Improvements in Mechanism to be used in connection with what are known as Continuous Cigarette Machines for Receiving and Arranging the severed Oigarettes from the said Machines.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 1st June, 1897
Complete Specification Left, 24th Feb., 1898--Accepted, 20th May, 1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Mechanism to be used in connection with what are
known as Continuous Cigarette Machines for Receiving and
Arranging the severed Oigarettes from the said Machines.
We, W. D. & H. O. WILLS LIMITED, of Bedminster, in the City and County of
Bristol, and of 53, 54 and 55, Holborn Viaduct, in the City of London, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention (a communication from the Bonsack Machine
Company, of Salem, Virginia, in the United States of America) to be as follows:-
This invention relates to that class of cigarette machines which operate by the
continuous method to make long, or continuous, cigarettes and sever them into
short marketable lengths.
Hitherto, as a rule, the severed cigarettes as they are cut from the continuous
cigarette have been allowed to drop from the cutting mechanism into a box or other
receptacle in a haphazard manner, forming an irregular pile or heap in which the
cigarettes lie in almost every direction, and resulting in great inconvenience in
handling them for inspection and packing.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a mechanism, or combination
of devices by which the severed cigarettes, as they are cut from the continuous
cigarette, shall be conveyed laterally from the line of the continuous
cigarette and be deposited in a regular manner in boxes, or other receptacles, and
to this end, this invention consists, stated generally, of an endless conveyer, adapted
to receive and transport the cigarettes and arranged to operate in connection with
the mechanism which cuts off or severs the short cigarettes from the continuous
cigarette, also, of the combination of an endless conveyor adapted to receive and
transport the cigarettes, with a box, or other receptacle, adapted to receive and
retain the cigarettes in regular relation to each other, and means for moving such
box beneath the endless conveyor in such manner that the discharge end of the
conveyor will work within the receiving box; also, of devices arranged to operato
in connection with the endless conveyor to dispose and retain the cigarettes in
proper position on the conveyor, to remove them therefrom at the proper time,
and in the proper manner, to insure their regular disposition in the receiving boxes
or the like and means for quickly moving the boxes or the like forward to bring a
rear box or the like into the proper position.
This invention may be considered as a combination of devices capable of attach-
ment to, or use in connection with, the delivery end of a cigarette machine of any
of the types which make continuous cigarettes and cut them into short lengths,
and it is unnecessary to describe any part of such machine other than the end where
the cutting off device is situated and the finished cigarettes are delivered.
In apparatus arranged according to this invention an endless conveyer passes
over wheels and is arranged to move transversely or laterally to the line of the
continuous cigarette. Preferably, this endless conveyer is of the usual construc-
tion of chain belt, and the wheels are the usual form of sprocket wheels for
supporting and driving such belts. Preferably, also, the wheels are of such size

page_text: and are so mounted relatively to each other that the upper branch of the chain belt
will move down an incline.
The endless conveyer is preferably provided with shallow receptacles or cups
having open ends, these receptacles being preferably shorter than the cigarettes
to be received and carried therein, and secured to the conveyer at equal distances
from each other and in any desired number, the number varying according to the
length and speed of the conveyor and circumstances of use." If the conveyer be
a chain belt, one receptacle may be secured to each link. The receptacles can be
bent or struck from sheet metal and rivetted in place, and their top edges are pre-
ferably bent backward from the direction of their advance, so that, if they should
come in contact with the cigarette as they pass over the lower wheel, they would
be less liable to tear or injure them. The conveyer may be of any suitable con-
struction and may be mounted and driven in any desired way to accomplish its
purposes. It may be a chain belt passing over sprocket wheels which may be
driven at the desired speed by connection with the driving mechanism of the
cigarette machine, or they may be driven by means independent of such machine.
