Patent ID: 7232498

Claim:
A method of applying raised indicia to a sidewall surface of a pneumatic tire, said raised indicia having a raised thickness measured normal to said sidewall surface and an indicial cross-section substantially perpendicular to said normal, comprising the steps of: preparing said sidewall surface of said tire to accept said raised indicia; applying in a sequence of application steps each of a plurality of superposed layers of a curable elastomer composition to said prepared sidewall surface to form said raised indicia, each of said layers having a cross-section substantially similar to said indicial cross-section; wherein said sequence of application steps comprises: i) applying a first layer of said curable elastomer composition to said prepared sidewall surface; ii) applying an additional layer of said curable elastomer after applying the first layer, the additional layer superposing said first layer; and iii) applying at least one further additional layer after application of the previous layer such that each additional layer is superposed on the previously applied layer, until a predetermined raised thickness is obtained; and curing the curable elastomer composition by application of heat or electromagnetic radiation; wherein said step of applying a plurality of superposed layers of a curable elastomer composition comprises applying each of said layers of said curable elastomer composition from a plurality of inkjet nozzles.