3° ` `K`i`\
Contents
1. 56 References Cited U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 2 221 516 A 4 1937 Hathaway 3 619 537 A 11 1971 Hosokawa etal 219 723 74 Attorney Agent or Firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP 57 ABSTRACT A shredder is disclosed The shredder includes a housing having a throat for receiving at least one article to be shred ded 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 ele ments 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 opera tion responsive to the detector detecting that the thickness of the at least one article is at least equal to a predetermined maximum thickness 7 Claims 9 Drawing Sheets US RE44 161 E Page2 U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 7 166 561 B2 1 2007 Allen Nasen RIOT 7 210 867 B1 5 2007 Silverbrook 400 58 3 929 850 A 12 1975 Streck etal s 556 431 Deed i nnd nen idi 3 947 734 A 3 1976 Fyler 361 181 pe pira ed aer A 31080 i5 M 7 490 786 B2 2 2009 Matlin et al A dE UID ide a 7 520 452 B2 4 2009 Watano et al 4378 717 A 4 1983 Schneider et al MISTAS BZ lt2. Although power will still be supplied to the shredder mechanism 16 the user will be warned that that particular thickness is very close to the capacity limit of the shredder 10 Of course any increment of thickness may be used to cause a particular yellow light to illuminate The example given should not be considered to be limiting in any way Returning to the method 300 of FIG 9 at 318 the user may insert an additional item such as another document or stack of documents as the shredder mechanism 16 is shredding the previous item that was fed into the throat 36 of the shredder at 304 Ifthe user does insert an additional item into the throat 36 at 318 the method returns to 304 and the detector 100 detects the thickness of the item at the location of the detector 100 at 306 and so on If part of the previous item is still in the throat 36 the cumulative thickness of the item being shredder and the new item may be detected If the user does not add an additional item at 318 the method ends at 320 The illustrated method is not intended to be limiting in any way The foregoing illustrated embodiments have been provided to illustrate the structural and functional principles of the present invention and are not intended to be limiting To the contrary the present invention is intended to encompass all modifications alterations and substitutions within the spirit and scope of the appended claims What is claimed is 1 A shredder com
3. Refer ence may be made to U S Pat No 7 025 293 which is incorporated herein by reference for further details of the pivotal mounting This pivotal mounting is entirely optional and may be omitted As schematically illustrated in FIG 3 in order to lubricate the cutter elements 19 of the shredder 10 a lubrication system 80 may be included for providing lubrication at the cutter elements 19 The system includes a pump 82 that draws lubricating fluid such as oil from a reservoir 84 In a typical application the reservoir 84 will have a fill neck 86 that extends through the top wall 24 of the shredder housing 14 to allow for easy access for refilling the reservoir see FIG 5 20 25 30 35 40 45 55 65 6 The pump 82 communicates through a series of conduits 88tooneormore nozzles 90 that are positioned proximate the cutter elements 19 In one embodiment the nozzles can be positioned such that oil forced through the nozzles is dis persed as sprayed droplets in the throat ofthe shredder 10 In another embodiment the oil is dispersed in back ofthe throat of the shredder 10 Generally the nozzles have openings small relative to the conduits thereby creating a high speed flow at the nozzle allowing the oil to be expelled at a predict able rate and pattern As shown in FIG 4 a system in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention may be a retrofit device In this embodiment the reservoir 84 is mount
4. 122 is positioned so that it engages the contact member 120 and is able to measure the displacement of the contact mem ber 120 relative to the throat 36 Other displacement sensors may be used The greater the displacement the thicker the item being inserted into the throat 36 The strain gauge 122 communicates this measurement to the controller 200 and the controller 200 determines whether the displacement mea sured by the strain gauge 122 and hence thickness ofthe item is greater than the predetermined maximum thickness thereby indicating that the item that is being fed into the throat of the shredder 10 will cause the shredder mechanism 16 to jam If the detected thickness is greater than the predeter mined maximum thickness the controller 200 may send a signal to the indicator 110 as discussed above and or prevent power from powering the motor 18 to drive the shafts 20 and cutter elements 19 This way a jam may be prevented Like wise the measured displacement of the contact member 120 may be used by the controller 200 to output progressive amounts of thicknesses as discussed above Of course dif ferent configurations of the strain gauge 122 and contact member 120 may be used The illustrated embodiment is not intended to be limiting in any way In another embodiment illustrated in FIG 9 the detector 100 includes the contact member 120 and a piezoelectric sensor 124 In this embodiment the contact member 120 is mounted such t
5. 2002s Tan etal 2192541 Soa 7 624 938 B2 12 2009 Aries et al pore ious chew 7 631 822 B2 12 2009 Matlin et al M Aiea bee Han 7 631 823 B2 12 2009 Matlin et al porte da vie uds enhofer 7 631 824 B2 12 2009 Matlin et al M dre RE 7 635 102 B2 12 2009 Matlin et al Aor T87 pu oug 7 661 612 B2 2 2010 Lee etal PTA A Pr es 7 661 614 B2 2 2010 Matlin et al Mace 211980 e on 7 663 769 B2 2 2010 Hayashihara et al PEA BONO E aeser 7 712 688 B2 5 2010 Priester MEM euo pes 7 712 689 B2 5 2010 Matlin et al don UON an 2002 0017175 Al 2 2002 Gass et al 10707A 1090 vem e es ae 2002 0017176 Al 2 2002 Gass et al te EE CE et al 2002 0017178 Al 2 2002 Gass et al Md 2061 Mus 2002 0017179 Al 2 2002 Gass et al DATUM iere m on j 2002 0017180 Al 2 2002 Gass etal IEE Yoo Hughes stal i 2002 0017181 Al 2 2002 Gass etal IUe Mene a ET et al 2002 0017182 Al 2 2002 Gass et al Saee DA a T1100 nih 1 2002 0017184 Al 2 2002 Gass et al EA ices aoe et al 2002 0017336 A1 2 2002 Gass et al AH HA ore e in 2002 0020261 Al 2 2002 Gass et al D EHE 51003 Mb e 2002 0020262 Al 2 2002 Gass et al OP ERA Sir asuda et al 2002 0020263 Al 2 2002 Gass et al Herre Soo ico Inosi 2002 0020265 Al 2 2002 Gass etal du icut SIRO Y aidono et al 2002 0020271 Al 2 2002 Gass et al 307 800 A aides SE i 2002 0056348 Al 5 2002 Gass et al 2A A Sd ER ue iis i 2002 0056349 Al 5 2002 Gass et al SII A shone Coie erg et al 2002 0056350 Al 5 2002 Gass et al Pe
6. 290 Sch us 2002 0059853 Al 5 2002 Gass et al eve a piace welling 2002 0059854 Al 5 2002 Gass et al uA Ate bed 2002 0059855 Al 5 2002 Gass et al 25001 d I0E 2 os ie 2002 0066346 Al 6 2002 Gass et al ad do d T 2002 0069734 Al 6 2002 Gass et al RON 11008 i6 Aa 2002 0170399 Al 11 2002 Gass et al De ioe pes E 7 ax 2002 0170400 Al 11 2002 Gass MEER p ee al 2002 0190581 Al 12 2002 Gass et al Doe seek anaes M Er 2003 0002942 Al 1 2003 Gass et al eG Mm os ee e Tm 2003 0005588 Al 1 2003 Gass et al NIAE DUO e A S a5 2003 0015253 Al 1 2003 Gass et al eit een A 1060 Niece 2003 0016365 A1 1 2003 Liesset al cee 356 498 SA isis 311900 Er erholtmeyer 2003 0019341 Al 1 2003 Gass et al PO oT d S ooo 8 oger 2003 0020336 Al 1 2003 Gass et al D IE Sige ENA 2003 0037651 Al 2 2003 Gass et al voc E S pae i 2003 0042342 Al 3 2003 Kroger et al OPE oe A 21000 Tum SOn 2003 0056853 Al 3 2003 Gass et al ELTE 2006 ai 2003 0058121 Al 3 2003 Gass et al PUE 2000 Has 3 2003 0090224 Al 5 2003 Gass et al Pcs Sate Cedi 2003 0131703 Al 7 2003 Gass et al Pda a T000 Mihe 2003 0140749 Al 7 2003 Gass etal BC MANI te ell et al 2003 0196824 Al 10 2003 Gass et al eg RE A200 a Pa 2004 0008122 Al 1 2004 Michael DUM HIP 3205 sae 2004 0040426 Al 3 2004 Gass et al 6 518497 B1 2 2003 Allaire et al 174 40 R eic M NE LL etal ORTU RL AIT Ch eoe 2004 0159198 Al 8 2004 Peot et al Poia BI One Moria IB 2004 0163514 Al 8 2004 Gass et al 6 601 787 Bl 8 2003 Langene
