Shredder auto feed system

A method for advancing articles into cutter elements for shredding comprising:

• providing a tray for holding a stack of articles for feeding into the cutter elements;
• providing a movable feed mechanism above the tray to advance articles into the cutter elements, the movable feed mechanism comprising at least one feed member with at least one elastic arm, the at least one feed member positioned adjacent to the tray for engaging and disengaging the stack with the at least one elastic arm;
• providing a shredder mechanism with cutter elements positioned on parallel shafts;
• rotating cutter elements in an interleaving relationship on the parallel shafts for shredding articles fed therein;
• and
• driving the movable feed mechanism in a feeding direction to feed articles to the cutter elements from atop the stack of articles in the tray into the rotating cutter elements, wherein the driving comprises rotating the at least one feed member in a feeding direction with the elastic arm thereof elastically deforming to apply pressure to feed articles atop the stack to the rotating cutter elements.

A shredder comprising:

• a housing;
• a paper shredder mechanism received in the housing and including a motor and cutter elements, the motor rotating the cutter elements in an interleaving relationship for shredding paper sheets fed therein;
• a tray for holding a stack of paper sheets to be fed into the cutter elements;
• a drawer configured for sliding movement between an open position away from the shredder mechanism and a closed position adjacent to the shredder mechanism;
• a paper feed mechanism positioned above the tray, the paper feed mechanism comprising at least one feed member adjacent to the tray for engaging and disengaging the stack;
• a feed driver system constructed to drive the at least one feed member to rotate in a feeding direction to feed paper atop the stack to the cutter elements;
• and
• a disengagement mechanism provided adjacent to the paper feed mechanism for holding the at least one feed member in an inoperable feeding position when the drawer is in the open position.

A method for operating a shredder for shredding comprising:

• providing a shredder mechanism with cutter elements positioned on parallel shafts;
• providing a tray for holding a stack of articles for feeding into the cutter elements;
• providing a drawer configured for sliding movement between an open position away from the shredder mechanism and a closed position adjacent to the shredder mechanism;
• providing a paper feed mechanism above the tray to advance articles into the cutter elements, the paper feed mechanism comprising at least one feed member positioned adjacent to the tray for engaging and disengaging the stack;
• providing a disengagement mechanism adjacent to the paper feed mechanism for holding the paper feed mechanism in an inoperable feeding position when the drawer is in the open position;
• rotating cutter elements in an interleaving relationship on the parallel shafts for shredding articles fed therein;
• driving the paper feed mechanism to rotate in a feeding direction to feed articles to the cutter elements from atop the stack of articles in the tray into the rotating cutter elements;
• moving the drawer into its open position away from the shredder mechanism;
• and
• holding the paper feed mechanism in an inoperable feeding position using the disengagement mechanism.