Autofeed paper shredder with clip and staple removal

A paper shredder having a shredder motor and counter-rotating shredder blades coupled to the shredder motor, the paper shredder comprising:

• a paper tray having a floor, the paper tray being shaped to receive paper, the floor being vertically sloped;
• the floor having an offset slot adjacent to the counter-rotating shredder blades;
• engagement wheels partly protruding into floor, adjacent to the offset slot, the engagement wheels configured to frictionally engage paper into the offset slot;
• a paper-in-tray sensor disposed in the floor, configured so that when the paper is adjacent to the paper-in-tray sensor, the shredder motor activates the engagement wheels to turn in the direction of the offset slot;
• and
• a plurality of dentate catches disposed on the floor of and in corners of the paper tray, each of the plurality of dentate catches having integral teeth pointing away from the offset slot, and the dentate catch teeth configured to catch and temporarily hold an affixment while an associated sheet of paper is being engaged by the engagement wheels for shredding.

A paper shredder having a shredder motor coupled to counter-rotating blades, the paper shredder comprising:

• a paper tray having a floor, the paper tray being shaped to receive paper, the floor being obtusely vertically sloped;
• the floor having an offset slot adjacent to the counter-rotating shredder blades;
• engagement wheels partly protruding into floor, adjacent to the offset slot, the engagement wheels configured to frictionally engage paper into the offset slot;
• a paper-in-tray sensor disposed in the floor, configured so that when the paper is adjacent to the paper-in-tray sensor, the engagement wheels are activated to turn in the direction of the offset slot;
• a plurality of integral dentate catches disposed in corners of the paper tray floor, each of the plurality of integral dentate catches having integral dentate catch teeth pointing away from the offset slot, the dentate catch teeth configured to temporarily hold an affixment while an associated sheet of paper is being engaged by the engagement wheels and removed from the affixment for shredding;
• a paper-at-entry sensor disposed adjacent to the offset slot, the paper-at-entry sensor configured so that when paper is detected by the paper-at-entry sensor, the engagement wheels are activated to turn in the direction of the offset slot, frictionally engaging the paper and forcing it into the offset slot;
• a cover configured to cover the paper tray and including a cover slot in alignment with the offset slot, wherein the paper-at-entry sensor is configured to detect paper entered into the cover slot;
• a cover open/closed sensor positioned to detect when the cover is closed on the paper tray, allowing the paper shredder to operate;
• a wastebin beneath the paper tray;
• a PAPER FULL sensor coupled to the wastebin and configured to prevent the paper shredder from operating when the wastebin is full;
• a wastebin door coupled to the wastebin;
• a DOOR OPEN sensor coupled to the wastebin door and configured to allow the paper shredder to operate when the wastebin door is closed;
• an OVERLOAD sensor coupled to the shredder motor, the OVERLOAD sensor configured to cause the motor to operate in a reverse direction for a predetermined time;
• and
• an OVERHEAT sensor coupled to the motor, the OVERHEAT sensor configured to turn off the motor when the OVERHEAT sensor detects an overheating condition in the motor.