Corn-husk′er.
A machine for taking the ear of corn out of its enveloping sheath of leaves. Some machines operate upon the corn in the field to husk it off the stalk; in others, the ear is simply jerked from the stalk, and the machine tears off the husks from the ears. Fig. 1464 shows one in which shocked corn is husked. The unhusked corn in the stalk is laid upon the table at the top of the machine, and pushed, butt-ends forward, between two feed-rollers B B, whereupon the ears are separated from the stalks by cutters b, arranged longitudinally upon the lowermost of the feed-rollers. The severed ears pass down upon an inclined plane C, which directs them into the trough-like space between the two individual rollers of each pair of husking-rollers D, and as they pass longitudinally down such space the rapidly moving surfaces of the rollers catch the husks, giving a kind of rotary movement to the ears, stripping away the husks, which latter are carried down between the rollers and ejected underneath the machine. The ears meanwhile are thrown back by a transverse roller H, and fall from the rear. E is a smaller lower roller, and G an endless apron which leads away the silk and husks. |
| Cornish-engine. |
