Abstract:
An apparatus for cutting kernels of fresh corn from ears thereof and recovering kernels and cream therefrom for eating or preserving for future eating. The apparatus comprises a hand-held electric drill having a drill bit adapted to grip the ear at its stalk-end while the drill rotates the ear about the axis of the drill while pressing the ear into cutting tube having screw points projecting inwardly thereof causing said kernels to be ripped from the ear and discharged along with corn cream downwardly by gravity into a receiver for further processing.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to an apparatus for cutting edible kernels of corn from fresh ears; and more particularly, it relates to such an apparatus driven by an electric drill. 
     (2) Description of Related Art 
     It has been the practice of those wishing to prepare creamed corn for eating to cut the kernels from the cob with a knife slicing lengthwise of the cob so as to cut the corn kernel away from the cob and retrieve the kernel and the accompanying cream to be heated and eaten as food. A cutting action with a knife was necessary to recover chewable bits of the corn; any rough abrasive action in place of the cutting knife reduced the corn kernel to mush to produce a nourishing, but tasteless, food. 
     There is found in the prior patent art U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,034 issued to C. B. Miles a utensil intended for use in cutting kernels from an ear of corn and to facilitate the recovery of the cut kernels and the cream for use as human food. The apparatus is a U-shaped trough for receiving an ear of corn laid horizontally over a sharp blade resembling the blade of a wood-working plane projecting up into the trough. The ear of corn is manually moved back and forth over the blade to scrape the kernels and the cream away from the cob to be recovered in a vessel below the trough. Depending on the sharpness of the knife blade the recovered product may include cut kernels or mush. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention is an apparatus for cutting kernels of corn from fresh ears of corn and recovering the cut kernels and the cream therefrom. The apparatus includes a variable speed reversible electric drill fitted with a special drill bit for holding an ear of corn by its cut end with the tip of the ear pointing lengthwise axially forward of the drill. The drill is turned on to rotate the ear of corn and the rotating ear is pushed into a tubular cutting cylinder to shear off kernels of corn and recover the escaping cream and the cut kernels. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The novel features believed to be characteristic of this invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1A is a side elevational view of the corn creaming device of this invention; 
     FIG. 1B is an illustrative drawing of the variable speed, reversible electric drill apparatus attached to an ear of corn to be processed by the device of FIG. 1A; 
     FIG. 2A is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the corn cutting cylinder which forms a part of the device of FIG. 1A; and 
     FIG. 2B is a lateral cross-sectional view of the corn cutting cylinder of FIG.  2 A. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Corn is a food that is universally eaten by all people, and it is grown all over the world where the weather is warm enough to foster the growth of grains of all kinds and vegetables of all kinds. In the United States of America corn is grown over the entire country, although the weather is better for such a crop in the midwestern plains than it is in the coastal regions. Accordingly, this food product is preserved by canning and by freezing techniques, so that it is available at times other than when the corn has ripened on the stalk and must be picked. At the time when corn is ripened and ready to be picked (mid to late summer) the ears of corn must be picked and stripped of its food values that are then canned or frozen for use later. The stripping of corn kernels and the accompanying cream is somewhat of a delicate operation, if one wishes to recover the best of the food values. The kernels of corn preferably are cut from the cob with a sharp knife so as to cut the kernel away cleanly without too much destruction of the kernel. Cream is inside the kernel and it will empty out if the kernel wall is pierced. It therefore is best to cut the kernel from the cob with only a small amount of mashing of the kernel wall. It is almost impossible to do this without some mashing. The product produced by the best strippers always includes some cream. If there is too much mashing, too much cream is released, and the product becomes a pasty liquid with not enough chewy solid matter; and this is not preferred and may be destined to become feed for cattle with a great loss in monetary value by the processor. Accordingly, this invention includes a way to recover the corn kernels with as little destruction of the integrity of the kernel as possible. 
     In the present invention the fresh corn cob  29  is affixed to the operational end of a hand-held electric drill in the same general fashion as a drill bit is affixed thereto, i.e. so that the drill will rotate the corn cob about its long axis. To cooperate with this action of the drill and the corn cob the remainder of the apparatus (see FIG. 1A) is a stationary tubular cutter  23  situated to receive the rotating ear of corn as it is pressed against cutters  25  which project inwardly of the walls of the tubular cutter  23 . The speed of the rotation of the ear of corn  29  is fast enough to rip the kernels of corn from the cob with some small destruction of the kernel walls, and with an appropriate amount of cream released by this action. The success of this operation, of course, depends greatly on the skill of the operator of the electric drill  27 . If the operator is heavy-handed and allows the corn cob to rest too heavily or too long against the cutters  25  the destruction of the kernel wall will be greater and mush more cream and pasty solids will be produced. The operator of the drill must practice the lightness of his touch in order to maximize his production of integral corn kernels and minimize the production of cream. The desired proportion of kernels-to-cream is easily reached by a skilled operator. Eventually the product of the cutting operation slides downwardly through tube  21  to be recovered in vessel  31 , cooked and packaged for frozen food or canned. Tubes  21  and  23  may be joined together by a collar  24  to make a single tubular passageway. If both of tubes  21  and  23  are made of the same material, it may be possible to eliminate collar  24  by welding the tubes to each other. The materials of construction of these tubes might be stainless steel or plastic (i.e. thermoplastic if the ambient temperatures are low enough, or thermosetting if other conditions permit that use). Vertical standard  20  and base flange  22  may be any of the above-mentioned materials or any other suitable material. The junction between tubes  21  and  23  and vertical standard  20  may be made adjustable for height and/or angular direction; or the junction may be made nonadjustable. Generally the angular position of tubes  21  and  23  would preferably be about 30 to about 45 degrees from the vertical, but almost any chosen angle is workable if desired by the operator. 
     In FIGS. 2A and B there may be seen the details of cutter tube  23 . The tube is made of any chosen material, stainless steel or thermoplastic preferred, and the walls are pierced with a plurality of screws  25  inserted from outside the tube and projecting slightly through the inside surface so as to present a plurality of screw points on the inside to cut kernels from the cob as it turns against the many screw points available. The screws  25  may be of any material although preferably they function better if they are the same material as that of tube  23  and the screws should be with sharp points so as to provide the cutting action desired. Vessel  31  may be of any chosen material: metal, glass, wood, plastic or the like. 
     In FIG. 1B there is shown an electric hand drill. Any make or style is acceptable if it has an acceptable chuck and rotates at the right speed. There, of course may be some drills that operate at undesirable speeds, and trial-and-error will determine which speed performs best with different types of corn. It is recommended, however, that the drill is a reversible, variable speed drill, having a speed of about 1800 to about 3600 rpm. Higher or lower speeds can be chosen based on this initial speed. The drill bit  28  is a modified lag bolt of a suitable size (⅜ inch diameter being recommended as a starter) and with a square head or other suitable shape that can be grasped tightly by the chuck of the drill. The drill  27  should be reversibly driven so as to provide ease of removing jammed or spent cobs. 
     While the invention has been described with respect to certain preferred embodiments, it will be appreciated that many modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.