IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CIGAR LIGHTS, SPLINTS, MATCHES, AND TAPERS, OR VESTAS, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Charles Grimes, of No. 8, Wandle Terrace,
South Street, Wandsworth, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CIGAR LIGHTS, SPLINTS, MATCHES,
AND TAPERS, OR VESTAS, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN."
Sealed the 31st October 1862, and dated the 8th May 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Charles Grimes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 8th May 1862.
I, GEORGE CHARLES GRIMES, of No. 8, Wandle Terrace, South Street,
Wandsworth, in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CIGAR LIGHTS, SPLINTS,
MATCHES, AND TAPERS, OR VESTAS, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN," to be as follows:-
The improvements relate, first, to the manufacture of cigar lights adapted
for sticking into the cuds of cigars before ignition. I mix and grind a pastile
composition which may be such as ordinarily used in the manufacture of cigar
lights, but to which I add fine charcoal in powder or cascarella or other powder
adapted in quantity to form a sufficiently plastic composition to be rolled into
a thin cake which I then cut into suitable shapes or forms, for sticking into
or on the ends of cigars. To these forms I apply when dry an ignitable
composition which may be such as ordinarily used for such purposes.

page_text: The improvements also relate to cigar lights formed on splints, and consist
in saturating or coating the splint before the pastile composition is applied to
it with a solution or coating of ignitable matter or composition, such as chlorate
or nitrate of potash. Also in dipping the ends of such splints upon which the
pastile composition is applied in a resinous or waxy matter or composition that
will not readily melt at ordinary temperatures, but which when the pastile
composition is ignited will, by the heat thereof, readily admit of the splint
slipping out leaving the ignited matter in or on the cigar; common wax
scented will do.
The improvements also relate to the manufacture of cigar lights by
substituting for wood or metal splints the use of cotton or other suitable fibrous
material coated with wax, stearine, or other composition, as in the manufacture
of tapers or vestas, by combining with the wax or stearine or other coating
employed to the fibre, charcoal and scent with ignitable substance, as chlorate
or nitrate of potash, amorphous phosphorus, separately or combined, so as to
make a light to burn with a flame or only to smoulder.
Also the improvements relate to means of forming wax, stearine, or other
composition tapers or vestas. For this purpose, in place of drawing the fibre
as it passes from the melted wax or other composition through holes in a plate
forming dies or moulds of the size of the intended taper or vesta or thereabouts,
and repeating the dipping and drawing several times until the quantity of such
matter required has been taken up, the fibre as it passes from the melted
matter passes successively through series of plates with holes forming dies
having a tendency to reduce the taper by compression without necessarily
repeating the immersions in the melted matter. I also form the plates forming
the dies hollow or otherwise adapted to receive or be acted upon by cold or
hot water, or other media adapted to reduce or raise the temperature according
to the time of year, or as may be found most advantageous in operating.
Also the improvements relate to means for cutting splints. For this purpose
a series of dies or cutters of a cylindrical, square, of other form corresponding
with the sectional form of the intended splints are applied separately or in sets
to a bar or frame in parallel planes, but so as to act in succession, by which the
power required in cutting will be reduced, and by the dies or cutters being
separate when one of them becomes defective it may be readily replaced. The
wood being cut is caused to recede at the proper time to admit of the back
passage of it clear of the splints last cut. Also I apply such cutters and in.
such order to the face of a wheel or disc. Also when cutting wood by
mechanical means into splints for matches and cigar lights, in place of forming
the cutting die with cutting surfaces adapted to cut at one operation splints

page_text: corresponding with the whole width of the wood to be cut, I reduce such die
so as to cut only a portion of the width of the wood at each operation, and
another portion at the next and so on, by which labour is economized. For
this purpose the wood after cach operation is shifted a distance adapted to
follow the cutter to effect the succeeding cuts upon a portion of the width of
block upon each other, and then side by side until the whole of the block has
been cut into splints.
Also the improvements relate to means or apparatus such as for which
Letters Patent were granted to me and George Bell, on the 21st of December
1854, No. 2691, and consist in applying springs to the bars or pins which
act by their ends upon the ends of the splints in the trough to push such splints
into the clamps, in order that in the event of any of such bars or pins from any
cause sticking, such spring or springs may yield in a backward direction and
admit of the other bars or pins freely acting, whilst the springs are, of strength
sufficient for ordinary operation on the splints.
Also the improvements relate to the bar or bars used in such machinery for
forcing out the matches from between the bars or plates of the clamp, by
applying to the upper and under edges of such bar or bars blades adapted to
insure the pushing out of only the particular row or rows of splints. desired to
be removed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Charles Grimes in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 7th November 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
. CHARLES GRIMES, of No. 8, Wandle Terrace, South Street, Wandsworth, in
the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS. Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign,
.did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
George Charles Grimes, Her special licence, that I, the said George Charles
Grimes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
George Charles Grimes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,

