| 摘要 |
<p>An apparatus for shredding a product includes a housing (304) having an interior space bounded by a generally cylindrical sidewall (308) that can include one or more contoured segments (326). The housing further includes a cutting implement (330), preferably also contoured, following the contoured segment, with an opening (334) in the sidewall between the contoured segment and the cutting implement that follows it. Preferably, the contours (332) of the cutting implement are different from the contours (328) of the segment that the cutting implement follows. The apparatus further includes a feed hopper (312) through which a product to be shred is fed to the interior space of the housing, an impeller (314), including at least one impeller paddle (320), mounted for rotation within the housing about a substantially horizontal axis of rotation, and a driving mechanism (338) coupled to the impeller for rotating the impeller. The product is slid along the inner periphery of the housing by the impeller, at such a speed that centrifugal force keeps the outer face of the product pressed against the inner periphery. As the product passed by a cutting implement, a plurality of shreds are cut from the outer face of the product and discharged from the housing.</p> |