The parts to which this invention specially relates may be secured to a plate
which is fixed by bolts or otherwise to the delivery end of a cigarette machine,
and the endless conveyer be connected with the cutter shaft of the cigarette machine
and be driven in unison with the revolution of such shaft. The construction and
connection of the parts may be as follows:-
The upper wheel (which is the driving wheel for the chain belt) is arbored upon
a stud fixed to a plate which is bolted or otherwise secured to the delivery end of
the cigarette machine. The wheel and the chain belt passing over the same aro
driven by a ratchet wheel secured to the extended hub of the wheel and operated
by a pawl pivoted to a pawl lever one of whose ends is loosely secured to the hub
while its other end is pivotally attached to a connecting rod which in turn is
pivoted to a crank arm of a wheel, mounted on a shaft driven by a belt passing
over pulleys one of which revolves the cutting-off blade, these pulleys being prefer-
ably of equal diameters, whereby the wheel carrying the aforesaid crank arm
makes one revolution and moves the ratchet wheel one notch, and the chain belt
one link, forward at each revolution of the cutter disc. The teeth of the ratchet
wheel are equal in number to the receptacles on the chain belt or conveyer whereby
each receptacle can be brought opposite the delivery end of the guide to receive a
cigarette as often as the cutter blade operates to sever or cut off a cigarette. A
retaining pawl is pivoted to the supporting plate to prevent any backward rotation
of the ratchet wheel.
The lower sprocket wheel over which the conveyer passes, is conveniently arbored
in a fork formed on the free end of a bent arm which is secured to the supporting
plate.
As before stated, the conveyer receptacles are preferably considerably shorter
than the length of the cigarettes to be transported therein, and it is desirable to
centre the cigarettes so that their ends will equally overhang the ends of the
receptacles. For this purpose, vertical guide plates are arranged on each side of
the conveyer, extending from the exit end of the guido or spout downward with,
and parallel to, the edges of the conveyer, and operate in the first place, to furnish
abutments, on the one hand, for the forward ends of the cigarettes as they are (lis-
charged from the guide into the receptacles and on the other hand, for the rear
ends of the cigarettes to prevent them from rebounding too far towards the guide
whereby the cigarettes will be centred in the receptacles with their ends over- 5
hanging; and in the second place, to provide side guides for the cigarottes as they
are conveyed downwardly to near the point of their discharge from the conveyer.
The vertical guide plates are preferably provided with foot plates which lie nearly
in a plane with, or slightly below, the bottom of the receptacles, and operate to
prevent the ends of the cigarettes from being caught between the edges of vertical 5
guide plates and the ends of the receptacles especially the forward ends of the
cigarettes as they are discharged from the guide. The vertical guide plates and

page_text: foot plates can be formed from a single strip of sheet metal by bending it into
L-shape and be secured in place by rivetting or soldering them to pieces which in
turn are secured to an arm or to any other fixed part of the mechanism.
On each side of the lower sprocket wheel and secured to the arins of the fork in
which the wheel is arbored, are discharge plates which are separated from each
other sufficiently to permit the conveyer, but not the cigarettes, to pass between
them. These plates are so shaped at their forward ends that, as the conveyor is
deflected from its path to pass over the lower wheel, the overhanging onds of the
cigarettes will be brought into contact with the edges of the plates and be retained
thereby whilo the conveyer moves from under them, and the discharged cigarettes
will drop down the inclined edges of the discharge plates.
The cigarettes as they are discharged from the conveyer may be deposited in
regular order in receiving boxes (or the like) which are preferably moved step by
step under the conveyer, the boxes being of such construction that the discharge
end of the conveyer works within them. A. construction for this purpose consists
of two endless chains passing over sprocket wheels the upper branches of these
chains running horizontally and at the desired distance beneath the lower edges
of the aforesaid discharge plates to enable the bottom of a box carried by the
chains to pass freely beneath the said plates. These chains are driven from wheels,
which are arbored on a stud fixed to the supporting plate and can be driven by a
ratchet wheel secured to a hub and rotated step by step by a pawl pivoted to an
arm which is loosely secured to the wheel stud and is operated by a pawl lever
pivoted to an arm, which in turn is pivotted to the supporting plate and is operated
by a double cam secured to the hub of the ratchet wheel of the upper wheel of the
endless conveyer. The upper branches of the chains are kept in horizontal position
by passing over a table secured to the supporting plate and this table is provided
with guides upon its edges to keep the receiving boxes properly aligned as they are
advanced along and beneath the conveyer.
