Solid material comminution or disintegration – Processes
Patent
1994-01-24
1996-01-09
Eley, Timothy V.
Solid material comminution or disintegration
Processes
241 3, 241 14, 2411014, 241DIG31, B02C 1900, B02C 1912
Patent
active
054822157
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a method of reclaiming rubber from vehicle tires so that the rubber can be recycled in various forms and for many purposes.
The increasing vehicle population of the world presents an increasing enviromental problem in relation to the disposal of used vehicle tires. Currently there are large stockpiles of used tires throughout the world as there was not as yet been developed a method of disposal of the tires which is considered both environmentally acceptable and economic.
Burying of tires in landfill has been used as a method of disposal, however, in view of the size, construction and flexibility of tires, they result in initially forming cavities in the landfill and are difficult to effectively compact during the landfill operation. Further, it has been found that in these situations the soil tends to settle more than the tires and the latter may subsequently resurface. Further the practice of burning of tires as a fuel also presents a problem in the nature of the resulting products of combustion and the relatively low thermal output. Also there is the problem of tires incorporating non combustible components such as steel reinforcing wires or mesh which present difficulties in the operation of combustion equipment.
There have been a number of proposals for stripping the rubber material from the metal or fabric reinforcement, however, most prior proposals have not proven to be economically viable. In order to maximise the financial return from the reclaiming of materials from vehicle tires, it is desirable to be able to separate substantially all of the rubber content of the tires from the metal reinforcement therein, and to further separate the relatively high quality rubber in the tread portion of the tire from the lower quality rubber in the sidewalls, bead area of the tire.
Various processes and machinery for the reclaiming of rubber from tires have been disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the object of the present invention to provide a method of reclaiming rubber from vehicle tires which enables the maximum rate of recovery of rubber to be achieved in an economic manner while also enabling the higher grade tread rubber to be separated from other rubbers recovered from the tire.
With this object in view, there is provided according to the present invention, a method of reclaiming rubber from vehicle tires, comprising: provide an elongate tread strip incorporating a tread reinforcement bell; reinforcement belt; tread reinforcement belt; and
Preferably the rubber of the sidewalls is also reduced to a particulate form and also the rubber incorporated in the tire beads. Where fabric reinforcement materials are used in the sidewalls and/or the beads, that non-metallic material is particulised with the rubber. Conveniently, if desired, the reinforcement material can be separated from the rubber subsequent to the breakdown thereto to the particulate form, conveniently by a process dependent on the differences in specific gravity of the respective materials.
The initial separation of the tread portion from the remainder of the tire is effected by making peripheral cuts through each sidewall in the area of the junction thereof with the tread portion. These cuts may be effected mechanically such as by rotary knives or saws or by high pressure liquid jets, commonly referred to as ultra high pressure liquid (UHPL) cutting. Preferably the separated tread portion has one or more cuts across the width of the tread portion, through the total thickness thereof to form one or more strips.
The tread strip is then fed in a flat state past a rotary cutter set to remove the tread rubber from the reinforcement belt. Preferably the rotary cutter cuts across the full width of the tread strip so that all of the tread rubber is removed in a single pass.
The remainder of the tread strip, after the removal of the tread rubber, is subject to UHPL cutting to remove the remaining rubber, including the rubber normally provided on the inner
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patent: 3364526 (1968-01-01), Varady et al.
patent: 3693894 (1972-09-01), Willette
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patent: 4363450 (1982-12-01), Schmidt
patent: 4840316 (1989-06-01), Barclay
patent: 4863106 (1989-09-01), Perkel
patent: 5024386 (1991-06-01), Morris
patent: 5115983 (1992-05-01), Rutherford, Sr.
patent: 5147163 (1992-09-01), Booker et al.
CMHT Technology (Australia) Pty Ltd
Eley Timothy V.
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