Patent ID: 7293729

Claim:
A reversible striker, for use with a striker retainer, which is arranged to be mounted on a comminuting apparatus and support and align the striker when the striker is attached to the striker retainer; the striker comprising first and second opposed faces and first and second opposed end surfaces, the first face and the first and the second end surfaces defining first and second opposed cutting edges equally spaced about a threaded blind bore formed in the second face, and the second face having first and second opposed support surfaces recessed inwardly, relative to the first and second end surfaces, toward the blind bore, each of the first and the second support surfaces being positioned on the striker for engagement with a cooperating support surface of the striker retainer to facilitate usage of both cutting edges and provide primary support for the striker when the striker is attached to the striker retainer, the first and second support surfaces lying in separate planes extending substantially parallel to the cutting edges and substantially perpendicular to the second face, and an elongate structural component of the striker arranged to mate with a complimentary structural component of the striker retainer thereby to facilitate desired alignment of the striker with the striker retainer when the striker is attached to the striker retainer, the elongate structural component of the striker extending perpendicular to both of the first and the second support surfaces and being coincident with the blind bore which defines a rotational axis about which the striker is reversible, the blind bore facilitates securing the striker to the striker retainer in a reversible orientation solely via a single fastener, the blind bore being centrally located in the striker and the first and second support surfaces being equally spaced from the blind bore so that when the striker is reversed about the axis of the blind bore, one of the first and the second support surfaces will engage with the cooperating support surface of the striker retainer, and a diameter of the blind bore being larger than a transverse width dimension of the structural component; and the striker having a mid-section which is thicker than a thickness of the striker adjacent each of the first and second cutting edges.