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  Camouflage tireUSPTO Application #: 20070264432Title: Camouflage tire Abstract: The present invention is directed to a camouflage tire suitable for use in various vehicle use environments wherein it is desirable to reduce or eliminate a viewer's visual perception of the tire against the given environmental background. (end of abstract) Agent: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Intellectual Property Department 823 - Akron, OH, US Inventors: David John Zanzig, David Andrew Benko, James Joseph Nespo, Terry John Waibel, Michael Julian Crawford, Timothy Michael Rooney, Bina Patel Botts, George Frank Balogh USPTO Applicaton #: 20070264432 - Class: 427385500 (USPTO) Related Patent Categories: Coating Processes, With Post-treatment Of Coating Or Coating Material, Heating Or Drying (e.g., Polymerizing, Vulcanizing, Curing, Etc.), Organic Coating, Resin, Resin Precursor, Rubber, Or Hardenable Oil-containing Coating The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070264432. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
[0001] The present invention is directed to a camouflage tire suitable for use in various vehicle use environments wherein it is desirable to reduce or eliminate a viewer's visual perception of the tire against the given environmental background. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Vehicles for military and recreational use often are camouflaged to reduce the ability of a viewer to perceive the vehicle in a given environment. For example, military trucks are often colored in suitable camouflage patterns having various areas of green, brown, tan, black, etc. that are arranged to allow the vehicle to blend in with a forested or mountainous environment. Alternatively, the vehicle may be colored white to blend in with a snowy or arctic type environment, or the vehicle may be colored tan, brown, or various shades of pink to blend in with a desert or grassland environment. The particular shades of colors used and the camouflage pattern depend on the vehicle use environment. [0003] While camouflage of vehicle parts such as the body panels is routine, camouflage of tires has not been successfully accomplished. The use of a typically black tire on an otherwise camouflaged vehicle may leave the vehicle susceptible to visual detection, due to the contrast of the black tires with the environmental background. It would therefore be desirable to have a tire camouflaged with a suitable color and/or pattern that will reduce or eliminate the visual perceptibility of the tire when mounted on a vehicle in a given environment. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0004] The present invention provides a camouflaged tire, wherein the tire comprises a surface pattern such that the visual perceptibility of the tire against a given environmental background is reduced as compared to a standard, black tire. [0005] In one embodiment, the camouflaged tire comprises a multicolored pattern suitable for use in a forest or mountainous region or the like. [0006] In another embodiment, the camouflaged tire comprises a monochromatic pattern suitable for use in a snowy or arctic region or the like. [0007] In yet another embodiment, the camouflaged tire comprises a monochromatic pattern suitable for use in a desert or grassland region or the like. [0008] The camouflage tire may comprise a flexible, elastomeric coating applied to a cured tire. The coating may comprise one or more colorants to provide the camouflage tire with the desired camouflage pattern. The coating may be applied to the tire in one or more layers to provide one or more areas of color on the surface of the camouflage tire, resulting in a suitable camouflage pattern usable in a given environment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0009] The camouflage tire comprises a tire having at least one external surface, and a coating applied to the at least one external surface. The coating may include colorants to give the camouflage tire a suitable appearance and function such that the camouflage tire will have a reduced visual perceptibility when viewed against the background of a given environment. [0010] The camouflage tire may comprise any vehicle tire as is known in the art. In one embodiment, the camouflage tire may comprise an all terrain vehicle (hereinafter referred to as ATV) type tire suitable for use on an ATV type recreational vehicle such as the Sportsman 500 and Sportsman 6.times.6 made by Polaris and the like, and ATVs made by Yamaha and the like. In another embodiment, the camouflage tire may comprise a truck or jeep tire suitable for use on commercial or military trucks, Jeep.RTM. type vehicles, Hummer.RTM. type vehicles, or other vehicles such as sport utility vehicles (hereinafter referred to as SUV), pickup trucks, off road earth moving vehicles and the like. Any tire usable in a manner in which the user desires a reduced visual perceptibility of the tire against a given environmental background may be used in the camouflage tire. [0011] The camouflage tire may further comprise a coating applied to at least one external surface of the tire. A coating may be applied to any or all external tire surfaces, including the bead, sidewall, and tread surfaces of the tire. In one embodiment, the coating is applied coextensively over the entire external surface of the tire. [0012] The coating applied to the tire external surfaces may be any suitable coating material that will adequately adhere to the tire surface and suitably resist peeling, cracking, and sloughing from the tire. In one embodiment, the coating is a liquid solution of at least one elastomer in a water or solvent based carrier. [0013] In one alternative embodiment, the coating may be applied as a water based elastomer liquid. The elastomer may be dispersed as finely divided polymer particles in the water based carrier as an emulsion or latex comprising various suitable additives including surfactants, preservatives, and colorants. Other additives may be included in the water based elastomer liquid as are known in the art. The water based elastomer may be used as a one part coating application or as part of a two-part application. In one embodiment, the water based elastomer may be used as a one part coating wherein suitable curing agents are included to promote crosslinking or otherwise cure the elastomer coating. In another embodiment, the water based elastomer may be used a part of a two part application, wherein suitable curing agents are contained separate from the water based elastomer, and mixed with the water based elastomer immediately prior to application on the tire external surface. [0014] In