Shredder

Cutting apparatus for use in a shredder including two counter rotating shafts supported in parallel by a frame, a plurality of cutting blades and a plurality of spacers alternately fixed along each shaft such that one of the cutting blades on one shaft is aligned with one of the spacers of the other shaft, wherein each of said cutting blades comprises a mounting member and a plurality of tip pieces separately attached on the radial peripheral surface of the mounting member, the improvement comprising:

• (a) said mounting member of each of said cutting blades having engaging means on its outer periphery for imparting rotational force to said tip pieces;
• (b) said tip pieces substantially surrounding said mounting member outer periphery, said tip pieces being identical to each other and each of said tip pieces being separately fastened to said mounting member with separate removable first fastening members which extend generally radially through said tip pieces and into said mounting member, each of said fastening members being separately removable substantially radially, and each of said tip pieces being separately removable substantially radially in the absence of said first fastening means, whereby said tip pieces are separately and independently removable from said mounting member;
• (c) side surfaces of each of said mounting members and said tip pieces attached thereto are radially aligned, and said spacer abutting said side surfaces of said mounting member and said tip pieces, whereby said spacer axially supports said tip pieces;
• (d) each of said spacers being formed by at least two spacer parts and second removable fastening means for securing said spacer parts together, said two spacer parts substantially surrounding the outer periphery of said shaft, said spacer parts being separately removable substantially in a direction radially away from said shafts in the absence of said second fastening means, whereby said shafts are surrounded and protected from wear by said removable tip pieces and said removable spacers;
• and
• (e) wherein said mounting member has a polygonal outer periphery and said engaging means comprises outwardly extending teeth on said outer periphery of said mounting member, and each tip piece having a recess receiving said teeth.