7. Shredders are well known devices for destroying articles such as documents compact discs CDs expired credit cards etc Typically users purchase shredders to destroy sen sitive articles such as credit card statements with account information documents containing company trade secrets etc A common type of shredder has a shredder mechanism contained within a housing that is removably mounted atop a container The shredder mechanism typically has a series of cutter elements that shred articles fed therein and discharge the shredded articles downwardly into the container The shredder typically has a stated capacity such as the number of sheets of paper typically of 20 Ib weight that may be shred ded at one time however the feed throat ofa typical shredder can receive more sheets of paper than the stated capacity A common frustration of users of shredders is to feed too many papers into the feed throat only to have the shredder jam after it has started to shred the papers To free the shredder of the papers the user typically reverses the direction of rotation of the cutter elements via a switch until the papers become free In addition shredders that are subjected to a lot of use should have periodic maintenance done to them For example the cutter elements may become dull over time It has been found that lubricating the cutter elements may improve the performance of cutter elements particularly if the shredder is used c
8. a thickness detector configured to detect a thickness between opposing major surfaces of the at least one article to be shredded being received by the throat a maximum thickness indicator having a visual or audible output and configured to indicate a visual or audible signal to a user of the shredder via the visual or audible output a controller configured to actuate the maximum thickness indicator and indicate the visual or audible signal to the user via the visual or audible output responsive to the detector detecting that the thickness of the at least one article is at least equal to a predetermined maximum thickness wherein the detector is a thickness detector and the shred der further comprises a presence detector configured to detect a presence of the at least one article to be shred ded being received by the throat wherein the controller is configured to operate the motor to drive the cutter elements in the shredding direction responsive to the presence detector detecting the presence of the at least one article to be shredded being received by the throat wherein the controller starts the motor to drive the cutter elements in the shredding direction only in response to both the presence detector detecting the presence of the at least one article to be shredded being received by the throat and the thickness detector detecting that the thick ness thereof is less than the predetermined maximum thickness 17 A shredder according t
9. case of Royal Appliance Manufacturing Co d b a TII Floor Care North America and Techtronic Industries Co Ltd v Fellowes Inc filed in the Northern District of Ohio Case No 1 10 cv 2604 Defendant s Opening Claim Construction Brief filed on Jun 1 2012 by Fellowes Inc in the case of Royal Appliance Manufacturing Co d b a TTI Floor Care North America and Techtronic Industries Co Ltd v Fellowes Inc filed in the Northern District ofOhio Case Nos 1 10 cv 2604 11 cv 1276 11 cv 2617 and 12 cv 23 Request for Inter Partes Reexamination As Filed in the U S Patent and Trademark Office on Aug 23 2011 regarding U S Patent No 7 963 468 Correction Document Containing Replacement Explanation Filed in Response to Notice of Failure to Comply with Inter Partes Reexami nation Request Filing Requirements as filed in the U S Patent and Trademark Office on Sep 2 2011 regarding U S Appl No 95 001 723 Patent No 7 963 468 Order Granting Request for Inter Partes Reexamination with an Office Action regarding U S Appl No 95 001 723 Patent No 7 963 468 issued by the U S Patent and Trademark Office on Nov 10 2011 Office Action for Inter Partes Reexamination regarding U S Appl No 95 001 723 Patent No 7 963 468 issued by theU S Patent and Trademark Office on Nov 10 2011 Patentee Response to Office Action in Inter Partes Reexamination as filed in the U S Patent and Trademark Office on Jan 10 2012 regardi
10. signal flashing all of the lights in the sequence etc These alert features may be used in lieu of or in conjunction with cutting off power to the shredder mechanism upon detecting that the predetermined maximum thickness has been reached or exceeded Similarly the aforementioned indicators of the progressive indicator system may be in the form of audible signals rather than visual signals or lights For example like the yellow lights described above audible signals may be used to pro vide a progressive indication of the thickness of the item The audible signals may vary by number frequency pitch and or volume in such a way that provides the user with an indication of how close the detected thickness of the article is to the predetermined maximum thickness For example no signal or a single beep may be provided when the detected thick ness is well below the predetermined maximum thickness and a series of beeps that increase in number e g more beeps the closer the detection is to the predetermined maxi mum thickness and or frequency e g less time between beeps the closer the detection is to the predetermined maxi mum thickness as the detected thickness approaches the predetermined maximum thickness may be provided If the detected thickness is equal to or exceeds the predetermined 0 a 5 20 25 40 45 55 8 maximum thickness the series of beeps may be continu ous thereby
11. 11 by Royal Appliance Manufacturing Co in the case of Royal Appliance Manufacturing Co d b a TTI Floor Care North America et al v Fellowes Inc filed in the Northern District of Ohio Case No 1 11 CV 01276 Defendant s Validity and Enforceability Contentions filed on Sep 26 2011 by Fellowes Inc in the case of Royal Appliance Manufactur ing Co d b a TTI Floor Care North America et al v Fellowes Inc filed in the Northern District of Ohio Case No 1 11 CV 01276 US RE44 161 E Page4 GBC Shredmaster Service Manual Part 46001054 referencing Models 2230S and 2250X Paper Shredders Nov 1997 ACCO Rexel Mainstream 1050 2150 2250 3150 3250 and 3350 115V Machines Illustrated Parts Lists and Services Instructions Mar 25 2002 Issue No 4 ACCO Rexel Deckside and Office 115V Machines Illustrated Parts Lists and Service Instructions Aug 18 1999 ACCO Rexel Deckside and Office 230V Machines Illustrated Parts Lists and Service Instructions Aug 1 2000 U S Appl No 60 613 750 filed Sep 27 2004 Pierce U S Appl No 60 686 490 filed May 31 2005 Pierce U S Appl No 60 688 285 filed Jun 7 2005 Pierce The Stationary and Business Machines Japan DS 4000 by Carl Jimuki K K Jun 2003 The Stationary and Business Machines Japan NSE 501CN by Nakabayashi K K Oct 2004 Plaintiffs Opening Claim Construction Brief filed on Jun 1 2012 by Royal Appliance Manufacturing Co in the
12. 2 in the off position to activate the shredder mecha nism 16 the switch lock 52 must first be moved to its releasing position and then the switch 42 is moved to its on or reverse position This reduces the likelihood of the shredder mecha nism 16 being activated unintentionally Reference may be made to U S Patent Application Publication No 2005 0218250 Al which is incorporated herein by reference for further details of the switch lock 52 This switch lock is an entirely optional feature and may be omitted In the illustrated embodiment the shredder housing 14 is designed specifically for use with the container 12 and it is intended to sell them together The upper peripheral edge 60 of the container 12 defines an upwardly facing opening 62 and provides a seat 61 on which the shredder 10 is removably mounted The seat 61 includes a pair of pivot guides 64 provided on opposing lateral sides thereof The pivot guides 64 include upwardly facing recesses 66 that are defined by walls extending laterally outwardly from the upper edge 60 of the container 12 The walls defining the recesses 66 are molded integrally from plastic with the container 12 but may be provided as separate structures and formed from any other material At the bottom of each recess 66 is provided a step down or ledge providing a generally vertical engagement surface 68 This step down or ledge is created by two sections of the recesses 66 being provided with different radii
