Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Mar., 1899 Accepted, 27th May, 1899
I, LAWRENCE GUNN SLOAN, of Kohinoor House, 12, Golden Lane, in the City
of London; Manager, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a com-
munication to me by Franz von Hardtmuth, of Budweis, Bohemia, in the Empire
of Austria, Manufacturer;) and in what manner the same is to be performed
to be particularly described and ascertained-in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to a cigar piercer whereby to bore a longitudinal draught
orifice in the tip of a cigar without impairing the continuity of the outer
wrapper and causing it to become unrolled when moistened by the saliva, as
happens when the tip of the cigar is cut, off or cross notched by cigar cutters
of the ordinary kind. By means of the instrument of this invention the draught
hole is bored axially in the tip of the cigar by means of a'tubular scoop-like cutter
whereby the removal of a solid central core of tobacco is effected without splitting
the outer wrapper or destroying the continuity of the final convolutions by which
the tip is formed, the hole so bored being of such depth as to ensure a free draught
whilst owing to its small diameter and axial direction the hole is not liable to
become choked with saliva in smoking.
The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings
wherein Figure 1 represents a longitudinal section of the instrument, drawn to
an enlarged scale, the cutter being in its normal retracted position, and Figure 2
shews an external view of the instrument with the cutter projected to its full
extent into the tip of a cigar which is shewn in dotted lines. Figure 3 shews
longitudinal views and a cross section on a-x, of the acting end of the cutter
drawn to a still further enlarged scale.
The case of the instrument comprises two outer tubular sections a 6 sliding
telescopically the one in the other, the section a terminating in a bell body
portion chaving a bell mouth c¹ adapted to receive within its conical recess the
tip of a cigar and so confine it as to prevent it splitting when the cutter is driven
in. Fitted to slide axially through this bell mouth is a tubular punch or cutter d
having its acting end oblique to its axis so as to present cutting edges e e meeting
at an acute point or angle f whereby to facilitate the initial penetration of the
cutter and cause the cutting edges by reason of their obliquity to make a drawing
cut, these cutting edges being chisel-like in cross section, that is to say bevelled
towards the inner side only of the cutter so that the latter when driven
into the cigar will exert no outwardly directed wedge-like action which would
tend to burst the end of the cigar but the tobacco removed by the cutter on its
entry will be forcibly compressed into the bore of the cutter in the form of a
solid core which will be extracted along with the cutter when the latter is with-
drawn. This cutter may be formed of a strip of thin steel bent to a tubular
form and tempered and it is in rigid longitudinal connection, through a cutter-
carrying tube 9, with the upper member of the outer case so that when the
latter is pressed into the part a the cutter will be extruded through the bell mouth
as shewn in Figure 2. In order however to prevent torsional straining of the con-

page_text: nections between the various parts the member of the casing can turn freely and
independently of the cutter. With this object the cutter carrying tube 9 may
terminate in a disc or other head / adapted to be engaged with the part 6 by a
circumferential groove i pressed or spun in the part after the head has been
introduced. In one with the body portion c is an inner guide tube within which
the cutter carrying tube g slides and about this guide tube is a spiral spring k con-
fined between the body portion c and the closed upper end of the member 6 of the
casing whereby the parts are normally retained in the position shewn with the
cutter wholly retracted within its guide tube, In order to expel from the cutter
the core of tobacco withdrawn by it, a stationary core extruding-plunger is fixed
within the cutter by means of a cross pin m which is rivetted into the guide tube j
and traverses longitudinal slots n in the cutter carrying tube
which slots permit
of the said tube and of the cutter & sliding freely on the stationary core-expelling
plunger which extends to the acting end of the cutter so that when the latter is
entirely retracted the core must of necessity be ejected therefrom.
I,
In order to guide the sliding cutter-carrying portion of the instrument and to
limit the outward motion of the part b, it is formed with a shouldered lower end 6!
which fits the internal diameter of the part a of which the upper end is contracted
as shewn at a¹ so as to engage with said shoulder 1. The part a is preferably
screwed to the body part c, as at 2, and may be provided with an externally
roughened or corrugated surface, as at a³, to enable it to be firmly grasped. · ·
The core-ejecting plunger might be omitted, in which case the cutter-carrying
tube would be in one with the end of the telescopically sliding member 6 and
would open through the end of the latter for the ejection of the cores, but this
construction is less advantageous since the pressure necessary to force the pre-
ceding cores up through the cutter and eject them at the upper end of the part b
must be supplied by the end of the cigar being perforated which is liable to be
injured in the operation.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. The herein described cigar piercing instrument constructed substantially of
the parts shewn and described, said parts being combined to operate in the man-
ner specified.
2. A cigar piercer for boring a longitudinal axial hole in the tip of a cigar and
consisting essentially of a bevel-ended tubular punch or cutter fitted to slide axially
through and to be projected from a bell-mouthed body portion adapted to confine
the cigar tip, the cutter being held in a tubular holder connected to a telescopically-
sliding member of the casing of the instrument so as to slide, but not turn,
therewith, a core ejector formed of a stationary plunger within the cutter fixed
to the inner guide tube of the body portion of the instrument by a cross pin pass-
ing through longitudinal slots in the cutter-carrying tube, and a spring confined
between the telescopic members of the casing substantially as specified.
Dotal : 2011, Inse of M 1900
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
Chartered Patent Agents, 53, Chancery Lane, London.