Patent ID: 7703362

Claim:
A method of separating long lengths of unwound item(s) selected from the group consisting of fibers, fiber strands, string, yarn, wire, tape and ribbon into short pieces comprising feeding one or more items in an unwound form into a chopper comprising a frame, a rotatable backup roll outboard of one side of the frame, the backup roll having a peripheral working layer with a peripheral working surface, a rotatable blade roll outboard of the side of the frame, the blade roll having a plurality of blades or sharp edges spaced apart around its periphery for contact with and penetration of said items and into the peripheral working surface of the working layer of the backup roll, a pivot arm having a starter roll mounted near an outer end and an idler roll, comprising starting new-strands into the chopper by placing each new-strand partially around the idler roll and over the first starter roll on the pivot arm; the improvement comprising holding a waste portion of each new-strand away from the working surface of the working layer during the new-strand starting operation by locating a second starter roll on a dogleg arm attached to or integral with the pivoting arm to keep a waste portion of each new strand off of said working surface by placing each new-strand on the second starter roll after placing each new strand on the first starter roll.