USRE4388E - Improvement in machines for husking corn - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES i L. AUGUsTs ASPINWALL,

,PATNT OFFICE. i

OF ALBANY, YORK.

' j IMPROVEMENTI'NMACHINES Fon HUSKING c oRN.

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, L. AUcfUs'rUs` Aspin. WALL, of the city and county'of Albany, and State of New York, have invented certain new .and useful Improvements in Corn-Huskers; and I declare the following specification, with .the drawings forming a part thereof, to be a full and complete description of my invention.

. Figure 1 'represents a perspective view of the machine with a portion of the top and 'side broken away. Figi 2 represents a crosssection of thehusling'frolls and cutters. Fig. 3 represents'a seetionbf'the gear-wheels'used upon the rolls. Fig. 4 represents a plan view of the rolls, modified as hereinafter described.

A A 4A is the frame of the machine.

T is the top or table.

F is the band-wheel, upon the shaft of which is the picker-roller D, having in its surface an-l gular grooves. 'Above this, and in combination with it, is the plain roller E. These serve to plick or remove the ears of corn from the stal l Upon the shaft E is the gear-wheel H, connecting with the pinion H', which gives motion to the husking-rolls R R by means of bevel-gears underneath. (Not shown in the drawings.) The husking-rollers R R are placed upon an incline, as in most machines, and their shafts are sup orted in boxes.v

C is the`inc ined plane upon which the eais are conducted from the picking to the husking rollers. Beneath this is another pair of boxes l A which support the upper ends of the rolls; also,

a pair of double gears which vconnects the rolls,

similar. to those shown in Fig. 3, L L..

S `S are the sides of the machine.

i I I are the inclined sides to direct the ears l between the rolls.

. Fig. 2 is a. section of the rolls-B It and the stationary cutters M M forthe purpose of keeping the rolls free from husks.

Machines for husking corn have before been made with a pair of picking-rollers to pinchoff the ear; also with inclined husking-rollers. These husking-rollels have been made of metal and also of rubber; but in practice it is found` that the husks will frequently be caught between the rollers and draw theear ,up endwise, and' in this position it may remain, and the husks will either not be pulled off orelse the ear will be injured or the corn shcllez'dz In :Specification forming part of Letters Patent NoflLSOQ, dated April 12, 1.870; Reissue No. 4,2099, dated August 416, 1870; Reissue No. 4,174, dated November 8, 1870; Reissue No. 4,388, dated May 23, 1871.

the ear down in such a manner as to injure or shell the corn. To prevent these contingencies it is necessary that the rollers relieve their hold,

so as ,to allow the rollers to take a fresh hold of the husk in a different position. The iluted rollers and grooves, both spiial and straight, heretofore employed have not been for relieving the hold 'on the husk, but'for catching the projecting ends of the-husk and nipping them more firmly. I make my husking-rollers with depressions that loosen the hold on'the husk downward between the cylindrical surfaces as they roll together, and thus-draw it off.

Experience has shown that the huskingrollersshould be of small diameter, in 0111er that'the earmay n ot be caught 'between them and compressed, and thereby injure or shell the corn, for it will be apparent that the husking-rollers might-Abe so large as to seize the ear and break it in pieces. In my huskingrollers 4these two principles are embodied. The

depressed or eccentric surface at r is less con- Vex than the other portions of the roller, be-

cause it is partially flattened, or a section of acylinder of larger diameter than ythe rest of this roller. l Therefore when the ear is exposed to theaction of thislpart of the roller the husk is more powerfully compressed by the moving surface to loosen the same, and if the ear were held down by pulling on the husk at this time it might be injured; but when the ear is exposed to this action there is an opening between the rollers; hence the husk is not pulled, and as the surfaces of the rolleis come together and impinge upon the husk the surfaces of the rollers come beneath the ear, and, being of a smaller diameter and greater convexity, no longer tend to nip the ear, but only to support it; hence their husk is pulled oil' Y without injury to the corn or `the risk of shelling it. rlhis alternate dropping and then seiz other instances the husks become more or less l crossed above the ear, and, being simultaneous ly drawn by the rollers from opposite sides, pull husk is pulled oli' Without injuryto the corn or the risk of shelling it. This alternate dropping and then seizing or impinging upon the husk land pulling it detachee the'husk with great,

rapidity and certainty,and this operation is performed by huskin grollers that have one or 1more depressions of the necessary width, regardless of the shape of that depression; but it is to be borne in mind that the depression must not beconcave, or it will1be liable tocatch the ear, compress it, and carry the same through the opening between the rollers.

These depressed rolls are provided with teeth P P, set in one side of the depression, so as not to impinge upon the ear untilthe cylindrical surfaces pass their points of contact and let go their hold of the husk, thus preventing the shelling of the corn.

The pins or teeth at P aid in loosening the husks and carrying them down, so that the cylindrical portions of the rollers shall nip and pull them oi'.`

I prefer rollers of small diameter, with only one depression on the periphery; but they may be made larger and have more. .As long as,

they present the alternation of open spaces between them and the rolling contact of cylin-v drical surfaces, they will work in the aforesaid manner. p

The depressions may, if made deeper, be all in one roll, and the other rollbe made cylindrical, yet operate in the same manner.

Bushing-rollers provided with'teeth are liable. to become wound around with husks that cannot be removed with scrapers. 4It is therefore necessaryo use cutters, as seen in Fig. 2, M M

The gear-wheels used upon the huskng-rolls v,

of all machines must necessarily be small; conseqnently are subject to a heavy strain, and

are liable to break quite often. To avoid thisY the gears L L, Fig. 3, are used, which are double, and may be tripled or quadrupled,

having teeth opposite the spaces in'each, which .y gives a constant bearing upon the pitch-line,

and insures a stronger wheel, from theV fact of their being double the number of teeth. Although this is not new in itself, the improveA ment consists in the application to huskingrolls.

In feeding the machine, the stalks are placed upon the table T, and fed butts first between `D and E, where they are carried along4 andthe ears Apinched oli', dropping them upon the incline C and between the rolls R R, where the husks are removed and the ears delivered at the lower end of said rollers R R. e

4hat I laim as my invention is- 1. Aparof basking-rollers with adepression or depressions in 'the surface of one or both, formed substantially as set forth, and which alternately pull the husk and theny let go of the same before the depressed 'portion of the roller -v I impinges on the ear, substantially' as set forth.`

2. Incombination with the rolls R R, constructed substantially asdescribed, the doubleV gears L L, as and for thepurposes set forth.

3. The teeth P, introduced in the huskin groller R at thdepressed portion of its surface, as and forxthe purposes set forth. A

4. The knives or cutters M, applied to and combined with the husking-rollers R R, con-v structed as'described, and for the purposes set 5. The method of husking corn bymeans of rollers constructedand operating substantially as described, which pull -upon and let go the husks` alternately during their revolution, in the manner and .for thepu'rpose specified.

D Signed by me'this 24th day'of J anuary A.

L.V rines. ASPINWALL:

Witnesses: j Guo. 1). WA'Limp, GHAs. H. SMITH.

Images