GB681174A - Improvements in or relating to cigarette storage, lighting and delivery machines - Google Patents

Abstract

681,174. Cigarette delivery and igniting apparatus. VAUGHAN, W. R., HESELTON, W. E., and FORBES. N. S. Oct. 31. 1950 [Aug. 16, 1949], No. 2128/49. Class 75(iii) [Also in Group XVII] A machine for delivering a lighted cigarette comprises rotatable means to cause one cigarette at a time to be discharged from a storage means to a support, electric igniting means fixed to the casing of the machine, a cup-like vessel having its mouth covered with a perforated flexible diaphragm with whicn to contact the end of the discharged cigarette and connected to a bellows to draw air through the cigarette, and manual means to operate the rotatable discharge means to move the cup-like vessel longitudinally to engage the cigarette and the cigarette with the igniting means, to operate the bellows, to switch on the electricity, and later to remove the cup-like vessel and to switch off the electricity. A cigarette magazine 10 is closed at its lower end by a part cylindrical pivoted member 12 having a groove 13 accommodating the lowest cigarette. On rotating the cylindrical member by pressing downwardly a handle 29 projecting through an opening in the front panel 18 of the apparatus the the lowermost cigarette is carried by the groove until it falls through a slot 19 in the front panel on to two hook-like members 20 which support the cigarette between and in line with an electric heating element 21 and a suction head 22. A short lever 39 of insulating material fixed to the cylindrical member presses upon a jack-type switch 40 in series with the heater 21 to keep the switch open when the handle is in its upper position. The heater is switched on when the handle is operated and is switched off as the handle approaches its upper position on return. The suction head 22 is connected by rubber tubing 25 to a bellows 33 connected by links 34, 35 to the cylindrical member 12 so that as the handle 29 is rotated downwardly the air in the bellows is forced to atmosphere throuh a one-way valve 36; when the handle is returned upwardly by a spring 32 and a spring 38 inside the bellows air is sucked in through the suction head. The latter comprises a cup-like member having a flexible diaphragm with a hole therein mounted across its mouth; it is pivotally mounted on the end of a lever 26 which extends upwardly behind the front panel 18 and is pivoted at a point 41 about one-third from its top end. The lever 26 is rocked by a spring 51, Fig. 1, so as to press the suction head against the adjac.ent end of the cigarette and also to press the other end ofthe cigarette against the heater 21 but in order to insure that it is not rocked until the handle 29 is being returned upwardly by the springs 32, 38 and the bellows is sucking air through the suction head a small pivoted catch lever 46 urged downwardly by a spring 52 to engage with a projection 50 on the lever 26 is raised to release the lever 26 by a leaf spring 47 carried by a bolt 42 which is connected by a link 43 to the handle 29 so as to reciprocate vertically, the leaf spring 47 sliding over the catch lever 46 on the downward movement of the bolt and engaging therewith only on the upward movement. The upper end of the bolt has a slot 45 accommodating a projecting part 44 on the end of the lever 26 but as the bolt approaches its uppermost position the bevel end of the slot engages the projection 44 so that the lever 26 is rotated backwards to its initial position. The magazine has a slot on its side facing a window 17 in the front panel 18 so that the cigarettes in the magazine are visible. The magazine is re-loaded through a hinged lid 11 on the outer casing of the apparatus: The bellows may be positioned remote from the rest of the apparatus and connected thereto by flexible or other operating means. A cylinder and piston type of air pump may be used.