Force responsive shredder

1. A shredder system comprising:

a cutting assembly including sets of blades mounted on generally elongate shafts mounted in a chassis for mounting in a shredder housing, said cutting assembly capable of shredding paper, and

a detector mechanism capable of shutting off said cutting assembly in response to detecting movement of said cutting assembly due to an applied force applied to said cutting assembly.

2. The shredder system of claim 1 where said detector mechanism is a mechanical switch.

3. The shredder system of claim 1 where said detector mechanism is a linear transducer.

4. The shredder system of claim 1 where said detector mechanism is a proximity sensor.

5. The shredder system of claim 1 where said detector mechanism is responsive to pressure associated with the force applied to said cutting assembly.

6. A paper shredder comprising:

a shredder housing,

a cutting assembly including sets of blades mounted on generally elongate shafts mounted in a chassis moveably mounted in said shredder housing for movement within said shredder housing, said cutting assembly capable of shredding paper, and

a detector mechanism capable of shutting off said cutting assembly in response to detecting an applied force applied to said cutting assembly relative to the housing.

7. The paper shredder of claim 6 where said detector mechanism is a mechanical switch.

8. The paper shredder of claim 6 where said detector mechanism is a linear transducer.

9. The paper shredder of claim 6 where said detector mechanism is a proximity sensor.

10. The paper shredder of claim 6 where said detector mechanism is responsive to pressure associated with the force applied to said cutting assembly.

11. The paper shredder of claim 6 further comprising a container for collecting paper shredded by said cutting assembly.

12. The paper shredder of claim 11 where said shredder housing is disposed over an opening in said container.

13. A method of shredding comprising the steps of:

a. providing a shredder including a shredder housing with a cutting assembly including sets of blades mounted on generally elongate shafts mounted in a chassis moveably mounted in said shredder housing for movement within said shredder housing, said cutting assembly capable of shredding paper, and a detector mechanism capable of shutting off the cutting assembly in response to detecting an applied force applied to the cutting assembly relative to the housing,

b. inserting material to be shredded by the cutting assembly into the shredder housing,

c. detecting a force applied to the cutting assembly with the detector mechanism, and

d. shutting off the cutting assembly in response to the force applied to the cutting assembly.

14. The method of 13 where the cutting assembly provided in step a. is moveably mounted in the shredder housing for movement within the shredder housing.

15. The method of claim 13 where the detecting in step c. includes detecting movement of the cutting assembly.

16. The method of claim 15 where the detector mechanism is a mechanical switch.

17. The method of claim 15 where the detector mechanism is a linear transducer.

18. The method of claim 15 where the detector mechanism is a proximity sensor.

19. The method of claim 13 where said detector mechanism is responsive to pressure associated with the force applied to said cutting assembly.

20. The method of claim 13 where the shredder provided in step a. further includes a container and the method further comprises step:

e. collecting paper shredded by the cutting assembly in the container.

21. The method of claim 20 where the shredder housing is disposed over an opening in the container.