Patent Application
20130292024
The present invention relates a pneumatic tire and a solid tire that are improved to have a display part, which is provided on a tire side portion by means of printing and painting, less susceptible to dirt and damage, so as to effectively protect the display part.
A display part having emblems such as characters and symbols or a decorative band such as a color line, which are disposed on a tire side portion, has been applied by means of printing or painting, application of a decorated sticker, or by means of a color rubber disposed as being embedded, so as to enhance the visibility of the display and to improve the decorativity of the tire. When the aforementioned tire is mounted on a vehicle and driven, the side portion of the tire is rubbed against a curb or the like, leading to damage caused to the display part or peeling off of the display. In view of this, there has been proposed, as in disclosed in Patent Literature 1 for example, a method of using ink containing a binder suited for a rubber material of a desired display region, to thereby improve the durability of the display part.
PTL 1: JP 2000-510191 A
Meanwhile, in the case of using different types of ink depending on the rubber material of the display part for the purpose of improving display performance, there is a need to provide various types of ink in advance correspondingly to the types of the rubber materials of the display site and to have the ink stored and managed. In a method of applying a sticker or the like as the display part, there is no need to newly select a sticker according to the change in rubber material, but there remains a fear that the sticker will come off relatively easily when rubbed against a curb or the like during use.
On the other hand, the display part formed of a color rubber disposed as being embedded in the side portion exhibits relatively high strength against the rubbing of a curb or the like. However, the display part thus formed becomes relatively monotonous in color. Further, even a case of applying a sticker as the display part, which offers comparatively greater flexibility in decorativity, still falls short of satisfying the demand for higher decorativity, and thus, there has been made not so much difference from other tires to take enough advantage thereof.
Therefore, there has been a strong demand for a tire that has high decorativity while being highly resistant to dirt and damages.
An object of the present invention is to provide a tire with increased visibility of a display part of the tire, which is also improved in decorativity of the tire, and further, to provide a tire capable of making the display part less susceptible to dirt and damages to thereby maintain good appearance of the display part over a long period.
A tire according to the present invention includes, on a tire side portion, a display part having at least one of an emblem and a decorative band,
in which the emblem and the decorative band each are formed by means of any one of printing, painting, a sticker, and exposure of a color rubber; and
in which the tire side portion has a projection formed in an area adjacent to the display part, the projection being formed as protruding from a surface of the display part while extending along the display part.
Here, in the present invention, the “emblem” may be formed of one type of characters, symbols, patterns, and graphics, or may be formed of at least two types thereof. Further, the term “decorative band” refers to a line-shaped region that is formed different from the tire side portion therearound in terms of sectional shape, pattern, color, and the like.
The projection may preferably be adapted to surround the display part.
Further, the projection may preferably be formed as an elongated protrusion extending at least one of radially inside and outside of the display part.
Still further, the projection may preferably be formed as two elongated protrusions extending both radially inside and outside across the display part therebetween.
Meanwhile, the projection may preferably be triangular, trapezoidal, or semicircular in section along a tire meridian.
Here, the side portion includes a spew, and the spew may preferably be formed on the projection, avoiding the display part.
The decorative band may preferably be in a convex shape having a pair of side surfaces radially inside and outside; and the pair of side surfaces each may preferably have colored parts formed thereon, the colored parts being different from each other in color.
Further, the decorative band may preferably be triangular or rectangular in section along a tire meridian.
Then, the decorative band may preferably extend along a tire circumferential direction.
Further, the emblem may preferably be disposed as being adjacent to the decorative band.
The decorative band herein may also be configured to have a protrusion protrudingly formed on an outer surface of the tire side portion or a depression formed as being depressed in the outer surface; and the protrusion or the depression may preferably have, on an outer surface thereof, a colored part that is different in color from surrounding rubber.
The protrusion or the depression may preferably have a surface shape formed in an arc-shaped cross section; and the surface thus raised or depressed may preferably have a curvature radius in a tire meridian section smaller than a curvature radius in the tire meridian section of the tire side portion.
The decorative band may preferably have an inclined surface that produces a difference in height relative to the tire side portion therearound, and the colored part different from surrounding rubber in color may preferably have edges thereof disposed on the inclined surface.
