US915342A - Tobacco-leaf-stemming machine. - Google Patents

Description

H. GERRIB E W. PBNDER..

TOBACCO LEAF STBMMING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JULYh 10, 1908.

915,342. Patented Mar. 16, 1909.

/y INVENTDBS HARRY E.. SERBIE.

WALTEHIE'ENEEE H. R. GBRRIE & W'. PENDBR, TOBACCO LEAF STEMMING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JULY l0, 1908.

Patented Mar; 16, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

INVENT HARHYHEEHHIE 0 37 WALTEHFENBEPL.

WlTNEssES HARRY E. GEREIE AND WALTER FENDER, or MONTREAL, QUEBECNADA.'

TOBACCO-LEAF-STEMMING MACHINE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 1o, 1909.

Application filed July 10, 1908. Serial No. 442,826.

To all whom it. may conce-rn.' j

Be it known that we, HARRY R. GERRIE .and WALTER FENDER, of the Ycity of Montreal, in the Province of Quebec and Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Tobacco-Leaf Stemming Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

`Our invention relates to improvements in tobacco leaf stripping machines and the main object is to prov-ide a sim le and inexpensive machine which will rapidly strip the tobacco leaves from the stem without waste.

A further object is to rovide a machine that will operate on packecllleaf tobacco with out the necessity of moistening or spreading same.

A still further object is to provide an adjustable cutter adapted to sever the stem in different varieties of tobacco at any desired length.

Heretofore nearly all tobacco leaf has been stripped by hand, whichoperation is both expensive and wasteful. Furthermore this method necessitates moistening the leaf bcfore it can be handled, which destroys the ila-vor and also .the color of the tobacco.

Our invention is designed to eliminate the above di'ilculties and consists essentially of a framework carrying feed rolls, operating mechanism, and a stem conveyor. rlhe stripping knives, which are an important part of the machine, are located at the front thereof andv comprise a pair of annular plates having elliptical orifices therein, said orifices being normally partially7 out of register with each other. j

In the drawings which illustrate our invention:-Figure 1 is an elevation of the right hand side of the machine. Fig. 2 isa-n elevation Vof the left hand side of the machine. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line 6-'7 of Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a plan view with the cover removed. Fig. 5 is a partial front elevation.

In the above defined figures, 3 designates a foundation'mounted on suitable legs 9, and supporting the substantially L-shaped side frames 10 which are provided with poripheral stiffening flanges 11. A roll 12 is mounted between the frames 10 and a correspondiug roll 13 is mounted above the roll 12` y means of bearing blocks 14' operating in slots 15 in side frames. -The ro- lfls 12 and 13 are preferably provided with resi-lient coverings 16, such as rubber or other suitable ,drive pulley `to the extremity of the journal of the lever roll 12 and tho two gears 35 and 36 are conv material but may be of solid material such as steel. The pressure of the'rolls is regulated by means of helical springs 17 and set screws 18 passing through the top plate 19 of the machine and adjusting the compression of the springs. The rolls are kept clean 'by means f Scrapers 20 carried by shafts 21 which are rigidly secured to the bosses 22 through which they pass in the side frames. An idler roll 23 is mounted below the scraper of the lower roll. A second roll 24 is mounted in blocks 25 operating in slots 26 in the arms 27 of the frames. the rolls 23 and 24. T he tension of the conveyer 28 is regulated by screws 29 which pass throuo'h the ends of the arms 27 and engage threa ed bosses 30 on the blocks 25.

