US3860181A

US3860181A - Shredding machine

Info

Publication number: US3860181A
Application number: US386807A
Authority: US
Inventors: Edward W Enters; Edgar W Detjen
Original assignee: Gilson Brothers Co
Current assignee: Toro Co; GILSON BROS Co
Priority date: 1973-08-08
Filing date: 1973-08-08
Publication date: 1975-01-14
Anticipated expiration: 1992-01-14
Also published as: CA1015727A

Abstract

A plurality of shredding or beater blades are attached to a shaft which is coaxially journalled within a hollow cylindrical shredder drum. A motor is coupled to the shaft for rotating the blades. An annular inlet spout is attached to the upper end of the drum and projects downwardly therewithin, there being an annular whirl space or trap for whirling debris between the inlet spout and the inner surface of the drum. The bottom of the inlet spout is spaced from the nearest shredding blade to provide a debris recirculation zone above said blade. The shredded material drops or is blown out the bottom of the shredder drum onto the ground or into a storage receptacle.

Description

Unite States Enters et al.

atent [191 41 SHREDDING MACHINE [75] Inventors: Edward W. Enters, Fredonia; Edgar W. Detjen, Kiel, both of Wis.

[73] Assignee: Gilson Bros. Co., Plymouth, Wis.

[22] Filed: Aug. 8, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 386,807

[52] US. Cl. 241/55, 241/101.7, 241/186 R, 241/188 R [51] Int. Cl. B02c 13/14 [58] Field of Search..... 241/37.5, 55, 101.7, 101 M, 241/186 R, 186.1, 188 R Jan. 14, 1975 3,716,090 2/1973 Lautzenheiser 241/101.7 X 3,726,488 4/1973 Aasland et a1. 241/10l.7 3,727,847 4/1973 Nelson 241/101 M Primary ExaminerGranville Y. Custer, Jr. Assistant Examinerl-loward N. Goldberg Attorney, Agent, or FirmJoseph P. House, Jr.

[57] ABSTRACT A plurality of shredding or beater blades are attached to a shaft which is coaxially journalled within a hollow cylindrical shredder drum. A motor is coupled to the shaft for rotating the blades. An annular inlet spout is attached to the upper end of the drum and projects downwardly therewithin, there being an annular whirl space or trap for whirling debris between the inlet spout and the inner surface of the drum. The bottom of the inlet spout is spaced from the nearest shredding blade to provide a debris recirculation zone above said blade. The shredded material drops or is blown out the bottom of the shredder drum onto the ground or into a storage receptacle.

10 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEB JAN I 41975 SHEET 18F 3 SHREDDING MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to machines for shredding, composting or otherwise comminuting waste material and particularly organic material such as leaves, twigs, garbage and the like. The principal objects of this invention are to provide a novel shredding machine which is easier to use and is more effective than those heretofore known in the art. Other objects of the invention are to provide a shredding machine which is simple and sturdy in structure and relativelyinexpensive in cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above-noted objects are achieved by providing a hollow cylindrical shredder drum, a shaft coaxially journalled within the drum, at least one shredding or beater blade attached to the shaft and projecting radially therefrom, means for rotating the shaft and shredding blade, an annular inlet spout attached to the upper end of the drum and projectingdownwardly therewithin, there being an annular whirl space or debris trap between the outer surface of the inlet spout and the adjacent inner surface from the shredding blade to provide a debris recirculation zone above said blade.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one illustrative embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 with one side of the housing being cut away to expose interior details;

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the embodiment shown in FIGS. I-3 with the rear wall being cut away to expose interior details;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional .view of a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Although the disclosure hereof is detailed and exact to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, the physical embodiments herein disclosed merely exemplify the invention which may be embodied in other specific structure. The scope of the invention is defined in the claims appended hereto.

FIGS. 1 through 4 show one embodiment of the invention which is specifically adapted for shredding leaves and the like. Referring to FIG. I, this embodiment comprises an outer housing 10 which is movably supported on the rear end by wheels 12 and is fixedly supported on the front end by a flat bottom 14. A pair of handles 16 is attached to the front side walls of housing 10 so that the front end can be picked up to wheel the device from place to place. A small internal combustion engine 18 is mounted on top of the housing 10 to drive the shredder mechanism, which is located within the housing 10, and a clutch actuating lever 20 projects from the side of housing 10 for controlling the engagement of the engine 18 with the shredder mechamsm.