13. 310 a warning is provided For example to provide the warning the controller 200 may cause the red light 116 to illuminate and or causes an audible signal to sound and or cause power to be disrupted to the motor 18 so thatthe shredder mechanism 16 will not shred the item The user should then remove the item from the throat 36 ofthe shredder 10 at 312 and reduce the thickness ofthe item at 314 before inserting the item back into the throat 36 at 304 Ifthe controller 200 determines that the thickness that has been detected is less than the predetermined maximum thick ness the controller 200 may cause the green light 112 to illuminate and or allows power to be supplied to the shredder mechanism 16 so that the shredder 10 may proceed with shredding the item at 316 In the embodiment that includes the plurality of yellow lights 114 as part of the indicator 100 if the controller 200 determines that the thickness that has been detected is less than the predetermined maximum thickness but close to or about the predetermined maximum thickness the controller 200 may cause one ofthe yellow lights to illuminate depend ing on how close to the predetermined maximum thickness the detected thickness is For example the different yellow lights may represent increments of about 0 1 mm so that if the detected thickness is within 0 1 mm of the predetermined maximum thickness the yellow light 114 that is closest to the red light 116 illuminates and so on
14. 96 activates the pump to lubricate the cutter elements 19 For example if the predetermined total thickness of material is programmed in the controller 96 to be 0 1 m 100 mm then once the total accumulated detected thickness of articles that have been shredder is at least equal to 0 1 m e g one hundred articles with an average thickness of 1 mm or fifty articles with an average thickness of 2 mm etc the controller 96 will activate the pump 82 of the lubri cation system 80 to lubricate the cutter elements 19 It is also possible to schedule the lubrication based on a number of uses of the shredder e g the controller tracks or counts the number of shredding operations and activates the pump after a predetermined number of shredder operations Ineach of the embodiments making use of accumulated mea sures a memory 97 can be incorporated for the purpose of tracking use Although the memory 97 is illustrated as being part of the controller 96 associated with the lubrication sys tem the memory may be part of the shredder controller 200 or may be located on some other part of the shredder 10 The illustrated embodiment is not intended to be limiting in any way In addition the accumulated measures e g the number of shredding operations or the accumulated thickness of the articles that have been shredded may be used to alert the user that maintenance should be completed on the shredder The alert may come in the form of a visual or
15. ICATIONS 2010 0320299 Al 12 2010 2011 0272504 Al 11 2011 2011 0272505 A1 11 2011 2011 0280642 A1 11 2011 2011 0297769 A1 12 2011 2011 0297770 Al 12 2011 FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS DE DE DE DE DE DE DE DE EP EP EP EP EP EP EP EP EP EP EP EP EP GB GB GB GB GB GB GB GB JP JP JP JP JP JP 4121330 4207292 4237861 4437348 19835093 202004000907 102006036136 202010001577 U1 268244 0392867 562076 524708 0792691 0818241 856945 855221 A 855221 1177832 1195202 2180290 2022566 1199903 2171029 2209963 1199903 2440651 A 2440651 2442942 2451513 52 11691 5311911 57 76734 57 070445 U 57 7167134 58 2234438 Matlin et al Matlin et al Matlin et al Ikeda etal 400 582 Matlin et al Matlin et al 1 1993 1 1993 5 1994 4 1996 2 1999 5 2005 1 2008 11 2010 11 1987 10 1990 9 1992 1 1997 9 1997 1 1998 1 1998 7 1998 7 1998 2 2002 4 2002 7 2008 2 2009 7 1970 8 1986 6 1989 7 1990 2 2008 2 2008 4 2008 2 2009 1 1977 3 1978 1 1980 4 1982 5 1982 12 1983 Complaint for Declaratory Judgment filed on Nov 15 2010 by Royal Applicance Manufacturing Co d b a TTI Floor Care North America and Techtronic Industries Co Ltd against Fellowes Inc First Amended Complaint filed on Aug 19 2011 by Fellowes Inc in the case of Fellowes Inc v ACCO Brands Corp et al Northern District of Illinois Civil Action No 1 11 cv 04229 Answer to First A
16. The shredder housing 14 also includes a bottom receptacle 30 having a bottom wall four side walls and an open top The shredder mechanism 16 is received therein and the receptacle 30 is affixed to the underside of the top wall 24 by fasteners The receptacle 30 has an opening 32 in its bottom wall through which the shredder mechanism 16 discharges shred ded articles into the container 12 The top wall 24 has a generally laterally extending open ing which is often referred to as a throat 36 extending gen erally parallel and above the cutter elements The throat 36 enables the articles being shredded to be fed into the cutter elements As can be appreciated the throat 36 is relatively narrow which is desirable for preventing overly thick items such as large stacks of documents from being fed into cutter elements which could lead to jamming The throat 36 may have any configuration The top wall 24 also has a switch recess 38 with an opening therethrough An on off switch 42 includes a switch module not shown mounted to the top wall 24 underneath the recess 38 by fasteners and a manually engageable portion 46 that moves laterally within the recess 38 The switch module has a movable element not shown that connects to the manually engageable portion 46 through the opening This enables movement of the manually engageable portion 46 to move the switch module between its states In the illustrated embodiment the switch module connects
17. and contact member 120 may be used The illustrated embodiment is not intended to be limiting in any way In another embodiment illustrated in FIG 10 the detector 100 includes the contact member 120 and an optical sensor 140 In this embodiment the contact member 120 is pivotally mounted such that one portion extends into the throat 36 and another portion which has a plurality of rotation indicators 142 extends away from the throat 36 The optical sensor 140 may be configured to sense the rotation indicators 142 as the rotation indicators 142 rotate past the optical sensor 140 For example the optical sensor 140 may include an infrared LED 144 and a dual die infrared receiver 146 to detect the direction and amount of motion of the contact member 120 As shown in FIG 7 the contact member 120 may be configured such that a small amount of rotation of the contact member is amplified at the opposite end of the contact member 120 thereby improving the sensor s ability to sense changes in the thickness of the items that cause the contact member 120 to rotate Of course different configurations of the optical sen sor 140 and contact member 120 may be used The illustrated embodiment is not intended to be limiting in any way Another embodiment of the detector 100 that includes the optical sensor 140 is shown in FIG 11 As illustrated in FIG 8 the detector 100 is located above an infrared sensor 150 that detects the presence of an article Of
18. and the strippers which are gen erally located on the outward or post cutting side of the cut ting mechanism and include a serrated member or a comb type member having teeth that protrude into the spaces between the individual cutting disks The illustrated embodi ments of the lubrication system 80 are not intended to be limiting in any way Reference may be made to U S patent application Ser No 11 385 864 which is hereby incorpo rated by reference for further details of an oiling mechanism The lubrication system 80 is an optional feature ofthe shred der 10 In an embodiment of the invention the shredder 10 includes a thickness detector 100 to detect overly thick stacks of documents or other articles that could jam the shredder mechanism 16 and communicate such detection to a control ler 200 as shown in FIG 6 Upon such detection the con troller 200 may communicate with an indicator 110 that pro vides a warning signal to the user such as an audible signal and or a visual signal Examples of audible signals include but are not limited to beeping buzzing and or any other type of signal that will alert the user that the stack of documents or other article that is about to be shredded is above a predeter mined maximum thickness and may cause the shredder mechanism 16 to jam This gives the user the opportunity to reduce the thickness of the stack of documents or reconsider forcing the thick article through the shredder knowing