page_text: the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF CIGAR LIGHTS, SPLINTS, MATCHES, AND TAPERS, OR VESTAS, AND
IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," upon the condition, (amongst
others) that I the said George Charles Grimes, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under ny, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the
same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of tho said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Charles Grimes, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what mauner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:-
The improvements relate, first, to the manufacture of cigar lights adapted
particularly for sticking into the ends of cigars before ignition. I mix and
grind a pastile composition which may be such as ordinarily used in the
manufacture of cigar lights, but to which I add fine charcoal in powder, or
cascarella, or other powder, adapted in quantity to form a sufficiently plastic
composition that will admit of being rolled into a thin cake, the quantity of
powder required may be readily ascertained by adding it in small quantities
till the desired consistency is attained.
such board or
The following is a convenient method which I have adopted to obtain
uniformity of thickness of cakes of the composition preparatory to cutting it
into the forms for use:-Upon opposite sides or edges of a board or table I
apply ledges or slips projecting upwards from the surface of
table a distance equal to the thickness of the intended cake. Having first
dusted such surface with powdered charcoal or other suitable powder place
a sufficient quantity of composition thereon, and by means of a wooden or
other roller I roll it till, the roller runs on the projecting ledges. It may be
desirable to apply the charcoal or other powder occasionally to the roller as
well as to the surface on which the rolling is effected to prevent the con-
position from sticking to either. I then cut such composition into suitable
shapes or forms for sticking into or on the ends of cigars. This may be done
by first scoring the cake of composition by means of a blade or a knife having
a projection or projections to rest on a suitable guide or rule placed upon
the ledges or projections of the rolling board or table referred to, in order to
regulate the depth of cut effected when the cut is not required to be quite
through. Having scored the composition across in a slanting direction and
in parallel lines of about, say, one quarter of an inch apart, I then proceed

page_text: to score it across in a transverse direction or in a direction inclined to the
first scoring by which the composition will be cut or scored to the depth
desired in pointed or diamond shapes. I then again cut the composition
across, by preference, in lines by which the previously obtained diamond
shapes will be cut into triangles. I do not, however, confine myself to these
particular shapes, as the composition may be cut or pressed into other forms,
if desired. In some cases I lay a piece of thin paper on the board or table
before the composition is applied, in place of dusting with powder, as before
described. To these forms I apply, when dry, an ignitable composition
which may be such as ordinarily used for such purposes.
The improvements relate, secondly, to cigar lights formed on splints,
and consist in saturating or coating the splint upon which the pastile com-
position is applied with a solution or coating of ignitable matter or composi-
tion, such as chlorate or nitrate of potash. When I use a solution of
nitrate of potash I make it strong by mixing, say, one and a half pounds of
the nitrate in a pint of water. I make this solution hot and then dip the
ends of the splints to be used for cigar lights into it one or more times
according to the rapidity with which the wood is required to burn away.
In using a solution of the chlorate of potash I proceed in the same way as
with nitrate of potash.
The improvements relate, thirdly, to dipping the ends of splints upon
which pastile composition is to be applied in a resinous or waxy matter or
composition that will not readily melt at ordinary temperatures, but which,
when pastile composition applied thereon is ignited, will, by the heat thereof,
readily admit of the splint slipping out and leaving the ignited matter in or
on the cigar. Common wax answers the purpose very well, but it is made
barder and more suitable by the addition of a little resin or such like substance,
and I mix a little of some agreeable scent with it to neutralize or qualify
the smell from the wax or resin employed. I then dip these prepared ends
of the splints in the pastile composition and finish them in the usual way.
The improvements relate, fourthly, to the manufacture of cigar lights by
substituting for wood or metal splints the use of cotton or other suitable
fibrous material coated with wax, stearine, or other composition, as in the
manufacture of tapers or vestas, by combining with the wax or stearine or
other coating employed to the fibre charcoal and scent with ignitable sub-
stance as chlorate or nitrate of potash, amorphous phosphorous separately or
combined, so as to make a light to burn with a flame or only to smoulder.
A composition which answers well consists of one pound and a quarter of
stearine, one quarter of a pound of ordinary wax, two pounds of nitrate of

