Patent ID: 7757978

Claim:
A process for obtaining rubber pellets from used tires, the process comprising the steps of: a) collecting used tires having a tread and lateral faces, in which the tread includes an inner layer and an outer layer; and each lateral face includes a flange at the inner edge thereof; b) separating the tread from the lateral faces; c) cutting the tread transversely through the inner layer and the outer layer in order to form a strip from the tread; d) cutting the strip obtained in the previous step in order to form pellets therefrom in two stages: i) in the first of which longitudinal and parallel cuts are accomplished over the tread strip, thus forming a first plurality of thinner strips; ii) and in the second stage, transversal and parallel cuts are accomplished over the thinner strips in order to form the rubber pellets; e) detaching the flange from the lateral faces which were separated in step (b); and f) cutting the flange-less lateral faces obtained in the previous step in order to form pellets therefrom; whereby rubber pellets are obtained from the tread and the lateral faces, the pellets having a size between 6.54 mm and 50.8 mm and regular shape; the pellets including in their inside polymeric and metallic fibers and cords not protruding therefrom.