CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COMPRESSING AND CUTTING TOBACCO."
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Sampson Moore, of Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Millwright, Engineer, and Ironfounder, for the Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COMPRESSING AND CUTTING
TOBACCO."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION' left by the 'said Sampson Moore at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th
March 1862.
..
I, SAMPSON MOORE, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Mill-
wright, Engineer, and Ironfounder, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COMPRESSING AND
CUTTING TOBACCo," to be as follows:
My improvements are applicable to those machines in which the tobacco is
continuously supplied, compressed, and cut, and they consist in giving the "
requisite intermittent advancing motion to the cutting or play boards by a
screw, the cutting boards being formed in detached parts, each of which is
carried forward towards the cutting knife by means of a driver furnished with
one or more parts of nuts gearing into the screw. The cutting boards bear
upon and are firmly supported by a fixed iron bed furnished with V grooves;

page_text: by which the drivers are guided. The tobacco is pressed upon and carried
forward from the feeding box by an endless belt passing over a series of rollers,
the first of which is supported in adjustable bearings provided with side
plates fitting in recesses of the framing to prevent the admission of tobacco
or other extraneous substances to the interior of the belt; the upper edges of
the belt pass under a projection cast to the side frames for the like purpose.
The side plates and the bearings in which the rollers revolve are capable of
being adjusted according to the depth of the tobacco, and to compensate for
the wear of the cutting boards by means of regulating screws; or the bed on
which the cutting boards travel may be adjusted in like manner for the same
object. The cutting knife is attached to the usual "swan neck," which is
worked in the usual manner. The intermittent motion is given to the screw
by the rocking shaft and a ratchet or friction wheel actuated by slotted levers
or levers otherwise adjustable to afford facility in regulating the number of
cuts in any given space. The roller near the cutting knife is driven from the
screw by a side shaft actuated by spur and bevel gear. The side plates,
rollers, and endless belt being capable of adjustment, and the mouth of
the trough which delivers the tobacco to the knife being contracted, at the
sides as usual, enable me to cut the whole of the tobacco without making
pickings."
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Sampson Moore in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th September 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME,' I, SAMPSON
MOORE, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Millwright, Engineer, and
Ironfounder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her. Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and, sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Sampson Moore, Her special license that I, the said, Sampson. Moore,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such, others as I, the said Sampson.
Moore, 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
1...

page_text: vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR COMPRESSING AND CUTTING TOBACCO," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Sampson Moore, my executors or admi-
nistrators, 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 Sampson Moore, 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
(that is to say):
My improvements are applicable to those machines in which the tobacco
is continuously supplied, compressed, and cut, and they consist in giving the
requisite intermittent advancing motion to the cutting or "play boards" by a
screw, the cutting boards being formed in detached parts each of which is
carried forward towards the cutting knife by means of a driver furnished with
one or more parts of nuts gearing into the screw.. The cutting boards bear
upon and are firmly supported by a fixed or adjustable iron bed furnished
with V grooves, by which the drivers are guided. The tobacco is pressed
upon the cutting or "play boards," and is carried forward in the feeder by
them and an endless belt passing over a series of rollers, the first of which is
supported in adjustable bearings provided with side plates, fitting in recesses
of the framing, to prevent the admission of tobacco or other extraneous sub-
stances to the interior of the belt; the edges of the belt pass inside of
projections cast to the side frames for the like purpose: The side plates, with
the bearings in which the rollers revolve, are capable of being adjusted to
regulate the proper depth of the tobacco, and to compensate for the wear of
the cutting boards, by means of regulating screws; or the bed on which the
cutting boards travel. may be adjusted in like manner for the same objects::
The cutting knife is attached to the usual "swan neck," which is worked in
the usual manner. The intermittent motion is given to the screw by the
rocking shaft and a ratchet or friction wheel actuated by slotted levers, or
levers otherwise adjustable, to afford facility in regulating the number of cuts
in any given space. The roller near the cutting knife is driven from the screw
by a side, shaft actuated by spur and bevel gear. The side plates or top
framing, rollers, and endless belt. are capable of adjustment;, and the mouth

