AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING CIGARETTES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Clayton Mewburn, of 172, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, Patent Agent and Consulting Engineer, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING
CIGARETTES."-A. communication from abroad by B. Harrass, of
Böhlen, Germany.
Scaled the 24th September 1872, and dated the 26th March 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Clayton Mewburn
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 26th March 1872.
I, JOHN CLAYTON MEWBURN, of 172, Fleet Street, in the City of
5 London, Patent Agent and Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS
FOR MAKING CIGARETTES," to be as follows:-

page_text: tobacco with the fingers, and by means of an apparatus contained in or
attached to the tobacco pouch or bag.
* This apparatus is constructed as follows:-In one end or side of the
pouch or bag I insert two concentric tubes having an annular space
between them. These two tubes extend within the pouch or bag to
about two-thirds of the depth of the latter, and the smaller tube projects
half an inch more or less outside the pouch. This smaller tube is closed
by a button or other stopper, which has connected to it a needle or wire
reaching down through the centre of this tube to nearly the bottom of
the pouch.
Within the smaller tube and surrounding this needle is a
spiral or screw which extends to the lower end of the pouch, where it is
pivoted to a plate. The spiral at this part carries a pinion gearing with
a wheel, which is provided outside the pouch with a handle or thumb
piece for turning it.
To make a cigarette, a cigarette paper tube is inserted into the annular
space between the two concentric tubes, and the top edges of the paper
are turned down over the button or between the button and the smaller
tube. The lower part of the pouch is then pressed with one hand so as to
press the tobacco against that part of the spiral which is not within the
smaller tube, and the handle is then turned with the other hand so as
to impart rotation to the spiral. The result is that the tobacco is forced
by the spiral up the smaller tube, and then raises the button and the
paper tube, which latter it gradually fills. When the paper tube has
nearly reached the top of the smaller tube it is lifted off together with
the button and needle. The needle is then withdrawn and with the
button returned to its place, the cigarette being finished, and having
moreover a central channel, which has been formed by the needle,
and which facilitates and improves the smoking of the cigarette. By
regulating the pressure on the pouch the degree of compactness of
the tobacco in the cigarette can be regulated as desired. The concentric
tubes are held in place by a plate or stay, which connects them with the
bottom plate before mentioned. The pinion and wheel are enclosed by
a cap or cover to keep them clear of the tobacco, and the handle should
be jointed so as to lie flat against the pouch when not in use.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Clayton Mewburn in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 25th September 1872.:
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
CLAYTON MEWBURN, of 172, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent and Consulting Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Clayton Mewburn, Her special
licence that I, the said John Clayton Mewburn, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Clayton
Mewburn, 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 IMPROVED MODE OF AND APparatus for MAKING CIGARETTES," (commu-
nicated from abroad by B. Harrass, of Böhlen, Germany), upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said John Clayton Mewburn, 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 performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Clayton Mewburn, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, that is to say :-
According to this Invention cigarettes are made without touching the
tobacco with the fingers, and by means of an apparatus contained in or
attached to the pouch or receptacle of the tobacco.

page_text: This apparatus is seen in external view in Figure 1, and in section in
Figure 2 of the Drawings.
It is constructed as follows:-In one end or side of the pouch or
receptacle B I insert two concentric tubes R and V, having an annular
space v between them. These two tubes extend within the pouch to about
two-thirds of the depth of the latter, and the smaller tube R projects
half an inch more or less outside the pouch. This smaller tube is closed
by a button or other stopper K, which has connected to it a needle or
wire N, reaching down through the centre of this tube to nearly the bottom
of the pouch. Within the smaller tube and surrounding this needle is a
spiral or screw S which extends to the lower end of the pouch, where it
is pivoted to a plate h. The spiral at this part carries a pinion Z gearing
with a wheel T, which is provided outside the pouch with a handle or
thumb piece W for turning it.
To make a cigarette, a cigarette paper tube is inserted into the annular
space between the two concentric tubes R and V, and the top edges
of the paper are turned down over the button K or between the button
and the smaller tube R. The lower part of the pouch is then pressed
with one hand so as to press the tobacco against that part of the spiral
S which is not within the smaller tube, and the handle W is then turned
with the other hand so as to impart rotation to the spiral. The result is
that the tobacco is forced by the spiral up the smaller tube R and then
raises the button K. and the paper tube, which latter it gradually fills.
When the paper tube has nearly reached the top of the smaller tube it
is lifted off together with the button and needle N. The needle is then
withdrawn, and with the button returned to place, the cigarette being
finished, and having moreover a central channel, which has been formed
by the needle, and which facilitates and improves the smoking of the
cigarette. By regulating the pressure on the pouch, the degree of com-
pactness of the tobacco in the cigarette can be regulated as desired. The
concentric tubes are held in place by a plate or stay H, which connects
them with the bottom plate h. The pinion Z and wheel T are enclosed
by a cap or cover to keep them clear of the tobacco, and the handle W
should be jointed, as seen in Figure 1, so as to lie flat against the pouch
when not in use.

page_text: what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the
mode of and apparatus for making cigarettes herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Clayton Mewburn, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of September,
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
J. C. MEWBURN. (L.S.)