Device and method for personalizing tires

A device for personalizing existing vehicular tires comprising:

• a curved mold member sized and shaped to receive a portion of the sidewall of an elastomeric vehicular tire, said mold member defining a central slot having side surfaces and a bottom surface along the inner face thereof;
• a plurality of symbol bearing members sized and shaped for positioning within said slot, each said member including a mirror-imaged alphanumeric symbol engraved in the face thereof to form a female alphanumeric mold;
• a plurality of spacer members sized and shaped for selective positioning in said slot to form preselected spacing between said symbols or series of symbols;
• means disposed along said slot side surface for guiding said symbol bearing members and said spacer members to position and maintain said members in said slot relative to each other;
• means for injecting vulcanizing rubber into said female alphanumeric molds;
• and
• an electrical heating element imbedded in said mold member and disposed proximate said slot bottom surface adapted for heating said symbol bearing members to fuse said injected rubber directly against the sidewall of a vehicular tire placed in said curved mold member along the inner face thereof to form raised alphanumeric letters on said sidewall in accordance with a preselected pattern to personalize said tire.

A method for producing raised alphanumeric lettering on existing elastomeric tire sidewalls comprising the steps of:

• engraving mirror-image alphanumeric symbols in the face surface of a plurality of insert members, each said member having a single symbol;
• sliding a plurality of said removable insert members along a slot disposed in a mold adapted to receive a portion of said tire sidewall, said insert members representing a preselected pattern of symbols with said mold including an electrical heating element imbedded therein;
• injecting vulcanizing rubber into said engraved symbols;
• placing said tire sidewall in said mold against said insert members;
• heating said insert members with said electrical heating element to fuse said injected rubber directly against said original tire sidewall;
• and
• removing said tire from said mold thereby generating raised alphanumeric lettering in accordance with said pattern.