Patent ID: 7770832

Claim:
A chipper device for chipping one or more ingots, said chipper device comprising: a cutter head adapted to be rotated about a first axis; a guide mechanism associated with said cutter head, said guide mechanism including a chute having a first end, a second end, and a passageway having a second axis, said passageway extending from said first end toward said cutter head such that ingots are adapted to move through said passageway from said first end of said chute toward said cutter head, said guide mechanism including a hold-down mechanism having a first engagement member and a biasing member adapted to bias said first engagement member into engagement with an ingot in a direction generally transverse to said second axis while allowing the ingot to move parallel to said second axis; and a feed mechanism adapted to move one or more ingots through said passageway of said chute into engagement with said cutter head; whereby said cutter head is adapted to chip an ingot into a plurality of particles, and said hold-down mechanism is adapted to inhibit vertical movement of the ingot as the ingot is being chipped by said cutter head.