AN APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR PIERCING AND HOLDING CIGARS, AND AS A TOBACCO
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Charles Butcher, of Wellington Street, Strand,
in the County of Middlesex, Wine Merchant, for the Invention of "AN
APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR PIERCING AND HOLDING CIGARS, AND AS A TOBACCO-
Sealed the 24th October 1866, and dated the 25th April 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Charles Butcher
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th April 1866.
I, HENRY CHARLES BUTCHER, of Wellington Street, Strand, in the County of
Middlesex, Wine Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR PIERCING AND HOLDING CIGARS, AND AS A
TOBACCO-STOPPER, PENCIL-CASE, WHISTLE, SEAL, TOOTH-PICK, OR WATCH-KEY,"
be as follows:-
This apparatus is usually composed of four parts; first, of a piece of metal,
ivory, or other suitable material formed with a hollow or ring to receive the
cigar, and having a hole drilled through its upper part or neck to allow the
piercer (hereafter described) to pass; the under part, which also has a hole
drilled partially through it to receive the point of the piercer, may be carved
or engraved with any device, and used as a seal and tobacco stopper. Secondly,
of a barrel or tube to hold a spring; this barrel, tube, or cylinder may be
round and fluted, or plain, or of other form, and will usually be made of metal.
Price 8d.1

page_text: Thirdly, of a spiral spring which is made of twisted wire, a portion of which is
turned up through the coils and projecting forms the piercer; or the spiral
may be made leaving a projection to form the piercer. Fourthly, of a
push-pipe or slide, usually made of metal; this may be formed in the shape
of and used as a pencil-case, whistle, tooth-pick, or watch-key, or it may
be a simple tube or cylinder fitting into the barrel, tube, or cylinder holding
the spring. The parts of the apparatus being put together the action
is as follows: The end of a cigar is placed in the hollow or ring; the push-
pipe or slide is pressed by the finger or thumb; the spring is compressed, and
the piercer passes through the cigar; the finger or thumb being withdrawn,
the elasticity of the spring causes the push-pipe or slide to resume its normal
position.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Charles Butcher in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th October 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
CHARLES BUTCHER, of Wellington Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex,
Wine Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her Most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Charles Butcher, Her special licence that I, the said Henry
Charles Butcher, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Henry Charles Butcher, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time, and at all
times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN
APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR PIERCING AND HOLDING CIGARS, AND AS A TOBACCO-
STOPPER, PENCIL-CASE, WHISTLE, SEAL, TOOTH-PICK, OR WATCH-KEY," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Charles Butcher, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
.or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within

page_text: six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Charles Butcher, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters of reference placed on the Diagrams or Figures
drawn thereon and forming part of this my Specification.
The cigar piercer and holder, the subject of this Invention, consists of a
hollow tube terminating at its lower part in a ring in this tube. I first place
a spiral spring and then insert another tube of smaller diameter, the bottom
of which may carry a pointed needle passing through the centre of the coiled
spring, or be simply a plane surface, in which case the needle may be formed
by turning an extension of the top part of the coil down through the centre of
the other coils; the length of this straight piece or needle must in both cases
be sufficient when passed through a hole in the bottom of the outer tube (by
the compression of the spring) to cross the ring above mentioned, and enter a
small hole in the foot. At the bottom of the ring I form a flat piece which
may be used as a tobacco stopper or as a seal. The outer tube, ring, and seal
or stopper may all be made of one piece, or in three separate pieces, as may
be found most convenient. The action is as follows:-One end of a cigar
being inserted into the ring the inner tube is pressed down with the finger,
and the piercer passes through the cigar; on the pressure being removed the
inner tube is driven back by the spiral spring, and the piercer or needle resumes
its place within the outer tube. The ring also acts as a cigar holder when
desired. The above-described arrangement of outer and inner tube, spring,
piercer, and ring is the main characteristic of my Invention, but I add thereto
numerous useful articles and modify it in various ways; for example, instead
of making a tobacco-stopper or seal at the bottom of the ring I join on to it
another tube, which may be of equal or greater or lesser length than the tube
containing the spring and piercer, and in this latter tube I place a pencil and a
penholder pushed in and out by a slide or screw, or in any manner; or it
may carry a knife or knives in lieu of pencil and penholder, or either of them.
The inner tube which presses on the spring may be solid or hollow, and contain
a tooth-pick, watch-key, or any other useful article, and, if desired, its top may
be made to unscrew and disclose a box or receptacle for pins, matches, pencil
leads, pens, or other small useful articles, and this top may carry a stone and.
be engraved with a device and form a seal; or this box may contain a watch-
key, sliding in and out by any ordinary means; or the inner tube may be formed

