mprovements in Machinery for Dressing and Preparing Tobacco for use in conjunction with Cigarette Machines.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Mar., 1893-Accepted, 15th Apr., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Communicated from abroad by THE BOHLS CIGARETTE MACHINE COMPANY,
a Corporation organized under the laws of the State of Virginia, and having
its principal office at Richmond, Virginia, United States of America.]
mprovements in Machinery for Dressing and Preparing Tobacco for
use in conjunction with Cigarette Machines.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents
5 Southampton Buildings in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
ature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
articularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The invention relates, more particularly to a machine for hackling, disentangling
r dressing tobacco so as to prepare it for introduction to a suitable machine for
he manufacture of cigarettes.
Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a guard for the picker belt, detached; and
Fig. 8 a plan of a belt tightening device.
Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts in the several figures.
A designates the frame of the machine and B the main driving shaft journaled
in suitable bearings on the main frame. C is a cone-shaped pulley secured to the
shaft B to drive the latter, the pulley being driven by a suitable belt c.
C¹ is a
loose pulley on the shaft B, and C a belt shipper." By the use of a cone-shaped
pulley the speed of the driving shaft B may be varied.
The shaft B carries a roller D (hereinafter referred to as the first picker roller)
having teeth d on its periphery. Another roller E, provided with peripheral
teeth e, is carried by the shaft E' journaled in suitable bearings on the frame A,
just in advance of the shaft B. The roller E will hereinafter be referred to as the
second picker roller. The teeth of the picker rollers D and E mesh with each
other. The shaft B carries at its end, outside the frame A, a pinion & which
engages a smaller pinion 6' running as an idler on the end of a shaft ² supported
in suitable bearings in the frame A. The pinion 61 engages with a similar pinion 6³
carried by the shaft E'. The pinions and 63 being smaller than b, the second
picker roller E revolves at a greater speed than does the first picker roller D; but
both will move in the same direction by reason of the intervention of the idler b'
between pinions b and b³.
F is a pulley whose shaft is mounted to revolve in suitable fixed bearings on the
frame A immediately in the rear of the first picker roller D; and F is a pulley
whose shaft f¹ is journaled in bearings on a sub-frame G, provided with elongated
openings g g, through which bolts g'g' pass into the main frame A. A screw G'
loosely connected at its inner end with the sub-frame G passes through a threaded
hole g in the main frame A and is provided at its outer end with a hand wheel y³.
The screw G is used as a means for adjusting the sub-frame relative to the main
frame and thereby regulating the tension of the picker belt H which travels around
the pulleys F and F'. This belt H is provided on its outer surface with teeth h
which mesh with the similar teeth d of the first picker roller D. The pulleys F
and Fare so mounted as to bring the upper half of the endless belt H in a
horizontal plane, which half of the belt is supported by a plate I carried by the

page_text: cross pieces ii, secured to the main frame. The plate I is provided with an
opening in close proximity to the pulley F through which any dirt or other
matter that may find its way between the belt and plate I will drop onto the
inclined plate J from which it may be removed at the convenience of the operator,
thereby preventing such dirt or other matter from being carried by the belt to the
pulleys and thus clog them.
K is a shaft extending longitudinally of the machine and journaled in suitable
bearings kk on the main frame A. On the end of the shaft K, adjacent to the
driving shaft B, is mounted a bevel gear k' which engages a similar gear 6 on the
shaft L, journaled in a bracket secured to the main frame. The shaft L also
carries a wheel L¹ which gears with a smaller wheel L³, the latter also engaging a
pinion L³ carried by the driving shaft B. The gear wheel L2 is mounted upon a
shaft, journaled in suitable bearings on the main frame, and runs as an idler
between the pinion L³ and the gear L¹ thereby causing the latter to revolve in the
same direction as that given to the pinion L³. The shaft K carries a worm
pinion M which gears with a worm M¹ secured to the shaft of the pulley F¹.
Motion is thus transmitted from the driving shaft B to the pulley F¹ through the
medium of the pinion L³, idler L2, gear wheel L', bevel gears and k¹, shaft K,
worm M and worm gear M¹; and this train of gearing is so arranged and propor-
tioned as to drive the pulley F1, and consequently the picker belt H, in a direction
opposite to that of the first picker roller D, and at a reduced speed.
The latter
N is a feed hopper or drum provided with radial arms n n extending from the
lower inside edge of its periphery to the central vertical shaft N¹.
revolves in the journal N2 secured to the main frame, and is provided with a
lubricating device N³. The drum has no bottom attached to it but a plate O, in
the form of a segment of a circle is secured to the main frame below the hopper,
the chord of the segmental plate abutting against the edge of the picker belt H,
across which the drum extends. The belt H and the segmental plate O together
form a bottom for the drum N, the belt constituting a movable and the segmental
plate a fixed portion of said bottom. In order to rotate the drum N, a pulley P is
secured to a vertical shaft P1, the lower end of which carries a bevel gear p
engaging a similar gear p² on the shaft K. A belt P2 runs around the drum N and
the pulley P to transmit motion from the latter to the former. The drum is geared
to run at a speed suited to the movement of the picker belt, and in such direction
that the movement of the radial arms n n shall be opposite to that of the belt H.