The motive power of the machine is tra-nsmitted by a belt 31 to a pulley 32 mounted on the shaft 33, which is `supported in bearings 34 secured to the foundation. A chain A conveyor 28 connects gear35 is fixed to the shaft 33 inside the i A similar gear 36 is fixed nected by a chain 37. The opposite ends of the rolls 12 and 13 from the drive chain 37 are connected by long tooth gears 38 and 39 to insure the equal rotation of both rolls. The gears 35 and 36 with the chainV 37 and the pulley 32 are inclosed in a suitable casing 40, and the back gears 38 and 39 are also inclosod in a casing 41, thus preventing liability to" accident. On the opposite side of the machine from thc chain, a small pulley 42 is iixed to the shaft and a corresponding pulley 43 to the extremity o1' the rol-124, both pulleys boing connected by a belt 44 whereby motion is transmitted from the shaft 33 to thc (envoyer 23. The stripping knives consist of a 'fixed )late 45, forming the front oi' the machine, which is bent angularly out- Qvardly opposite thc junctions of the rolls 12 and 13, as best soon in Fig. A3. The plate 4 5 forms a support for the second late 46 which is similar in form and slides etween the plate 45 andthe ends of the side frames' 1d. Each of the plates is provided' a' siibstautially elliptical opening 47 in the an gular odge thereof. The inner plate 46 is provided with a block .48 which projects through av slot 49l in the outer plate 45 and carries one extremity o f a bar 50, the purpose ofi which will be hereinafter described. A disk 51 is mounted on the end of the shaft 33,

. voutside the pulley 42, by means of a clutch 4, the members by nuts 73.

'4`0-'Yregisteiz withI each other.

and is provided with Van outer revolving sleeve 61 to minimize the friction. with the cam. The other portion oi the lever 5S eX- tends forwardly and terminates in a handle 62 adjacent the base of which the bar 50 is pivoted. A helical tension spring 63 is 'fixed to the frame and provided with a threaded extension 61 which passes through the lever 58 so that the tension of the spring 63 may be adjusted by means oi a nger nut 65. A

- small flanged drum 66 is fixed to the disk 5i and'has wound thereon a cord or chain 67 from which depends a Weight 68.` The cord is Wound so that the weight tends to rotate the disk-in the opposite direction from the rest of the machine. A small one Way stop 69 is pivoted at 70 to the frame and lies in the path of the cam 57. A spring 71 insures the sto being in position to arrest the cam when t e disk moves under the impulse of the Weight. The side frames are braced and maintained a suitable distance apart by means of shouldered bars 72 secured to The top ol' the machine is inclosed by a removable cover 74 open at the end to allow the egress of to bascostems.'

The operation of the device is as follows rlhe operator grips the handle 62 and presses it inwardly so that the knife openings 47 He now introduces the stalk end of a tobacco leaf into this orifice sulficiently to be caught between the rolls 12 and i3, and releases the handle 62, whereupon the spring 63 actuates the lever 58 and bar to maintain the knife openings as muchv out of register as the tobaccowill allow, thus 'insuring a knife pressure o all sides of the stem. The resilient covering 16 Vof the rolls 12 and 13 grips and holds the tobacco stem while the rotation of the rolls draws thestem into the machine, thus stripping the tobacco leafoii' on the edges' of the nife openings. The spring moiinted upper roll 13. maintains an even pressure and grip on the stem, While the rolls, being geared together, further insures a perfect'grip. Any

matter adhering to the rollsis removed by the Scrapers 20, which discharge such matter into the rapidly traveling conveyor 44, which also carries the tobacco stems. When the operator judges that suiiicient stem has been removed from a tobacco leaf, he either presses the handle of the lever 58 outwardly causing the knives to move out of register sufficiently to sever the tobacco stem, or`

belt drive.

as the stern is severed, the operator releases the clutch and frees the disk, whereon the welght 68 acting through the cord 67, `uhich has been wound on the drum 66 by the rota- Ytion of the disk, rotates the disk in the opposite direction until the back of the Wedge shaped cam 57 comes in contact `with the stop 69 and arrests the motion of the disk Tb 1. stripped stalk is carried by the conveyor and discharged at the rear of the machine. A small clutch may be used on the driving pulley 32 so that the machine can be stopped independently oft-he line shaft or individual motor drive may be employed to replace the The invention possesses a great variety of advantages, the principal ones being, first, a great saving of tobacco by clean stripped stems due to uniform knife pressure and speed; second, rapidity of operation; third, simplicity of construction giving loaY cost and reliability; fourth, protection of operatives by covering all.'moving parts; and fth, ease and simplicity of operation.

