Patent ID: 7886510

Claim:
A pair of stalk rolls to be mounted upon a corn harvesting header comprising: a. a first stalk roll cooperatively engaged with a first stalk roll drive shaft for rotation in a first direction, said first stalk roll comprising: i. a cylindrical shell; and, ii. at least one group of flutes affixed to said cylindrical shell, said group of flutes extending radially from said shell along the axial length of said shell; b. a second stalk roll cooperatively engaged with a second stalk roll drive shaft for rotation in a second direction, wherein said second direction is opposite said first direction, said second stalk roll comprising: i. a cylindrical shell; and, ii. at least one group of flutes affixed to said cylindrical shell, said group of flutes extending radially from said cylindrical shell along the axial length of said cylindrical shell; c. a cornstalk slot having an infinite height and a width defined by the distance between a first and a second parallel vertical lines, wherein said first vertical line is tangent said cylindrical shell of said first stalk roll on the surface of said first stalk roll that faces said second stalk roll, and wherein said second vertical line is tangent said cylindrical shell of said second stalk roll on the surface of said second stalk roll that faces said first stalk roll; and d. a stalk engagement gap formed in said cornstalk slot during rotation of said first and second stalk rolls, wherein said stalk engagement gap is defined as a moment in time during which none of said flutes on said first stalk roll and none of said flutes on said second stalk roll are positioned within said cornstalk slot.