US89200A - Improvement in cigar-machines - Google Patents

Description

'GEORGE B. CLARKE,

or NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN czlGAR-MAel-lirnas.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 89,200, dated April 20, 1869.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE B. CLARKE, of the city, county, and State of N ew York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Cigar-Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, fornr ing part of this specification, and in which- Figure l represents a plan of a cigar-making machine with the top roller removed; Fig. 2, a vertical section of the same, taken as indicated bythe line w w in Fig. l; and Fig. 3, a longitudinal view of one of the rollers used in said machine detached. Fig. et is a diagram in illustration of the cut made in the wrapper in finishing off the head of the cigar.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspondin g parts.

My invention consists in a novel combination of mechanism for making cigars, embracing a certain arrangement of forming-rollers having, or certain of them, trumpet-shaped portions at theirone end; also, an independent connection of such trumpet-shaped portions ,with the bodies of the rollers; knives for shaping the wrapper to t the head of the cigar, and for turning o the butt-end thereof 5 also, a certain adjustable arrangement of certain of the rollers for facilitating the entry of the filling and delivery of the cigar as it is made.

In the accompanying drawings, A is the frame of the machine, and B the table, on or over which the wrapper is fed.

C Cl G2 C3 are horizontal rollers, all arranged to rotate in the same direction, and driven by one and the same shaft, D, through a pinion on said shaft, arranged to gear with a pinion, a., on the spindle s of each roller.

The front roller, C, is carried at or near each end of its spindle by a swinging frame, E, having its fulcrum as at b, and held up to its place to secure to said roller its working position by a spring, c, and stop d.

The top roller, G1, is similarlyr hung iu a swinging frame, F, having its fulcrum as at e, and which may be operated by treadle, connected with an arm, f, when it is required to throw the top roller up and back. This is done whenever it is required to introduce a new filling, or filling having a binder on it, between vthe rollers, while the object of supporting the front roller, C, in a swinging frame is to facilitate the delivery ofthe cigar as it is made by swinging or throwing back said roller, and which may be done by swinging the frame F sufciently far or back to cause an arm, g, connected with the latter, to strike and work an arm, h, carried by the swinging frame E.

When adjusted to their working positions, the several rollers C C C2y G3 lie at the requisite distance apart from each other to form a cigar, and have their bodies of the necessary conguration to give to the inain portion of the cigar its required form, while the head of the cigar has the requisite configuration given to it by trumpet-shaped ends t' to three of the rollers C1 C2 G3. These trumpet portions t' may be made either in one piece or in any number of annular sections, and are arranged to turn loose on the spindles of the rollers to which they belong, to admit of their accommodating themselves in velocityto the varied speed of the head of the cigar, as compared with its body, by reason of the difference in diameters of such portions ofthe cigar or filling as the cigar is rotated by the bodies of the several rollers between which it lies.

The trumpet portions i of the top and bottom rollers may be extended to meet at their outer ends, while the trumpet portion of the back roller may be less extended, and the front roller, C, terminate toward the head of the cigar, where the reduced ends of the trumpetshaped portions of the other rollers begin, which arrangement admits of the several rollers lying in proper close proximity to each other; but such arrangement or construction of the rollers as regards their trumpet ends or portions may be varied, as hereinafter explained. g

The driving-shaftD has fitting loosely within it, so as to be capable of turning independently of said shaft and of longitudinal play therein, a rod, k, round which is Wrapped a spiral spring, Z, bearing at its one end against the inner end of the shaft D, and secured at its other end to a disk, G, which is arranged to freely rotate on that end ofthe rod k which lies farthest from the shaft D. This spring-borne disk serves to bear against the butt-end of the cigar and hold the cigar in place, and as it is hung so as t be capable of independent rotation along with the cigar, the same has no unraveling tendency upon the end thereof.

The tobacco being suitably placed between the rollers, the wrapper is first introduced on or over the table B to make its spiral wrap at the buttend of the cigar, and is fed along till the cigar is wholly wrapped, the rotation of the cigar by the rollers effecting the feed.

In finishing the head end of the cigar, said wrapper has a cut, m, (see diagram, Fig. 4,) made in its inner edge, for the purpose of making the wrapper acturately fit the head ofthe cigar. This out is effected automatically by means of a knife, H, of any suitable form on its cutting edge or edges, having a quick reciprocating motion, which may be effected by a variety of mechanical devices, but is here shown as produced my means ot' a lever, I, having its fulcrum on the back roller-spindle, and actuated by a revolving cam, J, bearing against or under a roller, oz, said cam being driven by suitable gear from the main shaft D, and operating conjointly with a spring, 0, to give to the lever I and knife carried by it their necessary movements.

