WO2021116734A1

WO2021116734A1 - Mobile unit for preliminary treatment to the recovery of otr tires and operating method

Info

Publication number: WO2021116734A1
Application number: PCT/IB2019/060664
Authority: WO
Inventors: Marco Gabrielli
Original assignee: ANGHEBEN, Tullio
Priority date: 2019-12-11
Filing date: 2019-12-11
Publication date: 2021-06-17
Also published as: WO2021116993A1

Abstract

Mobile unit for the preliminary treatment for the mechanical recovery of OTR tires comprising a trailer that includes a central unit capable of dividing the tire to be treated in half and two treatment units that divide each half tire into slices easy to be handled, also removing the bead from each half tire, as well as method of operation of such mobile unit.

Description

MOBILE UNIT FOR PRELIMINARY TREATMENT TO THE RECOVERY OF OTR TIRES AND OPERATING METHOD

DESCRIPTION FIELD OF TECHNIQUE

The present invention relates to a mobile unit for the preliminary treatment for the recovery of OTR tires and to the operating method.

More specifically, the present invention relates to a mobile unit capable of treating large-sized OTR (off the road) tires, and therefore up to 63 inches in diameter of the rim.

STATE OF TECHNIQUE

It is known that in quarries and mines means of handling large materials are used, which are known under the English term of large mining trucks. Among these are for example mine dumpers, or vehicles equipped with a body that receives the extracted material from other dumpers of material handling.

Mining extractive sites are areas of great territorial extension in many cases greater than 100 km 2, therefore these large vehicles must withstand very large-scale movements, covering considerable distances on rough terrain. Therefore in the extractive sector the prescription is known of replacing tires - by default - approximately every 5/6 months, in order to guarantee the safety of operators and construction materials and equipment.

The transport of used tires into disuse is a significant problem for the extraction sites, having such tires large size and considerable weight and considering that every transport means may provide annually a dozen of tires to be disposed and therefore the problem is very relevant.

Such transport means may have a diameter of tires up to 4, 5 meters with a weight each up to 5 tons, and these measures that make easily understandable how it is relevant for the extractive sector the problem of disused tires to be disposed of.

In general, the disposal of disused tires represents a significant environmental problem, as the enormous size would entail at the final disposal sites with all the related problems, such as poor biodegradability and ease of combustion.

Systems and methods for recovering disused tires aimed at retreading new tires are known. Due to the industrial cutting and granulating processes of tires, it is possible to separate the various components (rubber, steel and fiber) so obtaining a material that can be used in multiple modes.

The mechanical recovery of the rubber consists in the reduction of the recovered material in homogeneous granulometries that allow the reuse of the same material in the compound used for the production of the new articles. The most consistent fraction of post-consumer recycled rubber comes from the recovery of the disused tires and it is for this reason that preliminary mechanical treatments are carried out on the discarded tire aimed at eliminating the metal component of the bead and reducing the volume of the tire and then sending the material to the mechanical shredding in order to obtain granules of reduced size.

The tire is a geometric figure almost toroidal, that is it is constituted by the revolution surface of a generating curve consisting of the section, in the case of the omega- shaped tire (the generator), around a disjointed rotation axis from that curve. An equatorial plane is therefore understood to be a plane comprising the axes of symmetry of the omega-shaped section of the tire and therefore it is a plane that cuts the tire at the center line of the tread, so obtaining two equal halves or two species of circular hollow donuts (see fig. 6, 8, 9, 10). Finally, for an equatorial fraction of the tire 4 it is meant a cutting fraction that corresponds to the cutting profile of the blade 24 in correspondence with the equatorial plane of the tire 4. In general, the preliminary steps for a mechanical shredding currently include the following steps:

- first phase: bead removal : separation of metal rings supporting the bead, that is the part that is mounted on the wheel rim, - second phase: division of the tire into two halves through the equatorial plane of the tire, resulting in two half tires,

- third phase: slice cutting of each half of the tire by subdividing them in slices easier to be handled and transported to the processing site for recovery or disposal. This procedure facilitates the reduction in weight and dimensions of the disused tires in such a way as to make it easy to move these materials to be recovered over long distances within the extraction site.

However, the state of the art of the machinery used to carry out the aforementioned operating phases envisages a very complex and different operating machine for each of the three aforementioned phases, a circumstance which entails a considerable cost for the site operator.

