Tire shredder and process for shredding tires

Abstract

Shredding machines and a process for recycling used vehicular tires comprising a primary shredder and process, a secondary shredder and process, a granulator and a first process, a material separating means and process, and a granulator and a second process. The primary shredder having parallel counter rotating shafts to which a plurality of cylindrical spur gear-shaped cutters with teeth are attached at proportional distances. The shafts are positioned relative to one another such that a cutter attached to the first shaft fits in the proportional space between two identical cutters on the second shaft. The edges of the top lands and bottom lands of each cutter tooth perform the cutting operation. Thus the power requirement of the primary shredder can be reduced by nearly 90%. The secondary shredder having a reel-type cutter known in the art. The granulator comprising an improved grinding machine with mating grinding discs with working surfaces separated by a controlled gap. A magnetic conveyor and shaker conveyor separate the metal wires and polyester fibers from the rubber particles. Finally, the rubber is processed in the granulator a second time with a reduced controlled gap between the working surfaces of the mating grinding discs. All of the aforementioned machines also comprise components of a corresponding rubber recycling process in which the rubber may be reused as fuel in a power producing plant, as an additive in the manufacture of asphalt, or any other desired use.