Patent ID: 7387268

Claim:
An apparatus for destroying stacked sheet material substantially sheet by sheet, comprising: a support surface for receiving a sheet stack, said support surface having a slot-shaped through-opening formed therein positioned approximately centrally in said support surface and intended for removing a sheet drawn off from an underside of the sheet stack; a conveying configuration for drawing off the sheet material from said support surface and for feeding the sheet material to a cutting unit; a support chamber for housing the sheet stack; bearing bases flanking said support chamber on both sides of said slot-shaped through-opening; closure elements having pivot pins pivotably mounting said closure elements on said bearing bases, said pivot pins disposed substantially parallel to a slot direction of said slot shaped through-opening and flank said support chamber on both sides, said closure elements covering said support chamber from above during a sheet-destroying operation and, for this purpose, said closure elements can each be pivoted, in a manner of covering halves, above said pivot pins, from an open position, in which said support chamber is open, into a closed position, in which said support chamber is substantially covered, and vice versa; pressure-exerting elements positioned between said support surface and said closure elements and pressing the sheet stack against said support surface, each of said pressure-exerting elements being articulated on one of said bearing bases, in a manner of a connecting rod of a crank-rocker linkage; displacement links each connected between a respective one of said pressure-exerting elements and a respective one of said bearing bases; control links each connected between a respective one of said pressure-exerting elements and a respective one of said bearing bases; and articulation elements each being a connecting link acting on a respective one of said displacement links and connected to a respective one of said closure elements, such that, by virtue of said respective closure element being pivoted open or closed, said respective pressure-exerting element being pivoted along into a pressure-exerting position or open position corresponding to the open position of said respective closure element.