A further disadvantage that will be discussed concerning the known art is the poor operational efficiency in terms of time and human resources used for the assistance to the entire treatment process of the known systems. With regard to the first step regarding the extraction of the bead, an operating machine is known on which the tire is loaded and which provides a pulling member passed inside the hole of the rim of the tire which engages both beads of the tire; the latter is maintained bound in abutment, and through a traction action the tie rod can rip from the body of the tire the beads, this activity being dangerous considering that the beads of a tire are made by a weave of steel cables and those related to a 48-inch tire can weigh up to 90 kg. each. The weight and the elastic nature of the beads in fact oblige the operator of this machine according to the known to remove one bead at a time for tires larger than 48 inches; in fact, after removing the first bead, the operator must remove the tire from the machine, rotate and insert it again in a working position and must remove the second bead, with just an average working operation by extracting beads and then for only the first phase of work of over 20 minutes, without considering the manipulation of an object that has an average weight of 4.500 kg. The human error factor is heavily present.

As far as the second operative phase of dividing the tire into two halves is concerned, the prior art involves working with a further machine called punch cutter, in which the tire is placed on a slightly inclined seat with respect to the vertical comprising a blade which rises and falls and cuts interspersed with a rotation of the tire for a corresponding distance. However, since the tire lies on its side during processing, the cutting process can create cutting imperfections due to an imperfect rotation of the tire which, due to the friction of the lateral surface on which it rests, can cause the tire to slightly turn back, contrasting the rotation and slowing down the operation of the machine.

Finally, as regards the third slicing phase, the prior art provides for the use of a third machine which provides for the horizontal positioning of a half tire and a shear that goes up and down by cutting the slices of this half, while the rotation of the half tire is made manually through a mechanical arm suitably maneuvered by an operator. Both cutting and rotation of the tire are carried out by the operator. Also in this case the operation is of poor economic efficiency and requires great operational resources.

It should also be noted that the use of three different machines, one for each operation, entails the necessary handling of the material processed between one machine and the other, which penalizes the efficiency of the entire work flow in terms of time and resources employed.

PURPOSES OF THE INVENTION The purpose of the present invention is to overcome and obviate, at least partially, the drawbacks and operating limits of the prior art mentioned above.

More particularly, a purpose of the present invention is to make available an integrated mobile unit entirely built in on a trailer able to implement the three operating phases automatically one after the other with only the need of an operator that monitors the functioning of the entire work cycle.

A further purpose of the present invention is to obtain a mobile unit capable of performing all the three work steps described in an automated way and which is easily transportable even for long distances, in order to reach the storage centers of the OTR tires located at the mining centers.

A further purpose of the present invention is to optimize by reducing the working times of the entire working cycle, by improving the safety of the individual working operations and minimizing the manual intervention of the operator.

Another purpose is to provide a means with a high degree of reliability and resistance over time.

It is yet another purpose of the present invention to implement an automatic processing method which makes the preliminary mechanical treatment process of OTR tires efficient and optimized and safer for obtaining parts of smaller size compared to the prior art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is a mobile unit for the preliminary treatment for the recovery of OTR tires comprising a trailer on the platform of which a central unit is provided which is configured to carry out a first treatment step which alternates a cutting and rotation operation of the tire to be treated, said central unit being configured to cut the tire to be treated along the equatorial plane, said tire being previously housed vertically on said central unit so as to divide it into two tire halves when in use, a first treatment group being provided on the trailer in front with respect to the central unit and a second treatment group being provided on the trailer rearward of the central unit, said treatment groups being each configured to carry out a second treatment phase which alternates a radial cutting operation along a cutting axis and rotation of the tire halves to be treated, each of said treatment groups comprising means for receiving the corresponding tire half in a horizontal position and allowing the predetermined rotation of the corresponding tire half and a cutting unit comprising a rotating blade configured for cutting in a radial direction according to predetermined cutting axes and for simultaneously cutting a predetermined portion of bead of the corresponding tire half to be treated, by dividing the tire half into a plurality of slices when in use and further embodiments thereof described in the present invention.

An additional object of the present invention entails a method of use of a unit for the pretreatment of OTR tires which provides for automatically carrying out the following work phases one after another:

- a first phase in which the tire to be treated is cut in two halves along its equatorial plane;

