GB2530270A

GB2530270A - Apparatus for reducing the bulk of tyres

Info

Publication number: GB2530270A
Application number: GB1416347.1A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Albert Edward Herring
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2014-09-16
Filing date: 2014-09-16
Publication date: 2016-03-23
Also published as: GB201416347D0

Abstract

Apparatus for reducing the bulk of tyres comprises: first cutting means 7, 8 for cutting through the wall and tread of a tyre 2 at one circumferential position to provide two cut ends of the tyre, means 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 for feeding a leading cut end of the tyre along a curved path including means engaging the tyre adapted to reverse the curvature of the tyre and partially flatten the tyre wall and tread and second cutting means 20 arranged for cutting pairs of opposed transverse slits through the tyre wall at spaced intervals therealong. Successive tyres may be joined end to end and wound into a roll 30 with the tread surfaces of the tyres facing radially inwardly.

Description

Apparatus for Reduciniz the Bulk of Tyres The invention relates to an apparatus and method for reducing the bulk of tyres, in particular used tyres which accumulate at tyre fitting stations and are extremely bulky to store and transport for disposal.

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for rolling up a plurality of cut tyres joined end to end in a roll. The resulting rolls take up a fraction of the space of the untreated tyres and can thus be stored and transported more economically. Further, the rolls of tyres can be conveniently unrolled and fed into a shredder and subsequently used as fuel for a furnace such as at a cement works.

A preferred aspect of the invention comprises apparatus for reducing the bulk of tyres comprising: first culling means for culling through the wall and tread of a tyre at one circumferential position to provide two cut ends of the tyre; means for feeding a leading cut end of the tyre along a path including means engaging the tyre adapted to reverse the curvature of the tyre and partially flatten the tyre wall and tread; and second cutting means arranged for cutting pairs of opposed transverse slits through the tyre wall at spaced intervals therealong.

A second preferred aspect of the invention comprises a method of reducing the bulk of tyres comprising the steps of: cutting completely through the wall and tread of a tyre at one circumferential position to provide two cut ends of the tyre; feeding a leading cut end of the tyre along a path to reverse the curvature of the tyre and partially flatten the tyre wall and tread; and feeding the tyre to a cutting means and cutting pairs of opposed transverse slits through the tyre wall at spaced intervals therealong, Embodiments of the invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure lisa diagrammatic side elevation of apparatus for reducing the bulk of tyres; Figure 2 is an end elevation of a tyre cutting station of the apparatus; Figure 3 is a side elevation of a part of the apparatus showing culling and feeding means; Figure 4 is an end elevation of apparatus shown in Figure 3; Figure 5 is a view similar to that of Figure 4 but showing a tyre in a more advanced position; Figure Sa is a side view of a toothed disc of the apparatus; Figure 6 is an end view of further cutting means of the apparatus; Figure 7 is a side view of the apparatus of Figure 6; Figure 8 is a plan view of the apparatus of Figure 6; Figure 9 is a side view of connecting means of the apparatus and Figure 10 is a diagrammatic side view of two tyres connected end to end.

With reference to the drawings and to Figure I in particular, it will be seen that the apparatus can be regarded as comprising several succeeding stations for the automated processing of tyres. The most upstream station is a chute 1 in which one or more tyres 2 can be placed to await feeding into the apparatus. At the next downstream station, also shown in Figures 2 -5, means are provided for cutting completely through the wall 3 and tread 4 of a tyre at one circumferential position to provide two cut ends 5, 6 of the tyre. These cutting means comprise a fixed anvil 7 and a hydraulically operated blade 8. Once cut through, the tyre is pushed downwardly by means of rollers 9. As the tyre is pushed downwardly, the trailing cut end 6 of the tyre is supported on the anvil 7 whilst the leading cut end 5 moves downwardly and is fed towards a curved path along which the lyre wall and tread are partially flattened out and the curvature of the tyre is reversed. That is to say, the tyre is turned inside out or everted such that the tread surface faces radially inwardly. With reference to Figures 3, 4 and 5, it can be seen that the flattening and eversion of the tyre is partly achieved by a pair of curved downwardly guide bars 10 which flare outwardly away from each other from their roots adjacent to anvil 7 to their free ends. Figure 5 shows a tyre slightly further along the guide bars from the position shown in Figure 4 and it can be seen that the side wall 3 has been spread outwardly. As the curvature of the type is reversed, the side walls 3 are pushed downwardly by the guide bars 10 and flip over so that the tyre is effectively turned inside out but substantially flattened.

Chain drive sprockets 11 and 12 are also shown in Figures 4 and 5. Endless flexible conveying elements in the form of chains 13 and 14 pass around the sprockets 11, 12 but have been omitted from Figures 4 and 5, The tyre has been shown partly cut away in Figure 5 to reveal a pair of toothed discs 15 mounted on either side of sprocket 12 coaxially therewith on a shaft 16. The discs 15 are optional and have been omitted in Figure 4. The diameters of the sprocket 12 and discs 15 are nearer to that of a bead 33 of a typica' tvre than to that of its tread. This arrangement assists flattening of the tyre as it passes around the curved portion of the path.

