Innovations in Enhancing Tire Aesthetics

Low-profile tire design for oversized wheels that allows them to be used for racing applications on raceways while also being legal for use on public highways. The design aims to provide maximum traction, steering, stopping, and handling performance for racing, while still meeting safety standards for highway use.

A tire with concave marks on the sidewall for improved visibility and three-dimensional effect. The tire has concave marks on the sidewalls that are visible even from different light angles. This is achieved by making the concave marks on the sidewall in different locational configurations in the tire rotational direction. This ensures that the marks are exposed to light from different angles when observed, allowing consistent visibility and three-dimensional effect regardless of viewing direction.

A tire with improved visibility on specific regions of the tire's outer surface. The tire has a first region with convex portions and a second region with ridges. The distance between the highest points of the convex portions in the first region is shorter than the distance between adjacent ridges in the second region. This configuration enhances the visibility of the convex portion region compared to the ridged region.

Pneumatic tire with improved wear resistance while maintaining edge effect for traction. The tire has a tread pattern with alternating angled lateral grooves and sipes. The sipes in each block are angled in opposite directions and connected by a shallow recessed portion. This allows the sipes to maintain an edge effect during vehicle turns.

Improving the appearance of tire sidewalls by using a specific arrangement of unit patterns in the tire sidewall graphic. The tire has a patterned area on the sidewall filled with hexagon-shaped unit patterns. The unit patterns are arranged edge-to-edge to form the patterned area. The unit patterns are cut off at the edges of the patterned area to fit its shape. This allows continuous and complete filling of the pattern area with unit patterns.

A tire with a decorative pattern that provides enhanced contrast when viewed obliquely. The pattern has raised projections on the tire sidewall. These projections are inclined in the same direction. When viewed from the direction of the incline, the pattern appears black against the non-patterned tire surface. This visual effect is due to light entering the pattern region and being repeatedly reflected between the inclined projections, reducing brightness compared to the flat tire surface.

A pneumatic tire with an inconspicuous, decorative sidewall portion. The tire has a decorative pattern that extends in an arc shape around the tire's sidewall circumference. The pattern has multiple decorative zones with different occupied area percentages. The occupied area percentage of each zone gradually decreases from the radially innermost zone toward the radially outermost zone. This gradual reduction in occupied area percentage along the sidewall creates an optical effect that makes any convexoconcave of the tire's outer surface less noticeable.

A tire with enhanced sidewall marking visibility by having a region of micro projections adjacent to the marking that decrease in height and density with distance from the marking. This creates a contrasting geometry arrangement around the marking that improves visibility compared to having a uniform projection height and density.

A tire with an improved sidewall pattern to enhance its appearance. The sidewall pattern has an outer concentric ridge pattern and an inner concentric ridge pattern, with the ridges connecting at the tire circumferential line. This creates a stereoscopic visual effect with contrasting directions that make the pattern stand out. It also camouflages molding defects like recesses and projections. The tire also has outer and inner ribs extending circumferentially from the pattern to further enhance the appearance.

A tire design that improves the legibility and visibility of sidewall marks. The tire sidewall has one or more marks formed concavely on a reference surface. Each mark has an oblique ridge line extending from the reference surface. The ridge separates the outer and inner surface portions of the mark. The outer and inner surfaces are inclined downward away from the ridge. This configuration provides improved contrast and visibility of the marks compared to traditional flat marks.

A tire with a unique sidewall pattern that reduces light reflection and improves tire appearance. The sidewall pattern has curved portions arranged in chains with extension ends. The curved portions connect to form loops and the extension ends have half-closed circles. A tire mold with matching grooves is used to create the pattern during vulcanization. The pattern breaks up the light reflection on the tire sidewall for a better look.

Invisible shadows are added to concave tire sidewall markings to increase legibility without protruding. The shadows are small rib-shaped or columnar protrusions on the bottom surface of the concave mark. These protrusions make the shadow area darker when light is shed on the tire, increasing contrast and making the mark more readable.

A tire with enhanced visibility of sidewall markings. The tire sidewall has raised micro-projections around the marking to create a 3D effect. These projections extend radially outward from a vanishing point towards the mark. This provides depth perception and makes the mark stand out more clearly against the background.

A tire sidewall marking design to reduce air resistance while maintaining good visibility. The tire has a pair of recessed marks on the sidewall. The outer mark is recessed less than the inner mark. The marks can be characters, symbols, or patterns. The recessed marks avoid protrusions that create drag during rotation.

Tire and wheel with illuminable features such as LED lights and optical fibers for aesthetic and functional purposes like lighting, indication, visibility, wear, rotation, and service. The lights and fibers are built into the tire and wheel components to create visual patterns, characters, and effects. The illuminable features can help illuminate the area around the tire, indicate wear and rotation needs, show tire pressure, and make the tire more visible. The color of the lights can change with wheel speed.

A heavy-duty tire with improved durability and wear resistance. The tire has a low aspect ratio and uses at least three circumferential grooves to form multiple land portions in the tread. The tire also has a full band with opposing ends and two edge bands made of spirally wound cord. The sidewall has a recess to fit the rim flange. This design provides a balance between preventing uneven wear with the band and avoiding strain in the sidewalls.