Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29B—PREPARATION OR PRETREATMENT OF THE MATERIAL TO BE SHAPED; MAKING GRANULES OR PREFORMS; RECOVERY OF PLASTICS OR OTHER CONSTITUENTS OF WASTE MATERIAL CONTAINING PLASTICS
  • B29B17/00—Recovery of plastics or other constituents of waste material containing plastics
  • B29B17/02—Separating plastics from other materials
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B26—HAND CUTTING TOOLS; CUTTING; SEVERING
  • B26D—CUTTING; DETAILS COMMON TO MACHINES FOR PERFORATING, PUNCHING, CUTTING-OUT, STAMPING-OUT OR SEVERING
  • B26D1/00—Cutting through work characterised by the nature or movement of the cutting member or particular materials not otherwise provided for; Apparatus or machines therefor; Cutting members therefor
  • B26D1/01—Cutting through work characterised by the nature or movement of the cutting member or particular materials not otherwise provided for; Apparatus or machines therefor; Cutting members therefor involving a cutting member which does not travel with the work
  • B26D1/46—Cutting through work characterised by the nature or movement of the cutting member or particular materials not otherwise provided for; Apparatus or machines therefor; Cutting members therefor involving a cutting member which does not travel with the work having an endless band-knife or the like
  • B26D1/50—Cutting through work characterised by the nature or movement of the cutting member or particular materials not otherwise provided for; Apparatus or machines therefor; Cutting members therefor involving a cutting member which does not travel with the work having an endless band-knife or the like with a plurality of band-knives or the like
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B26—HAND CUTTING TOOLS; CUTTING; SEVERING
  • B26D—CUTTING; DETAILS COMMON TO MACHINES FOR PERFORATING, PUNCHING, CUTTING-OUT, STAMPING-OUT OR SEVERING
  • B26D3/00—Cutting work characterised by the nature of the cut made; Apparatus therefor
  • B26D3/003—Cutting work characterised by the nature of the cut made; Apparatus therefor specially adapted for cutting rubber
  • B26D3/005—Cutting work characterised by the nature of the cut made; Apparatus therefor specially adapted for cutting rubber for cutting used tyres
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29B—PREPARATION OR PRETREATMENT OF THE MATERIAL TO BE SHAPED; MAKING GRANULES OR PREFORMS; RECOVERY OF PLASTICS OR OTHER CONSTITUENTS OF WASTE MATERIAL CONTAINING PLASTICS
  • B29B17/00—Recovery of plastics or other constituents of waste material containing plastics
  • B29B17/02—Separating plastics from other materials
  • B29B2017/0203—Separating plastics from plastics
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29B—PREPARATION OR PRETREATMENT OF THE MATERIAL TO BE SHAPED; MAKING GRANULES OR PREFORMS; RECOVERY OF PLASTICS OR OTHER CONSTITUENTS OF WASTE MATERIAL CONTAINING PLASTICS
  • B29B17/00—Recovery of plastics or other constituents of waste material containing plastics
  • B29B17/04—Disintegrating plastics, e.g. by milling
  • B29B2017/0424—Specific disintegrating techniques; devices therefor
  • B29B2017/0428—Jets of high pressure fluid
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29K—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASSES B29B, B29C OR B29D, RELATING TO MOULDING MATERIALS OR TO MATERIALS FOR MOULDS, REINFORCEMENTS, FILLERS OR PREFORMED PARTS, e.g. INSERTS
  • B29K2021/00—Use of unspecified rubbers as moulding material
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29K—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASSES B29B, B29C OR B29D, RELATING TO MOULDING MATERIALS OR TO MATERIALS FOR MOULDS, REINFORCEMENTS, FILLERS OR PREFORMED PARTS, e.g. INSERTS
  • B29K2705/00—Use of metals, their alloys or their compounds, for preformed parts, e.g. for inserts
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29K—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASSES B29B, B29C OR B29D, RELATING TO MOULDING MATERIALS OR TO MATERIALS FOR MOULDS, REINFORCEMENTS, FILLERS OR PREFORMED PARTS, e.g. INSERTS
  • B29K2705/00—Use of metals, their alloys or their compounds, for preformed parts, e.g. for inserts
  • B29K2705/08—Transition metals
  • B29K2705/12—Iron
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29L—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASS B29C, RELATING TO PARTICULAR ARTICLES
  • B29L2030/00—Pneumatic or solid tyres or parts thereof
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02W—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO WASTEWATER TREATMENT OR WASTE MANAGEMENT
  • Y02W30/00—Technologies for solid waste management
  • Y02W30/50—Reuse, recycling or recovery technologies
  • Y02W30/62—Plastics recycling; Rubber recycling

