Patent Abstract:
There is a shredder comprising: a chopped apparatus including an insertion opening for inserting wastes, and an exhaust port for discharging chopped wastes; a waste container which is displaceable between a receivable position where to receive the chopped wastes and a non-receivable position where not to receive the chopped wastes; a claw portion provided with the waste container; a shutter, which opens the exhaust port by moving the waste container to the receivable position, and which closes the exhaust port by moving the waste container to the non-receivable position; a lock member, which is displaceable between a locked position where to close the shutter and an unlocked position where to make the shutter movable; and an operation lever which displaces the lock member to the unlocked position with the claw portion.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to a shredder for cutting disused papers, and more particularly to a shredder provided with a shutter, which opens/closes an exhaust port for discharging chopped wastes by interlocking with displacing operation of a waste container. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. Sho 64-48146 discloses a conventional shredder. See  FIGS. 7 and 8 . The conventional shredder includes: a housing  52  comprising an insertion opening  53  where wastes are inserted and an exhaust port  54  where chopped wastes  64  are discharged; a chopping portion  50  comprising a chopping mechanism  56  provided with a pair of rotary cutters  65  and a motor  57  driving the rotary cutters  55 ; a waste container  51  receiving the chopped wastes  64  discharged from the exhaust port  54  wherein the waste container  51  is displaceable between a position that the wastes  64  are receivable (receivable position) and a poison that the wastes  64  are not receivable (non-receivable position); and a shutter  58  slidably provided along a guide rail  59  formed at the bottom portion of the housing  52 . The shutter  58  opens the exhaust port  54  in the receivable position and closes the exhaust port  54  in the non-receivable position. 
   As shown in  FIG. 7 , when this shredder is in the receivable position, a side-wall  62   a  of a cover body  62  where placed at an upper portion of the waste container  51  works against elastic force made by a compression spring  60 , whereby the shutter  58  stays in the receivable position. On the other hand, as shown in  FIG. 8 , when this shredder is in the non-receivable position, the shutter  58  is displaced by the elastic force of the compression spring  60  in the direction that the shutter  58  closes the exhaust port  54 . 
   The shredder hereinabove described is made to open and close the exhaust port of the chopping portion by interlocking with displacing operation of the waste container. Because the exhaust port can be closed with the shutter by displacing the waste container in the non-receivable position, the chopped wastes remaining in the chopping portion can be prevented from falling to the waste container. However, the shutter is simply pressing the compression spring; it is quite easy to manually displace the shutter to open the exhaust port This means that operators may manually press the shutter to take off the wastes hanging down from the rotary cutters and accidentally touch the rotary cutters or high voltage parts. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention has been made in light of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a shredder with a shutter, which opens/closes an exhaust port by interlocking with displacing operation of a waste container. Further, the shutter is made not to be manually displaced by operators after a waste container is pulled out, unless the operators use specially-designed tools. 
   In order to achieve the object described above, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a shredder comprising a chopped apparatus including an insertion opening for inserting wastes, and an exhaust port for discharging chopped wastes; a waste container which is displaceable between a receivable position where to receive the chopped wastes and a non-receivable position where not to receive the chopped wastes; a claw portion provided with the waste container; a shutter, which opens the exhaust port by moving the waste container to the receivable position, and which closes the exhaust port by moving the waste container to the non-receivable position wherein the shutter is energized in a direction to close the exhaust port; a lock member, which is displaceable between a locked position where to close the exhaust port and an unlocked position where to open the exhaust port wherein the lock member is energized in a direction to the locked position; and an operation lever which displaces the lock member to the unlocked position, wherein the operation lever is operated with the claw portion by moving the waste container to the receivable position thereby shifting the lock member from the locked position to the unlocked portion. 
   With the shredder described above, even though operators try to manually shift the shutter to the unlocked position after the waste container is pulled out from the lower housing, the shutter is certainly locked with the lock member. The operators are thus prohibited from manually shifting the shutter to open the exhaust port, unable to insert their fingers from the exhaust port, resulting in improvement of an operational safety of the shredder. 
   In the aspect of the present invention, the operation lever is covered with a guide cover preventing operation of the operation lever unless using specially-designed tools approximately identical with a shape and a size of the claw portion. Since operators need to use specially-designed tools approximately identical with the claw portion, an operational safety of the shredder is improved. 
   In the aspect of the present invention, the guide cover is simply composed of a pair of cover members formed so as to face with and go along the claw portion. No complex manufacturing process would be needed for the guide cover. 
   In the aspect of the present invention, the pair of the cover members have a front-half portion and a rear-half portion wherein the front-half portion is widen toward the claw portion and has a broader width than the rear-half portion while the rear-half portion has a slightly broader width than the width of the claw portion. 
   With the above structure, the front-half portion of the pair of the cover members can lead the claw portion of the waste container toward the rear-half portion without having any difficulties when pushing the container inside of the lower housing. Pulling-in and pulling-out operations of the waste container would be thus eased. 
