Tire dissection system
OwnerThomas J. Shinalinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A tire dissection method and apparatus to separate the rubber and steel components in a tire by using a high pressure fluid. The high pressure fluid removes the rubber liner and excises the steel bead bundle in a tire. The steel components in the tire may be stressed to move away from the rubber components prior to application of the high pressure fluid. The process yields four distinct products from a vehicle tire: crumb rubber, chunk rubber, high tensile steel, and plated steel. The process is easy to use, reliable, and portable. The rubber liner can be softened prior to processing by the high pressure fluid to improve the efficiency of the process.
Claims16
A method of separating steel components from rubber components in a tire, said steel components being embedded in said rubber components, said method comprising the steps of:
- positioning at least part of the tire in an orientation which places said steel components under a stress which, in turn, biases said steel components against a portion of said rubber components and in a direction urging them out of their embedment in said rubber components, said portion of said rubber components in the manufactured state of said tire having a strength sufficient to retain said steel components in place in their embedment in said rubber components;
- and
- weakening the strength of said portion of said rubber components to a level permitting separating of said steel components from said rubber components under influence of said stress.
A method of separating steel components from rubber components in a tire, said steel components being embedded in said rubber components, said method comprising the steps of:
- positioning at least a part of the tire in an orientation which places said steel components under a stress which, in turn, biases said steel components in a direction urging them out of their embedment in said rubber components;
- and
- applying a high pressure fluid to said rubber components in said part of the tire in areas where said steel components are embedded to remove said rubber components from said steel components.
A method of separating steel components from rubber components in a manufactured tire, said tire including an inner liner (1), an outer tread (6) and opposite sidewalls (11) terminating in annular edges for engaging a rim of a wheel, and said steel components including at least one steel wire belt layer (4, 5) embedded in said rubber components between said inner liner (1) and said thread (6) and a steel bead (7) embedded in said rubber components along the annular edge of each sidewall (11) said method comprising the steps of:
- positioning at least a part of said tire in an orientation to place said wire belt liner (4, 5) under stress which, in turn, biases said wire belt layer (4, 5) against said inner liner and in a direction urging said wire belt layer (4, 5) out of embedment in said rubber components, said liner (1) in the manufactured state of said tire having a strength sufficient to retain said wire belt layer (4, 5), when under said stress, in place in said embedment in said rubber components;
- and
- applying a high pressure fluid to said liner (1) and said rubber components in which said wire belt layer (4, 5) is embedded to remove said liner (1) and said rubber components from said wire belt layer (4, 5) at least to an extent which permits said steel belt wire layer (4, 5) to separate from said rubber components under influence of said stress.
An apparatus for separating steel components from rubber components in a tire, said steel components being embedded in said rubber components, said apparatus comprising:
- means for positioning at least a part of the tire in a position for separation of said steel components from said rubber components, including means for orienting said tire to place said steel components under a stress which, in turn, biases said steel components in a direction urging them out of their embedment in said rubber components;
- and
- means for applying a high pressure fluid to said rubber components in said part of said tire in areas where said steel components are embedded to remove said rubber components from said steel components.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.