Definitions

• This invention relates to a method and apparatus of reclaiming rubber from vehicle tyres so that the rubber can be recycled in various forms and for any purposes.
• Burying of tyres in landfill has been used as a method of disposal, however, in view of the size, construction and flexibility of tyres, this result in the respective tyre beads being pressed together forming cavities in the landfill that are difficult to fill with soil or sand, and effectively compact during the landfill operation. Further, it has been found that in these situations the soil tends to settle more than the tyres and the latter may subsequently resurface. Further the alternative practice of burning of tyres as a fuel also presents an environmental problem in the nature of the resulting products of combustion and is relatively inefficient due to low thermal output. Also there is the problem of tyres incorporating non combustible components such as steel reinforcing wires or mesh, which present a further difficulty in the operation of combustion equipment.
• the reduction of the sidewalls to particle form may be effected mechanically such as by rotary knives or by high pressure liquid jets, commonly referred to as ultra high pressure liquid cutting.
• successive sectors of the sidewall after treatment of the external surfaces are supported so the treated external surface thereof is substantially flat, and the internal surface is presented to a further plurality of cutters similarly arranged to reduce the thickness of the internal rubber of the sidewall to substantially the level of the sidewall reinforcement.
• the supporting of the sectors of the sidewall to provide the substantially flat external surface is effected after the external surface of that sector has been processed to reduce the thickness of the external rubber.
• the composition of the rubbers on the internal surface of the sidewall is a butyl rubber, having different characteristics and composition, and often has delaminating effects than the more conventional rubber on the external surface of the sidewall.
• the rubber on the internal and external faces of the tyre sidewall is removed in separate operations and can be independently collected.
• the internal surface of the sidewall in the pre-treatment, is of a substantially smooth nature compared with the irregular nature of the external surface, it is more convenient to initially support the sectors of the tyre on the internal side of the tyre sidewall.
• the cutters used to remove both the internal and external rubber are of a construction that performs a cut along the total radial length of the supported sectors of the sidewall.
• the cutter can be in the form of an endless band supported on spaced rollers to form a cutter band of a length substantially equal to the radial extent of the tyre sidewall. not including the bead area.
• a series of such cutter bands may be provided in a side by side relation each set to perform a cut of substantially equal depth, and together a cut of a total depth to remove the sidewall rubber down to the level of the sidewall reinforcement.
• the tyre sidewall is supported to be rotatable about its axis and two support stations are provided spaced circumferentially along the rotational path of the support sidewall.
• Each support station is arranged to support the section of the sidewall as it passes therethrough.
• One support station contacts the inner face of the sidewall to support a section of the sidewall with the inner surface thereof substantially flat.
• At least one cutter is provided to operatively engage the outer surface of the supported section of the sidewall. Each cutter preferably extends substantially the whole of the radial width of the sidewall.
• the other support station being upstream in the direction of rotation from said one support station, is arranged to contact the outer surface of the sidewall to support the section thereof while applying a cutter to the inner surface of the supported section of the sidewall.
• each of the supports comprise two pairs of rollers arranged in a spaced relation along the periphery of the sidewall, with the sidewall passing between the rollers of each pair.
• a plurality of cutters are arranged to operate on each of the section of the sidewall while supported, each cutter operating concurrently to progressively reduce the thickness of the rubber covering from each side of the tyre sidewall.
• Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representation of the stages of recovering the rubber from the tyre sidewall:
• Figure 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of an apparatus for use in carrying out the recovery of the rubber from the sidewall;
• FIG. 1 of the drawings there is shown in the tower drawing, a cross-sectional view of the sidewall of a typical truck of like high load capacity' vehicle tyre, which has been separated from the tread portion of the tyre.
• the sidewall portion of the tyre is made up of the outer sidewall rubber layer 10, the inner sidewall rubber layer 1 1 which is usually a butyl rubber, and the sidewall reinforcement strip 12 which is usually a woven mesh of metal fibres but may also be of a non-metalic fibre material.
• the bead portion of the tyre sidewall as represented at 14 includes the wire bead assembly 15 which is a concentrated assembly of metal fibres forming a substantially inelastic core to the bead area of the tyre.
• the reinforcing strip 12 extends partially about the bead wire assembly 15 as does additional bead area reinforcement fibre 16 and the encasing rubber cover 17.
