SHREDDING APPARATUS WITH SHEARING ACTION

A shredding apparatus includes a rotor having rows of tines projecting generally radially outwardly therefrom, and also a housing surrounding the rotor having rows of tines projecting generally radially inwardly therefrom. The rotor tines and stator tines have staggered positions, with one or more of the rotor tines passing between adjacent stator tines. Material inserted into an inlet at the top of the housing is caught by the rotor tines and pulled past the first row of stator tines. That first row has fewer tines than does each row of tines on the rotor, whereas the final row has the same number of tines as each row on the rotor. The opposing faces of the tines on the rotor and stator are flat, with a small clearance between passing tines, of typically about 1/8 of an inch. The passing flat faces on the tines are at a slight angle to each other, the outer ends of rotor tines passing stator tines ahead of the inner ends in a scissors-like fashion. The rotor speed is a function of the material being shredded, and has a value of at least 500 rotations per minute. A multi-stage shredding assembly may be created in which the output from one shredding apparatus feeds another shredding apparatus.