Patent ID: 6391930
Filing Date: 2002-05-21
Classification: B29B,B29C,B29L,Y02W

Abstract:
A device for destroying scrap tires made from a metallic-cord-reinforced rubber material, each tire having an outer rubber tread attached about an outer closed continuous periphery of a surface-contacting rubber endwall of the tire, the endwall also including a breaker layer containing a plurality of metallic cord reinforcing strands, and the endwall having an opposing pair of side edges, and the tire further having a pair of shoulders, with one shoulder attached rubber sidewalls, with one sidewall being attached to each side edge of the endwall, each sidewall also having a metallic wire-containing bead attached thereto for enabling the tires to be mounted on a wheel; and for recovering and separating rubber and metal by-products produced from the tire in the scrapping process; the device comprising:a.) at least one sidewall removal means for initially removing the sidewalls from the tire, wherein ends of strands of metallic cord material in the tire are exposed; b.) at least one inlet conveying means for conveying tire from which the sidewalls have been removed to tire scrapping means for further processing into scrap rubber and metal components; c.) the tire scrapping means including an electrical pulse-discharge unit containing a plurality of high-voltage electrical storage capacitors, the electrical pulse-discharge unit being provided with a plurality of tire cord connection means for connection to exposed ends of metallic cords in the tires from which the sidewalls have been removed, such that the tire cord connection means includes two electrical current-conducting fixation members, each electrical current-conducting fixation member having a frusto-conical shape, with the two electrical current-conducting fixation members being symmetrically distributed around a central axis of the electrical pulse-discharge unit, such that the frusto-conical ends of the two fixation members are inwardly directed toward each other along the central axis of the pulse-discharge unit, and such that a tire from which the sidewalls have been removed is mountable over the frusto-conical ends of the two fixation members and between the two fixation members, and further such that the electrical pulse-discharge unit also includes an electrical current-conducting element that is positioned coaxially with respect to both electrical current-conducting fixation members, and is electrically connected to one fixation member and electrically isolated from the other fixation member; and d.) at least one outlet conveying and discharging means for conveying and discharging the scrap rubber and metal components of the scrapped tires out of and away from the electrical pulse-discharge unit.