Patent ID: 8702484

Claim:
In an apparatus for automatically cutting kernels off ears of corn, wherein a circular array of movable cutting knives rotates around an axis of rotation, wherein a pair of drive rollers conveys singulated ears of corn along said axis of rotation into and through said array of kernel cutting knives, wherein said drive rollers are carried by a pair of drive shafts, and said drive shafts are movable in a plane perpendicular to said axis of rotation, the improvement comprising: sensing means carried by at least one of said drive shafts for sensing the diameter of each ear of corn by sensing the motion of at least one of said drive shafts relative to said axis of rotation as each of said ears is driven by said pair of drive rollers into said movable knives, and knife control means for moving said array of cutting knives relative to said axis of rotation in response to input from said sensing means to efficiently cut said kernels off said ear of corn with reduced damage to said kernels.