SHREDDER HEAD HAVING SHREDDER BLADES AND AN ASSOCIATED SAFETY FEATURE FOR PROTECTING A PORTION OF A PERSON'S BODY

Abstract

A shredder having a safety feature(s) that reduces potential safety hazards by detecting the touch of a portion of a person's body.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the drawings embodiments which are presently preferred. It is understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shredder according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of a preferred controller of the shredder of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a broken away cross sectional view of the slot of the shredder of FIG. 1 showing a portion of the opposing walls that form sides of the slot through which material can be fed into the shredder head for shredding;

FIG. 4 is a second broken away cross sectional view of the slot of the shredder of FIG. 1 showing a portion of the opposing walls; and

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the shredder head of FIG. 1.

Claims

1. A shredder head having shredder blades and an associated safety feature for protecting a portion of a person's body, comprising: a shredder head housing defining a slot adapted to receive material to be shredded, the shredder head housing including a portion that forms opposing walls to define sides of the slot;a plurality of shredder blades disposed within the shredder head housing and adapted to shred the material inserted into the slot;a first conductive layer disposed along at least a portion of the opposing walls;a second conductive layer disposed along at least a portion of the opposing walls and separated from the first conductive layer;a first controller in communication with the shredder and adapted to cause the plurality of shredder blades to deactivate; anda second controller in communication with at least one of the first and second conductive layers and with the first controller, wherein when the portion of the person's body touches both the first and second conductive layers the second controller is configured to send a signal to the first controller, when the first controller receives the signal the first controller deactivates the plurality of shredder blades.

2. The shredder of claim 1, wherein the second controller is an integrated circuit in communication with the first conductive layer, the second conductive layer having first and second electrical pathways each leading to a ground, the first electrical pathway including a resistor and the second electrical pathway including a capacitor.

3. The shredder head of claim 1, wherein the first and second controllers are configured to stop the activation of the plurality of shredder blades until the portion of the person's body stops contacting both the first and second conductive layers.

4. The shredder head of claim 1, further comprising a warning light disposed on an outer surface of the shredder head housing, the first controller activating the warning light while the portion of the person's body is touching both of the first and second conductive layers.

5. The shredder head of claim 4, further comprising a speaker electrically connected to the first controller, wherein the first controller activates the speaker to emit a warning sound when the portion of a person's body touches both of the first and second conductive layers.

6. The shredder head of claim 4, wherein the warning light is formed by multiple light emitting diodes each emitting a different color of light.

7. The shredder head of claim 6, wherein the multiple light emitting diodes cause the warning light to emit a generally yellow light when activated.

8. The shredder head of claim 1, wherein the first controller is configured to turn off the shredder head if the portion of the person's body touches the first and second conductive layers for a predetermined amount of time.

9. The shredder head of claim 8, wherein the predetermined amount of time is less than or equal to three seconds.

10. The shredder head of claim 1, wherein the first and second conductive layers are located proximate a distal end of the opposing walls located farthest from an outer surface of the shredder head housing.

11. The shredder head of claim 1, wherein the first and second conductive layers are located proximate an end of the opposing walls proximate to an outer surface of the shredder head housing.

12. A method of shredding material while reducing the probability of injury to a portion of a person's body, comprising: providing a shredder comprising: a shredder head housing defining a slot adapted to receive material to be shredded, the shredder head housing including a portion that forms sides of opposing walls defining the slot;a plurality of shredder blades disposed within the shredder head housing and adapted to shred the material inserted into the slot;a first conductive layer disposed along at least a portion of the opposing walls;a second conductive layer disposed along at least a portion of the opposing walls and separated from the first conductive layer;monitoring at least one of the first and second conductive layers to determine when the portion of the person's body touches both the first and second conductive layers;stopping the activation of the plurality of shredder blades while the first and second conductive layers are both contacted by the portion of the person's body;activating a warning light while the first and second conductive layers are both contacted by the portion of the person's body; andemitting a warning sound while the first and second conductive layers are both contacted by the portion of the person's body.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of monitoring includes providing a first controller in communication with the shredder and adapted to cause the plurality of shredder blades to deactivate; and providing a second controller in communication with the first and second conductive layers and with the first controller.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising turning off the power to the shredder if the first and second conductive layers are both contacted by the portion of the person's body for a predetermined period of time.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of providing the shredder further comprises the first and second conductive layers being proximate to ends of the opposing walls that are farthest from an outer surface of the shredder head housing to reduce the probability of the plurality of shredder blades being disengaged due to the brief contact between a portion of a person's body and the outer surface of the shredder head housing while feeding material into the shredder.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of stopping further includes providing a controller that detects a change in voltage due to a capacitance change in circuitry resulting from the capacitance of the portion of the person's body while the first and second conductive layers are both contacted by the portion of the person's body.