19. as United States USOORE44161E a2 Reissued Patent 10 Patent Number US REA44 161 E Matlin et al 45 Date of Reissued Patent Apr 23 2013 54 SHREDDER WITH THICKNESS DETECTOR 3 724 166 A 4 1973 van der Meer 53 334 3 724 766 A 4 1973 Bosland 75 Inventors Tai Hoon K Matlin Round Lake 3 764 819 A 10 1973 Muller s 307 116 Beach IL US Eric Gach Mount 911899230538 11374 TOKY Prospect IL US Continued FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS 73 Assignee Fellowes Inc Itasca IL US DE 3313232 10 1984 21 Appl No 13 030 849 DE 30128364 10 1388 Continued 22 Filed Feb 18 2011 OTHER PUBLICATIONS Related U S Patent Documents English Translation of Japanese Patent Application Publication No Bei OE 9 38513 published on Feb 10 1997 64 Patent No 7 631 822 y UD eO On USD us Issued Dec 15 2009 Continued Appl No 11 444 491 Filed Jun 1 2006 Primary Examiner Bena Miller U S Applications 63 Continuation in part of application No 11 177 480 filed on Jul 11 2005 now Pat No 7 661 614 and a continuation in part of application No 11 385 864 filed on Mar 22 2006 now Pat No 7 798 435 51 Int CI B02C 4 32 2006 01 B02C 7 14 2006 01 B02C 9 04 2006 01 B02C 11 08 2006 01 52 U S Cl USPC ntes 241 36 241 100 241 236 58 Field of Classification Search 241 36 241 37 5 100 236 See application file for complete search history
20. audible signal such as the signals discussed above or the controller may prevent power from powering the shedder mechanism until the main tenance has been completed The ability to keep track of the accumulated use of the shredder may also be helpful in a warranty context where the warranty could be based on the actual use of the shredder rather than time This is similar to the warranties that are used with automobiles such as 100 000 miles or 10 years which ever comes first For example the warranty may be based on 100 uses or one year whichever comes first or the warranty may be based on shredding paper having a total sensed thick ness of 1 meter or 2 years whichever comes first and so on FIG 12 illustrates a method 300 for detecting the thickness of an item e g a stack of documents or an article being fed into the throat 36 ofthe shredder 10 The method starts at 302 At 304 the item is fed into the throat 36 of the shredder 10 At 306 the detector 100 detects the thickness ofthe item At 308 the controller 200 determines whether the thickness that has been detected is greater than a predetermined maximum 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 12 thickness The predetermined maximum thickness may be based on the capacity of the shredder mechanism 16 as discussed above If the controller 200 determines that the thickness that has been detected is at least the predetermined maximum thickness at
21. ch 42 may be used In the illustrated embodiment the top cover 24 also includes another recess 50 associated with an optional switch lock 52 The switch lock 52 includes a manually engageable portion 54 that is movable by a user s hand and a locking portion not shown The manually engageable portion 54 is seated in the recess 50 and the locking portion is located beneath the top wall 24 The locking portion is integrally formed as a plastic piece with the manually engageable por tion 54 and extends beneath the top wall 24 via an opening formed in the recess 50 The switch lock 52 causes the switch 42 to move from either its on position or reverse position to its off position by a camming action as the switch lock 52 is moved from a releasing position to a locking position In the releasing posi tion the locking portion is disengaged from the movable element of the switch 42 thus enabling the switch 42 to be moved between its on off and reverse positions In the lock ing position the movable element of the switch 42 is restrained in its off position against movement to either its on or reverse position by the locking portion of the switch lock 52 Preferably but not necessarily the manually engageable portion 54 of the switch lock 52 has an upwardly extending projection 56 for facilitating movement of the switch lock 52 between the locking and releasing positions One advantage of the switch lock 52 is that by holding the switch 4
22. cker te SP 22091 ae CHIC ND 2004 0194594 Al 10 2004 Dils et al 252025 49 152005 iris 2004 0226800 Al 11 2004 Pierga DOC ODE TPO Mol cae 2005 0039586 Al 2 2005 Gass et al OE CA0 BI QUA Pads ce 2005 0039822 Al 2 2005 Gass et al ERO BL AMET ds n 2005 0041359 Al 2 2005 Gass EDO eet 10200A Cuan ebd 2005 0046651 A1 3 2005 Askren etal 347 12 6 813 983 B2 11 2004 Gass et al Seine 2l nio as tal 6 826 988 B2 12 2004 Gass SEET Dea cbe OS G 2005 0139051 Al 6 2005 Gass et al Peep ADOOS dosse cdd 2005 0139056 Al 6 2005 Gass et al 620440 B2 5 2008 Gasset al 2005 0139057 Al 6 2005 Gass et al 6 920 814 B2 7 2005 Gass et al 2005 0139058 Al 6 2005 Gass et al 6 979 813 B2 12 2005 Avril 2005 0139459 Al 6 2005 Gass et al 6 983 903 B2 1 2006 Chang 2005 0150986 Al 7 2005 Castronovo 6 997 408 B2 2 2006 Watano 2005 0155473 Al 7 2005 Gass 7 025 293 B2 4 2006 Matlin et al 2005 0166736 Al 8 2005 Gass et al 7 040 559 B2 5 2006 Matlin 2005 0213106 A1 9 2005 Weijers etal occ 356 519 US RE44 161 E Page3 2006 0016919 Al 1 2006 Castronovo JP 59150554 8 1984 2006 0054725 Al 3 2006 Matlin JP 61 000702 1 1986 2006 0091247 Al 5 2006 Matlin JP 62183555 11 1987 2006 0243631 Al 11 2006 Duke JP 63 173342 11 1988 2007 0007373 Al 1 2007 Matlin JP 2 277560 11 1990 2007 0025239 Al 2 2007 Jain et al JP H2 303550 12 1990 2007 0063082 Al 3 2007 Coleman JP 04 157093 5 1992 2007 0080252 Al 4 2007 Pierce JP 04 0180852 6 1992 2007 0087942 Al 4 2007 A
23. course any such sensor may be used The illustrated embodiment is not intended to be limiting in any way The sensor 150 provides a signal to the controller 200 which in turn is communicated to the motor 18 When the sensor 150 senses that an article is passing through a lower portion of the throat 36 the controller 200 signals the motor 18 to start turning the shafts 20 and cutter elements 19 Of course because the detector 100 is also in communication with the controller 200 if the detector 100 detects that the thickness of the article that has entered the throat is too thick for the capacity ofthe shredder mechanism 16 the shredder mechanism 16 may not operate even though the sensor 150 has indicated that it is time for the shredder mechanism 16 to operate Of course this particular configu ration is not intended to be limiting in any way Although various illustrated embodiments herein employ particular sensors it is to be noted that other approaches may be employed to detect the thickness ofthe stack of documents or article being fed into the throat 36 of the shredder 10 For example embodiments utilizing eddy current inductive photoelectric ultrasonic Hall effect or even infrared prox imity sensor technologies are also contemplated and are con sidered to be within the scope of the present invention The sensors discussed above and other possible sensors may also be used to initiate the shredding operation by enabling the po
24. d therein The shredder mechanism 16 may also include a sub frame 21 for mounting the shafts the motor 18 and the transmission 23 The operation and construction of such a shredder mechanism 16 are well known and need not be described herein in detail Generally any suitable shredder mechanism 16 known in the art or developed hereafter may be used 20 40 45 65 4 The shredder 10 also includes the shredder housing 14 mentioned above The shredder housing 14 includes top wall 24 that sits atop the container 12 The top wall 24 is molded from plastic and an opening 26 is located at a front portion thereof The opening 26 is formed in part by a downwardly depending generally U shaped member 28 The U shaped member 28 has a pair of spaced apart connector portions 27 on opposing sides thereof and a hand grip portion 28 extend ing between the connector portions 27 in spaced apart relation from the housing 14 The opening 26 allows waste to be discarded into the container 12 without being passed through the shredder mechanism 16 and the member 28 may act as a handle for carrying the shredder 10 separate from the con tainer 12 As an optional feature this opening 26 may be provided with a lid such as a pivoting lid that opens and closes the opening 26 However this opening in general is optional and may be omitted entirely Moreover the shredder housing 14 and its top wall 24 may have any suitable con struction or configuration
