VEHICLE TIRES

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a vehicle tire with two sidewalls, wherein on at least one sidewall at least one character, for example a character, a number or a pictorial element, is formed from a hatching of a plurality of ribs running parallel to one another and spaced apart by a maximum of 0.60 mm, wherein the character(s) is / are embedded in a sidewall section with a background design which consists of a smooth base surface and elevations and / or depressions running at mutual distances and without crossing, forming a hatched pattern.

[0002] A vehicle tire with such a sidewall design is known, for example, from US Pat. No. 5,303,758 A. The sidewall design runs in a circular ring around the sidewall and has a first pattern forming a background design consisting of a plurality of equally spaced elevations running in a radial direction, which are triangular in cross-section and have a distance of the order of 0.30 mm from one another at their base. A second pattern is embedded at at least one point in the first pattern, which consists, for example, of the characters of a lettering. The second pattern also consists of a plurality of straight elevations whose mutual spacing essentially corresponds to that of the elevations of the first pattern, wherein the elevations of the second pattern run parallel to one another and, in particular, have a trapezoidal cross-section.The elevations of the second pattern are at an angle of 45° to 90° relative to the elevations of the first pattern. The second pattern differs only slightly from the first.

[0003] Another vehicle tire of the type mentioned above is known from DE 11 2018 005 915 T5. This vehicle tire has sidewalls, wherein on at least one sidewall in a sidewall section, characters in the form of letters, numbers, symbols, or figures are formed from a border rib running around the outer edge of the character and a hatching formed within this rib consisting of a plurality of further ribs running parallel to one another and at mutual spacings of 0.60 mm. The character(s) is / are embedded in a background design consisting of a smooth base surface and elevations running at mutual spacings and without intersections. A sidewall designed in this way is intended to enable good visibility of the characters, wherein the sidewall can be passed through unhindered by the air flow during rolling, thus ensuring low fuel consumption.

[0004] JP 3 566 388 B2 discloses a vehicle tire with sidewalls, wherein at least one sidewall has characters in the form of letters consisting of a border rib running around the outer edge of the character and a hatching formed within this rib consisting of a plurality of ribs running parallel to one another and at first intervals. The characters are embedded in a background design consisting of a smooth base surface and elevations running parallel to one another and at second intervals. The first intervals at which the ribs of the hatching run differ from the second intervals at which the elevations of the background design run.

[0005] JP 5 682 777 B2 discloses a vehicle tire with sidewalls, wherein at least one sidewall is formed with letters consisting of a hatched pattern of a plurality of straight ribs running parallel to one another and substantially in the circumferential direction. The letter ribs are embedded in a background design consisting of elevations running parallel to one another and at an angle to the circumferential direction. Even with a large-area design of the letters and the background design, the sidewall should be largely unhindered by the airflow when the tire rolls.

[0006] US Pat. No. 6,253,815 B1 discloses a vehicle tire with sidewalls, wherein at least one sidewall has letters formed from a hatching pattern of a plurality of straight and parallel ribs. The ribs are each delimited by at least two flanks that are inclined at different angles. The letters are embedded in a background design comprising elevations that are also delimited by at least two flanks that are inclined at different angles, thereby making the letters easily recognizable.

[0007] US Pat. No. 9,975,203 B2 discloses a vehicle tire with sidewalls. A sidewall pattern with five small protrusions per square millimeter is formed on one sidewall. Furthermore, at least two parallel ribs with a triangular cross-section are provided, which intersect the sidewall pattern.

[0008] EP 1 859 963 B1 discloses a vehicle tire with a sidewall having a decorative band formed at least over a circular ring section, which has display sectors. A display sector is, for example, a lettering consisting of characters made up of a plurality of parallel and closely spaced elevations and is located within a sidewall section having a smooth surface. In an alternative embodiment, the sidewall section is provided with a hatching of closely spaced elevations, and the lettering has characters with a smooth surface.

