Wheel crushing and tire cutting apparatus

A wheel crushing and tire-cutting apparatus for crushing scrap vehicle wheels to prepare the scrap wheels for recycling, the scrap wheels having a tire mounted thereon, the apparatus comprising:

• a hydraulic pump,
• a single hydraulic cylinder and piston driven by the hydraulic pump,
• a crushing head adapted to hold the wheel and tire for crushing the wheel,
• a plurality of crushing arms concentric about the crushing head, and radially movable between an extended position wherein the crushing arms contact the tire tread and a contracted position wherein the wheel is crushed,
• a linkage connecting each of the crushing arms to the single hydraulic piston, whereby all of the crushing arms are driven by the single hydraulic piston between the extended position and the contracted position, and
• a tire cutting block centrally mountable on the crushing head, wherein the crushing arms cut the tire against the cutting block, and hold the cut segments against the cutting block.

A wheel crushing apparatus for crushing scrap vehicle wheels to prepare the scrap wheels for recycling, the scrap wheels having a tire mounted thereon, the apparatus comprising:

• an engine,
• a hydraulic pump driven by the engine,
• a single hydraulic cylinder and piston driven by the hydraulic pump,
• a crushing head adapted to hold the wheel and tire for crushing the wheel,
• a plurality of crushing arms concentric about the crushing head, and radially movable between an extended position wherein the crushing arms contact the tire tread and a contracted position wherein the wheel is crushed, and
• a linkage connecting each of the crushing arms to the single hydraulic piston, whereby all of the crushing arms are driven by the single hydraulic piston between the extended position and the contracted position
• wherein each crushing arm has a first end and a second end, the first end contacting the tire tread, a fulcrum between the first end and the second end, the crushing arm pivoting on the fulcrum, the second end being pivotally connected to the linkage, the linkage being pivotally connected to the hydraulic piston, whereby movement of the hydraulic piston away from the crushing head causes the crushing arms to pivot on the fulcrum radially toward each other, and whereby movement of the hydraulic piston toward the crushing head causes the crushing arms to pivot on the fulcrum radially away from each other.