- a second phase in which a radial cut is carried out simultaneously on each tire half for the division of the tire half into slices and a circumferential cut for cutting a portion of the bead from each corresponding slice.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The constructive and functional characteristics of the mobile unit object of the present invention can be better understood from the detailed description that follows, in which reference is made to the attached drawing tables which represent some preferred and non-limiting embodiments, in which: figure 1 is a side view of the mobile unit object of the present invention during handling; figure 2 is a top view of the mobile unit object of the present invention during handling; figure 3 is a side view of the mobile unit object of the present invention during the first processing phase of an OTR tire; figure 4 is a section of the mobile unit object of the present invention during a first processing phase of an OTR tire; figure 5 is a view of the tire being cut during the first processing phase; figure 6 is a view of the tire cut in two halves at the end of the first processing phase; figure 7 is a side view of the mobile unit object of the present invention during a second processing phase of an OTR tire; figure 8 is a top view of the mobile unit object of the present invention during the second processing phase of an OTR tire; figure 9 is a top view of the tire at the beginning of the second processing phase of an OTR tire; figure 10 is a top view of the tire at the end of the second processing phase of an OTR tire.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference to Figures 1 to 10, a preferred embodiment is shown with some details of variants of a mobile unit, in accordance with the present invention.

In figure 1 and 2 the mobile unit of the present invention is illustrated during handling; it includes a trailer 1, preferably of the swan-neck type then equipped with a suitably dimensioned low loader to support the load. As can be seen from the figures, the overall dimensions easily allow the movement of the unit on any type of road or path, as in fact during the movement the unit is completely closed, since all the structures/equipment can be included within the overall dimensions both in width and in height of the drive unit, without the need to carry out exceptional or special transports in a safety way.

The mobile unit object of the invention substantially foresees two automatic working phases one after the other: - a first phase (figs. 5 and 6) in which the tire (4) to be treated is cut in two halves along its equatorial plane;

- a second phase (figs. 9 and 10) in which on each half tire (42) two cutting operations are simultaneously carried out, a radial cut for the subdivision of the half in slices and a circumferential cut for cutting a bead portion of the relative slice.

As can be seen in figures 1, 2, 3 above the trailer 1 a central unit 2 is provided, which has two hinged arms 20, one placed frontally with respect to the trailer 1 and the other one placed at the rear with respect to the trailer 1, each equipped with a roll 21, freely rotatable about its own axis and the position of which with respect to the corresponding arm 20 is variable along the longitudinal direction of the arm 20 itself depending on the size of the tire to be treated.

The central unit 2 also has motorized rollers 23, preferably two, located on the sides of a concave seat 22 (see fig. 4), said seat 22 being suitable for receiving and resting the tire to be treated in a stable vertical position.

The central unit 2 also provides a blade 24 which during the operation rises and falls and therefore moves along a vertical direction perpendicular to the platform of the trailer 1 and suitable for cutting the tire to be treated along the equatorial plane during the first processing phase. Once the mobile unit is placed in working condition, i.e. with the stabilization cylinders lowered, the work cycle can be carried out.

The first processing phase (figs. 3 to 6) provides for the vertical positioning of the tire 4 to be treated above the seat 22 and the motorized rollers 23 in such a way that the equatorial plane of the tire 4 is perpendicular to the motorized rollers 23 and in particular that the center line of the tread 41 and therefore the equatorial plane of the tire 4 is in correspondence with the blade 24. Subsequently the arms 20 are raised being hinged to the central unit 1 until they laterally contain the tire 4 to be treated and positioning each idle roller 21 in contact with the circumference defined by the corresponding bead at its lowest point. Finally, the raising of the blade 24 is actuated for cutting a corresponding equatorial portion of the tire 4 and subsequently it is lowered to the rest position, in such a way that it can actuate for a predetermined time the corresponding motorized rotation of the tire by means of the motorized rollers 23, in such a way as to propose a subsequent equatorial portion still to be cut of the tire 4. The alternating rotation and cutting process ends when the entire tire 4 has been cut along its equatorial plane, and then the tire is made divisible into two tire halves 42. The operator actuates all the cutting phases of the tire 4 with a remote control console (not visible in the drawings), then at a safe distance.

To implement the second processing phase (figs. 7 to 10) treatment groups 3 are mainly used and located above the bed of the trailer 1 at the opposite sides of the central unit 2, and then a first treatment group 3 is provided on the trailer 1 in front of the central unit 2 and a second treatment group 3 is provided on the trailer 1 behind the central unit 2.