[0009] Characters—lettering, numbers, and pictorial designs—that are formed as hatching, i.e., consisting of a multitude of closely spaced, preferably parallel, elevations or depressions, surrounded by smooth surfaces, have proven to be particularly easy to recognize and legible on sidewalls. Characters formed from hatching appear particularly visible and dark when they are recessed relative to the surrounding smooth outer surface forming the background. The background, with its smooth outer surface, usually covers relatively large sections of the sidewall.A visually perfect design of these smooth outer surfaces often proves to be difficult, in particular because of the almost unavoidable formation of impressions from ventilation holes or ventilation inserts present in the vulcanization mold, the formation of other defects and so-called sidewall indentations, which are construction-related unevenness on tire sidewalls as a result of carcass ply overlaps in the tire.

[0010] The invention is therefore based on the object of providing a design on the sidewalls of vehicle tires with which the desired high contrast between the character(s) on the one hand - characters, lettering consisting of characters, numbers or pictorial designs - and the background on the other hand is maintained and an optimal concealment of construction-related unevenness and other defects on the sidewall is ensured.

[0011] The stated object is achieved according to the invention in that in the background design the base area occupies two to ten times the area covered by the elevations and / or depressions, wherein at least 50% of the elevations and / or depressions run at mutual distances from one another which are two to five times the mutual distance between the ribs.

[0012] Therefore, in sidewalls designed according to the invention, instead of a smooth background or a background with a conventional hatching of closely spaced elevations, a background design of loosely or largely loosely arranged yet hatched elevations and / or depressions is provided. This background design distracts the viewer's eye from any unevenness, defects, and sidewall constrictions without impairing the prevailing visibility and existing contrast with the embedded character(s).

[0013] In a preferred embodiment, the base area in the background design is up to five times the area covered by the elevations and / or depressions. This allows for more striking hatch-like patterns to be created in the background design.

[0014] In another preferred embodiment, all elevations and / or depressions in the background design are spaced at intervals that are two to five times the spacing of the ribs. At the same time, it can be provided that all elevations and / or depressions in the background design are spaced at equal or largely equal intervals. The background design can therefore be provided with "classic" hatching or with hatching-like patterns, thus being well adapted to the design of the character(s).

[0015] The contrast between the character(s) and the background design can be influenced, in particular, by the course of the elevations and / or depressions in the background design. It is particularly advantageous in this regard if the elevations and / or depressions in the background design extend radially or at an angle of up to 45° to the radial direction.

[0016] The elevations and / or depressions in the background design can be straight, curved, wavy, or zigzag. Depending on the chosen pattern, any unevenness, defects, or the aforementioned sidewall constrictions can be particularly effectively concealed.

[0017] A particularly advantageous and striking background design can be achieved with a design in which the elevations and / or depressions in the background design run partly in a zigzag or wavy manner and partly in a straight line or largely in a straight line, whereby in the case of adjacent elevations and / or depressions, a progressive decrease in the angulation of the sections of the zigzag pattern or the wave shape results in a transition to more straight or straight elevations and / or depressions, with zigzag or wavy elevations and / or depressions then following again with increasing angulation of the sections of the zigzag pattern or the wave shape.

[0018] The sidewall section provided with the background may be followed by further sidewall sections free of characters, each with a pattern of zigzag- or wave-shaped elevations / depressions, in which a pattern of darker and lighter-appearing pattern elements is formed by varying the angle of sections of zigzag- or wave-shaped elevations and / or depressions and / or by varying the mutual spacing of the elevations and / or depressions. In these sidewall sections, the elevations and / or depressions may also be very closely spaced from one another, in particular at least partially at a distance of ≤ 0.60 mm.

[0019] The elevations are preferably triangular in cross-section, have a maximum height of 0.15 mm to 0.50 mm, in particular up to 0.30 mm, relative to the base surface, and a width of 0.30 mm to 0.60 mm at their base. The depressions are preferably V-shaped in cross-section and have a maximum depth of 0.15 mm to 0.50 mm, in particular up to 0.30 mm, and a width of 0.30 mm to 0.60 mm at the level of the base surface. A hatched pattern of such elevations and / or depressions is clearly visible without impairing the contrast with the embedded character(s).

[0020] Particularly dark and contrasting with the background design are characters embedded in the background design, each of which is a 0.20 to 1.00 mm deep depression in the base area, on the bottom of which the ribs are formed. The ribs preferably run in a straight line or are generally curved and have a height that is less, in particular 0.10 mm to 0.20 mm less, than the depth of the depression. At their base, the ribs have a width of 0.30 mm to 0.60 mm. The ribs are also preferably triangular in cross-section. The ribs preferably extend at an angle of 30° to 50° relative to the circumferential direction of the side wall.

