Patent ID: 7153381
Filing Date: 2006-12-26
Classification: B29C,B29D,B29L,B60C,G09F

Abstract:
1. A method for co-curing a cured laminar coded label, legible over the entire operating life of the tire, the label to be secured in a chosen location on a green rubber tire's exterior surface prior to being cured in contact with a release agent on inner surface of a curing mold, the method comprising, applying a vulcanizable solventless adhesive including carbon black and essentially free of an antiozonant and an aromatic oil to the lower surface of the cured laminar coded label of predominantly natural rubber, less than 20 mils thick, containing from 15% to 50% of titanium dioxide pigment, and crosslinked to a level of at least 80% as determined by a Mooney cure meter, the coded label having imprinted on its virgin upper surface a bar code, the adhesive in combination with a zone of pigment and predominantly natural rubber near the coded label's lower surface adjacent the solventless adhesive, being substantially impermeable to staining ingredients migrating from the rubber sidewall and tread so as to correctly read the bar code with a scanner in more than 95 out of 100 tires cured; coating the upper surface of the coded label with a protective non-self-supporting film of water-borne polyurethane less than 25.4 μm, 0.0254 mm (1 mil) thick providing protection against staining by the release agent; adhesively securing the cured coded label in the chosen location of the exterior surface; expanding the tire at least 5% and curing it in the curing mold; and, removing a cured tire from the mold with the protective film adhering to the surface of the coded label which is embedded therein without substantially changing its location, the surface of the coded label being coplanar with the surface of the contiguous rubber, the coded label being essentially free from distortion and surface cracks.