![]() The invention also is adapted for reclaiming vulcanized rubbers, including synthetic rubber, which could not be profitably reclaimed by the process of the Robinson patent.Īccording to the present invention, vulcanized rubber is reclaimed by subjecting it to intense oi mechanical action in a confined working space so as to produce high internal friction and shear in the material, the material being confined in said working space under a relatively high mechanical compression enabling the mechanical action to bring about a high input of mechanical energy at a very rapid rate. The invention makes possible the production of reclaim rubber by thermo-mechanical means with a substantial shortening of the time required for the operation and consequent reduction in the cost per pound of reclaim rubber obtained thereby and with improvement in the quality of the reclaim obtained from the particular scrap being treated. The present invention provides an improvement in the process of the Robinson patent. Moreover, the process of the Robinson patent has not been capable of successfully reclaiming vulcanized synthetic rubbers or mixtures of such rubbers and vulcanized natural rubber. The time required to plasticize the vulcanized rubber by the process of the Robinson patent to a condition where it can be sheeted and refined for use as reclaim rubber is of the order of 40 minutes or more, and considering the power consumed in actual operation of the process, the cost per pound of reclaim rubber produced thereby is relatively high. ![]() ![]() In the use of this apparatus for reclaiming vulcanized rubber according to the process of the Robinson patent above-identified, the scrap vulcanized rubber is disintegrated by the action of the rotors and the pieces are rubbed against one another and smeared along the walls of the chambers until the particles cohere into a soft plastic mass, water being added to the stock from time to time so as to prevent the temperature of the mass from substantially exceeding 300* F., the steam thus generated serving also to assist in plasticizing the rubber. This form of mixer has found extensive use in the rubber industry for mixing and massing of rubber compounds. The Banbury mixer comprises essentially a pair of cylindrical chambers arranged side by side and in communication, within each of which is mounted a bladed rotor, and a pneumatically operated ram for holding the material to be treated within the sphere of action of the rotors. 2,221,490, there is described a thermo-mechanical process for reclaiming vulcanized rubber by subjecting the vulcanized rubber to mechanical action in an internal mixer, such as that well known as the Banbury mixer, while in the presence of steam formed during the action from moisture contained in or water added to the -scrap being treated. More particularly, the invention is concerned with a method for reclaiming vulcanized scrap rubber by thermo-mechanical means as distinguished from chemical or thermo-chemical methods of reclaiming rubber. This invention relates to a method of treating scrap vulcanized rubber in order to prepare or condition the same for re-vulcanization and reuse.
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