A receiver or box adapted to be placed upon and fed along by the chain belts
under the convoyor and of such construction that the discharge end of the conveyor
will be contained and operate within the box to dischargo the cigarettes with
regularity therein consists of a rectangular box with an open top having its interior
width slightly greater than the length of the cigarettes, and having its ends con-
tracted so that the end openings will be only wide enough to clear the discharge
plates when the box is fed along.
As the box is fed along the opening in its contracted forward end will admit
the discharge plates and the portion of the conveyor between the said plates, and
thereafter throughout the length of the box the discharge end of the conveyor
and the discharge plates will remain inside the box and operate to discharge and
leposit the cigarettes therein. By the action of the double cam of the upper wheel
of the endless conveyer the box is during each complete revolution of the conveyor
fed forward the distance imposed by two ratchot teeth of the wheel by which the
endless chain belts are operated so that the number of cigarettes deposited in the
box at each of its stations will be equal to one half of the cigarettes carried by the
conveyor during one complete revolution. When the forward end of the box is
slightly advanced beyond the forward edge of the discharge plates it is in position
to receive the cigarettes as they are discharged from the conveyer, and they will
be disposed and arranged with regularity in a pile or vertical row between the for-
ward end of the box and the forward edges of the said plates, the walls of the con-
tracted opening in the forward end of the box sustaining the pile in front and
the edges of the said plates in the rear. As the box is moved along additional
steps to make additional stations empty spaces will be left for additional rows or
piles of cigarettes and so on throughout the length of the box, the box being easily
filled with cigarettes arranged in regular order to a height nearly equal to that of
the discharge plates.
When one of the receivers is advancing beneath the conveyer to receive
cigarettes, another receiver may be placed in position on the chain belts with its

page_text: forward end in contact with the rear end of the advance receiver so as to be in
position to receive the cigarettes as soon as possible after the advance receiver has
passed the forward end of the conveyer. To prevent the contracted ends of the
receivers, as they pass the discharge end of the conveyer from displacing the
cigarettes and to prevent the cigarettes from being leposited on the end walls of
the receivers, it is desirable that the receivers at this point should have a quick
forward movement to bring the forward end of the rear receiver almost instan-
taneously into position to receive the cigarettes. This may be effected in any
suitable way, as by suddenly pushing the receivers forward by hand, or by the
application of mechanism which will rapidly advance them to the desired distance.
A convenient form of mechanism consists of a device constructed and arranged
to reciprocate along the line of movement of the receivers and at the proper time
to be brought into contact with them, so that they will be quickly pushed forward.
For example a pawl pivoted to the upper end of an arm which is pivoted to the
supporting plate while its lower end is pivotally connected by a rod to an arm
rigidly fixed to the arm of the pawl operating the two heroin before described chain
belts. The receivers are provided with a lug or projection secured in proper
position relatively to the position of the pawl, so that as the receivers are advanced
on the chain belts and just as the rear end of the forward receiver is filled with
cigarettes, the reciprocating pawl will drop behind the projection on the rear box
and its next forward throw will almost instantly move both of the receivers for-
ward the desired distance which will depend largely upon the thickness of their
end walls. Generally, the forward and backward throw of the pawl should be
about two inches and the mechanism above described is preforably situated between
the supporting plate and the chain belts.
The guide may be inclined at such an angle that the cigarettes will not descend
rapidly and by gravity alone but may be slowly pushed along the guide and onto
the conveyor by the following cigarettes; so also, by making slight changes in the
delivery end of the cigarette machine the guide may be dispensed with and the
conveyer be made to run directly beneath the cutting mechanism to receive
the cigarettes as they are discharged therefrom.
It has been assumed that the cutting off mechanism operates to sever a cigarette
at each revolution of the cutter and that the conveyer is advanced a step as often
as a cigarette is severed. It is not however essential to this invention that the
cutter severs a cigarette at each of its revolutions, but the movement of the con-
veyor should be so timed relatively to the operation of the cutting off mechanism
that it shall be advanced to receive a severed cigarette as often as one is cut off
from the continuous cigarette, although the cigarette delivered to the conveyor
at any instant need not be the identical one which at that instant is sovered as
above explained.
