Apparatus for shredding rubber tires and other waste materials

Apparatus for comminuting scrap material, including reinforced resilient material such as vehicle tires, comprising:

• (a) cutting means including an intermeshed pair of rotatably mounted generally cylindrical cutter rolls, said intermeshed cutter rolls having an infeed side, each of said cutter rolls including a plurality of axially spaced-apart cutter discs, said cutter discs having opposed side surfaces and having planar peripheral surfaces which meet said side surfaces defining cutting edges at the intersection therebetween, said cutter rolls being intermeshed with one another so that a plurality of said cutter discs of each of said cutter rolls extend into the interstices between the cutter discs of the other of said cutter rolls, with a side of each of said cutter discs of one of said cutter rolls overlapping and being closely adjacent to a side of one of said cutter discs of the other of said cutter rolls, for cooperatively forcing respective portions of said scrap material into the interstices between neighboring ones of the cutter discs of the opposite one of said cutter rolls, thereby shearing said scrap material into pieces having respective dimensions corresponding to the spacing between neighboring ones of the cutter discs on one of said cutter rolls;
• (b) feeder-stripper means located on said infeed side of said cutter rolls, for forcing said scrap material into a position on said infeed side where said cutter rolls can engage said scrap material, and for thereafter stripping said pieces of said scrap material from said interstices between said cutter discs, said feeder-stripper means comprising a pair of generally cylindrical feeder-stripper rolls, each of said feeder-stripper rolls including a plurality of feeder-stripper discs, said feeder-stripper rolls being radially spaced apart from one another, defining a space through which to feed said scrap material toward said intermeshed cutter rolls, and each of said feeder-stripper rolls being intermeshed with a respective one of said cutter rolls, with a respective one of said feeder-stripper discs extending radially into each of said interstices between the cutter discs of each cutter roll to a depth sufficient for forcing substantially all said pieces of scrap material from said interstices;
• (c) drive means for counterrotating said intermeshed cutter rolls about their respective axes so that the peripheral surfaces of respective cutter discs of said cutter rolls move toward one another on said infeed side, and for rotating each of said feeder-stripper rolls in the same direction as the respective one of said cutter rolls with which it is intermeshed;
• and
• (d) movable support arm means for supporting said feeder-stripper rolls and permitting adjustment of the separation between said opposing feeder-stripper rolls, while keeping constant the radial depth to which each feeder-stripper roll is intermeshed with the respective cutter roll.

Apparatus for comminuting scrap material, including reinforced resilient material such as vehicle tires, comprising:

• (a) cutting means including an intermeshed pair of rotatably mounted generally cylindrical cutter rolls, said intermeshed cutter rolls having an infeed side, each of said cutter rolls including a plurality of axially spaced-apart cutter discs, said cutter discs having opposed side surfaces and having planar peripheral surfaces which meet said side surfaces defining cutting edges at the intersection therebetween, said cutter rolls being intermeshed with one another so that a plurality of said cutter discs of each of said cutter rolls extend into the interstices between the cutter discs of the other of said cutter rolls, with a side of each of said cutter discs of one of said cutter rolls overlapping and being closely adjacent to a side of one of said cutter discs of the other of said cutter rolls, for cooperatively forcing respective portions of said scrap material into the interstices between neighboring ones of the cutter discs of the opposite one of said cutter rolls, thereby shearing said scrap material into pieces having respective dimensions corresponding to the spacing between neighboring ones of the cutter discs on one of said cutter rolls;
• (b) feeder-stripper means located on said infeed side of said cutter rolls, for forcing said scrap material into a position on said infeed side where said cutter rolls can engage said scrap material, and for thereafter stripping said pieces of said scrap material from said interstices between said cutter discs, said feeder-stripper means comprising a pair of generally cylindrical feeder-stripper rolls, each of said feeder-stripper rolls including a plurality of feeder-stripper discs, said feeder-stripper rolls being radially spaced apart from one another, defining a space through which to feed said scrap material toward said intermeshed cutter rolls, and each of said feeder-stripper rolls being intermeshed with a respective one of said cutter rolls, with a respective one of said feeder-stripper discs extending radially into each of said interstices between the cutter discs of each cutter roll to a depth sufficient for forcing substantially all said pieces of scrap material from said interstices;
• (c) drive means for counterrotating said intermeshed cutter rolls about their respective axes so that the peripheral surfaces of respective cutter discs of said cutter rolls move toward one another on said infeed side, and for rotating each of said feeder-stripper rolls in the same direction as the respective one of said cutter rolls with which it is intermeshed;
• and
• (d) lower stripper roll means including at least one stripper roll located on an outfeed side of said intermeshed cutter rolls, each said lower stripper roll being intermeshed with a respective one of said cutter rolls and having drive means for rotating said lower stripper roll in the same direction as said respective cutter roll is rotated, for stripping a portion of said cut pieces of scrap material from the interstices between said cutter discs.