Then, the inclined surface may preferably be a side surface of the protrusion protrudingly formed on the outer surface of the tire side portion.
In a tire including, on a tire side portion, a projection protruding from a display part, even when the display part has its surroundings rubbed against a curb or the like during the use of the tire, the projection is brought into contact with the curb ahead of the display part, to thereby effectively protect the display part against damages.
Further, in the case where the display part is surrounded by the projection, the display part can be more effectively protected.
Further, the projection formed as an elongated protrusion extending at least one of radially inside and outside of the display part is capable of reliably protecting the display part along the whole circumference even when the display part annularly continues in the tire circumferential direction.
Furthermore, the projection formed as two elongated protrusions extending both radially inside and outside across the display part therebetween is capable of surrounding the aforementioned annular display part along the whole circumference, to thereby more reliably protect the display part.
Further, in a case where the projection is formed to be triangular, trapezoidal, or semicircular in section, the decorativity can also be enhanced, not only by the display part, but also by the protrusion.
Meanwhile, when a spew to be generated on the tire side surface is formed on the projection avoiding the display part, it becomes easy to form display by means of printing or painting, without the need to perform post-processing to remove the spew from the display part, and further, the quality of the display can be sufficiently enhanced. On the other hand, the spew on the projection is less noticeable even if sticking out to a certain extent from the projection, and thus the removal of the spew 7 can be performed faster.
Then, in the case where the decorative band is formed as a protrusion protrudingly formed on an outer surface of the tire side portion and colored parts different from each other in color are respectively formed on a pair of side surfaces of the protrusion, different colors can be visually identified depending on the viewing angle so that the side portion of the tire can be emphasized, to thereby enhance the decorativity of the tire.
In particular, when the decorative band is formed triangular or rectangular in section, the colors of the side surfaces of the decorative band can also be visually identified even when the decorative band is viewed from directly above the tire (that is, in a direction along the side portion surface), to thereby further increase the visibility of the display part and the decorativity of the tire.
Further, when the decorative band is extended along the tire circumferential direction, the different colors applied to the decorative band can each be visually identified reliably.
Here, when the emblem to be attached to the tire is disposed adjacent to the decorative band, the contrast to be effected between the emblem and the decorative body can be increased so as to further improve the visibility of the emblem.
Then, in the case where the decorative band has a protrusion protrudingly formed on an outer surface of the tire side portion or a depression formed as being depressed in the outer surface and the protrusion or the depression has, on an outer surface thereof, a colored part that is different from surrounding rubber in color, the decorative band is enhanced in color in either an upper half or a lower half thereof depending on the reflection of light incident on the decorative band. Accordingly, the decorative band appears brighter and clearer than ever, so that the tire can be imparted with non-conventional decorativity, to thereby make a difference from other tires.
In addition, in the case where the protrusion or the depression is formed to have a surface shape in an arc-shaped cross section and the curvature radius in a tire meridian section of the surface thus raised or depressed is made smaller than the curvature radius of the tire side portion in the tire meridian section, either the protrusion or the depression can reflect light more intensely, so that the decorative band is further enhanced in color, to thereby further improve the decorativity of the tire.
Then, in the case where the edges of the colored part are disposed on the inclined surfaces, coloring irregularities generated at the edges of the colored part can be visually identified as being compressed due to the inclination of the inclined surfaces, so that the disturbance at the boundaries of the colored part can be made less noticeable.
Further, in a case where the inclined surface is formed as a side surface of the protrusion protrudingly formed on the outer surface of the tire side portion, the surface of the side portion is less likely to suffer stress concentration resulting from the deflection of the side portion when the tire is rolled under load, as compared to a case where a depression is formed in the side portion to form the inclined surface. Accordingly, the generation of cracks in the surface of the side portion can be suppressed.
