Patent Document

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application is based on and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/114,678 filed on Feb. 11, 2015, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates generally to the field of fresh market corn processing. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for removing a strip of husk from a cob of corn to expose the kernels of corn in a “window” to be viewed by the customer purchasing the corn, and allowing a conversion of the machine to cut the ends of the cob without husking the window. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Recently, grocers have begun requesting partially husked corn with a window of exposed kernels because it is an appealing way of presenting the quality, size, and color of the kernels to customers without destroying a “fresh from the farm” appearance. Currently, suppliers who present corn this way must create the window by hand. Existing automatic corn husking machines cannot be used as a cob saw without husking the corn, and when existing machines cut the ends of corn the ends are not perpendicular to the axis of the cob. 
         [0004]    Previous attempts to create a machine that only partially removes the husk from an ear of corn suffer from a number of significant limitations. Such machines have included two saws to remove the cut end and butt end of an ear of corn. The saws are disposed one after the other, so only one saw cuts the ear of corn at a time. Such a configuration has a tendency to cause the ear of corn to rotate as it passes under each sawblade, which makes it difficult to consistently align a portion of the husk with a pair of pinch rollers that remove only a portion of the husk. 
         [0005]    Additionally, the pinch rollers used on existing partial corn husking machines wear out quickly. Such a short usable life for the pinch rollers and the significant disassembly and cleaning of the machine in order to replace the rollers as required by existing designs results in long periods of downtime, typically in the range of one to four hours. 
         [0006]    As such, there is a need for a machine that can partially husk corn to display a window of kernels faster and more consistently than what can be achieved using existing machines or hand labor. In addition, there is a need for a machine that can perform the aforementioned window husking with reduced downtime compared to existing partial corn husking machines. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0007]    The present invention relates to an automatic corn husking machine for partially husking an ear of corn having a crosscut end and a butt end and including a cob to which a plurality of kernels is attached and a husk covering the plurality of kernels. The automatic corn husking machine includes a conveyor having a crosscut side and a butt end side. A crosscut end blade is positioned parallel to the crosscut side of the conveyor and further positioned so that when the ear of corn passes under the crosscut end blade it cuts approximately 80% of the husk and also fully severs a tip portion of the cob which leaves the severed tip portion hanging inside the partially cut husk hanging along the crosscut side of the conveyor. A cob pusher is positioned downstream from the crosscut end blade and pushes the ear of corn toward a guide plate. An inner guide block causes the tip portion to be completely removed from the husk, but leaves an un-severed portion of the husk intact. A pair of pinch rollers is positioned downstream from the guide plate and inner guide block. The pair of pinch rollers are positioned to accept the un-severed portion of husk. The pair of pinch rollers rotate in opposing directions and are positioned to engage the un-severed portion of husk. When the pinch rollers engage the un-severed portion of husk, they pull and remove the un-severed portion of husk from the ear of corn, thereby exposing a strip of kernels on the cob. 