Each treatment group 3 provides a roller support structure 302 configured to support means 30 to receive the corresponding tire half 42 in a horizontal position and allows its predetermined rotation, said means 30 preferably consisting of two rollers sets 30, one opposite to the other, with respect to the roller support structure 302, as well as translation means 32 which allow the reciprocal approach of the roller sets 30 when the mobile unit object of the invention is in motion to be transported to a work site, and which allow its mutual removal when the treatment group 3 is in working conditions. Connected to the roller support structure 302 is a cutting unit 33 comprising a housing structure 332 also positioned on the platform of the trailer 1, said housing structure 332 comprising a rotating blade 330 and a fixed counter blade 331 arranged at such a height to be placed below the tire half 42 to be cut into slices 43 during its working phase. The roller sets 30 provide a plurality of motorized rollers 300 parallel to each other and some directional rollers 301 which are also possibly motorized and angled relative to the rollers 300 and allow the rotation of the tire half 42 to be machined by lying above the corresponding pair of roller sets 30 as shown in figure 8. The rotating blade 330, configured for a 360° rotation for cutting operations around the axis 333, has a "T" shape and provides a blade for cutting the bead 3300 with a concave profile to conform to the curvature of the bead 40 and therefore carry out a circumferential cut and a blade for cutting slices 3301 with a straight profile and perpendicular to the blade for cutting the bead 3300 to make a radial cut, as shown in figures 9 and 10. The blade for cutting the bead 3300 has a greater height than the blade for cutting the slices 3301 as it during the cutting operation must reach the position of the bead 40 at the same time as the cutting blade 3301 reaches the edge of the tread half 41 when in use. The second processing phase involves the positioning each of the two tire halves 42 in a horizontal position, due to the progressive lowering of the arms 20, above the corresponding roller sets 30 which in turn are in the working position or are at a maximum distance between them due to the translation means 32, and in this position the idle roller 21 remains in contact with the corresponding bead 40 of the tire half 4 to be treated, so guiding the rotation of the tire half 42 correctly.

In fact, it should be noted that each arm 20 has the additional function of containing the tire 4 to be treated laterally not only during the first working phase, but also to allow the corresponding tire half 42 to be positioned safely in a horizontal position on the corresponding means 30/roller sets 30 when in use. In fact, as already mentioned, each arm 20 provides an idle roller 21 capable of coming into contact with the lower circumference defined by the corresponding bead 40 of the tire 4 placed in a vertical position above the central unit 1 during the first working phase, said roller 21 being slid along the arm 20 so as to further come into contact with the upper point of the circumference defined by the corresponding bead 40 of the tire 4 placed in a vertical position above the central unit 1 before the start of the second working phase.

The lowering of the rotating blade 330 is then activated, by rotating it downwards, along a first cutting axis 44, by making the cut through the mutual action of said rotating blade 330 and of the fixed counter-blade 331. Once the cut has been made, a cut of a first side of a slice 43 along the cutting axis 44 is obtained in a radial direction and a portion of the bead 40 corresponding to the length of the profile of the blade for bead cutting 3300 will be obtained. Then the tire half 42 of a predetermined portion corresponding to a second cutting axis 44 is rotated due to the effect of the rollers 300 and of the directional rollers 301 which are motorized, and the rotating blade 330 is again made to rotate along the second cutting axis 44, so creating the first slice of tire 43. The alternate rotation and cutting procedure ends when the entire or half tire 42 is completely divided into slices 43 of a predetermined size, ready to be transported by other means for subsequent treatments.

The size of the slices 43 is predetermined according to the size of the tire to be treated and can be set by the operator on the software that manages the mobile unit object of the invention at the beginning of the processing, by the use of the flexible mobile unit as it is suitable for reducing the tires of wheel loaders, large agricultural tires and small dumpers. The processing time of each single tire was calculated on the basis of the largest production tire of 63", with the minimum reduction in terms of slices 43 and has a duration of around 20 min for the complete working cycle for each tire, thus preparing approximately 9,000 kg of rubber slices 43 ready for grinding. The three prior art machines can be used for times longer than 20 minutes just for the subdivision of the tire in two halves.

The mobile unit object of the invention provides an external power supply unit, preferably not less than 350KVa.

Although the invention has been described above with particular reference to some preferred embodiments, given by way of example and without limitative purposes, numerous modifications and variants will be apparent to a person skilled in the art in light of the above description. The present invention therefore intends to comprise all the modifications and variants falling within the spirit and protective scope of the following claims. LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1 trailer,

2 central unit, 20 arm, 21 roller, 22 seat, 23 motorized rollers, 24 blade

3 treatment groups, 30 roller sets, 300 rollers, 301 directional rollers, 302 roller support structure, 32 travel means, 33 cutting unit, 330 rotating blade, 331 counter blade, 332 housing structure, 333 axis, 3300 blade for bead cutting, 3301 blade for cutting slices.

4 tire, 40 bead, 41 tread, 42 half tire, 43 tire slices, 44 cutting axle.