The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
a) is a sectional view illustrating only a left half of the tire from the center in the width direction; and
a) is a schematic view illustrating an exaggerated contour in the meridian direction of a tire used as Example;
a) to 15(e) each are a partial sectional view of a tire according to another embodiment of the present invention, which is illustrated in the same section as in
In the following, a first embodiment of the present invention is specifically described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
A pneumatic tire exemplified in
The tire side portion 4 is provided with a display part 5 which includes: an emblem for rendering, by means of characters, symbols, patterns, and graphics, the name of the manufacturer of the tire and the brand name of the tire; and a decorative band formed mainly for a decorative purpose, which is different in sectional shape, pattern, color, and the like, from the tire side portion 4 therearound. The display part 5 may be formed by any of various methods generally available, and the present invention employs any of the following methods. That is, the display part may be printed, painted, or applied as a sticker. Alternatively, the display part may be formed of a color rubber, which is incorporated in a greentire together with a cover rubber, so that the cover rubber is scraped by a grinder or the like to be removed therefrom after the tire is vulcanized so as to expose the color rubber.
The tire side portion 4 has a projection 6 in a region adjacent to the display part 5, the projection 6 protruding relative to the display part surface. Here, as illustrated in
In the tire configured as described above, the projection 6 protrudes outward in the tire width direction than the display part 5 when the tire is mounted on a vehicle and driven, and hence, even when the tire is rubbed against a curb or the like, the projection 6 is brought into contact with the curb ahead of the display part 5, so that the display part 5 can be effectively protected against damages and dirt.
The projection 6 may be partially provided at least one location in the vicinity of an outermost part in the tire width direction of the display part 5. This configuration can keep the projection 6 to a bare minimum required for protecting the most vulnerable site of the display part 5.
The projection 6 may also be formed to surround the display part 5. With this configuration, the projection 6 is always brought into contact with a curb or the like ahead of the display part 5 regardless of whether the tire is rubbed against the curb in either direction along the outer surface of the tire side portion 4.
The projection 6 may be formed as one annular elongated protrusion 6a as illustrated in
The projection 6 may be formed as two annular elongated protrusions 6a disposed on both sides in the radial direction as illustrated in
Here, the elongated protrusions 6a may be intermittently provided as necessary.
The projection 6 may be triangular, trapezoidal, or semicircular in section along the tire meridian as illustrated in, for example,
A vulcanizing mold for vulcanizing the tire has a vent hole for the purpose of preventing the intrusion of air into the tire and the generation of bare on the tire surface, which results in a spew 7 formed on the tire side portion 4. As exemplified in
In the embodiment of
Here, the term “tire maximum width position” refers to, when the tire is a solid tire, a maximum width position between the side portion surfaces excluding any patterns, characters, and the projection 6 formed on the tire side surface, and the term also refers to, when the tire is a pneumatic tire, a maximum width position between the sidewalls similarly excluding any patterns, characters, and the projection 6 on the side surface of an unloaded tire which is attached to an applicable rim and filled with a specified air pressure. Here, the term “applicable rim” refers to a rim specified as follows according to the size of the tire, the term “specified air pressure” refers to an air pressure specified corresponding to a maximum load carrying capability under the following specifications; and the maximum load carrying capability refers to a maximum mass allowed to be applied as a load to the tire under the following specifications. The “air” herein can be replaced by inert gas such as nitrogen gas and other type of gases.
Further, the standard refers to an industrial standard effective in a region where the tire is produced or used. The examples thereof may include: “YEAR BOOK” of the Tire And Rim Association, Inc. in the United States; “STANDARDS MANUAL” of the European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation in Europe; and “JATMA YEAR BOOK” of the Japan Automobile Tyre Manufacturers Association in Japan.
Then, the feature of the tire resides in that, as illustrated in
The decorative band 52 is formed triangular in section along the tire meridian as illustrated in
The colored parts 52c, 52d of the decorative band 52 may be colored in any combination, as long as the colors are different from each other. For example, the colored part 52c disposed outside in the tire radial direction may be colored white while the colored part 52d disposed inside in the tire radial direction may be colored red, although the present invention is not limited thereto. Alternatively, the combination of colors may render the corporate identity or visual identity that stands for the product, the brand, and the corporate name.
In the tire configured as described above, the colored parts 52c, 52d are visually identified as different colors when viewed from different angles so as to make the side portion 4 of the tire highly visible, which improves the external appearance of the tire. Further, the contrast effected between the decorative band 52 and the emblems 51a, 51b can improve the visibility of the emblems 51a, 51b.
