Land vehicles: wheels and axles – Wheel – With wheel cover
Reexamination Certificate
2002-02-07
2003-02-11
Stormer, Russell D. (Department: 3617)
Land vehicles: wheels and axles
Wheel
With wheel cover
C301S037240, C301S037110, C301S095102, C359S541000, C359S546000, C359S548000, C359S524000, C427S163400, C427S214000, C428S203000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06517166
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a light-reflective wheel rim, more particularly to a light-reflective wheel rim having a surface provided with a high light-reflective coating.
2. Description of the Related Art
A light-reflective plate or an adhesive light-reflective paper is usually attached to a wheel rim to result in light-reflective and signaling effects for enhancing driver safety. Since the light-reflective plate or the light-reflective paper is usually provided on certain areas of the wheel rim, the light reflecting effect is affected by the angle of the incident light and by the point of view, and is thus limited and unsatisfactory. Moreover, the adhesive light-reflective paper tends to shrink, to curl up and to be easily stripped from the surface of the wheel rim due to weather and temperature factors. Aging of the light-reflective plate might reduce the light-reflecting effect achieved thereby and may result in cracking of the same.
In view of the aforementioned problems, a process for forming a light-reflective coating on a wheel rim has been proposed. The process comprises the steps of cleaning the surface of the wheel rim, providing a glossy surface on the cleaned surface by polishing the cleaned surface or by providing a coating on the unpolished cleaned surface, preparing a sprayable light-reflective paint by mixing light-reflective particles with a paint, spraying the light-reflective paint on the glossy surface of the wheel rim, forming a protective layer on the light-reflective paint, attaching a label to the protective layer, and applying a finishing layer on the label and the protective layer.
Accordingly, when light strikes the surface of the wheel rim having the light-reflective coating prepared from the aforementioned process, the light can be reflected by the light-reflective particles.
However, the aforementioned prior art has the following drawbacks:
Since the light-reflective particles are mixed with the paint to form the light-reflective paint, the light-reflective layer can include areas in which the particles are stacked or superimposed and areas in which the light-reflective particles are sparse. When light strikes an area having superimposed particles, reflection is poor because light is dispersed due to the different reflection angles of adjacent particles. When light strikes an area with sparse light-reflective particles, reflection is ineffective. Therefore, the aforementioned process is not satisfactory.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a light-reflective wheel rim having a surface provided with a high light-reflective coating, by which the reflection effects of light-reflective particles do not interfere with one another.
The wheel rim according to this invention has a surface provided with a high light-reflective coating, which includes a transparent adhesive layer provided on the surface of the wheel rim; a light-reflective particle layer which is substantially free of any superimposed or overlapping particles, and which is formed by spreading solely and uniformly dry light-reflective particles on the transparent adhesive layer and contacting directly the particles with the transparent adhesive layer, the particles having dimensions larger than the thickness of the transparent adhesive layer so that some of the dry light-reflective particles which do not contact the transparent adhesive layer can be allowed to fall off the transparent adhesive layer by gravity; and a transparent protective layer provided on the light-reflective particle layer.
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Giant Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
Harness & Dickey & Pierce P.L.C.
Stormer Russell D.
LandOfFree
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