Rubber Surface Microgrooves for Durable Structural Color Marking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for imparting information on rubber surfaces, such as tires, using ink or structural colors, face issues with durability due to peeling off from rubber expansion and contraction, or requiring heating that causes deformation, making it difficult to maintain visibility over time.
Innovation Solution
A rubber member with a fine ridged/grooved structure formed via transfer from a mold, where the arrangement pitch or ridge/groove height is determined based on visible light wavelengths to produce a structural color, allowing durable information display.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If ink is deposited on the rubber surface by means of an inkjet printer to print information, then information can be imparted on the rubber surface, but the ink is gradually peeled off due to expansion and contraction of the rubber during driving, making it difficult to maintain visual recognition for an extended period
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies structural coloration instead of conventional ink printing. The surface is structured with fine ridges and grooves that produce structural colors through light interference, diffraction, or scattering effects. This structural color is inherently integrated into the rubber surface topology, eliminating the need for separate ink layers that can peel off, thereby significantly improving the durability and long-term visual recognition of printed information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transfers the fine ridged/grooved structure from a mold to the rubber surface through a copying process. The mold contains the desired pattern information encoded as fine structural features, which are replicated onto the rubber surface during manufacturing. This copying approach ensures high precision and consistency of the structural color pattern while integrating it directly into the rubber surface.
2Adaptability or versatility
If structural color is produced by stamping or laminating layers as described in prior art, then structural colors can be generated, but these methods are applied to thin-film structures like color filters and cannot be directly applied to less transparent rubber members such as tires
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies structural coloration locally on the rubber surface rather than requiring complete transparency or thin-film structures. By creating fine ridges and grooves only in specific regions where information needs to be displayed, the method adapts to opaque or semi-transparent rubber members like tires. The structural color is generated locally at the surface level, independent of the bulk material's transparency properties.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex multi-layer lamination processes with a direct surface structuring approach. Instead of stacking multiple transparent layers to achieve structural color, the method uses a single-step or simplified process to create fine ridges and grooves directly on the rubber surface, making it suitable for manufacturing rubber members without requiring transparent materials or complex lamination equipment.
3Ease of manufacture
If microparticles are arranged on the surface of an elastic body to produce structural color, then structural color can be generated, but the method cannot be easily applied to members requiring heating that may cause deformation, such as vulcanization in the tire manufacturing process
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates the fine ridged/grooved structure on the mold before the vulcanization process. The structural pattern is pre-formed in the mold, and the rubber surface acquires this structure during molding and vulcanization. This preliminary action ensures that the structural color pattern is established before any heating occurs, eliminating the risk of deformation that would affect particle arrangement during subsequent heating processes like vulcanization.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The structural color on the rubber member maintains visibility and durability against wear, improving the longevity of indicators compared to ink-based methods.
Implementation Method 1
a structure color produced by a fine structure that is equal to or smaller than a light wavelength has been known and applied to various fields
Implementation Method 2
the structural color is produced by periodically arranging microparticles on the surface of an elastic body
Data Source
AI summary
A method of manufacturing a rubber member includes forming a mask on which pattern structures are arranged at a constant pitch, arranging the mask on a substrate of a mold made of a metal or a semiconductor material and etching the substrate. The method further includes adhering unvulcanized rubber to the substrate, vulcanizing the unvulcanized rubber to form vulcanized rubber, and transferring a fine ridged/grooved structure to a surface of the vulcanized rubber. The fine ridged/grooved structure is formed on at least a part of the surface of the vulcanized rubber as the rubber member, the fine ridged/grooved structure having fine ridged/grooved portions arranged at the constant pitch. A region in which the fine ridged/grooved structure is provided is visually recognizable by a structural color different from colors of other regions.