Patent ID: 8020793

Claim:
A shredder having an associated safety feature, comprising: the shredder having a standalone configuration separate from and not integrated with other material handling or processing equipment, the shredder having a shredder head housing defining a slot configured to receive the material to be shredded; a plurality of shredder blades disposed within the shredder head housing and configured to shred the material inserted into the slot; a biometric sensor located at least one of on and or in the shredder and being in communication with the shredder, the biometric sensor being configured to detect predetermined biometric information; a selectable control in communication with the shredder and having an activated state configured to configure the shredder to automatically activate the plurality of shredder blades when the material is fed into the slot; a controller disposed at least partially within the shredder head housing, after the biometric sensor detects the predetermined biometric information and while the selectable control is in the activated state the controller is configured to detect the material inserted into the shredder through the slot and, upon detection, activates the plurality of shredder blades to shred the detected material; and a timer mechanism in communication with the controller and configured to automatically preventing the plurality of shredder blades from being activated if the selectable control has been in the activated state for a predetermined amount of time without any material being detected for shredding.