A process for recovering rubber from a tire, the tire including a rubber
tread block, a reinforced portion below the
tread block portion, typically known as steel belting, and an inner liner that serves to hold the air pressure in the tire. The bead and sidewall are removed from the tire leaving a loop of
tread material. Next, the loop is placed on several rollers of a rubber-separating
machine to hold the loop in place. One or more
cutting blades, preferably chisels, are positioned at the tread portion of the tire. The
cutting blades are lowered into position. Access to the steel belting can be accomplished by making an initial
cut through tread block to
expose the steel belting. Once the blades are in place, the tread loop is placed in motion around the rollers. As the blades contact the steel belts, the
cutting blades separate the tread rubber from the
reinforced rubber at the interface between the tread rubber and the steel belts. The inner layer may also be removed in a similar fashion with blades positioned within the loop rather than above it.The ultimate goal of the present invention is to provide an environmentally and economically beneficial process that disposes of all the parts of the tire. Using the cutting blades or
chisel(s) to separate the rubber in a tire's tread area from the embedded steel results in the following tire parts: 1) high value
metal free rubber from the tread area; 2) the
steel belt /
thin layer of rubber /
steel belt (with or without the inner liner); 3) the inner liner with
polyester or similar
fiber; 4) the
metal free sidewall with
polyester or similar
fiber; and 5) the
tire bead surrounded with rubber and
polyester or similar
fiber.