We do not limit ourselves to the special construction of the various parts and
devices described, particularly the construction of the chain belt conveyer, the
receptacles and the means for operating the same and the receivers, as the con-
struction and operation of these and many other parts may be varied.
Dated this 1st day of June 1897
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Mechanism to be used in connection with what are
known as Continuous Cigarette Machines for Receiving and 50
Arranging the severed Cigarettes from the said Machines.
We, W. D. & H. O. WILLS, LIMITED, of Bedminster, in the City and County of
Bristol, and of 53, 54 & 55, Holborn Viaduct, in the City of London, do hereby

page_text: declare the nature of this invention (which has been communicated to us from
abroad by the Bonsack Machine Company, of Salem, Virginia, in the United States
of America) 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 that class of cigarette machines which operate by the
continuous method, to make long, or continuous, cigarettes, and sever them into
proper lengths for sale.
Hitherto, as a rule, the severed cigarettes as they are cut from the continuous
cigarette, have been allowed to drop from the cutting mechanism into a box, or
other receptacle, in a haphazard manner, forming an irregular pile, or heap, in
which the cigarettes lie in different direction, resulting in great inconvenience
in handling them for inspection, and packing.
It is the object of the present invention to provide mechanism, or a combination
of devices, by which the severed cigarettes, as they are cut from the continuous
cigarette, shall be conveyed laterally from the line of the continuous cigarette,
and be deposited in a regular manner in boxes, or other recoptacles, and to this
end, this invention consists, stated generally, of an endless conveyer arranged to
receive and transport the cigarettes and to operate in connection with tho
mechanism which cuts off, or severs, the short cigarettes from the continuous
cigarette; also, of the combination of an endless conveyer adapted to receive and
transport the cigarettes, with a box, or other receptacle, adapted to receive and
retain the cigarettes in regular relation to each other, and means for moving such
box or receptacle beneath the endless conveyer in such manner that the discharge
end of the conveyer will work within the said box or receptacle; also, of devices
arranged to operate in connection with the endless conveyer to dispose, and retain,
the cigarettes in proper position on the conveyer, to remove them therefrom at the
proper time and in the proper manner, to ensure their regular deposition in the
receiving boxes, or receptacles, and means for quickly moving the boxes or recep-
tacles forward to bring a rear box or receptacle into proper position.
This invention may be considered as a combination of devices capable of attach-
ment to, or of use in connection with, the delivery end of a cigarette machine of
any of the types which make continuous cigarettes and cut them into proper
lengths for sale, and it is unnecessary to describe or illustrate any part of such
machino other than the end where the cutting off device is situated and the finished
cigarettes are delivered.
We will describe this invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an arrangement according to this invention in con-
nection with the delivery end of a cigarette making machine parts being removed,
or broken away, to shew the parts beyond;
Fig. 2 is an elevation of the same, viewed in the direction of the arrow Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is a detail section of parts, the section being taken on the line
Fig. 1;
of
Fig. 4 is a detail section of other parts the section being taken on the line of
Fig. 1;
Fig. 5 is a plan;
Fig. 6 is a horizontal section, taken on the line -z of Fig. 1 looking down-
ward;
Fig. 7 is a detail view and Fig. 8 a plan of portions of the receiving boxes or
receptacles and mechanism for moving them rapidly.
A is the cutting-off knife (shown as being disc-shaped) of a cigarette machine,
mounted upon a shaft B driven by the pulley C, which in turn is driven by a
belt D, passing over the wheel E, on the shaft F. G is a continuous, or long,
cigarette (made by any mechanism adapted for this purpose, and not shown in the
drawings), passing through a supporting tube H, which is divided by a narrow
alit, in which the disc-shaped cutter works to sever the continuous cigarette into
proper lengths, such as is shown at I; and J is a guide, or spout, extending from
the delivery end of the tube H to the endless conveyer, horeinafter described.

page_text: Having referred to so much of a cigarette machine proper as is necessary for
an understanding of the construction, and operation, of the devices constituting
this invention, we will describe the said devices with reference to the accompany-
ing drawings:-
1 represents an endless conveyer passing over wheels 2 and 3, and arranged to
move transversely, or laterally, to the line of the continuous cigarette.
