Improvements in Machines for Making Cigarettes.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Mar., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 13th Nov.. 1895-Accepted, 14th Dec., 1895
Improvements in Machines for Making Cigarettes.
I, CHRISTOPHE OLLAGNIER, of Rue d'Arve No. 1, Carouge, near Geneva, in
the Republic of Switzerland, Manufacturer of Cigarette-machiues, do 'hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The invention consists of new and useful improvements in the class of inachines
for the manufacturing cigarettes in which the paper tubes are previously made on
other suitable machines.
The improved machine is designed to fill these tubes with tobacco throughout
their whole length or a part thereof.
The said paper-tubes may or may not be provided with cardboard-mouth-pieces
in both cases however they are adapted to be filled by means of the said
machine:
My improved machine is especially characterised by a device intended to
compress the tobacco which is to be introduced into each cigarette to a pre-
determined degree and to then retract the compressor before the said tobacco is
introduced into the paper-tube.
This important feature of my improved machine has for its object to reduce to a
minimum the number of defective cigarettes produced, the defective cigarettes
being very numerous amongst those produced by the similar machines actually
in use. .
Cigarette machines have heretofore generally been constructed with a view to
making the entire cigarette automatically without hand-work; this I have found
to be practically prejudicial to the quality of work done and my opinion is based
on the fact that according to the hygrometric state of the tobacco, which is very
variable, the volume of tobacco which must be filled into each paper-tube must be
varied, which can only be done by hand, the touch of a clever workman being the
best regulator for such work.
In carrying the invention into practice the frame of part of the machine. is fixed
to a table of any kind and of suitable height. The said frame has a front-plate
provided with two sleeves. A spindle passes through the plate and the frame and
carrying a gear wheel and a bevel wheel. The gear-wheel engages with
and with a toothed segment the axis of which is journalled in one of the sleeves of
the plate.
rack
The bevel-wheel gears with a corresponding wheel fixed to the axis which carries
a cam.
It is to be understood that the gears just described, which are intended to
transmit the rocking movements of the toothed segment on the one hand to the
rack and on the other hand to the axis of the cam inay he of any suitable kind and
that I do not limit myself to the above described combination of wheels. There
may be interposed for instance, one or more intermediate gears intended to reduce
the amount of oscillation of the said segment and of the corresponding treadle
without reducing the amount of oscillation of the cam and of the to-and-fro-motion
of the rack.
To the toothed segment there is provided an arm the end of which is connected
by means of an adjustable rod to a rocking-lever of the treadle. The said rocking-
lever is journalled in a bearing which is fixed to the floor. and which is, provided

page_text: with suitable projections to limit the movement of the treadle-lever. By
alternatively acting upon the right or the left treadle, the segment is caused to be
alternately rocked in oue or the other direction which causes the cam to be
partially rotated and the rack to be correspondingly operated.
The cam has in its lower face a groove in the form of a spiral in which engages
the roller which surrounds the pivot fixed to the sliding compressor.
The groove
of the cam has a check formed so as to slightly retract the compressor without
completely opening the mould of which the front of said compressor bears one
half-portion, after the tobacco has been compressed and before it is drawn into the
paper-tube.
The compressor slides between two guides on the frame and two suitable screws
are provided for exactly regulating the said guides. The front part of the
compressor is formed so as to overlap the knife-blade and the half mould fixed to
the same by means of bolts which are engaged through suitable slots of such over-
lapping part so as to allow the position of the said knife and half-mould to be
exactly regulated with respect to the reciprocating compressor suitable screws
being moreover provided for that purpose. The thickness of the knife-blade being
liable to be augmented or diminished at will if the thickness of the mould is to be
diminished or augmented, this device allows of the same machine being provided
with different sets of moulds and knives intended to form cigarettes of different
thicknesses of either round or elliptical shape. The opposite half mould is fixed
to the frame and when the compressor is moved into its forward position the two
parts of the mould form with one another a cylindrical mould in which the tobacco
is compressed after the knife has cut off those parts of said tobacco which extended
beyond the top of the said mould.