There is another knife, K, arranged so as to befcapable of being slid or forced by hand against the butt portion of the cigar, which may be done by means of a sliding rod, r, and button t, a spring, u, serving to throw the knife back. Said knife serves, by a gentle pressure applied to project it against the cigar, to turn the butt-end of the cigar off smoothly, by reason of the rotation of the cigar during such application of pressure to the knife. Said knife may have any desired shape at the end where it comes in contact with the cigar, and may pass over the spindle of and be held in place by any one of the four rollers,`or may pass between the rollers to reach the cigar and do its work.

The following advantages and peculiarities, among others, in this my improved cigar-making machine may be mentioned: Of course, any suitable number of rollers may be used, but by three out of the four here shown being made trumpet-shaped at their head ends, and the outer ends of the trumpet portions to the top and bottom rollersbeing made to meet Where the extreme point of the head of the cigar comes, they will perfectly shape the head of the cigar, which shape can be altered by constructing the trumpet portions of the rollers of any suitable curvature.

Again, by hanging said trumpet portions so that they are loose from the rollers and spindles which carry the latter, and free to turnl with or by the cigar, such portions will not draw in the wrapper of the cigar more rapidly than the cigar can take it onto itself; that, if done, would cause wrinkling, and which the trumpet portions of the rollers, by reason of their increased diameter, would dowere they not detached, as described; but, being detached, such portions will be moved by the wrapper itself', and thus the wrapper be carried in as the cigar can take it onto itself, to nish the head ofthe cigar. I thus avoid the friction that is produced by non-revolvin g dies or headers that have been used to form and finish the head of the cigar.

Furthermore, the freely-hun g disk G, pressed up in a gentle and easy manner by the spiral spring l, having its bearing against the drivin g-shaft, but not attached to the latter, will hold the cigar up in its place between the trumpet-shaped portions of the rollers without producing friction on the end of the cigar, inasmuch as it receives its rotary motion from the cigar by its contact with the end of the latter.

Again, the knife or cutter H, arranged at the eXtreme point of the head of the cigar, will.

automatically fashion and cut out the inner edge of the wrapper, so as to make a perfect fit of the latter upon the point of the cigar. This cutting out the Wrapper, when done by a knife in the hand of the cigar-maker, either during the making of the cigar or in advance of placing the wrapper on the latteras in other machines, is always done at random, and makes the proper t of the wrapper upon the end of the cigar uncertain. l

Also, the knife K, arranged near the other end of the cigar, and made capable of being gradually slid or pressed up into the latter, will, by reason of the-simultaneous rotation .of the cigar, turn or cut oft' the end of the cigar much smoother and better than by forcibly cutting through the cigar under a stationary condition of the latter. When the wrapper has completely covered the head of the cigar, the trumpet or detached portions of one or more of the rollers may be temporarily held from turning, or made stationary by any suitable means, as, for instance, by a key passed endwise from the outside into lock with such portion or portions, so that the wrapper on the head of the cigar may be pressed and rolled more smoothly to give it finish or polish.

The front and back rollers, C G2, may, if it be thought advisable, be made trumpet-sh aped to the full length and size of the top and bottom rollers, and then such portions of them as would impin ge upon the top and bottom rollers be cut out to the shape of said rollers, thereby causing the trumpet portions of the front and back rollers to be stationary, and to bind upon and smooth the head of the cigar to its extreme end during the entire time of making the cigar.

Lastly, the knife at the extreme point of the head ofthe cigar may, if desired, be of V shape, with two inner cutting-edges, or be of any other suitable form, and operated in any desired manner.

What is here claimed, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination, with the table B, of the rollers C O1 G2 G3, arranged, substantially as described, for rotation in like directions, and formed, any or allof them,with trumpet-shaped extremities at their one end, essentially as specified.

' 2. The trumpet-shaped portions t', arranged to turn freely and independently of the rollers to which they belong, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

3. The combination of the automatically-0perating knife H with the several ci gar-forming rollers, and arranged in relation thereto or to the trumpet-shaped portions thereof, essentially as and for the purpose specified.

4. In combination with the forming-rollers, driven to rotate the cigar, as described, the knife K, adjustable in relation t0 said rollers or to the cigar in between them, substantially as herein set forth.

5. The combination,wth the rollers C G2 G3, of the upper roller, C1, bung in a swinging frame, F, essentially as specified.

GEO. B. CLARKE.

Witnesses:

JOHN D. RIssET, HENRY PALMER.

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