Glow-in-the-dark tire sidewalls
AssigneeThe Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
InventorsRamendra Nath Majumdar, Jennifer Leigh Gabor, Susan Lynn Deevers
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention relates to a tire having a portion thereof such as a sidewall component that glows-in-the-dark due to the presence of a phosphorescent layer thereon. The present invention also relates to a tire having, and to a process for incorporating, a phosphorescent decal on the sidewall component. Very small amounts of phosphorescent material are used, resulting in a low cost safety tire.
Claims41
A process for forming a tire with a sidewall having a phosphorescent layer thereon, comprising the steps of:
- applying a phosphorescent layer directly to an external surface of a non-black sidewall component;
- assembling said non-black sidewall component into a tire;
- and
- molding and curing said non-black sidewall component so that the phosphorescent layer is incorporated onto the crosslinked rubber sidewall surface, wherein the phosphorescent layer is phosphorescent pigment or a blend of said phosphorescent pigment and a carrier, said phosphorescent layer being substantially free of fluorescent material and wherein the carrier is free of rubber and an adhesive.
A process for forming a tire having a sidewall which contains a phosphorescent decal thereon, comprising the steps of:
- providing an uncured non-black rubber sheet;
- applying a phosphorescent layer directly to one side of the non-black rubber sheet;
- curing the sheet;
- cutting a decal from the cured sheet;
- placing the cured phosphorescent decal on an outer surface of a tire sidewall with the phosphorescent pigment layer facing outward;
- molding and curing said tire so that the phosphorescent decal is incorporated onto the crosslinked rubber sidewall surfaces wherein said phosphorescent decal optionally includes a protective film layer, and wherein said phosphorescent layer is substantially free of fluorescent material and free of rubber and adhesive.
A tire having a phosphorescent glow-in-the-dark decal on the sidewall thereof, comprising:
- a cured substrate rubber located on a sidewall of the tire;
- and
- a cured phosphorescent decal, wherein said decal has been cured to said substrate rubber, wherein said decal includes a cured non-black rubber sheet layer having a first surface and a second surface and a phosphorescent layer directly on the first surface facing outward, wherein the phosphorescent layer is free of a rubber, an adhesive, a polymer, a solvent, and fluorescent material.
A tire comprising:
- a sidewall component;
- said sidewall component comprising a black rubber component and a non-black rubber component, wherein at least a portion of said non-black rubber component includes a phosphorescent layer directly on an outer surface of the non-black rubber component, wherein said phosphorescent layer is either (a) a phosphorescent pigment or (b) a blend of a phosphorescent pigment and a carrier, wherein said carrier is free of rubber, polymer, solvent, and an adhesive, wherein said tire has been cured, and said phosphorescent layer being substantially free of fluorescent material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.