[0021] Further features, advantages and details of the invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the drawings, which illustrate exemplary embodiments. Fig. 1 a circumferential section of a sidewall of a vehicle tire in plan view with an embodiment of the invention, Fig. 2 the detail D from Fig. 1 in greatly enlarged view, Fig. 3 a section along the line III-III of the Fig. 2 in a further enlarged view, Fig. 4 a section along line IV-IV of the Fig. 1 in greatly enlarged view, Fig. 5 an alternative version based on a Fig. 4 analog cut, Fig. 6 a circumferential section of a sidewall of a vehicle tire in plan view with a further embodiment of the invention.

[0022] Fig. 1 and Fig. 6 show representations projected into the plane of circumferential sections of a sidewall 1 of a vehicle tire with lettering 2 consisting of characters 2a, which is embedded in a sidewall section 1a, in particular designed as a circular ring section, with a background design 3. The background design 3 completely surrounds the lettering 2 and its characters 2a and projects beyond them on all sides by at least 2.00 mm. The sidewall section 1a can be part of an overall design that runs in a circular ring around the sidewall 1, wherein in particular a sidewall section 1a with lettering 2 is formed at several points on the circumference. The width of the circular ring or circular ring section, determined in the radial direction, is in the order of 1.00 cm to 50.00 cm, depending on the tire dimension.Radially within the circular ring or circular ring section there are usually and in particular largely smooth sidewall areas, which are preferably provided with data identifying the tire.

[0023] In the exemplary embodiments shown, the characters 2a form the lettering PremiumContact C. Instead of characters 2a, other characters, such as numbers, number sequences, pictorial representations, and the like, may be reproduced on the side wall 2. In the following description, however, reference is made to characters in accordance with the representations.

[0024] Over the side wall section 1a, in which the lettering 2 is formed or in which the lettering 2 is embedded, the background design 3 consists of a base surface 5 provided with a smooth surface ( Fig. 2 , Fig. 4 ), in which hatched elevations 6 ( Fig. 4 ) or recesses 7 ( Fig. 5 ), as described further below. The base surface 5 forms, apart from the slight curvature of the side wall 2, a constant, "quasi-seven" base level. Compared to the base surface 5, the lettering 2 is recessed, i.e., the characters 2a are formed as constant-depth depressions in the base surface 5 ( Fig. 3 ) and starting from its base with a hatching of a multitude of closely spaced or immediately adjacent ribs 4 ( Fig. 3 ) which, as in particular Fig. 2 shows, are straight and parallel to each other. In alternative designs, the ribs 4 are curved or otherwise curved in plan view. The bottom of the recesses is located opposite the base surface 5 at a depth t 1 ( Fig. 3 ) of 0.20 mm to 1.00 mm, in particular of 0.40 mm. The ribs 4 have a preferably triangular cross-section with tip regions having a width b 1 of 0.10 mm to 0.25 mm, with lateral flanks which run at an angle α of 20° to 45° to a perpendicular to the base surface 5 and with a height h 1 which is in particular 0.10 mm to 0.20 mm less than the depth t 1 . The ribs 4 therefore end below the base surface level. At their base, the ribs 4 have no mutual distance a 1 or a mutual distance a 1 which is in particular constant and the same for all ribs 4 and which is of 0.10 mm to 0.60 mm, in particular of up to 0.30 mm. The mutual distance between the centers of the tips of adjacent ribs 4 is, for example, in the order of 0.50 mm in a design with a distance a 1 of 0.10 mm and flank angles of 25°. At their base, the ribs 4 have a width b 4 of 0.30 mm to 0.60 mm.In the embodiment shown, the ribs 4 run at an angle of 30° to 50° relative to the circumferential direction of the side wall 2 (see . Fig. 2 ).