         [0008]    It will be understood by those skilled in the art that one or more aspects of this invention can meet certain objectives, while one or more other aspects can lead to certain other objectives. Other objects, features, benefits and advantages of the present invention will be apparent in this summary and descriptions of the disclosed embodiment, and will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Such objects, features, benefits and advantages will be apparent from the above as taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures and all reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of one embodiment of a window strip husking machine in accordance with the invention; 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a detail perspective view of the window strip husking machine of  FIG. 1  showing how a corn cob is partially husked using a blade and a pair of pinch rollers; 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a schematic showing fresh packed partially husked ears of corn with a window of kernels exposed; 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a detail perspective view of the window strip husking machine of  FIG. 1  showing how a partially removed husk is conveyed toward a set of pinch rollers; 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is another detail perspective view of the window strip husking machine of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is a side view of the window strip husking machine of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  is a top view of the window strip husking machine of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0016]      FIG. 8  is a detail perspective view of the window strip husking machine of  FIG. 1  showing a channel that helps guide a partially removed husk toward a set of pinch rollers; 
           [0017]      FIG. 9  is a detail perspective view the window strip husking machine of  FIG. 1  showing the rotation of the pinch rollers; 
           [0018]      FIG. 10  is another detail perspective view of the window strip husking machine of  FIG. 1  showing how the pinch rollers can be removed and replaced; 
           [0019]      FIG. 11  is a side detail view of the window strip husking machine of  FIG. 1  showing a mechanism used to hold corn in holding troughs of a conveyor and prevent corn from rotating; and 
           [0020]      FIG. 12  is a top detail view of the mechanism of  FIG. 11 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0021]    The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for partially husking corn on a conveyor line to expose some of the kernels of corn in a “window” cut through the husk. As shown in  FIGS. 1-12 , the automatic corn husker  1  includes a conveyor  10  having multiple sets of trough blocks  12 . In the embodiment shown, the trough blocks  12  are semi-cylindrical in shape, that is, semi-circular in cross-section, but any suitable shape may alternatively be used. The trough blocks  12  ears of corn  13  as they travel through multiple operations within the automatic corn husker  1 . Conveyor  10  moves in the direction shown by arrow  11  which is transverse to the corn&#39;s axis. In the embodiment shown, a crosscut end blade  18  partially trims the outer husk  20  at the crosscut end  19  of the ear of corn  13 . Preferably, the crosscut end blade  18  cuts approximately 80% of the outer husk  20  and fully severs a portion of the crosscut end  19 , which exposes a face  35  of the cob  22 . In the embodiment shown, crosscut end blade  18  rotates in the direction shown by arrow  17 . In alternative embodiments, crosscut end blade  18  may cut more or less of the outer husk  20  as desired. Although crosscut end blade  18  is circular in the present embodiment, any other suitable cutting tool may be used without departing from the invention. 
         [0022]    The embodiment shown also includes an optional butt end blade  15 , which trims the butt end  13   a  of the ear of corn  13 . Both butt end blade  15  and crosscut end blade  18  are driven by at least one motor and rotate in the same direction as shown by arrow  23 . Of course, although butt end blade  15  is shown as a circular blade, any suitable cutting tool may be used without departing from the invention. By aligning the butt end blade  15  and the crosscut end blade  18  on opposite sides of the conveyor  10 , the ear of corn  13  is cut on both ends at the same time, which prevents rotation of the ear of corn as it is cut. It is important to prevent rotation so that a partially severed tip  21  falls down, due to gravity, thereby exposing the cob  22 , and helping to align the un-severed portion of husk  29  with a set of pinch rollers  32 ,  33 . Crosscut end blade  18  and butt end blade  15  may be adjusted up and down, as well as left and right to allow the user to dial-in the precise location of a desired cut. The blades  18 ,  15  may also be positioned so that the automatic corn husker  1  may perform as a standard cob saw, i.e. where both ends are completely removed and the cob  22  is completely husked. 
         [0023]    Downstream from butt end blade  15  and crosscut end blade  18  is a cob pusher  14  having a ramp portion  14   a.  When the butt end  13   a  of the cob  22  contacts the ramp portion  14   a,  the ears of corn  13  move longitudinally toward a guide bar  24 . The direction of the movement of ear of corn  13  is shown as arrow  23 . This movement will allow a face  35  of the partially severed ear of corn to be aligned with the subsequent actions. As ear of corn  13  moves further downstream, the ramped lower edge  25  of the guide bar  24  forces the partially severed tip  21  of the ear of corn  13  downward as shown in  FIG. 4 . This causes the un-severed portion of husk  29  to roll over the edge  28  of the inner guide block  27  causing the partially severed tip  21  break away from the cob  22  of the ear of corn  13 . As the ear of corn  13  moves downstream the un-severed portion of husk  29  is fed into channel  31  between the guide bar  24  and inner guide block  27  as shown in  FIG. 6 . 