25. dder mechanism that is received in the housing The shredder mechanism includes an electrically powered motor and cutter elements The shredder mechanism enables the at least one articleto 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 controller that includes a memory The controller is operable to store infor mation in the memory related to an amount of use of the shredder and to alert a user of the shredder when the shredder is due for a maintenance operation based on the amount of use of the shredder Other aspects features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description the accompanying drawings and the appended claims BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG 1 is a perspective view of a shredder constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention FIG 2 is an exploded perspective view of the shredder of FIG 1 FIG 3 is a schematic illustration of an oiling mechanism in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention FIG 4 is a perspective view of a shredder having an oiling mechanism in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention US RE44 161 E 3 FIG 5 is a perspective view of a shredder having an oiling mechanism in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention FIG 6 is a sch
26. ed to an outside surface of the shredder 10 It is connected via a conduit 92 to the main unit 94 The main unit 94 may include a power supply not shown and the pump 82 not shown in FIG 4 In any embodiment the reservoir 84 may be designed to be removed and replaced rather than re filled An alternate embodiment includes the system 80 built into the housing of the shredder 10 In this embodiment shown in FIG 5 the fill neck 86 can be designed to extend through the top wall 24 of the shredder housing 14 Operation of the system 80 does not depend on whether it is retrofit or built in In operation a controller 96 shown in FIG 6 for the lubrication system 80 is programmed with instructions for determining when to lubricate the cutter elements 19 The controller processes the instructions and subsequently applies them by activating the pump 82 to cause fluid from the reservoirto be delivered to the nozzles 90 under pressure The nozzles are positioned and arranged to spray the pressurized lubricating oil to the cutter elements 19 In general the oil will be dispersed in a predetermined pattern directly onto the cutter elements and or the strippers In a particular arrange ment it may be useful to array the nozzles below the cutter elements so that lubrication is sprayed from below In an alternate embodiment the oil is sprayed onto an intermediate surface 98 shown in FIG 3 and allowed to drip from there onto the cutter elements 19
27. ematic of interaction between a controller and other parts of the shredder FIG 7 is a schematic of an embodiment of an indicator located on the shredder FIG 8 is a schematic of an embodiment of a detector configured to detect a thickness of a article to be shredded by the shredder FIG 9 is a schematic of another embodiment of a detector configured to detect a thickness of a article to be shredded by the shredder FIG 10 is a schematic of another embodiment of a detector configured to detect a thickness of a article to be shredded by the shredder FIG 11 is a schematic of another embodiment ofthe detec tor of FIG 10 and FIG 12 is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method for shredding an article DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIGS 1 and 2 illustrate a shredder constructed in accor dance with an embodiment of the present invention The shredder is generally indicated at 10 In the illustrated embodiment the shredder 10 sits atop a waste container generally indicated at 12 which is formed of molded plastic or any other material The shredder 10 illustrated is designed specifically for use with the container 12 as the shredder housing 14 sits on the upper periphery of the waste container 12ina nested relation However the shredder 10 may also be designed so as to sit atop a wide variety of standard waste containers and the shredder 10 would not be sold with the container Likewise the shredder 10 could be part
28. etermined maxi mum thickness may be set to the standard thickness of a compact disc i e 1 2 mm It is estimated that such a thick ness would also correspond to about 12 sheets of 20 Ib paper Second a margin for error may also be factored in For example in the example given the predetermined maximum thickness may be set to a higher thickness such as to 1 5 mm which would allow for approximately an additional 3 sheets of paper to be safely inserted into the shredder but not an additional compact disc Of course these examples are not intended to be limiting in any way For shredders that include separate throats for receiving sheets of paper and compact discs and or credit cards a detector 100 may be provided to each of the throats and configured for different predetermined maximum thick nesses For example the same shredder mechanism may be able to handle one compact disc and 18 sheets of 20 1b paper Accordingly the predetermined maximum thickness associ ated with the detector associated with the throat that 1s spe cifically designed to receive compact discs may be set to about 1 5 mm 0 3 mm above the standard thickness of a compact disc while the predetermined maximum thickness associated with the detector associated with the throat that 1s specifically designed to receive sheets of paper may be set to about 1 8 mm Of course these examples are not intended to be limiting in any way and are only given to illustrate feature
29. hat it protrudes through one wall 126 of the throat and into the throat by a small amount thereby creating a slightly narrower throat opening spring 128 may be used to bias the contact member 120 into the throat 36 The nar rower opening that is created by a tip 130 of the contact member 120 and a wall 132 opposite the spring 128 is less than the predetermined maximum thickness Therefore if an item that is too thick to be shredded enters the throat 36 it will 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 10 engage a top side 134 ofthe contact member 120 Becausethe top side 134 ofthe contact member 120 is sloped the contact member 120 will move against the bias ofthe spring 128 and into contact with the piezoelectric sensor 124 thereby caus ing a voltage to be created within the piezoelectric sensor 124 As the thickness of the item increases the force applied by the contact member 120 to the piezoelectric sensor 124 increases thereby increasing the voltage generated within the piezo electric sensor 124 The resulting voltage may be communi cated to the controller 200 or directly to the indicator 110 thereby causing the indicator 110 to indicate that the item is above the predetermined maximum thickness In addition the controller upon sensing the voltage may prevent power from powering the motor 18 to drive the shafts 20 and cutter elements 19 Of course different configurations of the piezo electric sensor 124
30. her power is provided to the motor 18 so that the shafts 20 may rotate the cutter elements 19 and shred the item This way if the thickness of the item to be shredded is detected to be greater than the capacity of the shredder mechanism 16 power will not be provided to the shredder mechanism 16 thereby making the shredder 10 temporarily inoperable This not only protects the motor 18 from over load it also provides an additional safety feature so that items that should not be placed in the shredder 10 are not able to pass through the shredder mechanism 16 even though they may fit in the throat 36 of the shredder 10 FIGS 8 11 show different embodiments of the detector 100 that may be used to detect the thickness ofan article e g a compact disc credit card stack of papers etc that is placed in the throat 36 of the shredder As shown in FIG 8 the detector 100 may include a contact member 120 that is mounted so that it extends into the throat 36 at one side thereof The contact member 120 may be pivotally mounted or it may be mounted within a slot so that it translates relative to the throat 36 The contact member 120 is mounted so that as the item to be shredded is inserted into the throat 36 the item engages the contact member 120 and causes the contact member 120 to be pushed out ofthe way ofthe item As shown in FIG 8 a strain gauge 122 is located on a side of the contact member 120 that is opposite the throat 36 The strain gauge
