base (22) of 0.9 mm in width. In the preferred embodiment, each base (22) of ridge (20) is spaced a distance (d) of less than one half the width of the base. In the preferred embodiment the distance (d) was set at 0.3 mm. The very tip of the triangular shaped ridge (20) may be truncated in order to facilitate mold construction.

FIGURE 4 also shows an enlarged cross-sectional view of pattern B taken from FIGURE 3. The pattern A is superimposed over the generally flat surface (30) of pattern B which is outlined by the fine annular ridges (50). To enhance the visual appearance of the pattern B, it is preferred that the outline ridges (50) of pattern B extend outward from the surface of the sidewall. In the preferred embodiment, the ridges (50) of pattern B extend from the sidewall a distance of less than 1 mm.

The ridges (20,40) of pattern A and pattern C extend from the sidewall (12) of the tire (10) distances of less than 1 mm respectively. It is not considered essential that the ridges (40) of pattern C extend a distance less than the ridges (20) of pattern A. Pattern B, however, need not extend outwardly from the ridges (20) of pattern A in order to achieve the most striking visual appearance.

The invention, as described above has several distinct advantages in addition to improved appearance. The outlined pattern B indicias by a larger pattern A indicias are believed to be preferable to the use of a simple solid indicium because the use of multiple ridges of pattern A tend to highlight the indicia because the observer's attention is drawn to the contrasting appearance as illustrated in FIGURE 1.

A second benefit of the invention is that the intersection of the ridges (20) of pattern A with the annular ridges (50) of pattern B and the ridges (40) of pattern C provide improved venting of entrapped gases. The improved venting greatly

minimizes the occurrence of surface blemishes that occur as a result of entrapped gases during the molding process.

The visual appearance of the tire (10) is believed to be an improvement over currently available products. The design pattern B, when used to outline a smaller superimposed pattern A, yields a character having a dynamic visual impression. The wide decorative band formed by pattern C provides a background which enhances the characters formed by patterns A and B. The wide decorative band of C has changing light reflection characteristics as a function of tire position and the observer's perspective view. The ridges (20) of pattern A tend to deflect light at the top and bottom of the tire but exhibit a shiny appearance to the left or right while the flat surface (30) of pattern B is highly light reflective as shown in FIGURE 3.

It has been observed that a tire made according to the present invention has characters of unique visual appearance to the observer of the tire. In the particular, when the observer looks at the tire sidewall from any angular perspective relative to the tire, the characters of pattern A appear dark against the shiny or highly light reflective pattern B yielding a high contrast with the background. The pattern B appears light against the dark pattern A yielding an inverse contrast opposite to the light reflective appearance. This visual appearance adds to the unique aesthetic quality and appeal of this sidewall design because the sidewall lettering has a greatly enlarged dimensional appearance.

The prior art tires of the past were designed to maximize contrast by using a combination of protruding flat letters or outlined lettering on a flat background, striped letters on a flat background, or flat letters on a striped background. The use of flat lettering in combination with a striped outline background as described above achieves a novel contrast changing appearance heretofore unachieved in tire sidewall marking.

An interesting innovation of the invention is to have the indicia repeated in a repeated series of slightly overlapping indicia. As shown in FIGURES 5 and 6, a series of Eagle heads are shown one or more head having the ridged pattern A and one or more head having the substantially smooth flat surface of pattern B.

The resultant effect is an appearance of several Eagles flying in a formation. This feature is enhanced due to the three dimensional illusion created by the superimposing of the patterns A and patterns B.

To those consumers of tires, the efforts manufactures of tire go to get their products noticed is mostly unappreciated.

To those skilled in the art of tire design such features that enhance the readability of the indicia are very important and quite valuable.

The invention described above of outlining the black lettering with an contrasting surface of black lettering is a subtle but remarkably effective way of achieving a three dimensional illusion that makes the lettering appear to jump out or into the tire's sidewall. The inventor of the present invention found that the tire's lettering of the present invention are visually more readable than the prior art concepts of enhancing the appearance of black lettering on black tires.

In FIGURE 6, the prior art sidewall shows a serrated pattern for lettering. The letter size is the same as the pattern A of FIGURE 3. The prior art letters are spaced to maintain readability. In contrast the superimposed patterns A and B in either embodiment of the present invention within almost the same circumferential space is able to have the underlying larger letter pattern run together at adjacent letters while still being totally legible. Using only one pattern A or B of run together lettering would be almost impossible to read without the addition of the superimposed lettering. Furthermore, lettering of such large sizes was heretofore not very practical

because the resultant word with space between each letter would be wrapped around the majority of tire. Ideally, the tires name should fit within a 90° quadrant or less. This permits the tire sidewall to exhibit more information. The invention described above permits the use of large letters that can be easily fitted within the desired circumferential space of 90° or less.

In the preferred embodiment, the tire sidewall comprises an elastomer pigmented with carbon black. This sidewall is commonly called a blackwall tire. It is believed that the sidewall could be pigmented white, as in white sidewall tires, or any other color and still achieve the visual contrast effects as described above.

The application of these teachings, although highly adaptable to tire sidewalls, is not limited to such applications.

While certain representative embodiments and details have been shown for the purpose of illustrating the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in this art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.