US2619967A

US2619967A - Corn husker

Info

Publication number: US2619967A
Application number: US136886A
Authority: US
Inventors: William T Bond
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1950-01-05
Filing date: 1950-01-05
Publication date: 1952-12-02
Anticipated expiration: 1969-12-02

Description

Dec. 2, 1952 w. T. BOND CORN HUSKER Filed Jan. 5, 1950 no so 0939" 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 WILLIAM IN VEN TOR.

T. B 0ND.

ATTORNEY Dec. 2, 1952 BOND 2,619,967

CORN HUSKER Filed Jan. 5, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 INVENTOR. WILLIAM T. BOND ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 2, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention pertains to corn pickers of a type in which ears of corn snapped from the stalks in a field are delivered to and passed through a husk stripping bed or mechanism comprising cooperating sets of metal and spiralled rubber rolls rotating in opposite directions with the surface of the spiralled rubber rolls above the surfaces of the metal rolls.

In my co-pending application, Serial No. 709,594, filed November 13, 1946, now U. S. Patent No. 2,510,542 I have described and claimed a mechanism comprising a plurality of spiralled distributors or angering devices mounted transversely of the bed above the husking rolls to insure the even distribution of the corn in the husking bed and its movement lengthwise of the bed toward the discharge end.

My present invention pertains to certain improvements in the spiralled distributors of the aforesaid application for increasing the efiiciency and life of the mechanism.

Field operation of the picker equipped with the invention of my pending application above referred to has disclosed the fact that the load put upon the augering devices where the yield of corn is especially heavy will result in excessive wear upon the advancing faces of the augering devices, and that ears of corn may be jammed between the side of the bed and the adjacent husking roll, thus preventing efiicient operation of the husking mechanism.

As the corn is delivered from the snapping rolls to the husking bed, it is immediately engaged by the husking rolls, with the result that the movement of the corn, as urged by the spiral rubber husking rolls, is, in general, toward one side of the husking bed, and the ends of the augering devices adjacent this side of the bed are very heavily loaded in the initial movement of the corn through the bed.

One of the objects of my present invention is to provide means to positively engage and move the ears away from the side of the bed without crushing them, and to increase the strength and resistance to wear and breakage at the ends of the angering devices subjected to the heaviest load in the operation of the device.

Another object of this invention is to improve the construction of the tabs upon the advancing faces of the spirals to increase their resistance 4 to abrasion and to constant flexing.

Other objects of the invention deal with details of construction and organization of parts to eliminate wearand increase the efiiciency of operation of the device.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a husking bed embodying the features of this invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view with a side of the husking bed container broken away to show the ends of the feeding devices.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view in perspective of the container with the angering mechanism, and

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of one of the tabs.

The corn picker in which the improvements constituting the features of this invention are embodied is a nationally known commercial device.

In this picker, pickup noses, housing a plurality of picker chains, gather and feed the corn stalks onto snapper rolls, which snap the ears from the stalks and feed them to a conveyor, which delivers them through a hopper to the husking bed. The husking bed over which the corn ears pass delivers the husked ears to an elevator conveyor which in turn delivers them to a pickup carrier.

The husking mechanism with which this invention is particularly concerned comprises three metal rolls l1 and three spiralled rolls [8 mounted in alternate relation so that one metal roll and one rubber roll constitute a cooperating pair. The top surfaces of the rubber rolls I"! are elevated above the top surfaces of the metal rolls I8. All of the rubber rolls are driven in a clockwise direction, as viewed from the lower or discharge end, and all of the metal rolls are driven in a counterclockwise direction as viewed from the same position.

As a result of the directional rotation of the two sets of rolls, and the fact that the top sur faces of the rubber rolls are elevated above the upper surfaces of the metal rolls, the rotation of the rubber rolls will tend to displace the ears of corn toward one side of the husking bed which, in the illustration, will be toward the right-hand side, as viewed from the lower end of the husking bed.

In order to prevent excessive pile up of the corn against the right side of the bed which would result in excessive wear upon the rubber rolls adjacent that side of the bed, there is provided a feeding mechanism adapted to engage and move the corn in opposition to the lateral movement resulting from the action of the rubber rolls. This feeding mechanism comprises a plurality of

spiral metal blades

25, 26 and 21, mounted upon

shafts

28, 29 and 30, which extend transversely of and above the husking rolls, and are positively driven in engagement with the corn in a direction tending to move it from the right to the left-hand side of the bed, as well as down the bed.

The shaft 28 is rotatably supported in bearin brackets 3| adjustably supported in side members 20 and 2! of a metal housing 24. The

shafts

29 and 30 are rotatably supported between frame plates 35 and 36-, the upper ends of which are journaled upon the shaft 28. The lower ends of the

frame plates

35 and 36 are connected together by an inverted U-shaped tie member comprising legs 38 and a cross-member 40.

Lug M are secured to the outer faces of each leg 38 to receive threaded bolts 43, the heads of which rest upon the upper edges of the side members 20 and 2! of the container. The bolts may be secured in adjusted positions by lock nuts 44, one upon each side of the lugs 41. Adjustment of the bolts 43 will control the height of the lower end of the feeding unit with respect to the ends of the husking rolls.