31. herein the detector comprises a contact member that extends into the throat and is actuated in response to the article being inserted into the throat 9 A shredder according to claim 8 wherein the detector further comprises a strain gauge configured to measure move ment ofthe contact member and communicate the movement to the controller 10 A shredder according to claim 8 wherein the detector further comprises a piezoelectric sensor configured to mea sure movement of the contact member and communicate the movement to the controller 11 A shredder according to claim 8 wherein the detector further comprises an optical sensor configured to measure movement of the contact member and communicate the movement to the controller 12 A shredder according to claim 11 wherein the optical sensor comprises an infrared LED and a dual die infrared receiver configured to detect the direction and amount of the movement 13 A shredder according to claim 1 wherein the detector is also configured to detect a presence of the at least one 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 14 article to be shredded being received by the throat and wherein the controller is configured to operate the motor to drivethe cutter elements in the shredding direction responsive to the detector detecting both the presence of the at least one article to be shredded being received by the throat and that the thickness thereof is less than the p
32. indicating to the user that such a threshold has been met and that the thickness of the article to be shredded should be reduced The visual and audible signals may be used together in a single device Also other ways of indicating progressive thicknesses ofthe items inserted in the throat 36 may be used Forexample an LCD screen with a bar graph that increases as the detected thickness increases may be used Also a fuel gauge i e a dial with a pivoting needle moving progres sively between zero and a maximum desired thickness may also be used As discussed above with an audible signal the number or frequency of the intermittent audible noises may increase along with the detected thickness The invention is not limited to the indicators described herein and other pro gressive 1 e corresponding to multiple predetermined thick ness levels or binary i e corresponding to a single prede termined thickness indicators may be used The aforementioned predetermined thicknesses may be determined as follows First because the actual maximum thickness that the shredder mechanism may handle will depend on the material that makes up the item to be shredded the maximum thickness may correspond to the thickness of the toughest article expected to be inserted into the shredder such as a compact disc which is made from polycarbonate If it is known that the shredder mechanism may only be able to handle one compact disc at a time the pred
33. llen JP 5 96198 4 1993 2007 0164135 Al 7 2007 Zhong JP H05 092144 4 1993 2007 0164138 Al 7 2007 Allen JP 6 277548 10 1994 2007 0215728 Al 9 2007 Priester JP 7 299377 11 1995 2007 0221767 Al 9 2007 Matlin et al JP 8 108088 4 1996 2008 0093487 Al 4 2008 Lee JP 8 131861 5 1996 2008 0231261 Al 9 2008 Dengler et al JP 08 131962 5 1996 2009 0025239 Al 1 2009 Pan JP 08 164343 6 1996 2009 0032629 Al 2 2009 Aries et al JP 9 38513 2 1997 2009 0090797 Al 4 2009 Matlin et al JP 09075763 3 1997 2010 0051731 Al 3 2010 Matlin et al JP 09 150069 10 1997 2010 0084496 Al 4 2010 Matlin et al JP 9 262491 10 1997 2010 0102153 Al 4 2010 Matlin etal JP 10 048344 2 1998 2010 0134805 Al 6 2010 Pan JP 11 216383 8 1999 2010 0170967 Al 7 2010 Jensen et al JP 11 304942 11 1999 2010 0170969 Al 7 2010 Jensen etal JP 2000346288 12 2000 2010 0176227 Al 7 2010 Davis et al JP 2002 239405 8 2002 2010 0181398 Al 7 2010 Davis et al JP 2004 321840 11 2004 2010 0213296 Al 8 2010 Sued et al JP 2004321993 11 2004 2010 0213297 Al 8 2010 Sued et al WO 2005070553 8 2005 2010 0213300 Al 8 2010 Matlin et al WO 2006019985 2 2006 2010 0243774 Al 9 2010 Hu etal WO 2006036370 4 2006 2010 0252661 Al 10 2010 Matlin et al WO 2007 109753 A2 9 2007 2010 0252664 Al 10 2010 Matlin et al WO 2007109753 9 2007 2010 0270404 Al 10 2010 Chen WO 2007122364 11 2007 2010 0282879 Al 11 2010 Chen WO 2007137761 12 2007 2010 0288861 Al 11 2010 Cai etal 2010 0320297 Al 12 2010 Matlin et al OTHER PUBL
34. mended Complaint filed on Sep 6 2011 by ACCO Brands Corporation in the case of Fellowes Inc v ACCO Brands Corp et al Northern District of Illinois Civil Action No 1 11 cv 04229 Plaintiff s Initial Invalidity Contentions filed on Sep 12 2011 by Royal Appliance Manufacturing Co in the case of Royal Appliance Manufacturing Co d b a TTI Floor Care North America and Techtronic Industries Co Ltd v Fellowes Inc filed in the Northern District of Ohio Case No 1 10 cv 2604 Defendant s Initial Validity Contentions filed on Oct 3 2011 by Fellowes Inc in the case of Royal Appliance Manufacturing Co d b a TTI Floor Care North America and Techtronic Industries Co Ltd v Fellowes Inc filed in the Northern District of Ohio Case No 1 10 cv 2604 Plaintiff s Initial Noninfringement Contentions filed on Sep 12 2011 by Royal Appliance Manufacturing Co in the case of Royal Appliance Manufacturing Co d b a TTI Floor Care North America and Techtronic Industries Co Ltd v Fellowes Inc filed in the Northern District of Ohio Case No 1 10 cv 2604 Fellowes Initial Validity Contentions filed on Oct 26 2011 by Fellowes Inc in the case of Royal Appliance Manufacturing Co d b a TTI Floor Care North America and Techtronic Industries Co Ltd v Fellowes Inc filed in the Northern District of Ohio Case No 1 10 cv 2604 Plaintiff s Preliminary Invalidity and Unenforceability Contentions filed on Sep 2 20
35. ng U S Appl No 95 001 723 Patent No 7 963 468 Requester s Comments on Patentee s Response to Office Action as filed in the U S Patent and Trademark Office on Feb 8 2012 regard ing U S Appl No 95 001 723 Patent No 7 963 468 Action Closing Prosecution regarding U S Appl No 95 001 723 Patent No 7 963 468 issued by the U S Patent and Trademark Office on May 8 2012 Patentee Response to Office Action in Inter Partes Reexamination as filed in the U S Patent and Trademark Office on May 14 2012 regarding U S Appl No 95 001 723 Patent No 7 963 468 Request for Inter Partes Reexamination As Filed in the U S Patent and Trademark Office on Sep 2 2011 regarding U S Patent No 7 631 822 Order Granting Request for Inter Partes Reexamination regarding U S Appl No 95 001 736 Patent No 7 631 822 issued by theU S Patent and Trademark Office on Oct 26 2011 Office Action in Inter Partes Reexamination regarding U S Appl No 95 001 736 Patent No 7 631 822 issued by the U S Patent and Trademark Office on Nov 10 2011 Partial International Search Report issued with Invitation to Pay Additional Fees issued in PCT US2008 078458 Jan 26 2009 2 pages International Search Report PCT ISA 210 issued in PCT US2007 0064601 mailed Feb 8 2008 5 pages Written Opinion ofthe International Searching Authority PCT IS A 237 issued in PCT US2007 0064601 mailed Feb 8 2008 16 pages English Abstract of Ge
36. o claim 16 wherein the detector comprises a contact member that extends into the throat and is actuated in response to the article being inserted into the throat US RE44 161 E 15 18 A shredder according to claim 17 wherein said thick ness detector is a variable thickness detector for outputting a variable amount of movement of said contact member 19 A shredder according to claim 18 wherein said thick ness detector includes an optical sensor and indicators mov able past the optical sensor by movement of said contact member to enable the variable amount of movement of said contact member to be output by the optical sensor 20 A shredder according to claim 18 wherein the detector further comprises a strain gauge configured to measure movement ofthe contact member and communicate the move ment to the controller 21 A shredder according to claim 18 wherein the detector further comprises a piezoelectric sensor configured to mea sure movement of the contact member and communicate the movement to the controller 22 A shredder according to claim 16 wherein said thick ness detector includes a sensor and the contact member is coupled to a detectable element movable for detection by the sensor and wherein said thickness detector is configured such that movement of said contact member in the throat amplifies movement of the detectable element at the sensor 20 16
