US984742A - Cigarette and process of making same. - Google Patents

Description

J. W. BLOSSER. CIGARETTE AND PROGESS OF MAKING SAME.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 22, 1909.

Patented Feb. 21, 1911.

j UNITED STATES PATENT oFFioE.

JOSEPH w. B'LossER, or rLANr GEORGIA, As'sI GNoit. To THE faLOssEii'. coih'ANi? on ATLANTA, GEORGIA, A CORPORATION OF GEORGIA.

CIGARETTE AND PROCESS OF MAKING sAmi-i;

PatentedFeb. 21, 1911. 1909. Serial No. 485,113.

.To all whom 'it-my concern: a

Be it known that I, JOSEPH W. BLOSSER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Atlanta, in the county of Fulton and State of Georgia, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Cigarettes-and Processes of, Making the Same, of which the following is a specification. This invention relates to cigarettes composed of powdered or granulated material,-

and its object is to provide an improvetb plug or stopper for retaining said material in the paper tube.

The invention isapplicable to cigarettes made of tobacco, but it is especiallyadapted for those in which the filling is composed of powdered, coarsely. ground or granulated substances haying a. medicinal nature, and producing when smoked a vapor possessing remedial properties when inhaled or otherwise brought into contact with the inflamed or otherwise diseased mucous membrane ofthe nose, throat and lungs. As ordinarily made, such cigarettes are composed of a paper tube having one end tucked or folded in,'sa-id tube being filled with the powdered "or granulated medicinal substance, and a plug of cotton wool being located in the mouth-piece end to keep the filling from running out. This plug. or stopper may be a wad rammed into the tube after it is filled; or the cotton may be rolled into the mouthw piece in' the process of making the tube, the filling'being introduced froin-the other end, Whig? is then tucked in to retain the filling. ither of these processes is slow and expensive, as each cigarette must be handleds'eparatelg. Moreover,- the cotton plug when ramme through the mouth-piece 40 does not perfectly serve for the purpose ofretaining the substance to; be smoked, and if the cigarettes are transported to a distance the vibration to which they are subjected is" liable to loosen the plug, allowing the powder to escape. and the cigarette thereby becomes worthlessf Furthermore, the ramming is liable to produce a clogging of the filling at a point next to the mouth-piece so as-to obstruct the free passage of smoke through it. By myinvention, however,

these difficulties are obviated, and thecigaret-tes containing powdered or granulated substances can be manufactured at much less ekpense and far more rapidly than heretofore, and at the same time rendered less liable to be damaged bythe wasting of the filling.

The invention consists first in a'p'rocessof manufacture and second in the cigarette produced by said process. I

In carrying olitthe process, a glutinous substance in the form of paste or gra'nules is introduced into the mouth-piece end of the tube after it is, filled, and is then if dry granules are used subjected to moisture or heator both, preferably, steam, to soften said glutinous substance and cause it to ad: here to the walls of the mouth-piece or the tube. If a granulated substance is used, the moist heat will also cause the granules to cohere-together. I prefer to use a glutinous substance which on drying or cooling will shrink slightly and draw away from the inner surface of the tube or mouth-piece at various points,- so as to form small passages through which the smoke can be drawn. At other points it draws inwardly the inner adheringlayer of the mouth-piece, leavinga space between that 'layei and the next.- The substance which I prefer to em ploy is ground glue.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section on an enlarged scale 1 of a cigarette after the filling has been in-. troduced. Fig.- 2 shows it at the conclusion of the first jarring operation.- Fig. 3- shows it after the granules of glue have been introduced. Fig; 4 shows it after the second jarring ready for the application of the heat or moisture or both. 5 is a cross section, on a larger scale, through the cooled, dried and shrunk plug, and Fig. 6 shows one mode of introducing the filling. and the glue. v

Thepaper tubes 1 are those in ordinary use, and are provided at one end with a mouth-piece 2 consisting of, a coiled strip of paper forming thin annular passages 3 through which the smoke maypass. A quantity of such tubes, with the other ends 100 4tucked in to close them, are assembledin an' uprightpositionwith the tucked ends downward. The powdered, coarsely ground or granulated medicinal filling 5 is then introduced into the tubes by siftingit over until they are all filled up to the top (Fig. 1). I H

vthe assembled group, as shown in Fig. 6,"

By gently jarring or jolting the nest of tubes, the filling is caused to settle down in the tubes, leaving an empty space in the upper ends of the mouth-pleces, (Fig. 2).

5 A small quantity of the glutinous substance 6 preferably in theform of a. dry powder or anules is,then sifted over the upper ends of the tubes, until they are again filled to the top, (Fig. 3). The excess of powder having been brushed oil, the tubes are again jolted to pack the granules of glue orother glutinous substance, Whose weight assists alsoin further consolidating the filling. At the conclusion of this operation, the material .6 of which the plugv is to be formed stands about at the point shown in Fig. 4. The tubes are then subjected to heat or moisture or both, preferably by subjecting them to steam, in order to soften the gran- 20 ules of glue or the like and cause them-to adhere to the walls of the tubes and also to cohere together in a more or less solid plug, as shown at 7 in Fig. 5.

