DIFFERENTIAL JAM PROOF SENSOR FOR A SHREDDER
First Claim
1. A shredder comprising:
- a housing having a throat for receiving at least one article to be shredded, the throat having a first side and a second side and the at least one article being received therebetween;
a shredder mechanism received in the housing and including an electrically powered motor and cutter elements, the shredder mechanism enabling the at least one article to be shredded to be fed into the cutter elements and the motor being operable to drive the cutter elements in a shredding direction so that the cutter elements shred the articles fed therein;
a detector for use in controlling operation of the motor comprising a first contact member on the first side of the throat and a second contact member on the second side of the throat;
the first contact member and the second contact member each extending into the throat and being independently moveable relative to one another by a thickness of the at least one article.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed is a shredder including a detector having a first contact member on one side of the shredder'"'"'s throat and a second contact member on the other side. The contact members extend into the throat and are independently moveable relative to one another to enable insertion of an article into the throat. The article can move the contact members relative to one another by a combined amount. The shredder may prevent its motor from driving its cutter elements if it determines that the combined amount of independent relative movement correlates to a thickness that is equal to or greater than a predetermined maximum thickness. In an embodiment, the contact members may include binary switches. The contact members aid in controlling and/or reducing flutter and wrinkles when articles are fed into the shredder.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A shredder comprising:
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a housing having a throat for receiving at least one article to be shredded, the throat having a first side and a second side and the at least one article being received therebetween; a shredder mechanism received in the housing and including an electrically powered motor and cutter elements, the shredder mechanism enabling the at least one article to be shredded to be fed into the cutter elements and the motor being operable to drive the cutter elements in a shredding direction so that the cutter elements shred the articles fed therein; a detector for use in controlling operation of the motor comprising a first contact member on the first side of the throat and a second contact member on the second side of the throat; the first contact member and the second contact member each extending into the throat and being independently moveable relative to one another by a thickness of the at least one article. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification