SHREDDER HEAD WITH THICKNESS DETECTOR

• US 20100213297A1
• Filed: 02/23/2009
• Published: 08/26/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/23/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aron Abramson, Charles Sued
• Original Assignee: Aron Abramson, Charles Sued
• Inventors: Sued, Charles, Abramson, Aron
• Granted Patent: US 8,061,634 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 241/36
• CPC Class Codes: B02C 18/0007 specially adapted for disintegrating documents
• CPC Class Codes: B02C 2018/0023 Switching devices
• CPC Class Codes: B02C 2018/164 Prevention of jamming and/or overload
• CPC Class Codes: B02C 25/00 Control arrangements specially adapted for crushing or disintegrating

Abstract

A shredder head adapted to indicate the thickness of the material to be shredded and to possibly deactivate the shredder if the thickness exceeds a predetermined maximum.

Claims

1. A shredder head comprising:

a shredder head housing defining a slot adapted to receive material to be shredded;

a motor disposed within the shredder head housing;

an indicator display disposed on the shredder head and configured to provide an indication of the thickness of material being inserted into the slot;

a plurality of shredder blades disposed within the shredder head housing, driven by the motor and adapted to shred material inserted into the slot;

a sensor comprising a thickness gauge and a control mechanism, the thickness gauge comprising at least one protuberance disposed in the shredder head housing and adapted to extend into the slot such that material inserted into the slot that contacts the at least one protuberance causes displacement of the thickness gauge in an amount generally proportional to a thickness of the material;

the control mechanism is disposed within the shredder head housing and comprises a plurality of switches, at least one of the plurality of switches is adapted to be individually activatable, the plurality of switches are positioned such that displacement of the thickness gauge is adapted to cause at least one of the plurality of switches to be activated, the plurality of switches is configured such that a number and/or combination of the plurality of switches that are activated depend on the thickness of the material displacing the thickness gauge, and the control mechanism is in communication with the indicator display so that the indicator display generates an audible or visual signal corresponding to the thickness of the material inserted in the slot in response to the activation of at least one of the plurality of switches.

2. The shredder head of claim 1, wherein the thickness gauge of the sensor pivots about an axis generally parallel to the slot and comprises a switching element which is proximate to the plurality of switches and which activates a grouping of the plurality of switches, the grouping including at least one of the plurality of switches and increasing in number as the thickness of the material increases.

3. The shredder head of claim 2, wherein the sensor comprises at least one biasing element which maintains the thickness gauge in a first position when no material is inserted into the slot.

4. The shredder head of claim 3, wherein when the thickness gauge indicates that the thickness of material inserted into the shredder head exceeds a predetermined amount, the controller deactivates the motor.

5. The shredder head of claim 3, wherein when the thickness gauge is in the first position the motor is not powered.

6. The shredder of claim 3, wherein the biasing element is a torsion spring that is adapted to rotate the at least one protuberance into the slot when material does not displace the thickness gauge.

7. The shredder head of claim 3, wherein the insertion of material of sufficient thickness to cause undesirable performance of the shredder causes activation of a grouping of the plurality of switches which causes the motor to be deactivated.

8. The shredder head of claim 7, wherein the sensor communicates with an indicator display on an outer surface of the shredder head to indicate the thickness of the material inserted into the shredder head and to indicate when the thickness of the material inserted into the shredder has caused the motor to be deactivated.

9. The shredder head of claim 8, wherein the shredder head housing defines a plurality of slots, wherein at least one of the plurality of slots is adapted to be generally monitored by the sensor.

10. The shredder head of claim 9, wherein the sensor further comprises a plurality of gauges disposed within the plurality of slots, the one or more gauges communicates with the control mechanism to indicate when has been inserted into the one or more additional slots.

11. The shredder head of claim 10, wherein the control mechanism is adapted to respond to the input of the plurality of gauges by selecting the power of the motor to allow optimal shredding of the material inserted into the one or more slots.

12. A shredder head comprising:

a shredder head housing defining a slot adapted to receive material to be shredded;

a motor disposed within the shredder head housing;

an indicator display disposed on the shredder head and configured to provide an indication of the thickness of material being inserted into the slot;

a plurality of shredder blades disposed within the shredder head housing, driven by the motor and adapted to shred material inserted into the slot;

a sensor comprising a thickness gauge and a control mechanism, the thickness gauge comprising at least one protuberance disposed in the shredder head housing and adapted to extend into the slot such that material inserted into the slot that contacts the at least one protuberance causes displacement of the thickness gauge in an amount generally proportional to the thickness of the material;

the control mechanism is disposed within the shredder head housing, detects the amount of displacement of the thickness gauge, and causes the thickness to be indicated by the indicator display according to the amount of displacement of the thickness gauge.

13. The shredder head of claim 12, wherein the control mechanism comprises a plurality of switches, at least one of the plurality of switches is adapted to be individually activatable, and the plurality of switches are positioned such that displacement of the thickness gauge is adapted to cause at least one of the plurality of switches to be activated.

14. The shredder head of claim 13, wherein the thickness gauge of the sensor pivots about an axis generally parallel to the slot, and comprises a switching element which is proximate to the plurality of switches and which activates a grouping of the plurality of switches, the grouping including at least one of the plurality of switches and increasing in number as the thickness of the material increases.

15. The shredder head of claim 14, wherein the sensor comprises at least one biasing element which maintains the thickness gauge in a first position when no material is inserted into the slot.

16. The shredder head of claim 15, wherein the insertion of material of sufficient thickness to cause undesirable performance of the shredder causes activation of a grouping of the plurality of switches which causes the motor to be deactivated.

17. The shredder head of claim 16, wherein the sensor communicates with an indicator display on an outer surface of the shredder head to indicate the thickness of the material inserted into the shredder head and to indicate when the thickness of the material inserted into the shredder head has caused the motor to be deactivated.

18. A method of detecting the thickness of material inserted into a shredder head and displaying the thickness, comprising:

providing a shredder head housing defining a slot adapted to receive material to be shredded;

providing a plurality of switches disposed in the shredder head housing, at least one of the plurality of switches being adapted to be independently activated;

detecting a thickness of material inserted into the slot depending on the activation of at least one of the plurality of switches;

providing an indication of the thickness of the material inserted into the slot depending on the activation of at least one of the plurality of switches.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of detecting the insertion of material into the slot further comprises pivoting a thickness gauge about an axis generally parallel to the slot such that the amount of rotation of the thickness gauge is generally proportional to the thickness of the material.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of pivoting the thickness gauge further comprises exerting force on the thickness gauge with a biasing element to maintain the thickness gauge in a first position when no material displaces the thickness gauge.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the step of pivoting the thickness gauge further comprises the thickness gauge activating at least one of the plurality of switches upon pivoting away from its first position, and the number of switches activated by the displacement of the thickness gauge generally increasing as the displacement of the thickness gauge increases.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of detecting the thickness of material into the slot further comprises providing a thickness gauge disposed within the shredder head housing and extending into the slot and displacing the thickness gauge upon insertion into the slot of material to be shredded such that the displacement of the thickness gauge is generally proportional to the thickness of the material.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of detecting the thickness of material further comprises the thickness gauge activating at least one of the plurality of switches when material is inserted into the slot.