Proferably, this endless conveyer is of the usual construction of chain belting,
and the wheels 2 and 3 are the usual form of sprocket wheels for supporting and
driving such belts. Preferably also, the wheels 2 and 3 are of such size, and are
so mounted, relatively to each other, that the upper branch of the chain belt will
move down an incline as shewn in Figure 1.
The endless conveyer 1 is preferably provided with shallow receptacles, or cups, 4,
having open ends, these receptacles or cups being preferably shorter than the
cigarettes to be received and carried therein, and secured to the conveyor at equal
distances from each other, and in any desired number, varying according to the
length and speed of the conveyer, and circumstances of use.
If the conveyer be a chain belt, one receptacle may be secured to each link, as
shewn in the drawings. The receptacles can be bent, or struck, from sheet metal,
and be riveted in place, and their top edges are preferably bent backward from the
direction of their advance, so that, if they should come in contact with the cigarettes
as they pass over the wheel 3, they will be less liable to tear, or injure them, than
would otherwise be the case.
The convoyer 1 may be of any suitable construction and may be mounted, and
driven, in any desired way, to accomplish its purposes. As shewn in the drawings,
it is a chain belt passing over the sprocket wheels 2 and 3, which may be arranged
in any proper relation to each other, and be driven at the desired speed by con-
nection with the driving mechanism of the cigarette machine, or they may be driven
by means independent of such machine.
As shown in the drawings, the parts, to which this invention especially relates,
are secured to a plate X, which is fixed by bolts, or otherwise, to the delivery end
of a cigarette machine, and the endless conveyer is connected with the cutter shaft
of the cigarette machine, and is driven in unison with the rotations of the said
shaft, the construction and connection of the parts being as follows:
The wheel 2 (which is the driving wheel for the chain belt) is, as shewn in the
drawings, arboured upon a stnd 5 fixed to the plate X, which is bolted, or other-
wise secured, to the delivery end of a cigarette machine. The wheel 2, and the
chain belt passing over it, are driven by the ratchet wheel G, secured to the extended
hub 7, of the wheel 2, and is operated by a pawl 8, pivoted to the pawl lever 9, one
of the ends of which is loosely secured to the hub 7, its other end being pivotally
attached to a connecting rod 10, which, in turn, is pivoted to a crank arm of the
wheel 11, which is mounted on shaft 12 and is driven by the belt 13, passing over
pulleys 14 and C, which latter pulley gives motion of rotation to the cutting off
blade A. These pulleys are preferably of equal diameters, so that the wheel 11
makes one revolution, and moves the ratchet wheel 6 one notch, and the chain belt
one link, forward at each revolution of the cutter disc A. The teeth of the ratchet
wheel 6 are equal in number to the receptacles 4, on the chain belt, or conveyer, 1,
whereby each receptacle can be brought opposite the delivery end of the guide J,
to receive a cigarette as often as the cutter blade operates to sever a cigarette. A
retaining pawl 15 (shewn in Fig. 1) is pivoted to the plate X to prevent any back-
ward rotation of the ratchet wheel.
The small sprocket wheel 3, over which the conveyer 1 passes, is conveniently
arboured in a fork 10, formed on the free end of a bent arm 17, which is secured
to the plate X, as clearly shewn in Fig. 6.
As before stated, the conveyer receptacles 4 are preferably considerably shorter
than the length of the cigarettes to be transported therein, and it is desirable to
centre the cigarettes so that their ends will equally overhang the ends of the
receptacles. For this purpose, vertical guide plates 18, are arranged on each side

page_text: The plater 21, a and the portion of the conveyer between the said plates, and thero-
after throughout the 1ngth of the box the discharge end of the conveyer 1, and the
plates 21, will remain insit the box, and operate to discharge and deposit the
arites therein. By the action of the double cam 31 which, through the con-
Lections described, and shewn, operates tion of the conveyer 1, fed forward the
the pawl 27, to advance the chain belts 22,
the box is during each complete tevol
distance corresponding to two ratchet 'reth of the wheel 23, so that the number
of cigarettes deposited in the box. it each of its tations, will be equal to one-half
of the cigarettes carrigà by the conveyer during of complete revolution.
When the forward (r of the box is slightly advant, beyond the forward edge 1
of the plates 21, it is in position to receive the cigarette as they are discharged
from the conveyer, and they will be disposed, and arranged with regularity in
pile, or vertical row, between the forward end of the box, all the forward edges
of the plates 21, the walls of the contracted opening in the forwid end of the box
sustaining the pile in front, and the edges of the plates 21 sustaining in the rear.
As the box is moved along additional stops to mako additional stations, empty
spaces will be left for additional rows, or piles, of cigarettes, and so on throughout
the length of the box, the box being easily filled with cigarets arranged in
regular order to a height nearly equal to that of the discharging plates 21.
When one of the receivers is advancing beneath the conveyer to receiv
cigarettes, another receiver may be placed in position on the chain bells 22, with
its forward end in contact with the rear end of the advance receiver so as to be in
position to receive the cigarettes as soon as possible after the advance receiver has
passed the forward end of the conveyer. To prevent the contracted ends of the
receivers, as they pass the discharge end of the conveyer, from displacing the
cigarettes, and to prevent the cigarettes from being deposited on the end walls of
the receivers, it is desirable that the receivers, at this point, should have a quick
forward movement, to bring the forward end of the rear receiver, almost instan-
taneously, into position to receive the cigarettes. This may be effected in any
suitable way, such as by suddenly pushing the receivers forward by hand, or by the
application of mechanism which will rapidly advance them to the desired distance.
A convenient form of mechanism for this purpose is illustrated in Figs. 1, 7
and 8, and consists of a device constructed and arranged to reciprocate along the
line of movement of the receivers, and, at the proper time, to be brought into con-
tact with them, so that they will be quickly pushed forward.
As shown in the drawings 35 is a pawl pivoted to the upper end of an arm 36,
which in turn is pivoted to the plate X its lower end being pivotally connected to
the arm 37 through the rod 38, the arm 37 being rigidly fixed to the arm 28, which
has a reciprocating vertical movement as, and for the purpose, herein before
described. Means, such as a pin 39, are provided for keeping the pawl in an
operative position. The receivers are provided with a lug, or projection, 40,
secured in proper position relatively to the position of the pawl, so that, as the
receivers are advanced on the chain belts, and just as the rear end of the forward
receiver is filled with cigarettes, the reciprocating pawl will drop behind the pro-
jection 40, on the rear box and its next forward throw will almost instantly push
both of the receivers forward the desired distance, which will depend largely upon
the thickness of their end walls.
Generally, the forward and backward throw of the pawl should be about two
inches and the mechanism hereinbefore described is preferably situated between
the plato X and the chain belta.
The guide J may be inclined at a much less angle than that shewn in the draw-
ings, so that the cigarettes will not descend rapidly and by gravity alone, but may
be slowly pushed along the guide, and onto the conveyer by the following
cigarettes. By making slight changes in the delivery end of the cigarette machine,
the guide J may be dispensed with, and the conveyer be made to run directly
beneath the cutting mechanism to receive the cigarettes as they are discharged
therefrom.

page_text: of the conveyer, extending from the exit end of the guide, or spout I downward
with, and parallel to, the edges of the conveyer, and operating in the first place,
to furnish abutments on the one hand, for the forward ends of the cigarettes as
they are discharged from the guide J, into the receptacles 4, and on the other
hand, for the rear ends of the cigarettes, to
towards the guide J, whereby the cigara Prevent them from rebounding too far
their ends overhanging; and, in thes will be centred in the receptacles with
e second place, to provide side guides for the
cigarettes as they are conveyed
4 Ownwardly to hear the point of their discharge
from the conveyer.
Mor
In Figure 1 the rear plat 18 is shown extending from the end of the guide J
to the sprocket wheel the corresponding freat plate having been removed to shew
the parts beyond. he positions of the plates 18 relatively to each other, the edges
of the conveyer, an the ends of the cigarettes, are shown in Figures 3 and 4. The
side guides 18 preferably provided with foot plates 19, which lie nearly in a
plane with lightly below, the bottom of the receptacles 4, and operate to pre-
vent the ends of the cigarettes from being caught between the edges of the
guides 1, and the ends of the receptacles 4, especially the forward ends of the
cigarettes as they are discharged from the guide J. The plates 18 and 19, aro
preferably formed from a single strip of sheet metal, by bending it into L shape,
and are secured in place by riveting, or soldering, them to pieces 20, which are
secured to an arm 17 to any other fixed part of the apparatus.