Claims

1. Mobile unit for the treatment preliminary to the recovery of OTR tires comprising a trailer (1) on the bed of which a central unit (2) is provided, configured to implement a first treatment phase which alternates a cutting operation and a rotation of the tire (4) to be treated, said central unit (2) being configured for cutting the tire (4) to be treated along its equatorial plane, said tire (4) being previously housed vertically on said central unit (2) so as to divide it into two half tires (42) when in use, a first treatment unit (3) being provided on the trailer (1) in front with respect to the central unit (2) and a second treatment unit (3) being provided on the trailer (1) rearwards with respect to the central unit (2), said treatment units (3) being each configured for implementing a second treatment phase which alternates a radial cut operation along a cutting axis (44) and of rotation of the half tire (42) to be treated, each of said treatment units (3) comprising means (30) for receiving the corresponding half tire (42) in a horizontal position and for allowing the predetermined rotation of the corresponding half tire (42) and a cutting unit (33) comprising a rotating blade (330) configured for cutting in the radial direction according to the cutting axis (44) previously fixed and for simultaneously cutting a predetermined portion of the bead (40) of the corresponding half tire (42) to be treated, by dividing the half tire (42) in a plurality of slices (43) when in use.

2. Mobile unit according to claim 1 wherein the central unit (2) is configured to simultaneously transfer to each of the treatment units (3) the corresponding half tire (42) in order to carry out the second processing phase when the tire (4) is completely divided into two half tires (42) at the end of the first processing phase.

3. Mobile unit according to claim 2 wherein the central unit (2) is equipped with two arms (20), said arms (20 ) being hinged to the central unit (1) and configured to be raised until they laterally contain the tire (4) to be treated, each arm (20) comprising an idle roller (21) able to come into contact with a lower point of the circumference defined by the corresponding bead (40) of the tire (4) placed in vertical position above the central unit (1) during the first working phase, said roller (21) being slid along the arm (20) so as to come into contact with the upper point of the circumference defined by the corresponding bead (40) of the tire (4) placed in a vertical position above the central unit (1) before the beginning of the second working phase to allow the safe settle down of the corresponding half tire (42) in a horizontal position on the corresponding means (30 ) when in use.

4. Mobile unit according to claim 1 wherein the rotating blade (330) provided in each cutting unit (33) is configured to perform a complete rotation and to make the cut along the radial direction corresponding to the cutting axis (44) selected of the corresponding half tire (42), cooperating with the opposing action of a fixed counter-blade (331) housed in the cutting unit (33).

5. Mobile unit according to one of the preceding claims wherein the central unit (2) comprises a concave seat (22), said seat (22) being adapted to receive the tire (4) to be treated and positioned between the two motorized rollers (23), suitable for imparting a predetermined rotation to the tire (4) placed vertically, said central unit (2) also comprising a blade (24) which in use is housed in correspondence with the equatorial plane of the tire (4) to be treated, said blade (24) being able to position itself in a working position by raising itself for making the cut, and by lowering itself in a rest position.

6. Mobile unit according to one of the preceding claims wherein each treatment unit (3) comprises rollers sets (30) comprising a plurality of rollers (300) driven parallel to each other and directional rollers (301) angled relative to the rollers (300) to allow the rotation of the half tire (42).

7. Mobile unit according to one of the preceding claims wherein the rotating blade (330) has a "T" shape and provides a concave profile of the bead cutting blade (3300), in order to conform to the curvature of the bead (40) and a slice cutting blade (3301) with a straight profile perpendicular to the bead cutting blade (3300) for radial cutting along the selected cutting axis (44) of the half tire (42).

8. Mobile unit according to one of the preceding claims wherein the bead cutting blade (3300) has a height greater than the slice cutting blade (3301) so that in the cutting action it reaches the position of the bead (40) in the same time as the slice cutting blade (3301) reaches the edge of the half tread (41) when in use.

9. Mobile unit according to one of the preceding claims wherein each treatment unit (3) provides a set of support rollers (302) configured to support two roller sets (30) opposite one another with respect to the roller support structure (302), as well as translation means (32) which allow the reciprocal approach of the roller sets (30) when the mobile unit is in motion and is transported to a work site, and which allow the mutual removal of the of roller sets (30) when the treatment unit (3) is placed in working conditions.

10. Method of using a unit for the pretreatment of OTR tires which automatically provides for the following work phases one after another:

- a first phase in which the tire (4) to be treated is cut in two halves along its equatorial plane; - a second phase in which on each half tire (42) a radial cutting is simultaneously performed for the subdivision of the half tire (42) in slices (43) and a circumferential cutting for cutting a bead portion (40) from each corresponding slice (43).