Referring to FIG. 2, the shredder mechanism includes a hollow, cylindrical shredder drum 22 which is mounted within housing 10, a beater mechanism including a shaft 24 which is coaxially journalled within shredder drum 22, and three

shredder blades

26, 28 and 30 which are angularly spaced from each other and are attached at axially spaced locations along shaft 24. The shaft 24 is journalledto a supporting bracket 32 which is attached to the sides of drum 22 and extends across the bottom thereof as best shown in FIG. 4. The supporting bracket 32 is angled downwardly on both sides from the bottom of drum 22 and has an axially spaced cross brace 34 connected thereacross (see FIG. 4) to help support the shaft 24. A drive pulley 36 is attached to shaft 24 immediately above the cross brace 34.

The output of engine 18 is developed as rotation of an output pulley 38 (see FIG. 2) which is coupled to drive pulley 36 by a flexible drive belt 40. The drive belt 40 passes over a fixed guide pulley 42 (see FIG. 4) and a movable guide pulley 44 which serves asa clutch for engaging and disengaging the drive belt 40 with the

pulleys

36 and 38. Movable pulley 44 is rotatably mounted on a plate 46 which is movable between a position in which pulley 44 applies pressure'to drive belt 40 so that it engages

pulleys

36 and 38 and an opposite position in which pulley 44 allows belt 40 to go slack so that it disengages from

pulleys

36 and 38. Plate 46 is moved between its twopositions by clutch actuating lever 20 and is maintained in the selected position by an expansion spring 48, which draws plate 46 either upwardly or downwardly depending on the plates position.

An annular inlet spout 50 is attached to the upper end of shredder drum 22 and projects downwardly therewithin. The outside diameter of spout 50 is smaller than the inside diameter of drum 22 so that an annular air space 52 is left between the outside surface of spout 50 and the inside surface of drum 22. Air space 52 permits the air within the upper portion of drum 22 to rotate in a cyclonic manner, which is an important feature of this invention. Another important feature of the invention is that the lower edge 54 of spout 50 is sufficiently spaced from the nearest shredder blade 26 to provide a recirculation zone 56 in which the material dropped into inlet spout 50 can be recirculated above the shredding blades until it has been completely shredded thereby. An anti-rotational stop 51 is welded to the side of spout 50 to prevent rotation of sticks or twigs that project beyond spout 50.

In this embodiment of the invention, the lowermost shredding blade 30 also functions as an impeller, as it is bent at its end 31 to provide a moderate exhaust draft for moving the shredded material axially downwardly away from the shredding blades and toward the dis-- charge end of the housing 10. An elliptical outlet conduit 58 is attached around the bottom of drum 22 and extends substantially horizontally within housing 10 and terminates in a lipped discharge throat 60 which is preferably adapted to receive the open end of a collection bag 62. The outlet conduit 58 is slotted in its upper surface at 64 to permit entry of the drive belt 40 therethrough. In the operation of this embodiment, the shredded material is carried along the bottom of conduit'58 and into the bottom of bag 62 by the exhaust draft from the bent shredding blade 30. The exhaust draft then circulates around the top of bag 62 and exits through the slots 64 in the top of outlet conduit 58.

In this embodiment of the invention, the axis of shredder drum 22 and shaft 24 is preferably tilted at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the vertical to reduce the charging height and to allow leavesand other input material to be conveniently swept into inlet spout 50 up 'a ramp or chute 66 which is pivotally connected to the inlet spout 50 on hinge 67. Chute 66 has upstanding sides 68 and is movable between a lowered ramp position which is illustrated in FIG. 2 and two raised chute positions, one of which is illustrated in FIG. 1. A rectangularly shaped brace 70 is pivotally attached to the lower front end of chute 66 on hinge 72 and is shaped at its lower corners to provide feet 74 to engage in

socket openings

76 and 78 in bottom 14 to support chute 66 in different positions above bottom 14. When the lower corners 74 are engaged in openings 76, chute 66 is supported in an approximately horizontal position. When the lower corners 74 are engaged in openings 78, chute 66 is supportedin a slightly raised position as shown in FIG. 1 for gravity discharge of deposited material into hopper 22.

