Perhaps the largest category of corn related inventions were for shelling or stripping the kernels from the cob. Picker wheel or disk type shellers appeared as early as 1815. The spiked disk was turned by a hand crank while an ear of corn was pressed against the spikes. Shelled kernels dropped into a container, and, the empty cob was tossed aside. Next, the picker wheel was enclosed in a housing which channeled the ear through the machine, greatly speeding up the process. Cobs and kernels fell to the bottom together in these early machines, requiring extra work to separate the two after shelling. This problem was remedied in the 1840's by a design which expelled the cob out the side of the machine while the kernels dropped out the bottom. For any use other than instructional resources, please check with the organization that owns this item regarding copyright restrictions.
2018.063.002 [Sheller]
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