Shredder with thickness detector
DCFirst Claim
1. A shredder comprising:
- a housing having a throat open to an exterior of the housing for permitting a user to feed at least one article to be shredded;
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 fed into the throat 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 thickness detector configured to detect a thickness between opposing major surfaces of the at least one article being received by the throat;
a controller operable to prevent the motor from driving the cutter elements in the shredding direction responsive to the detector detecting that the thickness of the at least one article is at least equal to a predetermined maximum thickness; and
an input for enabling a user to select a type of material to be shredded, the input being coupled to the controller for varying the predetermined maximum thickness in accordance with the material selected.
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Abstract
A shredder is disclosed. The shredder includes a housing having a throat for receiving at least one article to be shredded, and a shredder mechanism received in the housing and including an electrically powered motor and cutter elements. The shredder mechanism enables the at least one article to be shredded to be fed into the cutter elements. The motor is operable to drive the cutter elements so that the cutter elements shred the articles fed therein. The shredder also includes a detector that is configured to detect a thickness of the at least one article being received by the throat, and a controller that is operable to perform a predetermined operation responsive to the detector detecting that the thickness of the at least one article is at least equal to a predetermined maximum thickness.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A shredder comprising:
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a housing having a throat open to an exterior of the housing for permitting a user to feed at least one article to be shredded; 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 fed into the throat 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 thickness detector configured to detect a thickness between opposing major surfaces of the at least one article being received by the throat; a controller operable to prevent the motor from driving the cutter elements in the shredding direction responsive to the detector detecting that the thickness of the at least one article is at least equal to a predetermined maximum thickness; and an input for enabling a user to select a type of material to be shredded, the input being coupled to the controller for varying the predetermined maximum thickness in accordance with the material selected. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A shredder comprising:
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a housing having a throat open to an exterior of the housing for permitting a user to feed at least one article to be shredded; 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 fed into the throat 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 thickness detector configured to detect a thickness between opposing major surfaces of the at least one article being received by the throat; a controller operable to prevent the motor from driving the cutter elements in the shredding direction responsive to the detector detecting that the thickness of the at least one article is at least equal to a predetermined maximum thickness; and an input coupled to the controller, the input being provided for enabling the user to input a type of material to be shredded for varying the controller'"'"'s responsiveness to the thickness detector. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A shredder comprising:
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a housing having a throat open to an exterior of the housing for permitting a user to feed at least one article to be shredded; 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 thickness detector configured to detect a thickness between opposing major surfaces of the at least one article being received by the throat; a controller operable to prevent the motor from driving the cutter elements in the shredding direction responsive to the detector detecting that the thickness of the at least one article is at least equal to a predetermined maximum thickness; and a switch switchable by a user between at least a first position corresponding to user selection of a first type of material to be shredded and a second position corresponding to user selection of a second type of material to be shredded, the switch being coupled to the controller for varying the controller'"'"'s responsiveness to the thickness detector based on the position of the switch. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification