IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF CIGARETTE PAPER
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Henry Johnson at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th November 1881. A communi-
cation from abroad by Edmond Antoine Gaston d'Argy, of Paris, in the
Republic of France.
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF CIGARETTE PAPER." A
communication from abroad by Edmond Antoine Gaston d'Argy, of Paris, in the
Republic of France.
This Invention relates to the preparation of cigarette paper, and it consists in an
improved method of treating a portion of the paper as hereinafter described.
Cigarette paper as commonly employed possesses the serious disadvantage of
adhering to the lips of the smoker, and tearing them when the cigarette is too
suddenly removed. Moreover as the part of the cigarette that is in contact with
the mouth is constantly wetted it becomes torn, allowing the nicotine to dissolve in
the saliva, and impart to it an acrid and unpleasant flavor.
Attempts have been made to remedy these disadvantages by coating that
extremity of the cigarette paper which enters the mouth with certain waterproof
substances. The present Invention relates to this class of methods, and it consists
in the employment of a peculiar process for obtaining the desired result.
In carrying out this Invention, stearine, paraffio, resins, wax, and the like, may
be employed as waterproofing materials, but it is preferred to employ a process
hereinafter described, which consists in converting into vegetable parchment that
part of the cigarette paper which comes in contact with the lips of the smoker.
For this purpose this portion of the cigarette paper is soaked in sulphuric acid
at from about sixty to sixty six degrees Beaumé, for, say, one or two minutes,
after which the paper is agitated first in pure water, and then slightly in an
ammoniacal solution and allowed to dry. All that part of the paper which has
been touched by the acid becomes converted into vegetable parchment, and con-
sequently acquires great resisting power, and is not liable to become torn. This
material does not adhere to the lips, and only becomes soft when allowed to remain
wetted for an exceedingly long time. This slight inconvenience is not liable to be
felt in practice, and may always be obviated by coating the portion converted into
parchment with a waterproof substance, such as stearine, paraffin, wax, and the
CD 71

page_text: like. This latter operation is performed by immersion or by impression with or
without heat.
The cigarette paper which is thus treated may be obtained from any source. It
is subsequently made up into books of various dimensions. For example, it may
be made up in the form of a book with a plain card board cover provided with an
elastic or tape fastening, or the cover may be simply made of paper with over-
lapping flaps secured in a similar manner. The cover may also be made of paper
in the form of a case open at the opposite extremities, for the facility of removing
the leaves singly; or again, the leaves or papers may be pressed in a metallic clip
which retains the leaves at one edge only, and is connected with a cover of suitable
materials provided with a tape or other fastening. It is evident that these forms
are simply given as examples, and that the improved waterproof cigarette paper
may be made in any other convenient form.
The Invention hereinbefore described relating to improvements in the pre-
paration of cigarette paper thus consists essentially in rendering waterproof that
part of the cigarette paper which comes in contact with the lips of the smoker, by
converting the said part into vegetable parchment, with or without the addition of
waterproofing materials, such as stearine, paraffin, wax, resin, and the like.