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A grinding mechanism or assembly for a food waste disposer, the grinding mechanism being enclosed in a housing of the food waste disposer. The grinding mechanism includes a shredder plate assembly and a stationary shredder ring. The shredder plate assembly has an upper rotating plate and a lower lug

A grinding mechanism or assembly for a food waste disposer, the grinding mechanism being enclosed in a housing of the food waste disposer. The grinding mechanism includes a shredder plate assembly and a stationary shredder ring. The shredder plate assembly has an upper rotating plate and a lower lug support plate. The lower lug support plate has a body portion, and shredder lugs and tumbling spikes integrally formed with the body portion. The upper rotating plate has key slots and key holes for receiving the fixed shredder lugs and tumbling spikes. The stationary shredder ring is fixed to the housing of the food waste disposer and has a plurality of teeth. The stationary shredder ring may also have diverters and breakers. The fixed shredder lugs force food waste against the teeth of the stationary shredder ring to grind the food waste into particulate matter. The profile of the fixed shredder lug may include a vertical toe, a notch and a heel. The heel has a slope that decreases inwardly toward the center of the lower lug support plate. The shredder plate assembly and stationary shredder ring may be formed by stamping methods, by powdered metal methods, by injection molding methods, or by casting methods. The shredder plate assembly may also be formed as one unitary component having a rotating plate, fixed shredder lugs and tumbling spikes. The present invention also includes a method of manufacturing a food waste disposer that has a grinding mechanism. The method includes the steps of forming an upper rotating plate, forming a lower lug support plate, and assembling a shredder plate assembly from the upper rotating plate and the lower support plate. The method further includes the steps of forming a stationary shredder ring, providing an enclosure, and attaching the stationary shredder ring to the enclosure. Additionally, the method includes providing a motor for imparting rotational movement to a motor shaft and mounting the shredder plate assembly to the motor shaft. The enclosure is positioned to encompass the grinding mechanism.

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1. A grinding mechanism for a food waste disposer, said grinding mechanism enclosed in a housing of the food waste disposer, said grinding mechanism comprising:a shredder plate assembly including an upper rotating plate and a lower lug support plate, said lower lug support plate having a body portio

1. A grinding mechanism for a food waste disposer, said grinding mechanism enclosed in a housing of the food waste disposer, said grinding mechanism comprising:a shredder plate assembly including an upper rotating plate and a lower lug support plate, said lower lug support plate having a body portion and at least one fixed shredder lug integrally formed with said body portion, said upper rotating plate having at least one key slot for receiving said at least one fixed shredder lug; a stationary shredder ring fixed to the housing of the food waste disposer, said stationary shredder ring having a plurality of teeth, said at least one fixed shredder lug capable of forcing food waste against the teeth of said stationary shredder ring to grind said food waste into particulate matter.