In particular, in the embodiment illustrated in
Further, in the tire configured as described above, the decorative band 52 continuously extends along the tire circumferential direction, to thereby ensure that the different colors applied to the side surfaces 52a, 52b of the decorative band 52 can both be visually identified reliably. The decorative band 52 may be intermittently provided as necessary.
Further, in the tire configured as described above, the emblems 51a, 51b attached to the tire is disposed in a position adjacent to the decorative band 52, so that the contrast effected between the emblems 51a, 51b and the decorative band 52 is further increased, to thereby further improve the visibility of the emblems 51a, 51b.
Although the decorative band 52 in the aforementioned example is exemplified as one elongated protrusion that continues in the tire circumferential direction, there may be provided a plurality of decorative bands 52 inside and outside in the tire radial direction. Further, the emblems 51a, 51b may include characters in a single color or in a color gradation delivered by varying at least one of brightness, hue, and intensity. For example, although not shown, the emblems 51a, 51b may include characters that are basically colored white, which is continuously or stepwisely darkened in brightness at the contour of each character toward the outside, using a smaller amount of ink, so that the characters are printed and colored in a color assimilating into the base color of the tire (color of black rubber), to thereby render gradation at the contour of each character so as to blur the boundaries of the characters. This way makes it difficult to identify irregularities in printing and abrasion at the boundary between the characters and the base region where the emblems 51a, 51b are disposed on the side portion surface of the tire, to thereby maintain good external appearance.
In the embodiment of
The aforementioned tire is to be generally viewed from obliquely above with respect to the tire when mounted on a vehicle. Here, in the case where the colored part 54c is formed on a surface of the protrusion 54a as illustrated in
Then, in a case where the protrusion 54a or the depression 54b has a surface shape formed in an arc-shaped cross section and the curvature radius Ra in a tire meridian section of the protrusion 54a or the depression 54b has an absolute value smaller than the absolute value of the curvature radius Rb in a tire meridian section of the tire side portion 4, either the protrusion 54a or the depression 54b can reflect light more intensely, to thereby further enhance the color of the colored part 54c.
Furthermore, when the protrusion 54a or the depression 54b is made to have a smaller surface roughness, scattered reflection of light can be suppressed, so that light can be reflected further intensely. For this reason, the vulcanizing mold of the tire may preferably have a mirror-finished vulcanizing area in part which corresponds to the protrusion 54a or the depression 54b.
In addition, in a case where the colored part 54c is formed by means of printing on a surface of the protrusion 54a or the depression 54b, or in a case where the colored part 54c is formed by scraping off the tire surface to expose a color rubber that has been disposed as being embedded beforehand, the decorative band can be formed at lower cost as compared to a case where the decorative band is applied as a sticker.
In the case where the colored part 54c is formed inside the depression 54b, the colored part 54c is less susceptible to dirt and damages, as compared to a case where the depression is provided to the protrusion 54a, which allows the decorativity of the tire to be maintained longer.
Next, conforming tires 1 to 2 according to the third embodiment and a reference tire to serve as a conventional example were manufactured as samples, which were visually inspected to evaluate the brightness, to thereby investigate the decorativity of each tire. The results thereof are shown in Table 1. Here, the decorativity herein is represented as an index derived for the brightness of the decorative band of each tire using, as a control, the investigation result obtained for the reference tire serving as a conventional example. The decorative band looks brighter as the number becomes larger.
Here, the conforming tire 1 was in the size of 195/65R15, and had a protrusion illustrated in
Further, the conforming tire 2 had a depression formed thereon in place of the protrusion of the conforming tire 1, the depression having a radius of curvature of 5 mm and a depth of 0.4 mm
Then, the reference tire was equivalent to the conforming tire 1 except in that the colored part was formed on a flat surface of the tire side portion. The same ink was used for printing in any of these tires, and the tires were the same in surface roughness at a site where the decorative band was disposed.
The results made it clear that the colored part of both of the tire having the colored part formed on the surface of the protrusion of the tire side portion (conforming tire 1) and the tire having the colored part formed on the surface of the depression of the tire side portion (conforming tire 2) looked brighter as compared to that of the conventional tire, and thus the conforming tires 1 and 2 were more excellent in decorativity of the tire than the conventional tire.