another embodiment, the coating may be applied as a solvent based liquid. The elastomer may be partially or completely dissolved or swelled in a suitable organic solvent. Suitable solvents include but are not limited to various organic solvents as are known in the art such as cyclohexane, hexane, heptane, octane, decane, dodecane, methylene chloride, chloroform, and the like; and various aromatic solvents such as toluene and the like; halogenated aromatics, various Tolusols generally containing C.sub.7 hydrocarbons and significant amounts of aromatic compounds therein, xylene, dichlorobenzene, and the like; diphenyl ether, and the like; ketones including acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, and the like; and alkyl esters such as ethyl acetate, methyl acetate and the like. Solvents may be used singly or as a mixture of one or more solvents. The solvent based elastomer liquid may be used as a one part coating application or as part of a two-part application. In one embodiment, the solvent based elastomer may be used as a one part coating wherein suitable curing agents are included to promote crosslinking or otherwise cure the elastomer coating. In another embodiment, the solvent based elastomer may be used a part of a two part application, wherein suitable curing agents are contained separate from the solvent based elastomer, and mixed with the solvent based elastomer immediately prior to application on the tire external surface. [0015] One suitable solvent based elastomer is available commercially under the name EnduraLast from the Lord Corporation. This material may be modified through the addition of suitable colorants to obtain the colors desirable in a camouflage pattern on a tire. [0016] The elastomer usable in either a water based or solvent based coating may be any suitable elastomer that will form a uniform coating on the external surface of the tire and will resist cracking, peeling or sloughing from the surface. In one embodiment, the elastomer may comprise one or more crosslinkable thermoplastic elastomers as are known in the art including natural or synthetic rubber, halogenated rubbers, polyurethanes, polyacrylics, polyacrylates, chloropolymers, fluoropolymers, and the like. The elastomer may alternatively comprise EPDM, silicone rubber, polychloroprene, epichlorohydrin, acrylonitrile rubber, hydrogenated acrylonitrile rubber, zinc salts of unsaturated carboxylic acid ester grafted hydrogenated nitrite butadiene elastomer, natural rubber, synthetic polyisoprene, styrene-butadiene rubber, 1,4-trans-polybutadiene, ethylene-vinyl-acetate copolymer, ethylene methacrylate copolymers and terpolymers, chlorinated polyethylene, chlorosulfonated polyethylene, alkylated chlorosulfonated polyethylene, trans-polyoctenamer, polyacrylic rubber, and the like, and mixtures thereof. [0017] The elastomer may be present in the water based or solvent based coating liquid in a concentration suitable to facilitate application of the coating to the tire surface and allow relatively rapid removal of the water or solvent carrier by drying or evaporation or the like. In one embodiment, the elastomer may be present in the water based or solvent based coating liquid in a range of about 10 to about 90 percent by weight. [0018] The water based or solvent based coating liquid may comprise one or more cure agents as is required to obtain a cured coating on the camouflage tire. Such cure agents may include but are not limited to well-known classes of peroxides including diacyl peroxides, peroxyesters, dialkyl peroxides and peroxyketals. Specific examples include dicumyl peroxide, n-butyl-4,4-di(t-butylperoxy) valerate, 1,1-di(t-butylperoxy)-3,3,5-trimethylcyclohexane, 1,1-di(t-butylperoxy) cyclohexane, 1,1-di(t-amylperoxy) cyclohexane, ethyl-3,3-di(t-butylperoxy) butyrate, ethyl-3,3-di(t-amylperoxy) butyrate, 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-di(t-butylperoxy) hexane, t-butyl cumyl peroxide, a,a-bis(t-butylperoxy)diisopropylbenzene, di-t-butyl peroxide, 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-di(t-butylperoxy) hexyne-3, t-butyl perbenzoate, 4-methyl-4-t-butylperoxy-2-pentanone and mixtures thereof Cure coagents may also be present. Such coagents include but are not limited to triallyl cyanurate, triallyl isocyanurate, triallyl phosphate, triallyl trimellitate, diallylidene pentaerithryte, diallyl terephthalate, tetraallyl oxyethane, triallyl citrate, acetyl triallyl oxyethane, acetyl triallyl citrate, di-, tri-, tetra- and penta-functional acrylates, di-, tri-, tetra- and penta-functional methacrylates, n,n'-m-phenylene-dimaleimide, 1,2-cis-polybutadiene and mixtures thereof. Cure agents may be added to the coating liquid in an amount suitable to facilitate crosslinking or otherwise cure of the elastomer as is appreciated by one of skill in the art without undue experimentation. [0019] The water based or solvent based coating liquid may comprise one or more colorants as are desired to impart a given color or pattern to the camouflage tire. The color imparted by the colorants is not limited and may include any color obtainable with known colorant additives. The colorants may include any suitable dyes, pigments, or the like that impart the desired color. The colorants may be included in the water or solvent based coating liquid or mixed with the coating liquid immediately prior to application to the tire. The relative amount of colorant to be added to the coating liquid is dependent on the type of colorant, the desired color, and the desired intensity of the color, as would be appreciated by one of skill in the art without undue experimentation. [0020] Dyes are generally defined as compounds which contain groups that confer color, generally called chromophores. More information on dyes in general is available in The Chemistry of Synthetic Dyes, Volumes I and II by K. Venkaktaraman, 1952, published by Academic Press, Inc., New York, and in Organic Chemistry by W. T. Caldwell, 1943, published by Houghton Mifflin Company in its chapter entitled "Synthetic Dyes," Pages 702 through 725. [0021] The coating compositions of the present invention also may contain color pigments, including inorganic pigments, such as. titanium dioxide, talc, mica, iron oxides, lead oxides, chromium oxides, lead chromate and carbon black, including conductive carbon black, and organic pigments such as phthalocyanine blue and phthalocyanine green, as well as a variety of other color pigments. Continue reading... Full patent description for Camouflage tire Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Camouflage tire patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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