37. of a large freestanding housing and a waste container would be enclosed in the housing An access door would provide for access to and removal of the container Generally speaking the shredder 10 may have any suitable construction or con figuration and the illustrated embodiment is not intended to be limiting in any way In addition the term shredder is not intended to be limited to devices that literally shred docu ments and articles but is instead intended to cover any device that destroys documents and articles in a manner that leaves each document or article illegible and or useless As shown in FIG 2 in an embodiment the shredder 10 includes a shredder mechanism 16 that includes an electri cally powered motor 18 and a plurality of cutter elements 19 Shredder mechanism is a generic structural term to denote a device that destroys articles using at least one cutter ele ment Such destroying may be done in any particular way For example the shredder mechanism may include at least one cutter element that is configured to punch a plurality of holes in the document or article in a manner that destroys the document or article In the illustrated embodiment the cutter elements 19 are generally mounted on a pair of parallel rotat ing shafts 20 The motor 18 operates using electrical power to rotatably drive the shafts and the cutter elements through a conventional transmission 23 so that the cutter elements shred articles fe
38. onstantly over a long period of time The present invention endeavors to provide various improvements over known shredders BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an aspect of the invention to provide a shredder that does not jam as a result of too many papers or an article that is too thick being fed into the shredder In an embodiment a shredder is provided 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 The shredder mechanism includes an electrically powered motor and cutter elements The shredder mechanism enables the at least one article to be shredded to be fed into the 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 2 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 config ured 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 ofthe at least one article is at least equal to a predetermined maximum thickness In an embodiment a method for operating a shredder is provided The method includes detecting a thickness of at least one article being inserted into a throat of the shredder determining if the thickness of the at least one article is g
39. prising 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 includ ing 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 ele ments shred the articles fed therein US RE44 161 E 13 a thickness detector configured to detect a thickness between opposing major surfaces of the at least one article to be shredded being received by the throat a maximum thickness indicator having a visual or audible output and configured to indicate a visual or audible signal to a user of the shredder via the visual or audible output a controller configured to actuate the maximum thickness indicator and indicate the visual or audible signal to the user via the visual or audible output responsive to the detector detecting that the thickness of the at least one article is at least equal to a predetermined maximum thickness 2 A shredder according to claim 1 wherein the maximum thickness indicator includes a light that is illuminated to indi cate the signal to the user 3 A shredder according to claim 1 wherein the maximum indicator includes an audible alarm that audibly indicates the signal to the
40. r of predetermined thick nesses between the first and second predetermined thick nesses The yellow lights 114 may be used to train the user into getting a feel for how many documents should be shred ded at one time The red light 116 indicates that the detected thickness is at or above the second predetermined thickness which may be the same as the predetermined maximum thick ness thereby warning the user that this thickness has been reached The sequence of lights may be varied and their usage may vary For example they may be arranged linearly in a sequence as shown or in other configurations e g in a partial circle so that they appear like a fuel gauge or speedometer Also for example the yellow light s 114 may be lit only for thickness es close to i e within 25 of the predetermined maximum thickness which triggers the red light 116 This is a useful sequence because of most people s familiarity with traffic lights Likewise a plurality of green lights or any other color could be used to progressively indicate the detected thickness within a range Each light would be activated upon the detected thickness being equal to or greater than a corre sponding predetermined thickness A red or other color light may be used at the end of the sequence of lights to emphasize that the predetermined maximum thickness has been reached or exceeded or other ways of getting the user s attention may be used such as emitting an audible
41. reater than a predetermined maximum thickness and per forming a predetermined operation ifthe detected thickness is at least equal to the predetermined maximum thickness It is also an aspect of the present invention to provide a shredder that automatically conducts self maintenance after a predetermined amount of use In an embodiment a shredder that includes a housing that has a throat for receiving at least one article to be shredded and a shredder mechanism that is received in the housing is provided The shredder mechanism includes 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 and the motor being operable to drive the cutter elements so that the cutter elements shred the articles fed therein The shredder also includes a lubrication system configured to lubricate the cutter elements and a detector configured to detect a thickness of the at least one article being received by the throat The shredder further includes a controller that is operable to store an accumulation of thick nesses detected by the detector over time and to provide a signal to the lubrication system to lubricate the cutter ele ments when the accumulation is at least equal to a predeter mined total thickness In an embodiment a shredder is provided The shredder includes a housing having a throat for receiving at least one article to be shredded and a shre
42. redetermined maximum thickness 14 A shredder according to claim 1 wherein the detector is a thickness detector and the shredder further comprises a presence detector configured to detect a presence of the at least one article to be shredded being received by the throat wherein the controller is configured to operate the motor to drive the cutter elements in the shredding direction responsive to the presence detector detecting the pres ence of the at least one article to be shredded being received by the throat 15 A shredder according to claim 14 wherein the con troller is configured to operate the motor to drive the cutter elements in the shredding direction responsive to both the presence detector detecting the presence of the at least one article to be shredded being received by the throat and the thickness sensor detecting that the thickness thereof is less than the predetermined maximum thickness 16 A shredder comprising a housing having a throat open to an exterior ofthe housing for permitting a user to feed at least one article to be shredded a shredder mechanism received in the housing and includ ing 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
43. rman patent application No DE 1020006036136 of Erlecke published Jan 31 2008 TI s Digital Signal Controllers Put Brake On SawStop Table Saw Feb 9 2005 pp 1 3 printed from www embeddedstar com press content 2005 2 embedded17827 html European Search Report issued in EP 08 17 0857 Feb 10 2009 6 pages International Search Report for PCT US2006 000010 dated May 11 2006 European Search Report issued in Application No 08102126 3 May 19 2008 5 pages Manual Translation of Japanese application 2004 321993 published Nov 18 2004 Manual Translation of Japanese application 2002 239405 published Aug 27 2002 Invitation to Pay Additional Fees with Partial International Search Report in PCT US2007 064601 Sep 12 2007 8 pages cited by examiner U S Patent Apr 23 2013 Sheet 1 of 9 US RE44 161 E FIG 1 U S Patent Apr 23 2013 Sheet 2 of 9 US RE44 161 E U S Patent Apr 23 2013 Sheet 3 of 9 US RE44 161 E U S Patent Apr 23 2013 Sheet 4 of 9 US RE44 161 E Fic 5 U S Patent Apr 23 2013 Sheet 5 of 9 US RE44 161 E 100 THICKNESS DETECTOR 200 LUBRICATION SYSTEM CONTROLLER wesegr SHREDDER CONTROLLER 110 SHREDDER MECHANISM INDICATOR FIG 6 U S Patent Apr 23 2013 Sheet 6 of 9 US RE44 161 E 110 116 YELLOW 114 FIG 7 U S Patent Apr 23 2013 Sheet 7 of 9 US RE44 161 E I Z4 U S Paten
