Crop threshing or separating – Corn processing apparatus – With corn snapping or husking means
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-19
2001-06-26
Pezzuto, Robert E. (Department: 3671)
Crop threshing or separating
Corn processing apparatus
With corn snapping or husking means
Reexamination Certificate
active
06251008
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to agricultural product processing equipment and, more particularly, to methods and devices for stripping husks from agricultural products such as ears of corn, and rotating husker rolls for such devices.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Harvested ears of corn come from the field sheathed in an enclosing husk, often surrounded by flag leaves, and occasionally still attached to portions of a stalk. For food processing, especially in the preparation of sweet corn for human consumption, all of the husk, leaves, and stalk must be removed from the ears containing the edible kernels of corn.
Husking is conventionally achieved by feeding the bulk unhusked corn onto conveyor tables formed with two or more parallel rows of husker rolls mounted on rotating axles. The rolls are typically molded from rubber or other resilient material and have a number of parallel ridges or flights extending therefrom. The flights may extend in parallel axially straight along the length of the husker rolls, or may extend circumferentially as well as axially to define a segment of a helix, to provide auger-like advancement of ears of corn from an infeed end of the husker apparatus to a discharge end thereof. Such husker rolls may be circular or elliptical in cross-section. Exemplary prior art husker rolls are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,645, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Many configurations of rolls may be employed to form a husker apparatus, although two types are predominant. In the first type, the surfaces of adjacent husker rolls are continuously meshed together. In the second, the circumferential surfaces of adjacent husker rolls are in contact, but are not meshed together. Adjacent corn husker rolls having radially extending flights that are meshed together have the desirable effect of firmly engaging the corn husks as the ears of corn pass over the rolls for removing the husks from the ears. However, such designs, while effective at discharging thin husk material between engaged rolls, may not be able to pass much thicker debris, such as pieces of stalk, without bending the axles on which the rolls are mounted. Axle flex can result in an over-tight grip, which can prevent release of a stalk or other debris, producing a blockage of the flow of ears along the husker conveyor table. In such a case, the husker rolls will turn ineffectively, eventually fraying or wearing away the obstruction, but in the process causing accelerated wear of the rolls, requiring premature replacement of at least some segments of the roll.
This problem may be solved by employing the husker rolls described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,451,184, issued to Dennis O. Mietzel, and incorporated herein by reference. This patent describes a corn husking device, and rotating husker rolls therefor, wherein radially extending flights of adjacent rolls are meshed with one another, and the rolls are rotated toward one another to engage husks therebetween. A helical recess is formed on portions of one or both adjacent rolls, extending along the length of the roll. The roll recesses provided relief for larger diameter debris and stalks, alleviating the flexing of the roll axles which might otherwise occur. The recesses serve as a relieved auger which advances gripped material. Stalks or other debris gripped in the helical recesses are moved forward at a rate faster than the progress of the ears of corn in the husker apparatus, and are either discharged beneath the roll table or carried along by the recesses to the discharge end of the device. A continuous rib, which may be internally reinforced with a metal blade, may be formed extending through the helical recess along the length of the roll. The rib engages debris within the recess of an adjacent roll by clamping the debris, such as a stalk, within the recess, and pulls the debris out of the recess straight down to be discharged from the device.
Although conventional husker rolls have been used effectively to remove husks from ears of corn, such conventional husker rolls are less effective on corn hybrids which have more husk layers and more tightly wrapped husks. Furthermore, corn silk wrapping and the build up of crushed kernels between radially extending flights are two problems which commonly occur with conventional husker rolls. Therefore, an improved and more effective husker roll is desired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides an improved husker roll for use in an agricultural product separating apparatus, such as a corn husking device. A husker roll in accordance with the present invention is generally cylindrical in shape. A plurality of flights or ridges protrude radially from a cylindrical base segment of the roll, and extend axially along the length thereof. The radially extending flights define grooves between them, and are spaced apart on the base segment such that the circumferential width of the grooves is larger than the circumferential width of the flights themselves. Preferably, the circumferential width of the grooves between the flights is approximately three times the circumferential width of the flights themselves. The base segment and the flights may be made of a resilient material mounted on a metal core cylinder. The cylindrical base segment may be perfectly circular in cross-section, or may have an elliptical cross-section. The flights may extend axially straight along the length of the roll, or may be formed to define a protruding helical path along the base segment.
A husker roll in accordance with the present invention may also include a helically extending recess formed therein, wherein the recess cuts across the flights and extends radially below the level of the grooves defined between the flights. A continuous rib may be formed protruding radially from the cylindrical base segment of the roll and extend axially along the length thereof. The rib may have a circumferential width corresponding to that of the flights, and may extend above the level of the grooves defined between the flights, and into the helically extending recess formed therein. The rib may be positioned on the cylindrical base segment between two flights formed thereon so as to define a groove between the rib and an adjacent flight, wherein the groove has a circumferential width approximately equal to the circumferential width of the rib. The rib may be formed of a resilient material which overlies a metallic insert.
A plurality of husker rolls in accordance with the present invention may be mounted together coaxially in series, e.g., on a rotatable axle, to form a husker roll assembly for a husking apparatus. The husker rolls in the husker roll assembly may be mounted coaxially in the husker roll assembly such that the ends of radially extending flights of adjacent husker rolls are aligned with each other, or such that the ends of radially extending flights of husker rolls in the husker roll assembly are aligned with the grooves between flights of adjacent husker rolls. Preferably, the ends of flights extending radially from a husker roll in accordance with the present invention are aligned with the centers of the grooves between the flights of adjacent husker rolls when mounted coaxially with other such husker rolls in the husker roll assembly.
A plurality of husker roll assemblies may be rotatably mounted on a frame to provide a device for, e.g., effectively removing the husks from ears of corn. The husker roll assemblies are preferably mounted adjacent to each other such that adjacent husker rolls in accordance with the present invention are engaged with each other such that when a flight extending radially from a first roll on a first husker roll assembly in the device is positioned facing a second flight extending from a second roll in a second husker roll assembly in the device the facing first and second flights are positioned adjacent to each other (i.e., one above the other). In such an arrangement, portions of the husks of ears of corn on the table formed by the plurality of h
Foley & Lardner
Hughes Company, Inc.
Pezzuto Robert E.
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