[0025] The background design 3, in which the lettering 2 is embedded, has Fig. 1 shown version and as in Fig. 4 shown a plurality of elevations 6 formed on the base surface 5. In the embodiment shown, the elevations 6 extend in the radial direction and, due to the circular ring shape of the side wall 1, parallel or almost parallel to one another and, in the embodiment shown in plan view, in a flat zigzag shape ( Fig. 2 ) with four straight sections. The elevations 6 can also extend at any angle to the radial direction. This angle is determined on straight lines that connect the two ends of the elevations 6. The mutual distance a 2 of the elevations 6 at their base is preferably 1.00 mm to 4.00 mm; in cross-section they are in particular triangular with flank surfaces whose angle of inclination β 1 relative to a perpendicular to the base surface 5 is 20° to 45°. The tip regions of the elevations 6 have a width b 2 in the order of magnitude of in particular 0.10 mm to 0.25 mm and are located relative to the base surface 5 at a height h 2 of 0.15 mm to 0.50 mm, in particular of up to 0.30 mm.

[0026] Fig. 5 shows an alternative embodiment, instead of elevations 6, depressions 7 are formed in the base surface 5. The depressions 7 are V-shaped in cross-section and therefore have two side flanks extending to the depression base, which extend at an angle β 2 of 20° to 45° relative to a perpendicular to the base surface 5. The depression base has a width b 3 of in particular 0.10 mm to 0.25 mm. The depth t 2 of the depressions 7 is 0.15 mm to 0.50 mm, in particular up to 0.30 mm.

[0027] The elevations 6 have a width b ( Fig. 4 ) of in particular 0.30 mm to 0.60 mm, the recesses 7 have the width b 5 ( Fig. 5 ) at the base surface level.

[0028] Fig. 6 shows an embodiment of the background design 3 with elevations 6', which are designed analogously to the elevations 6, but extend partly in a zigzag shape and partly in a straight or almost straight line continuously in the radial direction across the background design 3. In the case of adjacent elevations 6', a decrease in the angulation of the sections of the zigzag pattern results in a transition to more straight or straight elevations 6' and then a transition back to zigzag-shaped elevations 6' with a progressive increase in the angulation of the sections of the zigzag. This creates a hatching pattern characterized by a variation of more closely spaced elevations 6' and more widely spaced elevations 6', whereby lighter-appearing pattern elements alternate with darker-appearing pattern elements to form a repeating pattern.Instead of elevations 6', depressions can also be provided, as already described.

[0029] Both elevations 6, 6' and depressions 7 give the background design 3 a loose hatched pattern, wherein the base area 5 occupies two to ten times the area occupied by the elevations 6, 6' or depressions 7 on the total area of ​​the side wall section 1a and wherein at least 50% of the elevations 6, 6' or depressions 7 run at mutual distances a 2 which are two to five times the mutual distance a 1 of the ribs 4.

[0030] In the executions according to Fig. 1 and Fig. 6 elevations 6, 6' and depressions 7 are interrupted in their course by the characters 2a. Preferably, as in Fig. 2 As can be seen, the elevations 6, 6' and the depressions 7 are at a small distance a 3 (normal distance to the outer contour of the character 2a) of 0.10 mm to 0.30 mm in front of the characters 2a of the lettering 2.

[0031] When an overall design is designed as a circumferential circular ring, at least one further pattern can be present within the circular ring and at locations outside the background design 3 in the side wall sections free of lettering 2, which further pattern is formed by continuously changing or varying the zigzag shape of the elevations 6, 6' or the depressions 7 as well as the mutual spacing of the background design 3, so that the individual patterns merge into one another.

[0032] How Fig. 6 In a short section, a pattern of darker and lighter-appearing pattern elements can be created by varying the angle of the zigzag sections of elevations / depressions as well as by varying the mutual spacing of the elevations / depressions. In this way, viewed across the entire circumference of the tire, an overall design can be created in which, when viewed from the sidewall, darker and lighter-appearing circumferential sections alternate, with lettering 2 appearing in deep black in the latter. Bezugszeichenliste

[0033] 1Side wall 1aSide wall section 2Lettering 2aCharacter 3Background design 4Rib 5Base area 6, 6'Elevation 7Recess α, β 1 , β 2 Angle a 1 , a 2 , a 3 Distance b 1 , b 2 , b 3 , b 4 , b 5 Width h 1 , h 2 Height t 1 , t 2 Depth