The right-hand ends of the

shafts

28, 29 and 30, looking toward the discharge end of the husking unit, are extended through slots 41, 4 6 and S9 in the side members 2| of the housing 2%. A cogwheel 52, which is secured to the extending end of the shaft 28 beyond the housing side 2!, is connected by a chain to the main driving shaft of the picker. A second cogwheel 53, mounted on the shaft 28, beyond the cogwheel 52, is chain connected with a cogwheel 54 mounted upon the outer end of the shaft 29. The shaft 29 drives the shaft 30 through a chain connected with the

cogwheels

55 and 56 on the shafts 29 and 33, respectively. The cogwheel 53, on the shaft 28, is approximately one-half the diameter of the cogwheel 54, on the shaft 29, thus producing a differential speed ratio of about two to one between the shaft 28 and the shafts 29 and 39.

The spiral blade 25, adjacent the input end of the husking unit, must move all of the corn from the picker and away from the side of the bed as fast as it is delivered to the husking bed to prevent pile up of the corn and clogging of the mechanism, and unless it is very rugged, the resistance of a heavy load will strain and distort the advancing corner of the blade 25 to a point where it may be deformed or broken at the end adjacent the side toward which the rubber rolls l8 tend to urge the corn.

In'this invention, a heavy steel rod 88, circular in cross-section, is Welded to the periphery of the blade 25, and the end of the rod is brought out beyond the advance corner of the blade in the form of a spiral loop 69 lying close to the inside face of the container side member 2| with its end bent inwardly to lie along the surface of the shaft 28 to which it is Welded. The spiral loop 69 of heavy steel rod provides a guard and moving element for the advancing edge of the spiral blade 25, which is sufiiciently rugged and close enough to the side and bottom of the bed effectively to move, without crushing it, any quantity of corn which may be accumulated against the side of the bed by action of those portions of the rubber husking rolls is between the upper end of the husking bed and the active face of the spiral blade 25.

A reinforcing and propelling element for the advance corner of the spiral blade 26 may comprise a short loop ll of heavy steel rod, circular in cross-section, attached by welding at one end to the upper edge of the blade 26, and extending inwardly-along the edge-for a short distance, as

indicated at 12. The opposite end of the loop H is bent around and attached to the advancing face of the blade 26 about midway of its edges, as indicated at 13. A plurality of tabs or extensions 15, of flexible material of a composition which will not abrade the surfaces of the corn kernels, are secured to the edges of each of the

spiral blades

26 and 21, forming extensions of their spiral surfaces. A material suitable for this purpose is shown in cross-section in Fig. 4, and comprises a facing layer 16 of soft rubber backed by two reinforcing layers 11 of a fabric such as canvas or duck. These tabs are secured to the spiral blades with the rubber layer 16 faced in the advancing direction of the spirals. The rubber facing 16 is highly resistant to the abrasive effects of the surface of the ear of corn and withstands the constant flexing to which it is subjected as it engages the corn. The life of the fabric backing 11 is prolonged due to the fact that it is not subjected to the abrasive effects of the grain. The result is that the life of the tabs of this construcion is much longer than that of tabs constructed of a material in Which the fabric is exposed to contact with the grain, as was the case of the belting material of my previous structure.

Two of the tabs 15 are secured to the advance end of the spiral blade 25, and these tabs are contoured by removing the material at the outer corners, as are the first two tabs 15 on the advance end of the spiral blade 26, as indicated at 89. Due to the differences in the speeds of rotation of the

spirals

25 and 26, these end tabs on the spirals will be brought into coincidence at every sixth revolution of the spiral 25, and the contouring of these tabs prevents interference and wear on the tabs.

Rigid and extensive use in the field of a picker equipped with the improvements of this invention have demonstrated that the spiralled feeding devices equipped with the reinforcing loops at the corners will successfully move the heaviest crop without injury to the engaging surface of the spiral feeding devices, and that the improved tabs with the rubber facing will materially prolong the useful life of these tabs.

Although I have shown and described my invention with respect to certain details of construction, I do not wish to be unduly limited thereto, certain modifications being possible without departing from the spirit or scope of my invention.

I claim:

For use with a corn husking bed having longitudinal side walls and a plurality of sets of husking rolls mounted in side by side relation longitudinally of the bed, each set comprising a metal roll and a spiraled surface rubber roll mounted in contacting relationship longitudinally of the container with the top surface of the rubber roll extending above the top surface of the metal roll and said metal and rubber rolls being rotated in opposite directions whereby corn cars will tend to be displaced laterally by the rubber rolls toward one side of the bed, the improvements comprising a plurality of helical surfaced'rotating feeding elements disposed transversely of the husking bed in longitudinally spaced relation between the reoeiving and discharge ends thereof, means for rotating all of said helical surfaces in a direction to urge the corn laterally toward the other side of the husking bed, anda. reinforcing and stiffening rod of circularcross section .attached to the peripheral edge of the helical sur faced feeding element adjacent the receiving end of the bed and provided in its end adjacent to the said one side of the husking bed with a spiral loop projecting ahead of the advance end of the particular feeding element and disposed to rotate in a path in close proximity to said one side of the husking bed.

WILLIAM T. BOND.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Woodman Dec. 22, 1896 Swarthout Nov. 21, 1899 Madsen Aug. 7, 1900 Richards Aug. 12, 1902 Baird June 30,1908 Gauntt Mar. 12, 1918 Raney et a1 Oct. 4, 1932 Anderson et a1 Aug, 1, 1939 Kuhlman Nov. 21, 1939 Bailey Apr. 18, 1950 Bond June 6, 1950