         [0024]    As shown in  FIGS. 4-7 , with the un-severed portion of husk  29  guided by channel  31 , the ear of corn  13  proceeds downstream to the pinch rollers  32 ,  33 . In the embodiment shown, the pinch rollers  32 ,  33  are located on a crosscut end side  35  of the conveyor  10  and their rotational axes are oriented parallel to the movement of the conveyor. The pinch rollers  32 ,  33  are rotated in the opposite directions as shown by the arrows  36  and  37 . The forward ends  38 ,  39  of the pinch rollers  32 ,  33  are radially tapered from a small diameter, forward section to a large diameter, main section on the body of the pinch rollers. 
         [0025]    The un-severed portion of husk  29  is fed into the mouth of the pinch rollers  32 ,  33  defined by the tapered forward ends  40 ,  41  of the pinch rollers by channel  31 . Since the conveyor  10  is moving in direction  11  and since the pinch rollers  32  and  33  are counter-rotating in directions  36  and  37 , the un-severed portion of husk  29  is trapped between the counter-rotating pinch rollers and is removed or stripped from ear  13 . This is removal is accomplished by transversely pulling the un-severed portion of husk  29  away from the horizontally supported main ear portion of ear of corn  13 . This transverse pulling is in the direction shown by arrow  42  shown in  FIG. 6 , that is, transverse to the ear or corn&#39;s  13  axis. Because the counter-rotating pinch rollers  32 ,  33  transversely remove or pull un-severed portion of husk  29  away from ear of corn  13 , the ear concurrently moves longitudinally along its axis in the direction shown by arrow  34 . The stripping of the un-severed portion of husk  29  causes ejectment of the ear of corn  13  from the trough blocks  12  on the conveyor  10 . The resulting achievement is an entire longitudinal strip of corn husk removed from the ear of corn  13 , which exposes a strip of kernels  16 . 
         [0026]      FIGS. 11 and 12  show a biasing mechanism  43  for holding the corn  13  in the trough blocks  12  of the conveyor  10 . Crosscut end blade  18  rotates in the direction shown by arrow  17 . Conveyor  10  moves in the direction shown by arrow  11 . The biasing mechanism  43  biases the corn ears toward the horizontal plane of the base of conveyor  10  immediately before the crosscut end blade  18 . Biasing mechanism  43  is immediately upstream or aligned with crosscut end blade  18  in order to keep the main portion of the ear in the trough block  12  while the partially severed tip  21  is cut. As shown, biasing mechanism  43  includes a plurality of fingers  44 , but any suitable configuration may be used without departing from the invention. 
         [0027]    Yet another feature of the present invention is a quick-change mechanism  50  for replacing the pinch rollers  32 ,  33  without tools, and with only minimal machine downtime. As shown in  FIG. 10 , the quick-change mechanism  50  includes a base  52  to which a motor  54  is attached. In the embodiment shown, the motor  54  is a conventional electric motor, but any suitable motor may be used without departing from the invention. A drive pulley is attached to the driveshaft of the motor  54 . A belt engages the drive pulley, and a roller pulley, which is rotationally engaged to the pinch rollers  32 ,  33 , thereby transferring energy from the motor to the pinch rollers  32 ,  33 . To replace the pinch rollers  32 ,  33 , a user simply disengages a locking tab  56  located near the tapered end of the pinch rollers. The locking tab  56  selectively locks end plate  58  in a locked position that engages the pinch rollers  32 ,  33 , and an unlocked position that allows the pinch rollers to be removed. 
         [0028]    It should also be noted that all of the components of the present invention may be attached to either side of the conveyor  10 , which allows the automatic corn husker  1  to be set-up for an operation where the crosscut end is placed on the left side of the conveyor in the direction of travel, or alternatively where the crosscut end is placed on the right side of the conveyor in the direction of travel. Thus, the modularity of the various components allows an operator a great deal of flexibility when setting up the automatic corn husker  1 . 
         [0029]    Although the invention has been herein described in what is perceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the specific embodiments set forth above. Rather, it is recognized that modifications may be made by one of skill in the art of the invention without departing from the spirit or intent of the invention and, therefore, the invention is to be taken as including all reasonable equivalents to the subject matter of the appended claims and the description of the invention herein.

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