44. s of embodiments of the invention Similarly a selector switch may optionally be provided on the shredderto allow the user to indicate what type of material is about to be shredded and hence the appropriate predeter mined maximum thickness for the detector A given shredder mechanism may be able to handle different maximum thick nesses for different types of materials and the use of this selector switch allows the controller to use a different prede termined thickness for the material selected For example there may be a setting for paper compact discs and or credit cards as these materials are known to have different cutting characteristics and are popular items to shred for security reasons Again based on the capacity ofthe shredder mechanism the appropriate predetermined maximum thick nesses may be set based onthe known thicknesses ofthe items US RE44 161 E 9 to be shredded whether it is the thickness of a single compact disc or credit card or the thickness of a predetermined num ber of sheets of paper of a known weight such as 20 Ib The selector switch is an optional feature and the description thereof should not be considered to be limiting in any way Returning to FIG 6 in addition to the indicator 110 dis cussed above the detector 100 may also be in communication with the motor 18 that powers the shredder mechanism 16 via the controller 200 Specifically the controller 200 may con trol whet
45. t Apr 23 2013 Sheet 8 of 9 US RE44 161 E Fig l U S Patent 300 b Apr 23 2013 Sheet 9 of 9 US RE44 161 E 302 DW INSERT ITEM TO BE SHREDDED INTO THROAT REDUCE THICKNESS OF ITEM DETECT THICKNESS OF ITEM REMOVE ITEM FROM THROAT PROVIDE WARNING IS THICKNESS AT LEAST A PREDETERMINED MAXIMUM THICKNESS SHRED ITEM INSERT ADDITIONAL ITEM 320 FIG 12 US RE44 161 E 1 SHREDDER WITH THICKNESS DETECTOR Matter enclosed in heavy brackets appears in the original patent but forms no part of this reissue specifica tion matter printed in italics indicates the additions made by reissue CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation in part of and claims priority to U S patent application Ser No 11 177 480 filed on Jul 11 2005 and currently pending now U S Pat No 7 661 614 the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference This application is also a continuation in part of and claims priority to U S patent application Ser No 11 385 864 filed on Mar 22 2006 and currently pending now U S Pat No 7 798 435 the entire content of which is incorpo rated herein by reference BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1 Field of the Invention The present invention relates to shredders for destroying articles such as documents compact discs etc 2 Description of Related Art
46. that any such forcing may jam and or damage the shredder A visual signal may be provided in the form of a red warning light which may be emitted from an LED It is also contemplated that a green light may also be provided to US RE44 161 E 7 indicate that the shredder 10 is ready to operate In an embodi ment the indicator 110 is a progressive indication system that includes a series of indicators in the form of lights to indicate the thickness of the stack of documents or other article rela tive to the capacity of the shredder is provided as illustrated in FIG 7 As illustrated the progressive indication system includes a green light 112 a plurality of yellow lights 114 and a red light 116 The green light 112 indicates that the detected thickness of the item e g a single paper a stack of papers a compact disc a credit card etc that has been placed in the throat 36 of the shredder 10 is below a first predeter mined thickness and well within the capacity of the shredder The yellow lights 114 provide a progressive indication of the thickness of the item The first yellow light 114 located next to the green light 112 would be triggered when the detected thickness is at or above the first predetermined thickness but below a second predetermined thickness that triggers the red light 116 If there is more than one yellow light 114 each additional yellow light 114 may correspond to thicknesses at or above a corresponding numbe
47. the motor 18 to the power supply Typically the power supply will be a standard power cord 44 with a plug 48 on its end that plugs into a standard AC outlet The switch 42 is movable between an on position and an off position by moving the portion 46 laterally within the recess 38 In the on position contacts in the switch module are closed by movement ofthe manually engageable portion 46 and the movable element to enable a delivery ofelectrical power to the motor 18 In the off position contacts in the switch module are opened to disable the delivery of electric power to the motor 18 As an option the switch 42 may also have a reverse posi tion wherein contacts are closed to enable delivery of electri cal power to operate the motor 18 in a reverse manner This would be done by using a reversible motor and applying a current that is of a reverse polarity relative to the on position The capability to operate the motor 18 in a reversing manner is desirable to move the cutter elements in a reversing direc tion for clearing jams In the illustrated embodiment in the off position the manually engageable portion 46 and the mov able element would be located generally in the center of the recess 38 and the on and reverse positions would be on opposing lateral sides of the off position US RE44 161 E 5 Generally the construction and operation of the switch 42 for controlling the motor 42 are well known and any construc tion for such a swit
48. user 4 A shredder according to claim 1 wherein the controller is also configured 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 the predetermined maximum thickness 5 A shredder according to claim 1 wherein the maximum thickness indicator is included in a progressive indicator sys tem coupled to the controller wherein the progressive indicator system is configured to indicate a detected thickness of the at least one article within a range of thicknesses up to and including the predetermined maximum thickness 6 A shredder according to claim 5 wherein the progres sive indicator system has a plurality of indicators wherein each indicator is associated with a corresponding predeter mined thickness of the at least one article within said range the plurality of indicators including the maximum thickness indicator corresponding to the predetermined maximum thickness wherein the progressive indicator system activates the indi cator associated with its respective corresponding pre determined thickness based on the detector detecting that the thickness of the at least one article is at least equal to the corresponding predetermined thickness 7 A shredder according to claim 6 wherein the progres sive indicator system comprises a plurality of lights 8 A shredder according to claim 1 w
49. wer to be delivered to the motor of the shred der mechanism This use of sensors in the shredder throat is US RE44 161 E 11 known and they allow the shredder to remain idle until an item is inserted therein and contacts the sensor which in turn enables power to operate the motor to rotate the cutting ele ments via the shafts The controller 200 may be configured such that the insertion of an item will perform this function of enabling power delivery to operate the shredder mechanism motor The motor may be cut off or not even started if the thickness exceeds the predetermined maximum thickness Returning to FIG 6 for embodiments of the shredder 10 that include the lubrication system 80 the controller 200 may be programmed to communicate with the controller 96 asso ciated with the lubrication system 80 to operate the pump 82 in a number of different modes The controller 200 and the controller 96 may be part of the same controller or may be separate controllers that communicate with each another In one embodiment the controller 96 is programmed to operate according to a predetermined timing schedule In another the controller 96 activates the pump upon a certain number of rotations of the drive for the cutter elements In another embodiment the detector 100 at the throat 36 of the shredder 10 monitors the thickness of items deposited therein Upon accumulation of a predetermined total thickness of material shredded the controller
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