page_text: potash, half a pound of amorphous phosphorous, and half a pound of
storax, or two pounds of amorphous phosphorous, one pound of wax, and one
quarter of a pound of storax or other scent. These compositions may be
heated by a water bath or otherwise, melting tlie wax or stearine first. The
proportions of the ingredients may, however, be very much varied. In some
cases the cotton or other fibrous substance to be used is first soaked in a
hot solution of nitrate of potash composed of about six ounces of nitrate to a
pitit of water, and when thoroughly dry it is drawn through the above com-
position, or through a composition of about one pound of stearine or wax, one
quarter of a pound of scent, and as much nitrate of potash as the wax or
stearine will contain, leaving it thin enough to be drawn through the plate.
This is more especially the case when making a smouldering light. These
lights may be made in the same manner as wax vestas, taking care to draw
the cotton through holes of such size as will leave as small a portion of the
melted matter on the cotton, as is consistent with its sticking well together.
The improvements relate, fifthly, to means of forming wax, stearine, or
other composition tapers or vestas. For this purpose, in place of drawing
the fibre, as it passes from the melted wax or other composition through
holes in a plate forming dies or moulds of the size of the intended taper or
vesta, or thereabouts, and repeating the dipping and drawing several times
as is now the common practice, until the quantity of such matter required
has been taken up, the fibre, as it passes from the melted matter, passes
successively through series of plates with holes forming dies having a ten-
dency to reduce the taper by compression without necessarily repeating the
immersions in the melted matter. I also form such plates forming the dies
hollow, or otherwise adapted to receive or be acted upon by hot or cold water
or other media adapted to reduce or raise the temperature thereof, according
to the time of year, or as may be found most advantageous in operating.
In carrying out this part of the improvements I prefer using about seven
or eight plates for the cotton to pass through after it leaves the melting pan,
and I place the dies some distance apart, say, three or four feet, or more;
the last two plates or dies, or those nearest to the drum or wheel upon which
the taper is to be wound, having holes of the size the taper is intended to
be when finished; and 1 prefer placing the next plate nearer to the melting
pan with holes a shade larger than these last two, and the next plate having
holes a shade larger than tha one, and so on in succession up to the first, or
that nearest the melting pan, which I generally form the largest. The melted
wax or stearine should not be too hot, and instead of its passing through a
die placed directly over the melting pan I, by preference, place the first die.

page_text: some distance away from it with a shoot under it, in order that the surplus
wax may be conveyed back into the melting pan again. The shoot may, if
desired, be kept warm by means of a few jets of gas, or by other warming
means placed under it. If only warmth is required to these dies a small gas
burner will be found very convenient, placing one under each plate in position
to warm the plate without touching the passing tapers.
The improvements relate, sixthly, to means for cutting splints. For this
purpose a series of dies or cutters of a cylindrical, square, or other suitable
form, corresponding with the sectional form of the intended splints, are
applied separately or in sets to a bar or frame in parallel planes, but so as
to act in succession one after the other, by which the power required in
cutting will be reduced, and by the dies or cutters being separate when one
of them becomes defective it may be readily replaced. The wood being cut
by cutters so arranged is caused to recede a little after each set of cuts has
been effected to admit of the back passage, or return of the cutters to clear
the splints last cut. I cause the block of wood to be kept up against the
face of the cutters. means of a weighted cord. The action of working
would then be as follows: - Having first placed the block of wood to be cut
into the feeding box of the apparatus, as is well understood, and placed the
weighted cord in connection, so as to cause the wood to be brought up against
the face of the plane or cutter carriage, the plane or cutter carriage can
be drawn sharply along in the forward direction; but just behind the last
cutter I place a wedge-shaped projection, which passing between the wood
and the face of the plane presses the wood back a little distance, and it is
then held in its place by means of a spring catch, which slips round the
corner of the wood and holds it back. The plane or cutter carriage is then
drawn back, having now a free passage for the splints, and when nearly back
a projection, placed just before the first cutter, but sufficiently low not to
interfere with the working of the cutters, releases the catch, and the operation.
is repeated until the block of wood is cut up.. The plane or cutter carriage
may be any length and width desired; I prefer one about twelve feet long, so
as to have only about two cutters in the wood at one time. I also, sometimes,
apply such cutters, and in the order referred to, on the face of a large wheel
or disc; but in this case the action being continuous no catch is required,
but simply to keep the wood in the feeding box pressing against the face of
the wheel by hand, or by weight, or other contrivance, as is well understood.
In using this adaptation, I prefer using a wheel of large diameter, say, of niue
or twelve feet, so that the cutters shall work in a straighter line than would be
the case if a small one were used. Also when cutting wood by mechanical