The rack carries a piston-rod guided in a sleeve which forms a prolongation of
the above mentioned cylindrical mould. At the other end of the said cylindrical
mould there is fixed a sleeve intended to be introduced into the paper-tube which
is to be filled up with tobacco. A clutch formed of a pair of nippers provided with
a suitable spring is disposed so as to normally press the paper-tube upon the sleeve
so as to firmly grasp the same whilst the tobacco is introduced into it. On the
other hand the rack is provided with two wedges or bevelled pieces which are
intended to open the clutch. One of said wedges or bevelled pieces is intended to
open the clutch when the piston-rod is completely retract ed to the right out of the
mould, so as to have the clutch opened to allow the workman to engage a paper
tube upon the sleeve within said clutch. The other wedge or bevelled piece is
intended to open the clutch when a predetermined length of the piston-rod is
engaged into the mould that is to say when the paper tube is filled up to a pre-
determined length (for instance up to the cardboard-tube) with tobacco. The
paper tube is then left to itself by the clutch and the cigarette falls through a
channel into a suitable box. One wedge or bevelled piece is adjustable on the rack
with the object of permitting the length of the tobacco-cylinder engaged in the
paper-tube when the clutch is opened to be varied at will. A hopper is fixed to
the frame by means of pins the said hopper being divided into two cells by a
suitable partition; the left cell being intended to receive the paper-tubes to be
filled and the right cell being intended to receive the tobacco.
The frame has a slot through which the powdered tobacco may escape to prevent
its clogging the path of the sliding compressor.
The operation of the machine is as follows:
The workman having his feet on the treadles presses down the left one and
thereby causes the rack and rod to be retracted to the right and the compressor_to
be retracted and the mould and also the clutch to be opened by the wedge. The
workman then engages a paper tube over the sleeve and engages a certain quantity
of the tobacco contained in the hopper, into the mould. The right treadle is then
pressed down whereby the following operations take place successively in the order
given.
The clutch is shut (that is to say the paper tube is fixed) the tobacco contained

page_text: between the parts of the mould is compressed and those parts of the same extending
beyond the said mould are cut off, the compressor is slightly retracted so as to
allow the compressed tobacco to slightly expand and to be easily drawn along the
tubular mould; the tobacco is drawn by the piston-rod into the paper-tube, the
clutch is reopened so as to allow the filled paper tube to fall into the channel and
finally the compressor is retracted. The above operations are then repeated.
Dated this 19th day of March 1895.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Making Cigarettes.
I, CHRISTOPHE OLLAGNIER, of Rue d'Arve No. 1 Carouge sur Geneve in the
Republic of Switzerland, Cigarette Machine Maker, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :--
The invention consists of new and useful improvements in the class of machines
for the manufacture of cigarettes in which the paper tubes are previously made on
other suitable machines.
The improved machine is designed to fill these tubes with tobacco throughout
their whole length or a part thereof.
The said paper-tubes may or may not be provided with cardboard-mouth-
pieces in both cases however they are adapted to be filled by means of the said
machine.
My improved machine is especially characterized by a device intended to
compress the tobacco which is to be introduced into each cigarette to a predetermined
degree and to then retract the compressor before the said tobacco is introduced into
the paper-tube.
This important feature of my improved machine has for its object to reduce to a
minimum the number of defective cigarettes produced, the defective cigarettes
being very numerous amongst those produced by the machines at present in use.
Cigarette machines have heretofore generally been constructed with a view to
making the entire cigarette automatically without hand-work; this I have found
to be practically prejudicial to the quality of work done and my opinion is based
on the fact that according to the hygrometric state of the tobacco, which is very
variable, the volume of tobacco which must be filied into each paper-tube must be
varied which can only be done by hand, the touch of a clever workman being the
best regulator for such work.
In the accompanying drawings I have shown how my said invention may be.
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of one form of my improved machine part of which
is supposed to be broken away in order to show that part of the machine which is
affixed to the floor close to that part of the same which is secured on a suitable
table.
Figure 2 is an end-view of the machine shown in Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a section on the line y of Figure 1 in which the compressor is
shown at the end of its positive stroke.
Figure 4 is a reproduction of part of Figure 3 showing the compressor in its
retracted position.
the
Figures 5 and 6 are separate views of the device for holding and releasing again
paper-tube, and
Figure 7 is an underside view of the cam-wheels.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the
drawings.

page_text: A is the frame of that part of the machine which is designed to be fixed to a
table B of any kind and of suitable height. The said frame A. has a front-
plate A provided with two sleeves a' and a². C is a spindle passing through the
plate A and the frame A and carrying a gear wheel D and a bevel wheel E
Figure 3.
The gear wheel D engages with a rack F and with a toothed segment G
the axis of which is journalled in the sleeve a² of the plate A¹.
The bevel-wheel E gears with a corresponding wheel H fixed to the axis which
carries a cam I.
It is to be understood that the gears just described, which are intended to
transmit the rocking movements to the toothed segment G on the one hand to the
rack F and on the other hand to the axis of the cam I, may be of any suitable
kind and that I do not limit myself to the above described combination of wheels.
I may interpose for instance, one or more intermediate gears intended to reduce
the amount of oscillation of the said segment G and of the corresponding treadle
without reducing the amount of oscillation of the cam I and of the to-and-fro-motion
of the rack F.
To the toothed segment G there is provided an arm g the end of which is
connected by means of an adjustable rod J to a rocking-lever K of the treadle.
The said rocking-lever K is journalled at in a bearing L which is fixed to the
floor which bearing is provided with suitable projections k to limit the movement of
the treadle-lever. By alternatively acting upon the right or the left hand treadle,
the segment G is caused to be alternately rocked in one or the other direction
which causes the cam I to be partially rotated and the rack F to be correspondingly
operated. In lieu of the treadles shown in the drawing I may if desired make use
of the treadles usually employed in sewing machines. In this case the segment G
will be provided with two arme g one on the right and one on the left of the pivot
of said segment and each arm will be acted upon by one treadle.
The cam has in its lower face a groove in the form of a spiral as shown in
Figure 7 in which engages a roller m' which surrounds the pivot m fixed to the
sliding compressor M. The groove of the cam I has a check ' formed so as to
slightly retract the compressor M without completely opening the mould, of which
the front of said compressor bears one half-portion, after the tobacco has been
compressed and before it is drawn into the paper-tube.
The compressor M slides between two guides N' and N' on the frame A and two
suitable screws n' and n² are provided for exactly regulating the said guides. The
front part of the compressor M is formed so as to overlap the knife-blade O and
the half mould P fixed to the same by means of bolts which are engaged
through suitable slots of such overlapping part so as to allow the position of the
said knife and half-mould to be exactly regulated with respect to the reciprocating
compressor M suitable set-screws pl Figures 2 and 3 being moreover provided for
that purpose. The thickness of the knife-blade O is adapted to be augmented or
diminished at will if the thickness of the mould is to be diminished or augmented,
thus allowing of the same machine being provided with different sets of moulds and
knives intended to form cigarettes of different thicknesses either round or elliptical
shape. Pis the fixed half of the mould secured to the frame A and when the
compressor is moved into its forward position as shown in Figure 3 the two
parts P1 and P2 form with one another a cylindrical mould in which the tobacco
is compressed after the knife O has cut off the part of said tobacco which extends
beyond the top of the said mould.
