Permanent marking of molded rubber products
AssigneeComputype, Inc.
InventorsEric Roach, Peter C. Baker
Life of this patent
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Abstract
One embodiment of the invention includes a method for imparting a unique identifier to a molded polymeric article. The method includes providing a label comprising indicia having a thickness effective for embossing the polymeric article during molding and a melting point greater than the melting point of the molded polymeric article. The method also includes attaching the label to the article prior to vulcanization. The method further includes vulcanizing the article so that indicia emboss the molded polymeric article by forming indentations in the molded polymeric article.
Claims8
A method for imparting a unique identifier to a molded polymeric article, comprising:
- providing a label having a front surface and an opposite back surface, the label comprising indicia having a thickness effective for embossing the polymeric article, the indicia including indicia projections projecting upward away from the front surface of the label, the indicia imparted by ink having a melting point greater than a vulcanization temperature of the molded polymeric article;
- attaching the back surface of the label to the polymeric article prior to vulcanization with an adhesive at a location wherein a user of the molded polymeric article can view the label indicia;
- and
- vulcanizing the polymeric article while pressing the indicia to emboss the molded polymeric article to form indentations corresponding to the indicia projections in the polymeric article so that the polymeric article is marked with both the indicia of the label and the indentations formed in the polymeric article wherein indicia are viewable by a user of the polymeric article if the overlying label is lost or destroyed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.