Patent ID: 7637448

Claim:
A shredder for shredding data bearing substrates comprising: a housing, a shredder mechanism received in the housing and including an electrically powered motor and a plurality of cutter elements, the shredder mechanism further comprising a first shaft and a second shaft that rotate relative to each other, and the cutter elements being positioned along the first and second shafts such that the cutter element on each shaft are received in an interleaving relationship with the cutter elements of the other shaft; the shredder mechanism enabling one or more data bearing substrates to be fed into the cutter elements and the motor being operable to rotate the first and second shafts so that the cutter elements shred the one or more data bearing substrates; the housing having an opening enabling the one or more data bearing substrates to be fed therethrough into the cutter elements of the shredder mechanism; one or more of the cutter elements each comprising a pair of outer blades and an inner support positioned between the outer blades; wherein in each of the one or more cutting elements, the outer blades include at least a pair of integral cross-cut tooth portions aligned circumferentially with one another and the inner support includes an integral tooth support portion aligned circumferentially with and positioned between each pair of cross-cut tooth portions and to support the cross-cut tooth portions.