Improvements in or relating to Apparatus for Coating or Moistening Paper and other Substances and Articles with Liquid and other Materials.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd May, 1898-Accepted, 3rd Sept., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Apparatus for Coating or Moistening
Paper and other Substances and Articles with Liquid and other
Materials.
I, JOSEPH SAMUEL BEEMAN, Engineer, of 182, Earl's Court Road, in the County,
of Middlesex, 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:-
This invention relates to coating machines in which paper, cork, tobacco-leaf
or similar substances are used. The apparatus may be employed for various kinds
of coating such as, for example, applying paste or other adhesive matter, water to
moisten material which has been previously coated with adhesive matter or colour-
ing matter in a dry or liquid condition; it may be so constructed as to deliver
or present the coated material at some convenient spot for subsequent removal.
A particular application of this invention is illustrated in a machine for coating
tips for cigarettes, and I have selected a machine of that type for special description
and illustration in the present specification and drawings.
"
"
**
A machine embodying this invention comprises wetted "retainer" for holding
the "strip" of material while it is being coated, a coater for applying the
adhesive medium, water, colouring or other coating to the "strip" and a
lifter"
for detaching the coated strip from the "retainer," and if desired, presenting
it at some convenient spot for subsequent removal.
As in the instance illustrated, it is convenient to employ the coating machine
in conjunction with another machine which receives the coated material and applies
it to a cigarette or other article. This other machine (not a part of the present
invention) has a holder which is preferably capable of gripping the article and it
may have also a
finisher" to smooth the "strip" after it has been applied to
the article.
"
The "retainer" on the coating machine comprises a surface or surfaces capable
when wetted of holding a "strip" of material against the tendency of the "coater"
to displace it while the coating is being applied to it. The "retainer" is furnished
either with grooves, holes or other accommodation to receive the "lifter" whch is
so formed and operated that the "strip" of material is raised by it from the
wet surface of the "retainer." The "lifter" according to this invention presents a
comparatively dry surface to the "strip" to be moved and effects such removal in
a direction normal or approximately so to the wetted surface.
During the coating of the "strip" the adhesion between it and the wetted surface
of the "retainer" is greater than that between the "coater" and the coated surface
of the strip," which therefore keeps stationary upon the "retainer until de-
tached by the "lifter." The coated strip is presented by the "lifter" for removal
"
"

page_text: and this removal may be accomplished in any convenient manner, for instance, by
allowing the article to which the strip is afterwards applied to pick it up from the
surface of the lifter. In this case the adhesion between the article and the coated
surface is greater than any which would obtain between the uncoated surface
and the contiguous face of the " lifter."
In cases where the coated "strip" is not to be immediately applied to an article,
any convenient means may be used to remove the coated "strip "from the "lifter."
It is to be understood that whenever the word "strip" is used in this specification
it is not necessarily limited to a long narrow piece of material but may include a
sheet of any size. Similarly the term "coater" includes any convenient means
by which the adhesive material, water, colouring matter or other coating can
be applied.
In the accompanying drawings which illustrate one method of utilising the
present invention in the combination herein before referred to of a coating machine
with a companion apparatus for applying the coated material to a cigarette, and
constituting a cigarette-tipping machine:-
Figure 1 is a plan.
Figure 2 is an end elevation partly in section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a transverse vertical section on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.
Figure 4 is a longitudinal vertical section showing a portion of the machine in
further detail and to a larger scale.
Figure 5 is an elevation showing another portion of the machine also to a
larger scale.
Like letters indicate like parts through the drawings, it being understood that
the following parts of the apparatus, viz., the holder F, finisher or smoother L,
hopper O, and plunger R are not regarded as part of the present invention.
A is a bed-plate upon which all stationary parts of the machine are rigidly
mounted. B B B are standards which carry in bearings 13 a shaft C from which
the various parts of the machine are operated. The shaft C has five cams D, D¹,
D2, D3 and D mounted upon it, and also carries a gear wheel E. It may be
driven by any convenient means such as a pulley C. F. is a holder comprising
a tube having an internal spring F2 which enables it to grip the cigarette. The
holder rotates in bearings F3 on the standard 12, it is driven from the gear
wheel E by means of gear wheels E¹ and the latter being mounted upon the
tube F¹.
It is found convenient to arrange the diameters of the gear wheels E, E¹, E
so that the holder F makes approximately six revolutions to one revolution of the
shaft C.
G is a retaining device illustrating one form of "retainer" for holding the
strip of material while it is being coated, it comprises three hexagonal plates G¹
having their edges covered with rubber or like material and capable of rotation
about an axis G2 carried by a frame G³, which is reciprocated upon guides G4
by means of the cam D₁ acting through the levers G5 and G. The lever Go
carries a friction roller G7 which works in a cam groove D in the cam D¹. A
trough G8 containing water or other liquid is so placed that the lower part of the
hexagonal plates G₁ is immersed. The axis G2 carries a ratchet wheel G having
six teeth, and also another wheel G10 which is provided with six flats or hollows
on its circumference. A spring H carried upon the underside of a plate J supported
by standards 132 and 134, engages with a tooth of the ratchet wheel G' when the
frame G³ returns, and forces the ratchet wheel G³ round for an amount equal to one
tooth. The hexagonal plates G¹ turn with the ratchet wheel G9 and thus once
in every complete reciprocation of the. retaining device G a fresh wetted edge
of the hexagonal plates G¹ is turned uppermost. An opening J is formed in the
plate J through which the edges of the plates G¹ pass. A spring G fixed to
the frame G³ presses upon the flats or hollows in the wheel G10 so that during
the reciprocation of the retaining device G the hexagonal plates G¹ are prevented
from revolving.

page_text: "
K is a lifting-device, illustrating one form of "lifter and comprises two
fingers K¹ which are carried by a spring K2 upon the plate J. A hook K³ is
attached to the fingers K', and upon the retaining device G moving backwards,
this hook K3 is caught by a spring-rail. G₁ carried by the frame G³, and the
lifting-device K is consequently depressed, until released by passing off the other
end of the spring-rail G. The fingers K' are so disposed that they pass into
the spaces between the hexagonal plates G, as the latter reciprocate The spring Ka
is furnished with a pin K which works in a hole in the plate J, and a screw K³
is provided, by which the height to which the lifting-device K rises may be
adjusted.
"
L is a smoothing device or finisher." It comprises a flat spring L' carrying a
plate L2 at one end and fixed at the other end to a bent lever L³. This lever L³
is pivotted at L' and carries a friction roller L upon which the cam D operates.
The return of the lever L³ is caused by the action of a spring Lo one end of which
is fixed to the lever L and the other to a pin L' fixed in the standard 132.
M is a pasting device and comprises a cylinder M¹ having a piston M². The
piston-rod M³ is formed with a left-handed screw upon which a screwed collar M
works and carries a ratchet wheel M5. The cylinder M' is furnished with a longi-
tudinal slot Me in its underside near its closed end. It is supported by a bracket M
and held in place by a clip Ms. The end of the piston rod M3 is held in a slot in
an arm M attached to one of the brackets 15. A felt roller M10 is placed below
the slot Me in the cylinder M2 and rotates, being driven by gear wheels 13 and E
from the wheel E2 carried upon the tube.". The relation between the diameters
of the gear wheels E2 and E is such that the peripheral speed of the felt roller M³°
is slightly greater than the rate of travel, during advancement of the retainer G.
A curved plate M" is attached to the lower portion of the cylinder M¹ and extends
partly round the roller M10. The ratchet wheels M³ is moved by an amount equal
to one tooth for each complete revolution of the shaft C. This is caused by the
cam D2 acting upon a pivotted lever N through a friction roller N¹ against the
action of a spring N³. The lever N terminates in a spring N2 which catches in
the teeth of the ratchet wheel M5 when it moved downwards but slips past them
when it returns. A light spring. M12 carried upon the arm M serves to prevent
the motion of the wheel M5 except when actuated by the lever N. The screwed
collar M upon which the ratchet wheel M5 is mounted bears against the arm M⁹
and thus each time the wheel M5 is turned the piston M2 is caused to advance
slightly into the cylinder M¹.
O is a hopper into which the cigarettes are placed; it is carried by two of the
standards B and a third standard B. The hopper O is provided with a plunger O¹
which is reciprocated by a lever 02 pivotted upon the standard B and operated
through a friction roller 03 from the cam D3 which acts in opposition to a
spring 04
The cigarettes pass from the hopper O to a trough P mounted in line with the
holder F.
R is a plunger sliding freely in bearings in the standards 15. It is reciprocated
by means of a lever R one end of which is pivotted to the standard B'. The other
end of the lever R' works in a guide R² fixed upon the plunger R. The motion
of the lever ¹ is caused by the cam D acting through a friction roller R³ and
opposed by the action of the spring R. The function of the plunger R is to cause
a cigarette to pass from the trough P to the holder F.
In order that, when desired, the machine may be rotated without cigarettes being
fed into the holder F, a catch 05 (Figure 5) is provided pivotted to the hopper (
as at 06 and controlled by a spring O. Normally this catch 05 is held in the
position shewn in Figure 5, but, when turned down as indicated in chain lines the
catch passes through an opening 08 in the front of the hopper 0 and cuts off
communication between the hopper O and the trough P.
The operation of the machine above described is as follows:-Assuming it to

page_text: be in the position shown in Figure 1, that is to say, the plunger R is just about to
move forward, the cam D has just lifted the "finisher" L out of contact with the
cigarette in the holder F, and the hexagonal plates G¹ of the retaining device G
have turned and presented a fresh moist edge up through the opening J¹ in the
plate J. The shaft C now rotates in the direction of the arrow in Figure 2 and
the following operations take place:-
The plunger R acted upon by the cam D advances and forces a fresh cigarette
from the trough P into the holder F and ejects the cigarette previously contained
therein. A strip of material being placed upon the moist edges of the hexagonal
plates G is carried by them under the action of the cam D¹ beneath the revolving
felt roller M10 which is supplied with paste from the cylinder M₁ and delivers it
on to the strip beneath it. The pasted strip is then carried by the continued action
of the cam Di under the end of the cigarette in the holder F and the lifting device K
which has been depressed by the action of the spring-rail G12 upon its hook K³, is
now released and springs up and separates the strip of material from the retaining
device G lifting it upward and attaching the end of it to the cigarette in the
holder, and then recoils to its normal position. Shortly after the rise of the
lifting device K the "finisher" L is allowed to fall through the action of the
cani D.
Continued rotation of the shaft C causes the retaining device G to move back
again and to rotate one step under the action of the spring H and simultaneously
the cigarette revolves with the holder F and winds up upon itself the pasted strip
of material, which is smoothed, as it revolves, by the "finisher" L. The finished
cigarette is now ejected by a fresh one, and the process is continued.
The paste for attaching the strips to the cigarette is placed in the cylinder M¹
and is gradually forced out from the slot M6 on to the felt roller M10 by the action
of the piston M2 which is urged forward as previously described by the ratchet
wheel M³ mounted upon the screwed collar M. The paste is distributed over the felt
roller M10 by the aid of the curved plate M".
It is obvious that many alterations may be made in the construction of machines
according to this invention, without departing from its spirit, for instance the re-
taining device need not necessarily be hexagonal, but may comprise any arrange-
ment of surface or surfaces having either corrugations, depressions, grooves, holes
or other accommodation to receive the lifting device, which is of course varied in
construction according to the design of the retaining device.
It will be appreciated that several of the distinctive features of the coating
machine herein described and illustrated may be applied in a more or less similar
manner, and such applications would be considered within the scope of the present
Letters Patent.
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. In a coating machine the employment of a wetted "retainer" substantially
as described.
2. In a coating machine the combination with a
for the purpose described.
"
coater" of a wetted "retainer"
3. In a coating machine the combination with a wetted "retainer" which may
or may not also act as a conveyer of a "lifter" substantially as described.
4. In a coating machine the employment in combination of a wetted "retainer"
and a "lifter" the "retainer" having grooves holes or other accommodation to
receive the "lifter."
5. In a coating machine a travelling intermittently rotating
stantially as described.
6. In a coating machine the combination with a
"
retainer sub-
"retainer" of a "lifter" for
detaching the coated strip from the "retainer" and presenting it at some con-
venient spot for subsequent removal.

page_text: 7. In a coating machine the combination with a retaining device such as G of
a lifting device such as K substantially as described.
8. In a coating machine the complete lifting device substantially as described
and illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.
9. The complete coating apparatus substantially as described.
1000
U1115
WoT day of Pray 1
J. S. BEEMAN.
Boult & Wade,
Agents for the Applicant.