17. A shredder head having shredder blades and an associated safety feature for protecting a portion of a person's body, comprising: a shredder head housing defining a slot adapted to receive material to be shredded, the shredder head housing including a portion that forms opposing walls that define sides of the slot;a plurality of shredder blades disposed within the shredder head housing and adapted to shred the material inserted into the slot;a first conductive layer disposed along at least a portion of the shredder head housing proximate to the slot;a second conductive layer disposed along at least a portion of the shredder head housing proximate to the slot and separated from the first conductive layer;a first controller in communication with the shredder and adapted to cause the plurality of shredder blades to deactivate; anda second controller in communication with at least one of the first and second conductive layers and in communication with the first controller, wherein when the portion of the person's body touches both the first and second conductive layers the second controller is configured to send a signal to the first controller, when the first controller receives the signal the first controller stops the activation of the plurality of shredder blades, the second controller being configured to determine when a metal object contacts both of the first and second conductive layers and avoid causing the first controller to stop the activation of the plurality of shredder blades.

18. The shredder of claim 17, wherein the second controller is an integrated circuit in communication with the first conductive layer, the second conductive layer having first and second electrical pathways each leading to a ground, the first electrical pathway including a resistor and the second electrical pathway including a capacitor.

19. The shredder head of claim 17, wherein the first and second controllers stop the activation of the plurality of shredder blades until the portion of the person's body stops contacting both the first and second conductive layers.

20. The shredder head of claim 17, further comprising a warning light disposed on an outer surface of the shredder head housing, the first controller activating the warning light while the portion of the person's body is touching both of the first and second conductive layers.

21. The shredder head of claim 20, further comprising a speaker electrically connected to the first controller, wherein the first controller activates the speaker to emit a warning sound when the portion of a person's body touches both of the first and second conductive layers.

22. The shredder head of claim 20, wherein the warning light is formed by multiple light emitting diodes each emitting a different color of light.

23. The shredder head of claim 22, wherein the multiple light emitting diodes cause the warning light to emit a generally yellow light when activated.

24. The shredder head of claim 17, wherein the first controller turns off the shredder head if the portion of the person's body touches the first and second conductive layers for a predetermined amount of time.

25. The shredder head of claim 17, wherein the predetermined amount of time is less than or equal to three seconds.

26. The shredder head of claim 17, wherein the first and second conductive layers are located proximate an end of the opposing walls farthest from the outer surface of the shredder head housing.

27. The shredder head of claim 17, wherein the first and second conductive layers are located proximate an end of the opposing walls proximate to an outer surface of the shredder head housing.

28. A method of shredding material while reducing the probability of injury to a portion of a person's body, comprising: providing a shredder comprising: a shredder head housing defining a slot adapted to receive material to be shredded, the shredder head housing including a portion that forms opposing walls to define sides of the slot;a plurality of shredder blades disposed within the shredder head housing and adapted to shred the material inserted into the slot;a first conductive layer disposed along at least a portion of the opposing walls;a second conductive layer disposed along at least a portion of the opposing walls and separated from the first conductive layer;at least one controller in communication with the first conductive layer, the at least one controller is configured to detect a change in voltage due to a capacitance change resulting from the capacitance of the portion of the person's body while the first and second conductive layers are both contacted thereby;first and second electrical pathways each extending between the second conductive layer and a ground, the first electrical pathway including a resistor and the second electrical pathway including a capacitor;monitoring the first and second conductive layers to determine when the portion of the person's body touches the first and second conductive layers;stopping the activation of the plurality of shredder blades while the first and second conductive layers are both contacted by the portion of the person's body;activating a warning light while the first and second conductive layers are both contacted by the portion of the person's body;emitting a warning sound while the first and second conductive layers are both contacted by the portion of the person's body.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the step of monitoring includes providing a first controller in communication with the shredder and adapted to cause the plurality of shredder blades to deactivate; and providing a second controller in communication with the first and second conductive layers and with the first controller.