   In the aspect of the present invention, the lock member, the operation lever and the guide cover are provided with the shutter as one unit, thereby simplifying the structure of the shutter. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a main sectional view of a shredder according to an embodiment of the present invention wherein a waste container is placed inside of a shredder so as to open an exhaust port; 
       FIG. 2  is a main sectional view of a shredder according to an embodiment of the present invention wherein a waste container is pulled out from a shredder so as to close an exhaust port with a shutter; 
       FIG. 3  is a main plane view of a shredder according to an embodiment of the present invention wherein a lower hosing is viewed from a top while an exhaust port is opened; 
       FIG. 4  is a plan view of the shutter explained in  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIG. 5  is a rear view of the shutter explained in  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIG. 6  is a rear view of the shutter explained in  FIG. 4 ; 
       FIG. 7  is a main sectional view of a conventional shredder wherein a waste container is placed in a shredder so as to open an exhaust port; and 
       FIG. 8  is a main sectional view of a conventional shredder wherein a waste container is pulled out from a shredder so as to close an exhaust port. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   Preferred embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described with reference to the accompanying drawings  1  to  6 . As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a shredder according to the present invention includes: an upper housing  1  having a chopping portion (not shown in figures) cutting disused papers; a lower housing  6  placed beneath the upper housing  1 ; a waste container  40  placed in the lower housing  6  and displaceable from the lower housing  6 ; and a shutter  15  opening/closing an exhaust port  3  of the upper housing  1  by interlocking with displacing operation of the waste container  40 . 
   A bottom wall  2  of the upper housing  1  is made to be placed over the lower housing  6  and has the exhaust port  3  for discharging wastes cut by the chopping portion. Further, the bottom wall  2  has a flange  4  made integrally thereto; the flange  4  is circumferentially made at the opening of the exhaust port  3 . Still further, at place adjacent to the flange  4 , nearly at the center of the bottom wall  2 , a concave engagement  5  where a lock member  32  (described later) is engaged is provided. 
   The lower housing  6  has an upper wall  7  on which the upper housing  1  is placed and also has a bottom wall  8  supporting the waste container  40  in a displaceable manner. Further, the front surface of the lower hosing  6  is opened so that the waste container  40  can be pulled out. The upper wall  7  of the lower housing  6  has an opening portion  9  in which to communicate with the exhaust port  3  of the upper housing  1  and to arrange the shutter  15 . The opening portion  9  is circumferentially provided with a front flange  10 , a rear flange  11  and side flanges  12  (used as a guide rail); the shutter  15  is movably placed over and along the side flanges  12 . 
   On the upper wall  7  of the lower housing  6 , at both sides of the flanges  12 , spring engagements  13  are provided so as to engage one end portions of shutter tensile springs  22  in which to make the shutter  15  energized in the direction that the exhaust port  3  is closed The opening  9  of the lower housing  6  obtains a communication to the exhaust port  3  of the upper housing  1  when the waste container  40  is placed in the lower housing  6 . 
   The waste container  40  has a front wall  41 , a rear wall  42 , side was  43  and a bottom wall; the surface facing the bottom wall  2  of the upper housing  1  is opened. The front wall  41  of the waste container  40  has an approximately identical shape with a front-open-portion of the lower housing  6 . The waste container  40  has a square cutout, forming a step portion between the front wall  41  and the rear wall  42 . Through the step portion, the waste container has a side contact portion  44  which is made contact against a front-end flange  16  of the shatter  15  when the waste container  40  is pushed to place inside of the lower housing  6 . Further, at the upper portion of the rear wall  42  of the waste container  40  has a claw portion  45  projected upward toward the upper housing  1  so as to push an operation end  37  of an operation lever  35  of the shutter  15 . The width of the claw portion  45  is formed slightly smaller than the width of a guide cover  28  of a guide cover  25  (composed of cover members  26 ,  26 ), so that the claw portion  45  can move along the guide cover  25  smoothly. 
   The width of the claw portion  45  or a pair of the cover members  26 ,  26  is determined in a way that operators cannot place their fingers thereinto. Specifically, unless using specially-designed tools having the width equal to or smaller than the width of the claw portion  45  or a pair of the cover members  26 ,  26 , the operators can not open the shutter  15  through the operation end  37  of the operation lever  35 . 
   The shutter  15  moves along the side flanges  12  formed at both sides of the opening  9  of the lower housing  6 , so that it can manage disposal of chopped wastes by opening or closing the exhaust port  3  of the of the upper housing  1 . As shown in  FIGS. 3 to 6 , the shutter  15  is formed in approximately square. At both short sides and undersurface of the square shutter  15 , guide flanges  18  are formed so as to engage with the side flanges  12 . See  FIG. 6 . Further, at both short sides and top surface of the square shutter  15 , upper flanges  19  are formed. The upper flanges  19  have engagement pin holes  20  where engagement pins  21  are inserted thereinto so as to engage other end portions of the shutter tensile springs  22 . See  FIG. 4 . Still further, as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the shutter  15  has the front-end flange  16  projected downward toward the bottom wall  8  of the lower housing  6 ; the front-end flange  16  abuts to the side contact portion  44  of the side wall  43  of the waste container  40 . 