The rack F carries a piston-rod F¹ guided in a sleeve f which forms a pro-
longation of the above mentioned cylindrical mould. At the other end of the said
cylindrical mould is fixed a sleeve 71 Figure 6 intended to be introduced into the
paper-tube which is to be filled up with tobacco. A clutch formed of a pair of
nippers G¹ provided with a suitable spring are disposed so as to normally press the
paper-tube upon the sleeve f¹ so as to firmly grasp the same whilst the tobacco is
introduced into it. The said clutch may if desired be formed by two branches
instead of one as shown. On the other hand the rack F is provided with two

page_text: wedges or bevelled pieces f³ and which are intended to open the clutch G'. The
wedge or bevelled piece f³ is intended to open the clutch G³ when the piston-rod F¹
is completely retracted to the right out of the mould so as to have the clutch G¹
opened to allow the workman to engage a paper tube upon the sleeve f¹ within
said clutch G. The other wedge or bevelled piece is intended to open the
clutch G when a predetermined length of the piston-rod F' is engaged into the
mould, that is to say, when the paper tube is filled up to a predetermined length
(for instance up to the cardboard tube) with tobacco. The paper tube is then
released by the clutch G and the cigarette falls through a channel Qinto a
suitable box not shown on the drawings. The wedge or bevelled piece f¹
is adjustable on the rack F with the object of permitting the length of the
tobacco-cylinder engaged in the paper-tube when the clutch G' is opened to be
varied at will. R is a hopper fixed to the frame A by means of pins; the
said hopper being divided into two cells by a suitable partition; the left cell
being intended to receive the paper-tubes to be filled and the right cell being.
intended to receive the tobacco.
The frame A has a slot a³ through which the powdered tobacco may escape to
prevent its clogging the path of the sliding compressor M.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-
The workman having his feet on the treadles presses do wn the left one and
thereby causes the rack F and rod F to be moved to the right and the compressor M
to be moved and the mould P1 P2 and also the clutch G to be opened by the
wedge f³. The workman then engages a paper tube over the sleeve f' and inserts
a certain quantity of the tobacco contained in the hopper, into the mould between
the pieces PP. The right treadle is then pressed down whereby the following
operations take place successively in the order given.
The clutch G is shut (that is to say the paper tube is fixed) the tobacco.
contained between the parts P' and P' of the mould is compressed and that portion
of the same extending beyond the part P2 is cut off, the compressor M is slightly
retracted so as to allow the compressed tobacco to slightly expand and to be easily
drawn along the tubular mould; the tobacco is drawn by the piston-rod F' into the-
paper-tube, the clutch G' is reopened so as to allow the filled paper tube to fall into
the channel Q and finally the compressor M is retracted. The above operations are
then repeated.
In order to reduce the resistance of the machine I may arrange one or more
intermediate gears between the pinion D and the toothed segment G in any
suitable or convenient manner.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what.
I claim is :-
compressor
1st. In a machine for making cigarettes the combination of a
carrying one part of the cigarette-mould and arranged so as to be adapted to slide
to-and-fro a fixed part of said cigarette mould, a cam having a spiral groove into-
which engages a pin or projection on the said compressor, said groove being formed
so as to first throw the compressor close to the fixed part of the mould, then to.
slightly retract the same without opening the said mould and finally to open the
said mould and to hold it open during part of the rotation of the cam, substantially
as shown and described.
2nd. In a machine for making cigarettes, the combination with a cam acting
upon the compressor and with a rack bearing the piston rod intended to draw the
tobacco into the paper-tube, of a toothed segment acted upon by a rocking treadle
and of suitable gears to transmit the rocking movements of the rocking segment.
both to the said cam and to the said rack, substantially as shown and described.
3rd. In a machine for making cigarettes the combination of the compressor M
and of an adjustable piece P' forming part of the cigarette-mould and with a knife-
blade O of variable thickness with an overlapping part of the said compressor M to
.

page_text: which the said pieces O and P' are adjustably secured, substantially as shown aud
described.
4th. In a machine for making cigarettes the combination with a frame A having
a front-plate A' of a hopper R substantially as shown and described.
Dated this 13th day of November 1895.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.