Having thusdescribed our invention, what we claim is i 1. In a tobacco leaf stripping device, a stationary apertured plate, a movable apertured plate, a lever adapted to reciprocate said movable rplatc, a revolving shaft, a disk provided with a radial slot, mounted on said shaft, a block carrying a Wedge shaped cam, slidably adjustable in said radial slot and adapted to actuate said lever.

2. In a leaf stripping machine, a pair of cooperating apertured knives, an adj ustably tensioned lever' connected to one of said knives and rovided at its inner end With a revolubie s eeve, a revolving shaft, a slotted disk, a wedre shaped cam radially adjustable on sait disk and cri-acting with said revoluble sleeve, a clutch connecting said disk and shaft and means located on said shaft-for rotating the diskin an opposite direction from that in which said shaft moves.

3. ln a leaf stripping machine, a pair oi' stripping knives comprising a stationary a ertured plate and a movable apertured p ate, a spring actuated lever connected to said movable plate, operating to normally move' said lates into position to strip the blade of a eaf from the stem, rolls for engagin'o the stem in drawing the same through the plates, and a rotary cam arranged to operate said lever to cause said knives to sever the stem, substantially described.4

los

4. ln a tobacco leaf stripping device, a pair of plates having cutting apertures therein, a manually operatedand tensioned lever adapted to normally maintain said plates in position to'strip the tobacco leaf passing through said apertures, a pair of ressure rolls adapted to grip the stem of the eat and means arranged to operated said lever to cause the knives to sever the stern, substantially as described.'

5. ln a leaf stripping machine, a pair of superposed stripping plates, a lever connected to one of said plates, operating to normally maintain them in tensioned contact with the tobacco leaf being stri ped, a pair of rolls adapted to draw the stem t irougli the plates, a cam cooperating with said lever to intermittently reciprocate one of said plates, said cam being carried by and adjustably mounted u on a revoluble disk, substantially as i descri ed.

6, In a leaf stripping machine, a pair of knives consisting oi a fixed plate bent angularly outwardly and provided with an elliptical opening in the angular edge thereof,

and a movable plate similar in form, supported by and slidably mounted on said fixed plate,l a tensioned lever adapted to reciprocate saidinovable plate and to normally maintain said elliptical openings out of register, and means operating to sever stems of diHerent thicknesses.

7. In a leaf stripping machine, a pair of i cooperating apertured plates, having euttin(r s ai apertures therein, a spring actuating into position to strip the leaf from the stein, a revolving shalt, a slotted disk, a cam ad Justably mounted on said disk and adapted lever to normally. move said plates'E i l i to actuate said lever, a clutch connecting said disk and shaft, a pair of rolls, and sera ers for said rolls, substantially as described.

8. -In a tobacco leaf stripping device, a stationary apertured plate, a' movable apertured plate, a springr held lever adapted to actuate said movable late, and means arranged to move said ever to cause the plates to sever the stein and said means -'being adjustable to actua'te said lever different de rees to cause the plates to sever stems Aof r iiferent thicknesses.

9. ln a tobacco leaf stripping machine a pair of stripping knives comprising a stationary apertured plate, and a movable apertured plate, a lever connected to said aperturedplate, a ever connected to said movable p ate and normally maintaining said plates in tensioned contact with the leaves being stripped, said lever being manu ally operable t0 move the plate to receive the stem of the leaf and also to iinally sever 7 the stem.

ln witness whereof We have hereunto set ourhands inthepresence of two Witnesses.

HARRY R. GERRIE. WALTER PENDE Witnesses C. W. '.iarnoii, E. B. Mclinxam

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