The top of housing is extended at 80 over a portion of the inlet spout 50 to partially cover the same and a hood 82 having a hinged inlet flap 84 covers a further portion of the inlet spout 50. The hinged inlet flap 84 swings both inwardly and outwardly and is dimensioned to partially close the inlet opening when chute 66 is in its upper most position as shown in FIG. 1. In this position, the inlet flap 84 will swing inwardly under the pressure of leaves, twigs or other input material but will block returnflow and will prevent the twigs, etc., from being thrown back out the inlet opening after being struck by the shredding-blades.

In the lowermost position of chute 66, as shown in FIG. 2, the inlet flap 84 does not completely close the inlet opening, but it does cover that part of the opening which is directly above the inlet spout 50, and hence still protects against twigs or other hard materials from being thrown out the inlet opening. Articles which are thrown from the shredding blades out the inlet spout 50 must emerge at such an angle that they will strike either the top housing 80, the inlethood 82, or the inlet flap 84. Flap 84 also is in the path of hand movement into the drum and reminds the operator of this danger.

The shredded material moves at a lower speed axially than it would if it was discharged radially or centrifugally. Hence its exit velocity is low enough to minimize the likelihood for puncture of the bag 62.

The slant axis of shaft 24 and drum 22 brings the lower lip of charging spout 50 close to the ground level so that debris is not lifted very high in sweeping it up the ramp 66. Concurrently the upper edge of the bottom of drum 22 is elevated, thus to provide the discharge path into bag 62. Accordingly, the profile of the machine is kept low, yet all the rotating parts are well within the housing for safety reasons. The flow path of debris is straighter than it would be if the axis were vertical, and less work is required to process debris through the machine.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a second embodiment of the invention in which the axis of the shredder drum and shaft are vertical. This embodiment is adapted to handle somewhat heavier material than the previously described embodiment. Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, this embodiment includes a hollow, cylindrical shredder drum 86, a hollow shaft 88 which is coaxially journalled within drum 86 about a'solid shaft 90, and three

shredder blades

92, 94 and 96 which are attached to hollow shaft 88 at axially spaced location therealong and are angularly spaced from one another as shown in FIG. 6. A Safety disc 98 is attached to the top of shredder blade 92 and rotates therewith. The safety disc 98 protects the operator from injury in the event that he places his hand within shredder drum 86 and also serves to deflect input material toward the periphery of shredder drum 86. A diamond shaped cutting grid 100 is preferably attached around the periphery of shredder drum 86 in the neighborhood of

shredder blades

92, 94 and 96 to assist in shredding the input material.

The solid shaft 90 which supports hollow shaft 88 is supported at its lower end by supporting members 102 which are connected between cross braces 104. The cross braces 104 are attached to the inside of shredder drum 86 and extend thereacross. For the purpose of rotating the hollow shaft 88 and

shredding blades

92, 94 and 96, a drive pulley 106 is attached to hollow shaft 88 near its lower end. A drive belt 108 which is driven by a suitable power source is directed around drive pulley 106 by guide pulleys 110. The drive belt 108 may be driven by an internal combustion engine such as disclosed in FIGS. 1 and 2, an electric motor or by any other suitable power source. The device may be supported on a bracket mounted on a garden tractor, in which case-the belt 108 may be powered from the tractor power take off. Guide pulleys 110 would then equate to the mule drive of the tractor.

The upper surface of drive pulley 106 is covered by a round cover plate 112 which is larger in diameter than pulley 106 to prevent shredded material from falling into the pulley. Cover plate 112 is clamped to the hub of drive pulley 106 by machine screws 113. The drive belt 108 is covered by a housing 114 which prevents the shredded material from falling onto the drive belt. The housing 114 is shaped to cover both the top and sides of drive belt 108 and is supported by the cross braces 104.

At the upper end of shredder drum 86, an annular inlet spout 116 is attached to the upper inner periphery of drum 86 via a vertical collar portion 118 and a sloping shoulder portion 120. The outer diameter of inlet spout 116 is substantially smaller than the inside diameter of shredder drum 86 so that an annular air space 122 is left between the outside surface of inlet spout 116 and the inside surface of shredder drum 86. Air space 122 permits the air within the upper portion of drum 86 to rotate in a cyclonic manner, which is an important feature of this invention. Another important feature of this invention is that the lower edge 124 of inlet spout 116 is sufficiently spaced from the nearest shredder blade 92 to provide a recirculation zone 126 in which the material dropped into inlet spout 116 can be recirculated above the shredder blades until it has been completely shredded thereby. To prevent large sticks and twigs from rotating with the shredder blades, an anti-rotational stop rod 127 extends across recirculation zone 126. Rod 127 is removably attached to the wall of shredder drum 86 by

brackets

129 and 131.