• the external rubber casing 10 is removed from the fabric core 11. and the bead portion 14. This is the major portion of the rubber recovered from the sidewall, although its commercial value per unit weight is less than that of the inner lining butyl rubber 1 1.
• the relatively thin layer of butyl rubber 1 1 on the internal face of the sidewall is removed. This rubber is also removed for a significant portion of the bead area of the tyre as can be seen in the diagram of stage 2.
• stage 3 the remaining rubber which is impregnated in the reinforcing strip 12 is removed so as to only leave the non-rubber woven material which forms the core.
• the separation of the final stage of rubber from the core may be carried out by use of ultra high pressure water jets which can be arranged to effectively remove the rubber material without breaking up the core material which is normally in the form of a woven metal mesh.
• FIG. 2 there is illustrated diagrammatically, the layout of the equipment for carrying out stages 1 and 2 as described above with reference to Figure 1.
• the platform 20 of circular form is supported to rotate on its axis 21 and is of a size suitable to support the sidewalk portion of tyros within a specified range of tyre sizes. Subject to the range of tyre sizes to be processed platforms of different sizes may be required.
• processing stations 21 and 22 there are two processing stations 21 and 22 arranged in a diametrically opposite relationship to the centre of rotation of the platform.
• roller assemblies 25 each comprising two rollers 23 and 24, defining therebetween a rubber separation area 26, each including a cutter unit 27.
• the lower processing station 21 is arranged to remove the outer rubber from the sidewall assembly and the upper processing station is to remove the butyl rubber from the inner side of the tyre sidewall.
• rollers of each operating station as seen in Figure 3 are of a tapered roller form, the degree of taper being related to the change in diameter from the inner to the outer end of each roller, and is selected so that the peripheral speed on the roller surface is substantially uniform along the length thereof.
• the pairs of rollers 23-24 are arranged relative to the plane of the rotating table 20 so as to deflect the sidewall along the major part of its radial extent, relative to the bead portion so that what is the inner side of the sidewall is substantially straight as seen in Figure 3 and as compared with the shape as shown in Figure 1.
• the peripheral surface of the lower roller 24 is a smooth continuous surface
• the upper roller 23 is made up of a number of sections of differing diameters so that they will contact the outer side of the sidewall at a number of locations along the radial extent of the sidewall. This aspect of the upper roller being clearly depicted in Figure 3 of the drawings.
• the cutter may comprise a plurality of cutter elements set at different heights so that the outer rubber of the sidewall is progressively reduced in height as it passes beneath the cutter. Hence the particle size of the rubber removed from the outer side of the sidewall is maintained substantially uniform and of the required size which is determined by the degree of difference in height of the respective cutters.
• the cutter is made up of an endless cutter band 30 such as 30 shown in Figure 3 having closely spaced teeth projecting from the periphery thereof.
• This cutting band may be of a construction similar to that employed in the commonly known chainsaw, although it is intended that the cutter band will be of a specific design for the purpose of cutting rubber at the desired level of particle size.
• the sidewall will then continue to rotate with the table 10 to reach the second cutter station at the diagonally opposite location. There it will again pass through to circumferentially spaced pairs of rollers and will now be subjected to a plurality of cutters located on the underside of the sidewall to thereby remove from the butyl rubber in the operation as represented at stage 3 in Figure 1.
• the rollers of each pair can now be of a substantially plain cylindrical form and are not required to have a stepped roller as previously referred to in respect of the first processing station.
• an assembly of cutters of the same general form as previously described are provided between the respective roller assemblies on the underside of the portion of the sidewall supported between the rollers to remove the butyl rubber.
• the roller 23 is contoured to provide effective support of the sidewall while the external surface is being operated on by the cutter 30. It will be noted the support roller 24 on the under or inner wall of the sidewall is of a plain conical shape as also shown in Figure 3.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Forests & Forestry (AREA)
• Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
• Separation, Recovery Or Treatment Of Waste Materials Containing Plastics (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=3801928

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

Families Citing this family (5)

Family Cites Families (3)

• 1997
  • 1997-07-01 AU AUPO7639A patent/AUPO763997A0/en not_active Abandoned
• 1998
  • 1998-07-01 HU HU0000780A patent/HUP0000780A3/hu unknown
  • 1998-07-01 WO PCT/AU1998/000505 patent/WO1999001266A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1998-07-01 EP EP19980930551 patent/EP0981428A1/en not_active Withdrawn

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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