Tire Sidewall Character Pattern for Lasting Black Contrast

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing tire designs with pattern regions for enhanced design and contrast are susceptible to aging and do not achieve high enough black color intensity and contrast over time.

Innovation Solution

A tire design featuring a pattern region with character protrusions that imitate characters or rotated/inverted characters, where the character protrusion regions partially overlap, enhancing light absorption and providing higher black color intensity and contrast.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Illumination intensity

If a large number of fine protrusions are aggregated to enhance contrast and black color intensity, then the visual contrast and design effect are improved, but the complexity of the pattern region increases and the manufacturing precision requirements become more stringent

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveblack color intensityVSAvoidpattern region complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Illumination intensityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The pattern region is divided into multiple character protrusions, each representing a separate character or rotated/inverted character. This segmentation allows the complex visual effect to be achieved through repeated modular elements rather than a single complex structure, reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining high contrast and black color intensity through light absorption in the gaps between segments.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Multiple character protrusions are created as copies of a basic character form, with some characters rotated or inverted. This copying approach allows the complex visual pattern to be generated from a simple master template, significantly reducing manufacturing precision requirements while achieving the desired high contrast effect through the aggregation of these copied elements.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

2Ease of manufacture

If conventional painting or simple marking methods are used for the pattern region, then the manufacturing process is simpler, but the contrast and black color intensity are lower and more susceptible to aging

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemanufacturing simplicityVSAvoidcontrast durability
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The sidewall surface is given different local qualities: the pattern region contains character protrusions with specific geometric forms that create light-absorbing gaps, while the non-pattern region has a smooth surface. This local differentiation through geometric structure rather than material composition simplifies manufacturing (using standard rubber molding) while ensuring durable contrast that resists aging, as the structural light-trapping effect does not degrade over time like painted surfaces.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

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 tire design achieves higher black color intensity and contrast, providing improved design aesthetics with durable visual appeal and enhanced light absorption.

Implementation Method 1

a light-absorbing effect, and consequently, the pattern region is visually recognized to be blacker than the outer surface of the sidewall around the pattern region

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectLight absorption: Absorption (EM radiation)

Implementation Method 2

incident light is repeatedly reflected between the protrusions

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectLight reflection: Reflection

Data Source

PatentEP4578670A1tire
Publication Date: 2025.07.02 TOYO TIRE CORP
  • EP4578670A1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4578670A1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4578670A1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

Provided is a tire 1 including: a pattern region 7 on an outer surface 3a of a sidewall 3 of the tire 1, the pattern region 7 being visually recognizable as being different from a region other than the pattern region 7 in the outer surface 3a of the sidewall 3 of the tire 1; and a plurality of character protrusions 110 separate from each other in the pattern region 7. The character protrusions 110 each imitate a character or a rotated or inverted character. Regions each of which has a shape of a parallelogram circumscribed to a contour of a respective one of the character protrusions 110 and is set to have a minimum area are defined as character protrusion regions R110, and the character protrusion regions R110 of adjacent ones of the character protrusions 110 partially overlap with each other.