Claims

1. Vehicle tire having two sidewalls (1), wherein, on at least one sidewall (1), at least one character (2), for example a text character, a numeral or a pictorial element, is formed from a hatching composed of a multiplicity of ribs (4) which run parallel to one another and which run with spacings (a1) to one another of at most 0.60 mm, wherein the character(s) (2) is / are embedded into a sidewall portion (1a) having a background design (3) which is composed of a smooth base surface (5) and of elevations (6, 6') and / or depressions (7) which run with spacings (a2) to one another and without intersecting and which form a hatching-like pattern, characterized in that, in the background design (3), the base surface (5) occupies two to ten times the area covered by the elevations (6, 6') and / or depressions (7), wherein at least 50% of the elevations (6, 6') and / or depressions (7) run with spacings (a2) to one another that amount to two to five times the spacing (a1) of the ribs (4) to one another.

2. Vehicle tire according to Claim 1, characterized in that, in the background design (3), the base surface occupies up to five times the area covered by the elevations (6, 6') and / or depressions (7).

3. Vehicle tire according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, in the background design (3), all of the elevations (6, 6') and / or depressions (7) run with spacings (a2) to one another that amount to two to five times the spacing (a1) of the ribs (4) to one another.

4. Vehicle tire according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, in the background design (3), all of the elevations (6, 6') and / or depressions (7) run with equal or substantially equal spacings (a2) to one another.

5. Vehicle tire according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, in the background design (3), the elevations (6, 6') and / or depressions (7) extend in a radial direction or at an angle of up to 45° with respect to the radial direction.

6. Vehicle tire according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, in the background design (3), the elevations (6, 6') and / or depressions (7) run rectilinearly or in an altogether arcuate, undulating or zigzag shape.

7. Vehicle tire according to any one of Claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, in the background design (3), the elevations (6') and / or depressions run partially in a zigzag or undulating shape and partially rectilinearly or substantially rectilinearly, wherein, in the case of mutually adjacent elevations (6') and / or depressions, a progressive decrease of the angles in the portions of the zigzag profile or undulating shape gives rise to a transition to more rectilinearly running, or to rectilinearly running, elevations (6') and / or depressions, wherein these are then followed again by elevations and / or depressions running in a zigzag or undulating shape with increasing angles in the portions of the zigzag profile or undulating shape.

8. Vehicle tire according to any one of Claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the sidewall portion (1a) provided with the background design (3) is followed by further sidewall portions which are free from characters (2), which have patterns consisting of elevations and / or depressions running in a zigzag or undulating shape, and in which a variation of the angles of portions of elevations and / or depressions running in a zigzag or undulating shape, and / or a variation of the spacing of elevations and / or depressions to one another, gives rise to a pattern consisting of pattern elements that appear darker and lighter.

9. Vehicle tire according to any one of Claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the elevations (6, 6') are preferably triangular in cross section, have a greatest height (h2) in relation to the base surface (5) of 0.15 mm to 0.50 mm, in particular of up to 0.30 mm, and at their base have a width (bs) of 0.30 mm to 0.60 mm.

10. Vehicle tire according to any one of Claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the depressions (7) are preferably V-shaped in cross section, have a greatest depth (t2) of 0.15 mm to 0.50 mm, in particular of up to 0.30 mm, and at the level of the base surface have a width (bs) of 0.30 mm to 0.60 mm.

11. Vehicle tire according to any one of Claims 1 to 10, characterized in that each character (2) that is embedded in the background design (3) is a depression, with a depth of preferably 0.20 mm to 1.00 mm, in the base surface (5), on the bottom of which depression the ribs (4) are formed.

12. Vehicle tire according to Claim 11, characterized in that the ribs (4) run preferably rectilinearly or in an altogether arcuate shape and have a height (h1) that is smaller by in particular 0.10 mm to 0.20 mm than the depth (t1) of the depression.

13. Vehicle tire according to any one of Claims 1, 11 and 12, characterized in that the ribs (4) have at their base a width (b4) of 0.30 mm to 0.60 mm.

14. Vehicle tire according to any one of Claims 1 and 11 to 13, characterized in that the ribs (4) extend at an angle of 30° to 50° relative to the circumferential direction of the sidewall (1).