Upon cooling and drying after the heat-' ing or moistening step of the process, the glue tends to contract slightly and in so doing it pulls away here and there from the walls of the'mouth-piece, thereb forming small passages 8 between itsel freely when the ci arette is used.- Other passages are forme by the separating of the layers of the mouth piece by reason of the inner layer adhering to the 'plug and being drawn inwardly at points away from the next layer, as shown at 9. These passages, however, are not large enough to allow the filling to escape.

. I By means of this process a large quantity of cigarettes can be treated at once, effecting a large saving in labor'and greatly increasing the output in a given time. The

results secured are uniform, so that the cigarettes will smoke'evenly and freely and all alike. They can be transported long distances without any danger of theplugs workingloose and the filling coming out.

As the ci arette is never smoked-beyond the inner en of the mouth-piece, there is no likelihood of the glue producing an unpleasant odor. The plug, being located preferably at or near the inner end of the mouth piece, forms a.firm and unyielding portion which affords a good grasp for cigarette from being crushed a hold.

So far as I am. aware, no one has heretofore formed a retaining plug for a cigarette in situ.. The plugs prevlously used have all been made separately and then pushed into the tube of the cigarette. By the process I have described, this slow and expensive mode of manufacture is avoided, the. granules of glutinous material being simply sifted into by too tight and the mouth-piece which permits the smoke to pass the setting of the plug during its formation the fingers ofthe smoker and prevents the a plurality of tubes nested together, and thentreated in such a manner as to form the plugs simultaneously in all the cigarettes.

Having thus described my invent-ion, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patentis:

1. The method of providing a cigarette with a filler-retaining plug, consisting in first introducing within the cigraette the material to be used in forming the plug, and 7 then so treating said material that its form will change and, by the act of changing, antomatically form draft openings.

2. The method of providing a cigarette with a filler-retaining plug, consisting in first introducing within the cigarette glutinous material to be used in forming the plug, then softening the glutinous material, and finally allowing the glutinous material to dry and shrink and thereby automatically form draft openings.

3. The method of providing a' cigarette with a filler-retaining plug, consisting in first introducing within the cigarette dry, granulated material to be used in forming the plug, then softening or fiuxing the granules thereof, and finally allowing the fiuxed material to dry and shrink and thereby au-' tomatically form draft openings.

4:. A cigarette having a filler-retaining plug formed therein provided .with draft openings which are automatically formed by the setting of the plug during its formation within the cigarette.

5.-A cigarette having a filler-retaining plug formed therein provided with draft openings substantially at thev periphery thereof which are automatically formed by within the cigarette. 5

6. A cigarette having a filler-retaining plug composed of fiuxed and shrunk granules, of glutinous material formed therein provided with draft openings which are air tomatically formed by thesetting of the plug during its formation within the cigarette.

7. The process of making cigarettes which consists in nesting a plurality of paper tubes, introducing therein a filler. of smoking material, agitating said tubes. to cause said filler to settle, introducing into said par-.- tially filled tubes granules of glutinous material, again agitating the tubes to settle down the filler and the glutinous material aforesaid, and then softening the glutinous material to cause the granules thereof to cohere and adhere to the walls ofthe cigarette, and .finally permitting. the glutinous material to dry and shrink to thereby automatically form draft passages through said glutinous material. 4

8. The process offorming a cigarette, consisting in filling a paper tube with a smoking material, and thenagitating the said tube to cause said filler to settle and thereby provide a measuring receptacle for the subsequent introduction of aplug. L

9. The process of forming a cigarette, consisting in' filling a paper tube with a smoking material, then agitating the said tube to\ cause said filler to settle and therebyprovide a measuring receptacle for the subse quent introduction of a plug, then introducingin-the receptacle thus formed the requisite amount of material for the formation of the plug, again agitatingthe tube to'lcause the filler and superposed plug material to settle, and-finally setting the plug.

10. The process of forming a cigarette, consisting in filling a papefi tube with smoking material, then agitating the said tubeto cause said filler to settle and thereby prok vide a measuring receptacle for the subsev material, again agitating the tube to cause quent introduction ofa' plug, thenintroducing in said receptacle granules of glutinous the filler and theplug material to settle, and finally first softening the plug m'ateria-l' to" cause its granules'to coalesce, then dry and shrink to thereby set the plug and automatically form draft openings.

-11. The, process of making a retainingplug for a cigarette, which consists in introducing'into the cigarette tube a quantity offilling, then introducing a 'quantity of granulated glutinous material, heating saiolv material to, soften it andlrender it coherent,

and then cooling it to cause the plugto shrink and tear away fromthe. walls of the:

Images