Fiber chopper and method of chopping

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 and a set of pull rolls, comprising starting new-strands into the chopper by placing each new-strand partially around the idler roll, over the first starter roll on the pivot arm and into a nip of the pull rolls;

• 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.

The method of claim 15 wherein the system also comprises a second starter roll mounted on a dogleg arm attached to or integral with the pivoting arm, the second starter roll being spaced from the first starter roll and being further away from an axis of the backup roll during each new-strand starting process at a point where the new-strand contacts the working surface of the working layer of the backup roll, and when starting each new-strand, each new-strand is also placed on the second starter roll before putting the new-strand into the nip of the pull rolls.