On each side of the smaller sprocket wheel 3 and secured to the arms of the fork
in which the wheel is arboured, are the discharge plates 21 which are separated
from each other sufficiently to permit the conveyer, but not the cigarettes, to pass
between them. These plates are so shaped, at their forward ends, that, as the
conveyer is deflected from its path to pass over the wheel 3, the overhanging ends
of the cigarettes will be brought into contact with the edges of the plates and be
retained thereby while the conveyer moves from under them, and the discharged
cigarettes will drop down the inclined edges of the plates 21, as illustrated in Fig. 1.
The cigarettes, as they are discharged from the conveyer, may be deposited, in
regular order, in receiving boxes, which are preferably moved, step-by-step, under
the conveyer, the boxes being of such construction that the discharge end of the
conveyor works within them. A construction for this purpose is shewn in
Figs. 1, 2, and 5, and consists of two endless chains 22, passing over sprocket
wheels 23 and 24, the upper branches of these chains running horizontally, and at
the desired distance beneath the lower edges of plates 21, to enable the bottom of
a box carried by the chains to pass freely beneath the plates 21.
These ohains, as shewn in the drawings, are driven from the wheels 24, which
are arboured on a stud, fixed to the plate X, and can be driven by a ratchet wheel 25,
secured to the hub 26, and rotated, step by step, by the pawl 27 pivoted to the
arm 28, which is loosely secured to the wheel stud, and is operated by the pawl
lever 29, pivoted to the arm 30, which is pivoted to the plate X, and is operated
by a double cam 31, secured to the hub of the ratchet wheel 6, as shewn in
Figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6.
The upper branches of the chains 22 are kept in horizontal position by passing
over a supporting table 32, secured to the plate X, and this table is provided with
guides 33, upon its edges, to keep the receiving boxes properly aligned as they are
advanced along, and beneath, the conveyer 1.
A receiver, or box, 34, adapted to be placed upon, and fed along, by the chain
belts, under the conveyer 1, and of such construction that the discharge end of the
conveyer will be contained and operate within the box, to discharge the cigarettes
with regularity therein, is shewn in Figs. 1, 2, and 5.
The said box is rectangular with an open top and having an internal width
lightly greater than the length of the cigarettes, and having its ends contracted,
o that the end openings will be only wide enough to clear the plates 21 when the
box is fed along.
As the box is fed along, the opening in its contracted forward end will admit

page_text: In the construction shewn in the drawings it is assumed that the cutting-off
mechanism operates to sever a cigarette at each revolution of the cutter A, and that
the conveyer 1 is advanced a step as often as a cigarette is severed. It is not,
however, essential to this invention that the cutter should sever a cigarette at each
of its revolutions, but the movement of the conveyor should be so timed, relatively
to the operation of the cutting-off mechanism that it shall be advanced to ~
ceive a
severed cigarette as often as one is cut off from the continuous cigarette, although
the cigarette delivered to the conveyer at any instant need not be the identical ope
which at that instant is severed as hereinbefore explained.
This invention is not limited to the special construction of the various parts and
devices shewn in the drawings and hereinbefore described particularly the con-
struction of the chain belt conveyer, the receptacles 4 and the means for operating
them and the receivers, as the construction and operation of these, and other parts
may be varied without departing from the nature of this invention, which consist
essentially in means for delivering a cigarette to an endless conveyer as often as a
cigarette is severed by the cutting mechanism, and conveying the cigarettes
laterally and depositing them with regularity.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim ia:
1. In combination, or for use, with the cutting-off mechanism of a machine
for making continuous cigarettes an endless conveyer adapted to receive and carry
the severed cigarettes, and means for delivering the cigarettes from the cutting-
off mechanism to the conveyer.
2. In combination, or for use, with the cutting-off mechanism of a machine for
making continuous cigarettes an endless conveyer provided with a series of recep-
tacles, (such as 4,) and means for moving the conveyer in unison with the action
of the cutting-off mechanism so that a receptacle is brought into position to receive
a cigarette as often as one is severed.
