Patent ID: 7975941

Claim:
A method of shredding using a shredder having motor driven shredder blades and an associated safety feature, comprising: providing a shredder head housing defining a slot adapted to receive material to be shredded; providing a plurality of shredder blades disposed within the shredder head housing and adapted to shred the material inserted into the slot; providing a motor disposed within the shredder head housing and configured to drive the plurality of shredder blades; providing a controller disposed at least partially within the shredder head housing and adapted to monitor a temperature of the motor; providing a light indicator mechanism located on the shredder and being under operative control of the controller, wherein the controller causes the light indicator mechanism to generate a first light condition when the motor temperature exceeds normal temperature parameters but is less than a predetermined overheat temperature, the controller causes the light indicator mechanism to generate a second light condition when the motor temperature is equal to or greater than the predetermined overheat condition; and sensing and directly measuring the motor temperature and generating appropriate signals via the light indicator mechanism to generate a warning when a potential impending overheat temperature is detected to allow a user to modify shredder use to attempt to avoid an overheat situation while continuing to operate the shredder to shred material without the motor being deactivated.