page_text: of the feeder, which delivers the tobacco to the knife, is contracted at the
sides as usual, the object being to cut the whole of the tobacco without making
"side pickings."
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried.
into effect, I will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of: Drawings,
reference being had to the figures and letters marked thereon..
; Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine for compressing and cutting tobacco
constructed according to my improvements; Figure 2 is an end elevation, and,
Figure 3, a plan of the same; Figure 4 is a transverse section of part of the
machine shewn in the preceding Figures, shewing a mode of driving the screw
by a ratchet wheel; Figure 5 is a sectional plan of the side plates or top.
framing 9, shewing the mode of applying side plates at the bearings of the
roller h.
, a, a, are the frame sides; b, b, the cutting or "play boards," to which an
intermittent advancing motion is given by the screw c. The cutting or play
boards are formed in detached parts with diagonal joints, as now customary,
and each board is carried forward towards the cutting knife d by means of.
the drivers 6', furnished with the two parts of nuts 62, gearing into the screw c.
One
part of a nut might be employed, or more than two, if preferred. The
cutting boards 6 hear upon and are firmly supported by the fixed or.adjustable
iron bed e, which is attached to the frame sides; the inner edges of the bed er
are V-grooved, as shewn in Figure 4, to guide the drivers 6. The tobacco is
pressed upon the cutting or "play boards," and is carried forward in the.
feeder by them and the endless belt f passing over the rollers 'g and h.. The :
mode of driving the former will be described hereafter, and the latter is sup-
ported in adjustable bearings h¹ on the side plates or top framing q, provided:
with side plates, shewn best in Figure 5, fitting in recesses in the side plates or
top framing q to prevent the admission of tobacco or other. extraneous sub-.
stances to the interior of the belt f. The edges of, the belt pass inside the
projections cast to each side frame for the like purpose. The belt passes over 3
the upper and lower guide rollers i, i, supported in suitable bearings between
the rollers 9 and h. The side plates, or top framing q, and the bearings in..
which all the rollers g, h, and i, revolve, are capable of being adjusted by
regulating set screws, or otherwise, to regulate the proper depth of tobacco,
and to compensate for the wear of the cutting boards 6; or the bed e, on .3
which the cutting boards travel, may be adjusted in like manner for the same
objects. The side plates 9 or top framing, with the endless, belts.and fittings,
can also be readily detached, so that an endless belt can be put on or taken
.

page_text: off with great facility, and without disturbing the other parts of the machine.
I would also remark that weighted levers may be employed to give the
required pressure to the tobacco; this arrangement would allow the endless
belt to rise in case of overfeeding. The cutting knife.d is attached to the
usual "swan neck "j, fixed to a rocking shaft k; the swan neck j is worked, as
now customary, by the crank m on the driving shaft m², and by the con-'
necting rod n. The intermittent rotary motion is given to the screw c by the
slotted lever k¹ on the rocking shaft k; this lever, by means of the link n',"
gives a vibrating motion to the elbow lever n³, which is connected by the
link n³ to the double lever o loose on the end of the screw 'c. To the upper
arm of the lever o is jointed the catch o³, which is V-shaped, and takes into
the groove of the friction pulley c¹, fixed to the screw c. The retaining pall o²
is hinged to the frame side to prevent any retrograde motion of the screw.
The number of cuts in any given space can be regulated by the slots in the
levers k¹ and o. The roller g has also an intermittent rotary motion imparted
to it from the screw c, by the pinion gearing into the carrier pinion p,
which drives the wheel p¹ on the side shaft p. To the other end of this shaft
is fixed the bevel pinion p³, gearing into the wheel g', keyed on the axle of
the roller g. The side plates or top framing 9, rollers g, h, and i, and endless
belt fare capable of adjustment, and the mouth of the feeder, which delivers
the tobacco to the knife d, is contracted at the sides as usual, the object being
to cut the whole of the tobacco without making "side pickings," thus effecting
a great saving in the work performed. In Figure 4 the screw c is driven direct
from the rocking shaft k by the catch r attached to the lever k³, fixed to the
rocking shaft k, and taking into the teeth of the ratchet wheel c³ fixed on the
end of the screw c.
.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that, except in the details
herein-after specified, I make no claim to any of the parts of the machine
taken separately, but that what I do claim is,-
First, the general arrangement and combination of the parts forming a
machine for compressing and cutting tobacco continuously.
Secondly, I claim the improved mode of working the cutting or play boards
in machines for compressing and cutting tobacco by means of a screw and one
or more parts of nuts, as herein described.
Thirdly, the application of the side plates of the bearings h', and the pro-
jections above and around the belt f, for excluding the tobacco or extraneous
substances from the interior of the endless belt.

page_text: Fourthly, the application of the side plates or top framing 9 for carrying the
rollers g, h, i, the endless belt and fittings herein described, and in such a
manner that the endless belt can be put on, and taken off with great facility,
and without disturbing the other parts of the machine.
Fifthly, the application of an adjustable bed, or of the adjustable side plates
or top framing q, which carries the rollers g, h, i, the endless belt and fittings,,
in such a manner as to be readily adjustable, to compensate for the wearing.
away or "waning" of the cutting or "play boards," and to preserve an uniform
thickness of compressed tobacco in the feeder.
In witness whereof, I; the said Sampson Moore; have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of September, in the year of our.
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.