In the operation of this embodiment, the material to be shredded is dropped into inlet spout 116, then bounces off safety disc 98 or is thrown off by centrifugal force toward the wall of shredder drum 86. The material is then struck by upper shredder blade 92, which cuts a piece off the material and knocks it back up into recirculation zone 126. The material repeatedly falls back down into the path of shredder blade 92 and is knocked back up into recirculation zone 26 until it is small enough to fall past shredder blade 92. The pieces which are cut off by shredder blade 92 fall down into the path of

shredder blades

94 and 96 and are further shredded thereby. The pieces which are thrown by

shredder blades

94 and 96 against the inner surface of drum 86 are also shredded by the diamond shaped cutting grid 100. The shredded peices fall down through the open bottom of shredder drum 86 onto the ground or into a suitable collector bag or box which is not shown in the drawings.

The air spaces 52 (FIG. 2) and 122 (FIG. 5) comprise annular whirl spaces or debris traps within which debris may recirculate or whirl and yet be trapped against exiting through the spout. In the case of large twigs, sticks, or the like, they are prevented from rotating by

anti-rotational stop elements

51 and 127. This causes the large pieces to be quickly shredded by the shredding blades.

The slot or hole 64 in the top of outlet conduit 58 in FIG. 2 is advantageously located to exhaust air from the bag 62 within which dust and debris is trapped and collected and is isolated from contact with the operator.

Both illustrated embodiments are adapted to convert various items of vegetable or organic matter such as garbage, leaves, twigs and other vegetation into finely chopped discrete particles which can be composted or otherwise easily disposed of or utilized as humus. Both embodiments have high utility on suburban home sites and small estates which generate substantial quantities of such vegetation.

We claim:

1. A shredding machine comprising a hollow cylindrical shredder drum having an open upper end, an open lower end, an inner surface and an outer surface, a shaft coaxially journalled within said drum, at least one shredding blade attached to said shaft and projecting laterally therefrom, means for rotating said shaft and said shredding blade, an annular inlet spout at the upper end of said drum, coaxial with said drum and projecting downwardly therewithin, said spout having an outer surface, an inner surface and a bottom, there being an annular air space between the outer surface of said inlet spout and the adjacent inner surface of said drum, and the bottom of said inlet spout being spaced above the nearest shredding blade to provide a recirculation zone between the bottom of the spout and said blade for material which is dropped into said inlet spout to be shredded by said shredding blade and discharged through the open lower end of the drum.

2. A shredding machine as defined in claim I and further comprising collecting means below said shredding blade for receiving shredded material.

3. A shredding machine as defined in claim 1 and further comprising a plurality of shredding blades attached to said shaft, said shredding blades being angularly spaced from one another and being axially spaced from one another along the length of said shaft.

4. A shredding machine as defined in claim 3 wherein the ends of at least one of said shredding blades are bent in such a way as to create a downdraft through the lower portion of said shredder drum to move shredded material away from the bottom of said drum.

5. A shredding machine as defined in claim 1 and further comprising a safety disc attached to the end of said shaft which is nearest said inlet spout.

6. A shredding machine as defined in claim 1 and further comprising a cutting grid attached around the inner surface of said shredding drum adjacent to said shredding blade.

7. A shredding machine as defined in claim 1 and further comprising an anti-rotational stop member extending at least part way across said drum to prevent rotation of material therewithin.

8. A shredding machine as defined in claim 1 wherein said recirculation zone is relatively large with respect to said annular air space.

9. A shredding machine as defined in claim 1 and further comprising clutch means coupled to said means for rotating said shaft to control the rotation thereof.

10. A shredding machine as defined in claim 1 wherein the axis of said drum is vertical.

Claims

2. A shredding machine as defined in claim 1 and further comprising collecting means below said shredding blade for receiving shredded material.