The embodiment of
Further, a colored part 55a of a decorative band 55 is disposed on the inner circumference side, that is, radially inside relative to the ridge arrangement region 9, and also radially inside relative the tire maximum width position p, as being adjacent to the ridge arrangement region 9, the colored part 55a extending in an annular shape intermittently or continuously (continuously in the illustrated example) concentric with the ridge arrangement region 9. Here, the decorative band 55 forms the display part 5, together with emblems 56a, 56b to be described later.
The colored part 55a may also be formed by means of printing or painting of paint, or by means of so-called exposure of a color rubber embedded on a lower layer side of a cover rubber. In any of these cases, the colored part 55a is colored in a color including white and black, the color being different from the base color of the surface of the tire side portion 4.
Then, the colored part 55a is formed, as illustrated in
In
In the tire configured as described above, the edges 55a1, 55a2 of the colored part 55a are each disposed on the inclined surfaces 55b1, 55c1, respectively, so that coloring disturbance such as irregularities in printing and painting to be generated on the edges 55a1, 55a2 of the colored part 55a is to be visually identified as being compressed due to the inclination of the inclined surfaces 55b1, 55c1, thereby making less noticeable the coloring disturbance at the boundaries of the colored part 55a. Further, the inclined surfaces 55b1, 55c1 can be formed by, for example, any ordinary vulcanization process, without causing an increase in cost. The inclined surfaces 55b1, 55c1 may preferably be inclined, relative to the reference surface Sb, at an inclination angle of θ falling within a range of 45° to 85° for ensuring the visual effect of making the disturbance less noticeable. Further, the inclination angle θ may more preferably be designed to fall within a range of 60° to 85° for the purpose of reducing manufacturing and printing irregularities in the process of coloring while obtaining the visual effect at the same time.
The colored part 55a may be provided either intermittently or continuously in the tire circumferential direction. In the latter case, high decorativity can be imparted, coupled with the annular shape of the tire. In this regard, the colored part 55a may preferably be disposed on the inner circumference side of the ridge arrangement region 9 and radially inside than the tire maximum width position p. With this configuration, the colored part 55a can be disposed radially inside than a position which suffers a large bending deformation in the tire side portion 4 when the tire is rolled under load, which can effectively prevent damages such as cracks from being caused to the colored part 55a, and also effectively eliminates the fear of abrasion of the colored part 55a to be caused by being rubbed against a curb or the like.
Further, this tire has the colored part 55a disposed on the inner circumference side of the ridge arrangement region 9 as being adjacent thereto, so that the visibility of an emblem disposed in the ridge arrangement region 9 or on the outer circumference side thereof can be increased, making the use of the decorativity of the colored part 55a.
Further, in this tire, the colored part 55a is made conspicuous, which gives an impression to the spectator as if the tire size is increased in diameter (which is so-called inch up).
Further, the colored part 55a may preferably be disposed between the emblem 56a rendering a brand name or a company name and the emblem 56b which is disposed radially outside than the rim line but radially inside than the emblem 56a and renders, relatively in a smaller font, a tire size or the like. With this configuration, the emblems each formed radially inside and outside of the colored part 55a can be emphasized by making the use of the high decorativity of the colored part 55a, to thereby increase the visibility of the emblems. In this embodiment, the emblem 56b is formed through printing an inside region edged by a concave-convex surface, similarly to the aforementioned emblem 51c.
In the above, the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings. However, the present invention is not particularly limited to the aforementioned embodiments, and can be modified as appropriate without falling out of the scope of claims. For example, the protrusions 55b, 55c forming the inclined surfaces 55b1, 55c1 are not limited to be triangular in section, and may be in another shape such as a trapezoidal shape or an arc shape. Further, the decorative band is not limited to a color line, and may be formed of, for example, characters, graphics, and patterns. In this case, the edges of the decorative band may be disposed on the inclined surfaces, so as to make coloring irregularities less noticeable at the boundaries of the decorative band.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-155401 | Jul 2010 | JP | national |
| 2010-203609 | Sep 2010 | JP | national |
| 2010-206533 | Sep 2010 | JP | national |
| 2010-224988 | Oct 2010 | JP | national |
| 2010-231661 | Oct 2010 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2011/003654 | 6/27/2011 | WO | 00 | 7/18/2013 |