3. An endless conveyer provided with a series of receptacles, (such as 4) adapted
to receive and carry cigarettes having their side edges bent backward from the
direction of the forward movement of the conveyor, substantially as and for the
purpose herein before described.
4. The combination with an endless conveyor adapted to receive, and carry,
cigarettes, of stationary side guides (such as 18,) substantially as, and for the pur-
pose, hereinbefore described.
5. The combination with an endless conveyer, adapted to receive and convey
cigarettes, and an inclined guide (such as J) connecting the conveyer with the
cutting off mechanism of a cigarette machine, of an abutting plate 18, and foot
plate 19, arranged to act upon the forward end of the cigarettes as they are
delivered from the guide to the conveyer, substantially as, and for the purpose
hereinbefore described.
6. The combination with an endless conveyer, adapted to receive and carry
cigarettes, and of less width than the length of the cigarettes, of means for center-
ing the cigarettes transversely on the said conveyer, and devices arranged on each
side of the conveyer, and in the path of the overhanging ends of the cigarettes,
to remove the cigarettes from the conveyer.
7. The combination with an endless chain belt provided with a series of recep-
tacles, as 4, secured thereto, and adapted to receive and carry cigarettes, and of a
less width than the length of the cigarettes, of devices for centering the cigarettes
in the receptacles, as they are delivered thereto, so that their ends will overhang,
devices for maintaining the cigarettes in such centered position as the conveyer is
advanced, and devices arranged in the path of the overhanging ends of the cigarette
to remove them from the receptacles and deposit them in regular order relatively
to each other.
8. The combination with an endless conveyer, adapted to receive and transport

page_text: cigarettes, and devices (such as the plates 21) arranged on each side of the dis-
charge portion of the conveyer to remove the cigarettes therefrom, of a receiver
adapted to contain the cigarettes, and constructed and arranged to permit the
discharge end of the conveyer, and devices for removing cigarettes therefrom, to
operate within the receiver, substantially as, and for the purpose hereinbefore
described.
9. The combination with an endless conveyer, adapted to receive and transport
cigarettes, means for delivering cigarettes thereto, and means for moving the con-
veyer, of a receiver adapted to contain the cigarettes, means for advancing the
same beneath the conveyer, and devices for removing the cigarettes from the con-
veyer, and depositing them regularly in the receiver.
10. In combination or for use with a cigarette machine, of an endless conveyer
adapted to receive and carry cigarettes, means for delivering the cigarettes from
the machine to the conveyer, means for discharging the cigarettes therefrom, a
receiver (such as 34,) into which the cigarettes are discharged from the conveyer,
and means for operating the delivering mechanism, the conveyer and the receiver
in unison, whereby a cigarette is delivered to the conveyer as often as one is
removed therefrom, and discharged into the receiver.
11. The combination with a conveyer adapted to receive and carry cigarettes,
of a receiver and means for advancing the same relatively to the conveyer, and
additional means for quickly advancing the receiver, whereby its forward end will
quickly pass the discharge end of the conveyer, for the purpose described.
12. The combination with a conveyer for cigarettes, of two receivers and means
for advancing them relatively to the conveyer, and additional means for quickly
advancing the receivers, whereby the rear end of one receiver, and the forward
end of the other, will quickly pass the discharge of the conveyer, for the purpose
described.
13. The combination with a conveyer for cigarettes, boxes, or other receptacles
for receiving the same from the conveyer, and means for advancing the boxes or
receptacles relatively to the conveyer, of a device arranged to reciprocate along the
line of movement of the boxes or receptacles and at the proper time, to engage the
boxes or receptacles and push them quickly forward, for the purpose described.
14. The combination with a box, or other receptacle, adapted to receive cigarettes
from a conveyer, or other source of supply, and provided with a projection, or lug,
(such as 40,) means for advancing the box, or receptacle relatively to the source
of supply, of a device (such as the pawl 35,) means for reciprocating the same
along the line of movement of the box or receptacle and means for bringing the
reciprocating device into engagement with the projection on the box or receptacle
to suddenly push it forward for the purpose described.
D1
1
111000
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.