# US 2014/0197255 A1 · Method for disintegrating an elastomer and disintegrator

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- Number: US 2014/0197255 A1
- Document ID: US20140197255A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 14/122,760
- Filed: 2012-05-29
- Published: 2014-07-17
- Earliest claimed: 2011-05-30
- Assignees: LANXESS Deutschland GmbH
- Inventors: Lothar Reif; Thomas Neuner; Christian Mähner-Wolfarth; Werner Obrecht
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140197255A1

## CPC

- B02C 18/18: Knives; Mountings thereof
- B02C 18/148: {specially adapted for disintegrating plastics, e.g. cinematographic films (for plastic bottles B02C19/0093, disintegrating plastics B29B17/00)}
- B02C 18/2225: {Feed means}
- B29B 9/06: in the form of filamentary material, e.g. combined with extrusion
- B02C: CRUSHING, PULVERISING, OR DISINTEGRATING IN GENERAL; MILLING GRAIN ({household tools and machines for pulverising foodstuffs, e.g. coffee and spice mills A47J42/00; pharmaceutical mortars A61J3/02; mechanical processing of refuse and garbage B03B9/06; dressing mould materials by grinding B22C5/04}; obtaining metallic powder by crushing, grinding or milling B22F9/04; {recovery of plastics by disintegrating B29B17/00; crushing raw materials in starch making C08B30/02; beaters for papermaking D21D1/02; crushing devices specially for transport in mines E21F13/002; slag crushing devices F23J1/00; fuel milling devices in combustion apparatus F23K1/00; household devices for crushing coal F24B15/02; ice disintegrating devices F25C5/02})
- 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

## Abstract

The invention relates to a method for disintegrating an elastomer (20), wherein the elastomer (20) is moved across a floor (22) relative to a cutting tool (12) and toward the cutting tool (12), wherein the cutting tool (12) has a cutting wedge (14), which has a cutting edge (30) and a rake face (32) adjacent to the cutting edge (30). After the cutting wedge (14) comes in contact with the elastomer (20), the elastomer (20) is first at least partially compressed only by the rake face (32) between the rake face (32) and the floor (22) before the cutting edge (30) cuts through the elastomer (20). Because of the initially planar compression of the elastomer (20) by means of the rake face (32), an elastic evasive movement of the elastomer (20) is avoided, such that it is possible to cut off significantly thinner pieces from the elastomer (20), and thus the specific surface area of the pieces severed from the elastomer (20) can be increased.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for disintegrating an elastomer, in which
the elastomer is moved in relation to a cutting tool over a base toward the cutting tool, the cutting tool having a cutting wedge with a cutting edge and a rake face adjoining the cutting edge, and
once the cutting wedge comes into contact with the elastomer, the elastomer is initially at least partially compressed only by the rake face between the rake face and the base, before the cutting edge cuts through the elastomer.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the movement of the elastomer and the movement of the cutting wedge are adapted to one another in such a way that slices that are cut off from the elastomer have a thickness t of t≦1.5 mm.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elastomer has a cut end facing the cutting tool, an oscillation between a bottom dead center, assigned to the base, and a top dead center, remote from the base, being imparted to the cut end of the elastomer by the cutting of the cutting tool, and the cutting wedge contacting the elastomer substantially whenever the cut end is substantially at the top dead center, the contact of the cutting wedge with the elastomer taking place with respect to the top dead center of the cut end with a phase shift φ of φ≦±15°.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, an angle α between the rake face and the base at the point in time of the beginning of the contact of the cutting wedge and the elastomer is 15°≦α≦40°.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cutting of the elastomer with the aid of the cutting edge commences at a pressure p below a pressure pk for the beginning of strain crystallization of the elastomer, where 0.20≦p/pk≦0.95.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rake face of the cutting wedge comes into contact with the elastomer on a peripheral surface of the elastomer.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cutting edges of two successive cutting wedges are at a distance D, where, with respect to the effective diameter d of the elastomer, the distance D is 1.0≦D/d≦8.0.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cutting edge of the cutting wedge has a circumferential speed v of 1.0 m/s≦v≦50.0 m/s.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cutting tool rotates about a center point, the center point being offset in relation to a center line of the elastomer substantially perpendicularly to the direction of movement of the elastomer by a distance s, where the distance s with respect to the effective diameter d of the elastomer is 0.4≦s/d≦1.0.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rake face is inclined in the circumferential direction by an angle β in relation to a radius of the cutting tool running through the cutting edge, where 20°≦β≦40°.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein an elastomer film, is twisted into a strand before the cutting.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