30. The method of claim 28, further comprising turning off the power to the shredder if the first and second conductive layers are both contacted by the portion of the person's body for a predetermined period of time.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the step of providing the shredder further comprises the first and second conductive layers being proximate to ends of the opposing walls that are farthest from an outer surface of the shredder head housing to reduce the probability of the plurality of shredder blades being disengaged due to the brief contact between a portion of a person's body and the outer surface while feeding material into the shredder.

32. A shredder head having shredder blades and an associated safety feature for protecting a portion of a person's body, comprising: a shredder head housing defining a slot adapted to receive material to be shredded, the shredder head housing including a portion that extends generally inwardly from an outer surface of the shredder head housing to form opposing walls to define sides of the slot, the opposing walls each having a distal end located opposite from the outer surface;a plurality of shredder blades disposed within the shredder head housing and adapted to shred the material inserted into the slot;a first conductive layer disposed along at least a portion of the opposing walls proximate to the distal end;a second conductive layer disposed along at least a portion of the opposing walls and separated from the first conductive layer, the second conductive layer being located proximate to the distal end of the opposing walls;a controller in communication with the shredder and adapted to cause the plurality of shredder blades to deactivate while the portion of the person's body touches both the first and second conductive layers.

33. A method of shredding material while reducing the probability of injury to a portion of a person's body, comprising: providing a shredder comprising: a shredder head housing including a portion that extends generally inwardly from an outer surface of the shredder head housing to form opposing walls to define sides of a slot, the opposing walls each having a distal end located opposite from the outer surface;a plurality of shredder blades disposed within the shredder head housing and adapted to shred the material inserted into the slot;a first conductive layer disposed along at least a portion of the opposing walls proximate to the distal end thereof;a second conductive layer disposed along at least a portion of the opposing walls proximate to the distal end thereof, the second conductive layer being separated from the first conductive layer;at least one controller in communication with at least one of the first and second conductive layers, the at least one controller detects when the portion of the person's body contacts both the first and second conductive layers;monitoring at least one of the first and second conductive layers to determine when the portion of the person's body is inserted into the slot far enough to touch both the first and second conductive layers; andstopping the activation of the plurality of shredder blades while the first and second conductive layers are both contacted by the portion of the person's body.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising: activating a warning light while the first and second conductive layers are both contacted by the portion of the person's body; andemitting a warning sound while the first and second conductive layers are both contacted by the portion of the person's body.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of providing a shredder further comprises providing a first controller in communication with the shredder and adapted to cause the plurality of shredder blades to deactivate; and a second controller in communication with at least one of the first and second conductive layers and with the first controller, wherein when the portion of the person's body touches both the first and second conductive layers the second controller sends a signal to the first controller, when the first controller receives the signal the first controller stops the activation of the plurality of shredder blades.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the step of providing a shredder further comprises the second controller being an integrated circuit in communication with the first conductive layer, the second conductive layer having first and second electrical pathways leading to two separate grounds, the first electrical pathway including a resistor and the second electrical pathway including a capacitor.

37. A method of shredding material while reducing the probability of injury to a portion of a person's body, comprising: providing a shredder comprising: a shredder head housing defines a slot;a plurality of shredder blades disposed within the shredder head housing and adapted to shred the material inserted into the slot;a first conductive layer disposed along at least a portion of the outer surface of the shredder housing;a second conductive layer disposed along at least a portion of the outer surface of the shredder housing, the second conductive layer being separated from the first conductive layer;monitoring at least one of the first and second conductive layers to determine when the portion of the person's body touches both the first and second conductive layers by detecting a change in electrical properties of circuitry attached to at least one of the first and second conductive layers caused by the capacitance of the portion of the person's body; andstopping the activation of the plurality of shredder blades while the first and second conductive layers are both contacted by the portion of the person's body.