Photorealistic Polymer Surface Texture via Asymmetrical Relief
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing polymer products, such as vehicle tires and interior parts, struggle to achieve high-quality, cost-effective photorealistic representations on their surfaces without the complexity and expense of separate foils, as previous methods result in direction-dependent perceptions under different viewing angles and light conditions.
Innovation Solution
An undirected, irregular, asymmetrical three-dimensional texture with elevations and depressions is used, where the relief is generated based on gray values to create a depth map, allowing for a photorealistic representation that appears consistent from various angles, integrated into the polymer product using a mold surface without additional materials or steps.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a directional, regular, symmetrical three-dimensional structure is used for embossing representations, then the manufacturing process is simpler and more cost-effective, but the photorealistic representation becomes direction-dependent and appears different from various viewing angles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by transitioning from a directional, regular, symmetrical structure to an undirected, irregular, asymmetrical texture structure. This asymmetrical texture with random elevations and depressions ensures that light scattering and representation perception remain consistent from all viewing directions, eliminating the direction-dependency problem while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through single-step embossing.
2Manufacturing precision
If separate foils are applied to create photorealistic representations on polymer products, then the visual quality and manufacturing quality are high, but the process becomes complex and expensive with additional work steps
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the representation creation process directly into the polymer product manufacturing process. By integrating the photorealistic representation formation into the molding step itself, the patent eliminates separate foil application steps, reducing process complexity while maintaining high representation quality through the combined effect of asymmetrical texture and depth map relief.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a depth map as a digital copy of the desired photorealistic representation to guide the embossing process. The depth map, generated from gray values of a target photo, serves as a template that is physically replicated in the polymer product through mold embossing, creating an accurate copy of the desired visual appearance without requiring physical foil layers.
3Manufacturing precision
If the relief completely fills the depressions of the texture, then the representation appears brighter and more detailed, but the manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by varying the fill level of texture depressions according to the local requirements of the representation. Different regions of the texture receive different amounts of relief material based on the depth map, creating localized variations in brightness and detail that correspond to the desired photorealistic image, while optimizing material usage and manufacturing cost by not uniformly filling all depressions to the same level.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
AI summary
The invention relates to a polymer product, preferably a vehicle tyre (1) having side walls (2), with a photorealistic representation (3) on the outer surface of the polymer product (2), the photorealistic representation consisting of the combination of a structure with a relief (5) of the representation, the structure comprising projections (7) and depressions (6), and the relief (5) being a depth map of the representation, which is preferably produced on the basis of grey tones of a photo and which has up to 256 depth graduations such that the relief (5) fills the depressions (6) of the hatching according to the grey tone at different heights. In order to produce a photorealistic representation (3), the structure is a nondirectional texture (4) consisting of projections (7) and depressions (6).