page_text: means into splints for matches and cigar lights; in place of forming the
cutting die with cutting surfaces adapted to cut at one operation splints cor-
responding with the whole width of the wood to be cut, I sometimes reduce
such die so as to cut only a portion of the width of the wood at each
operation, and another portion at the next, and so on, by which labour is
economized; that is to say, instead of placing a die or cutter on the centre or
thereabouts of the slide or cutter carriage, as at present practised, I place the
die or cutter on the extreme edge of such slide or cutter carriage, the top
cutter of the die projecting a little above the slide. The advantage of such
an arrangement is that almost any thickness of wood can be cut in the
machine without its necessarily having to be sawn into planks, or in the event
of a portion of the bottom of the die becoming broken on raising the under
plate of the feeding box a corresponding distance, the wood will be cut in
smaller sections without necessarily having to change or wait for another die.
It often happens that wood cannot be cut from either end, in which case, with
a slide constructed on this principle, the wood may be cut from the face in
sections as well as from the ends thereof. After each series of operations of
cutting through the block to a depth therein corresponding with the width
of the die used, and the whole substance of the block has thereby become
reduced in thickness. The block is shifted back a distance sufficient to allow
of the operation being repeated until the whole of the block has been cut
into splints.
The improvements relate, seventhly, to means or apparatus, such as for
which Letters Patent were granted to me and George Bell on the Twenty-
first of December 1854, No. 2691, in which bars or pins are used to act by
their ends upon the ends of splints in a trough to push such splints into
clamps. In the machinery or apparatus, as thus described, the bars or pins
are rigidly connected, or are strung on a wire, and will not act independently
of each other in the direction of their length, and this part of my improve-
ments consists in applying springs to such bars or pins, in order that in the
event of any of such bars or pins from any cause sticking, the springs thereto
will admit of a yield in a backward direction, and allow of the other bars or
pins freely acting. The springs should be of strength sufficient for ordinary
operation on the splints. To the frame carrying these bars or pins I attach
a couple of projecting plates, one at each end thereof, carrying a rod of, say,
about half an inch in thickness, running across the pushing out bars or pins,
and, say, about five inches forward from the back ends of them, and about
two inches above their level. To the end of each bar or pin I attach a small
book, and corresponding hooks bang on the forward rod just mentioned.
I

page_text: then connect a hook of each pushing out bar or pin with a hook on such rod
by means of india-rubber or other springs. Then in working the machine
when a piece of waste or other obstruction, as is often the case, gets in front
of any of the bars or pins, such bars or pins will yield in a backward direc-
tion, allowing the machine to continue its work, the obstructions generally
being removed by the action of the machine in its succeeding operations.
Also the improvements relate to the bar or bars used in such machinery for
forcing out the matches from between the bars or plates of the clamp by
applying to the upper and under edges of such bar or bars blades adapted to
insure the pushing out of only the particular row or rows of splints desired to
be removed.
Having thus described my said Invention, and means which I adopt in
carrying the several parts thereof into effect, I would have it understood that
I do not confine myself to the particular details herein given, so long as the
peculiar character of the several improvements be retained, substantially as
explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Charles Grimes, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
GEORGE CHARLES GRIMES.
(L.S.)