Patent ID: 7322285

Claim:
An apparatus for crushing objects, said apparatus comprising: (a) an inlet for serially feeding objects to said apparatus; (b) a driver roller positioned below the inlet, said drive roller being rotatably driven about a first axis on a first drive shaft by a power input mechanism, said driver roller having a first notch; (c) an idler roller rotatably coupled to said driver roller so as to be rotatably driven by said power input mechanism on a second drive shaft about a second axis that is substantially parallel to said first axis, an outer surface of said idler roller being biased into contact with an outer surface of said driver roller in an absence of said objects, said idler roller having a second notch wherein said first and second notches coordinate to at least partially receive said object therein throughout a portion of respective revolutions of said driver roller and said idler roller, said driver and idler rollers being mounted to their respective first and second drive shafts in specific predetermined relative orientations such that said first notch is rotationally offset from said second notch so that a grasping edge of said first notch is rotationally offset from a grasping edge of said second notch; and (d) a crushed object outlet positioned below said driver and idler rollers.