Appeal No. 1998-2985 4
Application No. 08/725,212
to a method of making a cured tire having a dirt resistant white sidewall, suggests
providing the tire sidewall with a series of concentric ribs and grooves and bonding a thin
sheet of pigmented rubber onto the sidewall by heat molding them together (col. 2[,]
line[s] 36-40; figures 1-4) to provide a very pleasing appearance.” See Answer, page 7.
We disagree.
Hayakawa discloses a very specific process for formation of a mark indication on a
tire sidewall. The process requires particular and specific conditions for the disclosed
process. In a description of the prior art, Hayakawa discusses the prior art methods that
were adopted for placing a thin rubber sheet on a tire sidewall. See column 1, lines 27-
34. The following means are usually adopted:
(1) After vulcanizing the tire, a vulcanized color patch is heated and stuck
under pressure on such a tire side wall.
(2) After vulcanizing the tire, an unvulcanized rubber patch is stuck on
such a tire side wall and then vulcanization is again effected to stick
the rubber patch on the tire side wall, and
(3) Prior to vulcanizing the tire, a previously vulcanized rubber patch has
been stuck on the portion of a mold corresponding to the side wall
and the tire is vulcanized by this mold.
In the case of the above described process (1), when the vulcanized color
patch is heated and stuck on the vulcanized tire side wall, the physical properties
of the cord and rubber at the heated portion are apt to be varied and this process
is not preferable. Furthermore even if the color patch is stuck on the vulcanized
tire, the position to be stuck with the color patch is large in the distortion
deformation, so that the color patch is apt to be separated.
The above described process (2) intends to solve the defects of the process
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