   The shutter  15  has a lock mechanism portion  24  approximately box shape and projected downward toward the bottom wall  8  of the lower house  6 . As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , at the bottom surface of the lock mechanism portion  24 , the guide cover  25  including a pair of the cover members  26 ,  26 , which is formed as projected downward and along the direction that the waste container  40  is displaced. The guide cover  25  includes a front-half portion  27  which is made broader in its width toward the claw portion  45  of the waste container  40 . On the other hand, the guide cover  25  also includes a rear-half portion  28  at the side where the operation end  37  of the operation lever  35  is provided; the rear-half portion  28  is formed so as to have slightly broader width than the width of the claw portion  45 . At the bottom surface of the lock mechanism portion  24 , an operation end hole  30  is formed so that the operation end  37 , one end portion of the operation lever  36 , is inserted therethrough so as to project downward Here, as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the height of the downward projection of the rear-half portion  28  is set greater than the height of the downward projection of the operation end  37  of the operation lever  35 . 
   The lock mechanism portion  24  has a lock insert hole  29  at its upper front portion At the upper rear portion of the lock mechanism portion  24 , an operation lever support  31  is projected downward to the bottom wall  8  of the lower housing  6 . At the lower portion of the operation lever support  31 , the mid connection of the L-shaped operation lever  35  is connected with an axis point  38  in an oscillational manner. Further, in the lock mechanism portion  24 , the lock member  32  is provided as that the top end thereof is projected upward from the lock insert hole  29 . The lock member  32  is also energized in an upward direction by means of a lock member spring  34 . Still further, at the lower portion of the lock member  32  has an operation through hole  33  as that an operation end  36  of the operation lever  35  is inserted. 
   The shredder according to the present invention is assembled in the following manner. First, as shown in  FIGS. 3 to 6 , at the side flanges  12  provided at both sides of the opening portion  9  of the lower housing  6 , the guide flanges  18  provided at the lower surface of the both sides of the shutter  15  is engaged. The shutter  15  is provided over the upper wall  7  of the lower housing  6  as that the lock mechanism portion  24  faces downward. See  FIGS. 1 and 2 . Then, one end portions of the shutter tensile springs  22  are engaged with the spring engagements  13  formed at the upper wall  7  of the lower housing  6 . Other end portions of the shutter tensile springs  22  are engaged with the engagement pin holes  20  formed at the upper flanges  19  of the shutter  15  through the engagement pins  21 . In the condition, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the upper portion of the lock member  32  is projected upward from the lock insert hole  29 , while the shutter  15  is abutted against the front flange  10  of the opening portion  9  of the lower housing  6  by being energized with the shutter tensile springs  22 . 
   Next, the upper housing  1  is placed over the lower housing  6  in such a manner that the upper end portion of the lock member  32  projected upward from the lock insert hole  29  of the shutter  15  should be engaged with the concave engagement  5  formed at the lower surface of the lower wall  2  of the upper housing  1 . See  FIG. 2 . Finally, by pushing the waste container  40  to place in the lower housing  1 , as shown in  FIG. 1 , the claw portion  45  formed at the upper end portion of the rear wall  42  of the waste container  40  presses the operation end  37  of the operation lever  35 , whereby the lock member  32  is pressed downward by means of an operation another end  36  of the operation lever  35 . Through the above operation, the upper end portion of the lock member  32  is released from the engagement with the concave engagement  5  of the upper housing  1 . At the same time, the side contact portion  44  of the side walls  43  of waste container  40  is abutted against and push the front-end flange  16  of the shutter  15 . In this condition the exhaust port  3  of the upper housing  1 , which was closed with the shutter  15 , is made opened thereby enabling to discharge wastes chopped by the chopped apparatus. 
   In the shredder of the present invention, the guide cover  25  is formed of a pair of the cover member  26 ,  26 , which includes the front-half portion  27  having a broader width and the rear-half portion  28  having a slightly broader width than the width of the claw portion  45 . Accordingly in case the claw portion  45  of the waste container  40  is slightly deviated from its right position, from side to side, the claw portion  45  can still be appropriately guided along the front-half portion  27  with the broader width, whereby the claw portion  45  can certainly push the operation end  37  of the operation lever  35  located at the rear-half portion  28  of the guide cover  25 . 
   Further, in the shredder of the present invention, the width of the rear-half portion  28  of the guide cover  25  is made slightly broader than the width of the claw portion  45 . Accordingly, even if operators try to manually open the shutter  15  by pressing the operation end  37  of the operation lever  35  provided between the guide members  26 ,  26 , the operators cannot press the operation end  37  unless using specially-designed tools having an approximately identical width with the claw portion  45 . As described, for example, in case the operators pull out the waste container  40  from the lower housing  6  and try to take chopped wastes away from the exhaust port  3 , the operators are inhibited from operating the operation end  37  of the operation lever  35 , thus not being able to open the shutter  15 . In addition, because, with the above reason, the operators cannot open the shutter  15 , they cannot place their fingers inside of the exhaust port  3  of the upper housing  1 , improving an operation safety of the shredder.

Technology Classification (CPC): 1