The chains 13 and 14 are arranged to be driven along first and second closed loops as best seen in Figure 1. Chain 13 is driven around main sprocket 12 and two further smali sprockets 1 7. Chain 14 is driven around sprocket I I and three further small sprockets 1 8, Portions of the closed loops of the two chains run adjacent to one another and define therebetween the path of the tyre wall downstream from the cutting means 7. 8. A first portion of this path is roughly semi-circular and the tread surface 41 of the lyre is engaged over that portion by the chain 13 supported on the main sprocket 12 and by the toothed discs 15. The inner surface 42 of the tyre, now facing outwardly is engaged over this portion of the path by the guide bars 10 and the chain 14. At the stage where approximately half the tyre has been fed around the sprocket 12, the lyre is substantially in an S shape with the trailing half in its usual condition but with the leading half turned inside out.

A downstream section of the path is substantially linear and second cutting means 20 are located therealong and driven in timed relation to the chains. The second cutting means comprise a fixed anvil 21 and a hydraulically operated blade 22, The second cutting means do not cut completely through the tyre but only cut opposite pairs of transverse slits 23 through the tyre wall at spaced intervals therealong. These slits 23 are best seen in the plan view of Figure 6. As a result of the tyre wall and tread being flattened out, the slits open up to a shape as seen in plim view. As shown in Figures 7 and 8, the tyre wall and tread is substantially flattened out during cutting of the slits 23 but will naturally tend to curl up a little afterwards.

In another embodiment (not shown), the everted and flattened tyre is passed around a cylindrical roller having a plurality of anvils placed thereon. A second roller is driven in contra-rotation and provided with a plurality of cutting blades. The arrangement is such that the tyre passes between a nip formed between the rollers and the tyre walls are slit at spaced intervals between the anvils and the cutting blades.

Downstream of the second cutting means there is a station 25 shown in Figure 9 comprising means for connecting the trailing end of a tyre to the overlapping leading end of a succeeding tvre, This station includes a hydraulically operated punch 26 which cuts and pushes a tongue 28 of the tread 4 of the upper tyre 2a downwardly and through the tread 4 of the lower tyre 2b whilst also cutting and pushing down a tongue 29 of the lower tyre as shown in Figure 10. The metallic elements in the tyre treads make these tongues 28, 29 sufficiently stiff to provide a connection between the tyres which enables them to be drawn along in a string and subsequently wound into roll 30 comprising a plurality of tyres connected end to end with the tread surfaces of the tyres facing IBdially inwardly.

The roll 30 can be conveniently stored and transported for disposal. In one aspect of the invention, rolls of connected tyres are unwound and fed into a furnace.

Claims

CLATMS1 Apparatus for reducing the bulk of tyres comprising: first cuffing means for cuffing through the wall and tread of a lyre at one circumferential position to provide two cut ends of the tyre means for feeding a leading cut end of the tyre along a path including means engaging the tyre adapted to reverse the curvature of the tyre and partially flatten the tyre wall and tread; and second cutting means arranged for cutting pairs of opposed transverse slits through the tyre wall at spaced intervals therealong.
2. Apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for connecting the trailing end of a tyre to the leading end of a succeeding tyre and means for winding up a plurality of connected tyres into a roll.

3 Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the means for feeding the cut end of the lyre include first and second endless flexiNe conveying elements respectively engaging the opposite surfaces of the tyre tread.

4, Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the endless flexible conveying elements are driven along first and second closed loops and wherein portions of the first and second loops run adjacent to one another and define therebetween the path for the tyre wall.

5, Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a portion of the path for the tyre wall is part-circular and wherein the tread surface of the tyre is engaged over that portion of the path by the first conveying element, supported on a drive sprocket, and a pair of toothed discs mounted on either side of the sprocket co-axially therewith and driven in rotation therewith.

6, Apparatus according to claim 4 or claim 5, wherein the path for the tyre wall includes a linear portion downstream of the part-circular portion and wherein the second cutting means is located at the linear portion and is driven in timed relation to the conveying elements.

7, Apparatus according to any of claims 2-6, wherein the connecting means comprises a punch adapted to punch a tongue of material of one tyre tread through an overlapping tyre tread of a succeeding tyre, 8. A method of reducing the bulk of tyres comprising, the steps of: cutting completely through the wall and tread of a tyre at one circumferential position to provide two cut ends of the tyre; feeding a leading cut end of the tyre along a path to reverse the curvature of the tyre and partially flatten the tyre wall and tread; and feeding the tyre to a cutting means and cutting pairs of opposed transverse slits through the tyre wall at spaced intervals therealong.9. A method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the steps of connecting the trailing end of the tyre to the leading end of a succeeding tyre and winding up a plurality of connected tyres into a roll.10. A method according to claim 2, further comprising the step of unwinding a roll of connected tyres and feeding the connected tyres into a shredder.11. Apparatus for reducing the bulk of tyres substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.12. A method for reducing the bulk of tyres substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.