# US 7,607,598 B2 · Self-healing cutting apparatus and other self-healing machinery > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 7,607,598 B2 - Document ID: US7607598B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 11/035,964 - Filed: 2005-01-18 - Published: 2005-07-14 - Granted: 2009-10-27 - Earliest claimed: 2001-12-26 - Inventors: Charles A. Castronovo - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US7607598B2 ## CPC - B02C 18/0007: {specially adapted for disintegrating documents} - B02C 18/148: {specially adapted for disintegrating plastics, e.g. cinematographic films (for plastic bottles B02C19/0093, disintegrating plastics B29B17/00)} - B02C 18/16: Details - B02C 18/18: Knives; Mountings thereof - B02C 18/2283: {using rollers (B02C18/225 takes precedence)} - B26D 7/26: Means for mounting or adjusting the cutting member; Means for adjusting the stroke of the cutting member - B29B 9/04: in the form of plates or sheets - B02C 2018/0015: {for disintegrating CDs, DVDs and/or credit cards} - B02C 2018/168: {User safety devices or measures in shredders} - B02C 2018/188: {Stationary counter-knives; Mountings thereof} - B02C 2018/2208: {for weblike material} - B02C: CRUSHING, PULVERISING, OR DISINTEGRATING IN GENERAL; MILLING GRAIN ({household tools and machines for pulverising foodstuffs, e.g. coffee and spice mills A47J42/00; pharmaceutical mortars A61J3/02; mechanical processing of refuse and garbage B03B9/06; dressing mould materials by grinding B22C5/04}; obtaining metallic powder by crushing, grinding or milling B22F9/04; {recovery of plastics by disintegrating B29B17/00; crushing raw materials in starch making C08B30/02; beaters for papermaking D21D1/02; crushing devices specially for transport in mines E21F13/002; slag crushing devices F23J1/00; fuel milling devices in combustion apparatus F23K1/00; household devices for crushing coal F24B15/02; ice disintegrating devices F25C5/02}) - B26D: CUTTING; DETAILS COMMON TO MACHINES FOR PERFORATING, PUNCHING, CUTTING-OUT, STAMPING-OUT OR SEVERING (for growing crops or plants A01D, A01G; for fodder or straw A01F; for bulk butter A01J; for dough A21C; slaughtering A22B; for tobacco, cigars or cigarettes A24; marking-out, perforating or making buttonholes A41H25/00; manufacturing footwear A43D; brushmaking A46D; surgery A61B; disintegrating, mincing or shredding in general B02C; cutting wire, making pins or nails B21F, B21G; of the kind used formetal B23; cutting by abrasive fluid jets B24C5/02; hand-held cutting tools B26B; perforating, cutting-out, stamping-out or punching, or severing by means other than cutting B26F; for wood B27; for stone B28D; working of plastics or substances in a plastic state B29; making boxes, cartons, envelopes or bags, of paper or similarly worked materials, e.g. metal foil, B31B; article or web delivery apparatus incorporating cutting or line-perforating devices B65H35/00; for leather or upholstery B68, C14B; for glass C03B; making matches C06F; for peat C10F; for sugar C13B45/00; for textile materials D06H; civil engineering, building, mining, see Section E; for light guides G02B6/25; cutting processed photographic material G03D15/04) - B29B: PREPARATION OR PRETREATMENT OF THE MATERIAL TO BE SHAPED; MAKING GRANULES OR PREFORMS; RECOVERY OF PLASTICS OR OTHER CONSTITUENTS OF WASTE MATERIAL CONTAINING PLASTICS ## Abstract Self-healing of a mechanical part in a mechanical system is provided, such as a self-healing part in a cutting apparatus. Differential hardness of respective parts in contact with each other is used. Undesirable damage from a foreign object in a mechanical system is managed by directing damage away from a part that is not wanted to be damaged and towards a part that may receive damage and be replaced. True zero-clearance cutting on a commercial scale is provided via a cutting area including a sacrifice material that is relatively softer than the cutter. One example is a cutting system which is capable of cutting a material such as, for example, tape or paper, into a fiber or powder. Destruction of the material is further enhanced by advantageous strategic patterning of cutting edges on a rotary cutter, and further by secondary shredding features. For example, on the same axis as the rotary cutter, may be disposed, one on each end, rotating secondary shredders that receive material that has been cut by the rotary cutter as well as material that has escaped cutting by the rotary cutter. A variety of materials, of different thicknesses and types, may be reduced to a dust or powder-size. A single destruction machine advantageously may receive (with minimal operator intervention) a mixed input load, such as a mixture of a combination of paper (including paper that is folded, ripped, stapled, or otherwise irregular), CDs, DVDs, polyester, plastic cards, SMART cards, wood, Verichips, flash drives, biometric chips, and/or other generally-planar materials. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of self-healing in a mechanical system comprising a first part which is solid and not wanted to be damaged; the method comprising: positioning a second part which is sacrificial, wherein the sacrificial part is relatively softer than the first part and also relatively softer than a foreign object which may enter the mechanical system; and automatically moving the sacrificial part towards the first part; and self-healing after receiving the foreign object in the mechanical system, motor-driven moving of the sacrificial part into contact with the first part, wherein the first part is a rotary cutter and the motor-driven movement of the sacrificial part into contact with the rotary cutter ensures that contact remains between the rotary cutter and the sacrificial part even as the sacrificial part wears down due to usage. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein in standard operation the first part and the sacrificial part contact each other in a zero-clearance design. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein in standard operation a certain non-zero distance is maintained between the first part and the sacrificial part by design. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the foreign object is selected from the group consisting of staples, paper clips, binder clips and steel articles. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the foreign object is a screw. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the mechanical system is a paper shredder. ### Claim 7 A method of self-healing in a cassette destruction machine comprising a first part which is solid and not wanted to be damaged; the method comprising: positioning a second part which is sacrificial, wherein the sacrificial part is relatively softer than the first part and also relatively softer than a foreign object which may enter the cassette destruction machine; and automatically moving the sacrificial part towards the first part; and self-healing after receiving the foreign object in the cassette destruction machine. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein the first part is a cutter.