US2168474A - Cigarette mouthpiece - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 8;, 1939. a. DAVIDSON CIGARETTE MOUTHPIECE Filed May 2, 1936 1 INVENTOR. 67611,! Jaw/afrafl 63 ATTORNE Patented Aug. 8, 1939 UNITED STATES CIGARETTE MOUTHPIECE Glenn Davidson, Aurora, Ill.

Application May 2,

1 Claim.

This invention relates to mouthpiece construction for smokers articles, especially cigarette mouthpieces of the type comprising a plug or insert within that end of the cigarette which is re- 5 ceived into the mouth, and to the method of and apparatus for making such mouthpieces.

The desirability of cigarettes containing such mouthpieces has long been recognized because of their numerous advantages among which may be listed the following: the prevention of shedding of shreds of tobacco into the mouth; the avoidance of waste of expensive tobacco otherwise contained in the butt which is thrown away, i. e., the substitution therefor of comparatively inexpensive paper; the prevention of the loss of tobacco from the end of the cigarette, while it is being carried in the pocket or purse, which loss leaves the cigarette soft between the lips; the much higher standard of sanitation possible in an insert made of paper, for example,

which is handled entirely mechanically as compared to a natural product such as a leaf of tobacco, which must, of necessity, be handled many times by human fingers; the presentation of a firm feeling between the lips similar to a corktipped cigarette; a material reduction in the fire hazard of the discarded butt, when fire resistant paper or other material is used in making the mouthpiece plug.

In addition it may be said that if the filler portion of the mouthpiece plugs is properly compacted, they produce no change in the draft or flavor of the cigarette, as compared to a cigarette composed entirely of tobacco.

Despite the fact that mouthpiece cigarettes have numerous advantages to the smoker; that they would save the cigarette manufacturer vast sums of money annually by the substitution of comparativelyinexpensive paper for expensive tobacco; and further could reasonably be expected to materially reduce our national fire loss; they have not come into use in the case of commercial tobacco cigarettes,

One of the prime requirements of such cigarette mouthpieces is that the filler be of such a character that it may be compacted so as to offer a resistance to the passage of smoke substantially equal to that of the replaced tobacco, otherwise the smoking characteristics of the cigarette, particularly the draft and the temperature of the smoke entering the mouth, are materially changed from that to which the smoker has become accustomed in the ordinary all-tobacco cigarette,

At least one of the reasons why mouthpiece 1936, Serial No. 77,627

cigarettes of this type have not come into use is the fact that there has been available neither a mouthpiece construction meeting the above requirements adaptable to a continuous method of manufacture, particularly the method which 5 comprises forming a mouthpiece rod of indefinite length and cutting this rod into desired lengths, nor apparatus for the fabrication for the same.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide such a form of construction of cigal0 rette mouthpieces, it being noted that the present application is directed to subject-matter that Was required to be divided out of my co-pending application filed December 3, 1932, Serial No. 645,548, now Patent No. 2,039,298.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related objects, the invention, then, comprises the features hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claim, the following description and the annexed drawing setting forth in detail certain illustrativeembodiments of the invention, these being indicative however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principle of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawingi Fig. 1 is a semi-diagrammatic perspective View of apparatus for making the mouthpiece of the invention; Fig. 2 is a similar view of the modification; Fig. 3 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale, a portion of the wrapper being broken away, showing a cigarette as produced in accordance with the invention; and Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a mouthpiece.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1, there is shown a plurality of strands 2, each from its source of supply or spool 3, and directed to a funnel-like guide 6, and thereby shaped together into substantially cylindrical form. Coacting with the guide is a web of wrapper-paper 1 fed from a suitable source of supply or roll 8, and directed into the turning-up guide means 9, a pull-belt l0 running over the pulleys H, 12, I3, with suitable drive, coacting to forward the wrapper with the enclosed plurality of strands through the sealing means [4, and past the cutting knife l5 which cuts the assembled rod-form into lengths It. The detail of the sealing means and the cutting means may vary, and since some forms of sealing and cutting means are commercially known in wrapping a tobacco body in ordinary cigarette manufacture, and could in some cases be adapted as elements to complete the combination, further detail description of these particulars is unnecessary.

Depending upon the particular form of the strands 2 as fed to the assembling guide 6, the detail of the cross section of the finished mouthpiece portions may vary somewhat. Fig. 4 shows the result obtained with a plurality of strands of graduated widths and supplied such that each forms a complete chord of the cross section, rendering folding unnecessary. Again, by the use of longitudinally crinkled paper, ample draftway passages are assured in any case.

The structure of the completed cigarette involves a body ll of tobacco or usual filler, and abutting this at the end is a mouthpiece 18, which in the particular form shown is that represented on enlarged scale in Fig. 4, in which the multiplicity of strips are graduated widths, each forming a complete chord of the cross section. Enclosing the entire assemblage is the wrapper I9, this covering the tobacco body and mouthpiece uniformly, and presenting externally the aspect of the customary all-tobacco type of cigarette.

Instead of providing the strands for the mouthpiece from a plurality of spools or sources of prepared supply, the strands or strips may be prepared by suitably cutting or slitting a web of material, as illustrated in Fig. 2. The web 20, which may be of any suitable material, most usually paper, and preferably crinkled paper, is arranged to be fed from a roll 2|, and a plurality of cutters 22 are arranged to coact with the web, arranged as desired. Adjacent the cutters or slitters is a series of guides 5 serving to separate and direct the respective strands or strips to the funnel-like guide 6, wherein they are brought together in substantially cylindrical form. The wrapper-paper 1 is arranged to be assembled about the cylindrical body thus formed, a turning-up guide 9 receiving the wrapper and contained body and placing the wrapper in form. Coacting with the wrapper-web 1 is a pull-belt l0 running over the pulleys ll, I2, [3, with suitable drive, and a sealing means 14 and cutting means I5 of desired detail is arranged to receive the cylindrical rod and provide the ultimate cut-lengths I6.

As seen, in the assembly of mouthpieces in accordance with the invention, the strands or strips, as supplied from the spools 3 or the cutters 22, are forwarded into the guide 6, While the wrapper-web fed therebeneath is supplied and turned up thereabout and sealed, and the resultant rod-form is then cut up into lengths 16 or IE. It will be noted that the general characteristics of a mouthpiece made in accordance with this procedure can be varied within considerable limits. For instance, it is readily seen that the firmness of the mouthpiece between the lips depends to a considerable extent upon the character of stock used in the assemblage. If a hard, firm sheet of paper is used, the mouthpiece Will present a very firm and rigid filling, Whereas if a very soft paper is employed, the reverse is true. The mouthpiece wrapper stock is also another variable by which the characteristics of the mouthpiece as a whole can be controlled. Again, it will be noted that since the cross sectional area of the mouthpiece is fixed within rather definite limits by established convention, the lore filler-stock that is crowded into this given cross section, the more draft-resistance is offered to the passage of smoke, and conversely, the less filler-stock crowded in, the less the draftresistance. A nicety of control to any desired standard may thus be had, and by assembling the desired amount and character of filler and wrapper-stock, any preferred firmness and amount of draft-resistance to the passage of smoke can be provided.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed, change being made as regards the details described, provided the features stated in the following claim or the equivalent of such claim be employed.

1, therefore, particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention- In a cigarette having a consumable body, a wrapper, and an insert, said insert being located at one end within the wrapper and comprising a plurality of flat paper strips disposed longitudinally of the insert, each strip being narrower than the insert diameter.

GLENN DAVIDSON.

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