page_text: into a whistle. It will be obvious that the number or useful articles wiICH
may be added to my cigar piercing and holding apparatus without making it
unwieldly are too numerous to mention, and that those above enumerated and
such as are illustrated on the accompanying Sheet of Drawing are only intended
as examples demonstrating the facility with which my apparatus may be
combined with articles usually carried separately in the pocket or dispensed
with as forming an incommodious aggregate.
On the accompanying Sheet of Drawings Figure 1 represents an elevation
of my improved apparatus when not operating; Figure 2, vertical section of
Figure 1 Figure 3 elevation of same operating; Figure 4, vertical section of
Figure 3; and Figures 5 and 6 detached parts of same.
a, outer tube containing the spiral spring and in which slides another tube
of smaller diameter; b, ring attached to or forming part of the tube a, and in
which the cigar is placed for piercing or to be held while being smoked; c,
hole pierced through the bottom of the tube a for the passage of the piercer;
c', hole at bottom of ring b to receive the point of the piercer when it has
passed through the cigar; d, piercer (or needle); e, bottom piece, which forms
a tobacco stopper, and the plane surface of which (see Figures 1 and 3*)
may be engraved so as also to form a seal; f, spiral spring enclosed in the
tube a, and which brings the piercer d back into the tube a when not in use;
g, tube enclosed in the tube a; this tube when pressed down by the finger
compresses the spiral spring and drives the piercer d through the cigar, and
when the pressure is removed the spring forcing it upwards retires the piercer.
The piercer d may be attached to the bottom of the tube g or form part of
the spiral spring as herein-before described.
Figure 7 shews a modification of the above, the outer tube a having a slot h,
and the inner tube y being furnished with a pin i which moves up and down in
the said slot h. The effect of this modification is that when the piercer is not in
use it passes from the tube a through the hole c, crosses the ring b, and remains
with its point in the hole c', as in the Figure. When the piercer is to operate,
the pin is turned into the vertical slot and the spring lifts the tube g, as shewn
in dotted lines, then by pressing on the top of the tube g the piercer d is driven
through the end of the cigar placed in the ring b. The top part of g may
anscrew, and it may carry within it a tooth-pick, watch-key, or other article.
Figure 8 shews this modification combined with various articles, the ring b
being here made only to receive the end of a cigar for piercing it and not to
hold it, but the ring may be enlarged to form a holder if desired. is a pencil,
and is a penholder, both sliding in the tube a', being moved in the ordinary
manner, as before stated. A tooth-pick, pen-knife, or other article may be

page_text: substituted in lieu of one or other or both of the articles shewn, and the tube g
may contain a watch-key, or enclose leads for the pencil or pens for the holder,
as may be desired.
The dimensions of my apparatus will vary at pleasure and according to the
articles with which it is combined, and the ring may be cut across so as to
permit it to expand to receive a large-sized cigar if desired. The outer and
inner tubes may be of bone, ivory, silver, gold, or vulcanized india-rubber, and
cylindrical, octagonal, fluted, or of any desired shape, and the spring and piercer
will usually be of steel, but I do not bind myself to the use of any particular
metal or material in making the several parts of my apparatus nor to making
the ring and outer tube or the spring and piercer of one piece, but reserve the
right of modifying the details as I may find most desirable or convenient.
In conclusion, I claim the exclusive use, as of my Invention, of cigar piercing
and holding apparatus, composed of an outer and inner tube, ring, spring, and
piercer, combined and working substantially as herein-before described and
illustrated, Figures 1 to 7 on the accompanying Sheet of Drawing, whether
such apparatus be used alone or in combination with the articles herein-before
enumerated with those shewn on the Drawing at Figure 8, or in conjunction
with any other apparatus whatsoever.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Charles Butcher, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of October, One thou-
sand eight hundred and sixty-six.
HENRY C. BUTCHER. (L.S.)