The radial arms n are preferably triangular in cross section, with the base of the
triangle parallel to the belt H, in order that the tobacco may more readily slide or
be pressed down between the arms on to the belt.
R represents a guard plate secured to the frame A above the picker belt H in
such manner that the teeth of the latter shall just clear it. The forward end of
the plate R is provided with teeth r r curved downwardly to a degree sufficient to
enable the teeth of the belt H to pass between and extend slightly beyond them as
the belt passes around the pulley F. See Figs. 4 and 7. The rear end of the
plate is curved upwardly as shown at r, Figs. 4 and 7, to permit the tobacco to
feed freely under the plate. The function of this plate is to force the tobacco down
between the teeth of the belt H and to aid in combing or disentangling it at the
point where it is taken from the belt by the first picker roller D.
S represents a chute or plate to convey the dressed tobacco to a cigarette
machine, not shown.
The operation of my improved device is as follows, the direction of travel of the
several operative parts of the machine being indicated by arrows:
Tobacco is placed in the hopper and the machine started. As the belt H moves,
its teeth will take the tobacco from the hopper, and as the radial arms a move in a
direction opposite to that of the belt H, the tobacco will at this point be partially
combed or disentangled. The belt conveys the tobacco onward until it passes
beneath the guard plate R, which forces it down between the teeth of the belt,
from which it is taken by the teeth of the first picker roller D. As this roller

page_text: moves at a higher speed than the belt, the teeth of the latter somewhat retard the
tobacco and a further combing or disentangling takes place which is further assisted
by the curved teeth of the guard plate R. From the first picker roller D the
tobacco is taken by the second picker roller E, which latter moves at a greater
speed than the foriner, the material thereby still further combed or disentangled,
and afterwards discharged on to the chute or plate S in a condition suitable
for use in the manufacture of cigarettes. During the operation, the tobacco must
be kept constantly pressed down to the bottom of the hopper to insure a uniform
feed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondents I declare that what I claim is :-
1. In a machine for dressing tobacco, the combination with a rotating feed drum
and a picker belt forming a movable portion of the bottom for said drum, of a
picker roller whose teeth mesh with those of the picker belt, substantially as
described.
2. In a machine for dressing tobacco, a rotating feed drum, combined with a
bottom, one portion of which is fixed and the other movable to convey tobacco from
the drum, substantially as described.
3. In a machine for dressing tobacco, a movable picker belt, and a fixed plate
abutting against the edge of the belt, combined with a feed drum mounted to
revolve immediately above the feed belt and fixed plate, substantially as described.
4. In a machine for dressing tobacco, a movable picker belt, combined with a
feed drum having inner radial arms at its lower end, said drum being mounted to
revolve immediately above the feed belt in a direction opposite to that of the travel
of said feed belt, and suitable means to impart movement to the several parts,
substantially as described.
5. In a machine for dressing tobacco, a feed drum, and a picker belt movable
beneath said drum to take tobacco therefrom, combined with a picker roller
whose teeth mesh with those of the picker belt, and a guard plate supported
immediately over the picker belt and having curved teeth at its end between
which those of the picker belt pass, at or near the point where the teeth of the
picker belt and picker roller mesh with each other, substantially as described.
6. In a machine for dressing tobacco, a movable picker belt and a guard plate
supported immediately above said belt, and having its rear end curved upward
for the purpose specified, combined with a feed hopper revolving over said belt, and
a picker roller whose teeth mesh with those of the belt, substantially as described.
7. In a machine for dressing tobacco, a movable picker belt and a fixed seg-
mental plate whose chord abuts against the edge of the picker belt, combined with
a feed drum mounted to revolve above the belt and fixed plate, a guard plate
supported immediately above the picker belt in advance of the drum, a first picker
roller whose teeth mesh with those of the picker belt, a second picker roller whose
teeth mesh with those of the first picker roller, and suitable gearing to impart
varying rates of speed to the drum, the picker belt and first and second picker
rollers, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
8. In a machine for dressing tobacco, the combination with a picker belt and the
pulleys over which said belt travels, of a supporting plate for the upper half of said
belt between the pulleys, said plate having a discharge opening immediately in the
rear of the forward pulley, through which extraneous matter is carried by the
movement of the belt, and an inclined plate below said supporting plate on which
said extraneous matter is received, substantially as described.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.