A disintegrator for disintegrating an elastomer, for carrying out the method as claimed in claim 1, having
a cutting tool for cutting off slices from the elastomer, the cutting tool having a cutting wedge with a cutting edge and a rake face adjoining the cutting edge, and
an advancing device for moving the elastomer over a base toward the cutting tool,
the advancement of the advancing device and the geometry of the cutting tool being made to match one another in such a way that, once the cutting wedge comes into contact with the elastomer, the elastomer is initially at least partially compressed only by the rake face between the rake face and the base, before the cutting edge cuts through the elastomer.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1 wherein the elastomer is at least one elastomer strand.

### Claim 14 (depends on 2)

The method according to claim 2, wherein said slices that are cut off from the elastomer have a thickness t of t≦1.2 mm.

### Claim 15 (depends on 2)

The method according to claim 2, wherein said slices that are cut off from the elastomer have a thickness t of t≦1.0 mm.

### Claim 16 (depends on 2)

The method according to claim 2, wherein said slices that are cut off from the elastomer have a thickness t of t≦0.8 mm.

### Claim 17 (depends on 3)

The method according to claim 3, wherein said phase shift φ≦±8°.

### Claim 18 (depends on 3)

The method according to claim 3, wherein said phase shift φ≦±2°.

### Claim 19 (depends on 4)

The method according to claim 4, wherein said angle α is 20°≦α≦35°.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The method according to claim 19, wherein said angle α is 25°≦α≦30°.

### Claim 21 (depends on 5)

The method according to claim 5, wherein 0.50≦p/pk≦0.90.

### Claim 22 (depends on 5)

The method according to claim 5, wherein 0.6≦p/pk≦0.85.

### Claim 23 (depends on 5)

The method according to claim 5, wherein 0.7≦p/pk≦0.80.

### Claim 24 (depends on 7)

The method according to claim 7, wherein the distance D, with respect to the effective diameter d of the elastomer is 1.5≦D/d≦6.0.

### Claim 25 (depends on 7)

The method according to claim 7, wherein the distance D, with respect to the effective diameter d of the elastomer is 2.0≦D/d≦4.0.

### Claim 26 (depends on 7)

The method according to claim 7, wherein the distance D, with respect to the effective diameter d of the elastomer is 1.5≦D/d=3.0±0.5.

### Claim 27 (depends on 8)

The method according to claim 8, wherein said circumferential speed v is 10.0 m/s≦v≦35.0 m/s.

### Claim 28 (depends on 8)

The method according to claim 8, wherein said circumferential speed v is 20.0 m/s≦v≦30.0 m/s.

### Claim 29 (depends on 8)

The method according to claim 8, wherein said circumferential speed v is 25.0 m/s≦v≦27.0 m/s.

### Claim 30 (depends on 9)

The method according to claim 9, wherein said distance s with respect to the effective diameter d of the elastomer is 0.45≦s/d≦0.6.

### Claim 31 (depends on 9)

The method according to claim 9, wherein said distance s with respect to the effective diameter d of the elastomer is 0.5≦s/d≦0.55.

### Claim 32 (depends on 10)

The method according to claim 10, wherein said angle β is 25°≦β≦35°.

### Claim 33 (depends on 10)

The method according to claim 10, wherein said angle β is 30°±2.5°.

### Claim 34 (depends on 11)

The method according to claim 11, wherein said elastomer film is chloroprene rubber.