Patent ID: 9731434
Date: 2017-08-15
CPC Classifications: B02C,B29B

Claim:
1. A shredding apparatus, comprising: a housing; a drum disposed in the housing and mounted for rotation therein at a drum speed of rotation; a motor for rotating the drum and for adjusting the drum speed of rotation; plastic sheet material in one or more rolls of corresponding rolled-up sheets of the plastic sheet material; one or more feed rollers for rolling out one or more corresponding layers of a web of the plastic sheet material to the drum, wherein the feed rollers roll out the one or more layers from the one or more rolls of corresponding rolled-up sheets of the plastic sheet material; a screen positioned adjacent a lower side of the drum to define a working gap between the drum and the screen; loosely hanging knives, each knife having a pointed first end and a pivoted second end mounted on a respective suspension mount on the drum that permits each knife to swing out into an extended position when the drum is rotating, each knife having a blade that tapers down from the pivoted second end to a sharp point at the pointed first end, wherein the drum is composed of adjacent circular discs, mounted on a shaft, with spaces between the adjacent circular discs, wherein at least one knife is positioned in each space between the adjacent circular discs, the at least one knife configured to extend in the extended position into and across the working gap located between the discs and the screen as the drum is rotated, the blade of each knife of the loosely hanging knives for working the web when the web is moved into the working gap to produce individual shredded pieces and to deform, twist and stretch the individual shredded pieces with a relatively small impact from various directions and at various distances and thereby various impact angles, wherein when a vacuum source in fluid communication with said screen applies an adjustable negative pressure thereto the individual shredded and deformed pieces of the web of plastic sheet material are drawn through openings in the screen and collected as manufactured pillow and duvet filling material; and a pump for applying the adjustable negative pressure, wherein the loosely hanging knives are mounted on the drum at a distance from an outermost edge of the drum which substantially corresponds to a distance between the drum and the screen, wherein when the drum is rotating the knives swing out into the extended position to work the web in the working gap they do not touch the screen with the pointed first ends of the knives, and wherein adjustability in at least one of size and deformation of the individual shredded pieces is provided by the adjustability of the drum speed of rotation and the negative pressure.