A Combined Cigar Cutter and Match Igniting Device.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Feb., 1898-Accepted, 30th Apr.,
1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A Combined Cigar Cutter and Match Igniting Device.
I, WILLIAM HENRY THOMPSON, Manufacturer, of East Stroudsburg, Pennsyl-
vania, United States of America, 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:-
It is the object of my invention to provide a combined cigar cutter and match
igniting device whereby the operator, upon depressing a single hand lever or
similar device, may cut the cigar and also eject the match from its receptacle and
light the same ready for its application to the cigar in lighting it.
My invention relates particularly to means whereby this simultaneous operation
is performed through the manipulation of one lever and means for feeding the
matches and preventing clogging of the same in the hopper.
In the accompany drawings,
Figure 1 is a side view of the invention with a part of the base frame broken
away.
Figure 2 is a transverse section through the hopper.
Figure 3 is a detail of a section on line 3-3 of Figure 1.
Figure 4 shows the hopper and feed operating devices in a bottom plan view,
and
Figure 5 is a side view of one section of the hopper showing its interior.
The device comprises a base portion 1 having a hopper 2 at one end with the
figure of an Indian 3 at the other end, a clip 4 holding the figure to the hopper.
The cigar cutter 5 is attached to the leg 6 of the Indian pivoted at 7, and this
cutter, when the lever 8 is depressed, moves across an opening 9 in the figure
through which the end of the cigar is thrust and thus the tip end is removed.
The matches are placed in the hopper 2 provided with inclined bottom walls 10
and they are fed to the central delivery slot or channel 11 formed between the
depending flanges 12. In this groove or channel and resting upon the shoulders 13
of the flanges, a plunger 14 is arranged and this is reciprocated through an exten-
sion 15 of the leg 6 which extension engages the tail piece 16 of the plunger, it
being connected thereto through a web 17. As the plunger moves forward it
engages the match which has fallen into the channel il and forces it against a
serrated ignitor plate 18 pivoted between the flanges 12 of the hopper sections.
This plate is under tension of a spring 19 and the match head rubbing against the
serrations will be ignited as it passes through the discharge opening 20.
In order

page_text: to feed the matches to the discharge channel or slot I provide feed plates 21 moving
along the inclined bottom walls of the hopper towards and from the feed channel.
These plates have arms 22 extending through slots 23 into the path of cam
plates 24, 25 which are attached to and move with the match discharge plunger.
The feed plates are under tension of the springs 26, 27, which engage the arms 22
in such a manner that the plate 21 on one side of the feed channel is normally
retracted from, while the plate on the other side is normally forced forward to,
the feed channel. The cams 24, 25 have a reverse action, the former having a
lateral flange 24¹ to engage the arm 22 and force the feed plate backward while
at the same time the cam 25, by means of its upturned flange 25¹, engages the
arm 22 of the opposite feed plate and forces the same forward. These plates thus
have a reciprocating motion; as one plate is forcing a match forward to the feed
channel the other plate is retracting therefrom to take a fresh match.
In order to prevent the matches in the hopper from clogging I provide yielding
separating devices which act to distribute the matches as they fall toward the feed
channel and to separate them so that they will not arrive at the channel in a mass
but will be separated sufficiently to insure their passage to the feed channel one
by one.
I use for this purpose a series of spiral springs 28 which are independent of the
hopper and of each other and hang loosely upon rods 29 therein. One of these
springs is arranged directly over the feed channel 11 and its lower side is at a
less distance from the mouth of the channel than the thickness of a match so that
it must be forced aside slightly before a match can pass and fall into the feed
channel and it therefore acts to hold up the match while the first match is being
discharged until the feed plate forces the match past it into the channel.
other springs are arranged one directly above and the others to one side and
slightly above the spring first mentioned, and these act as distributors and separa-
tors to ensure the passage of the matches one by one towards the feed slot.
The
I have provided means to ensure the proper discharge of the match when once
the handle 8 is started on its movement and I do this by providing an arrester to
engage a series of serrations on the feed plunger which will arrest the backward
movement thereof and prevent it from returning to normal position until it has
been moved all the way forward, this consisting of an arrester 30 pivoted to the
base and having a tooth 31 extending up to engage a series of serrations 32 on a
bar 33 connected with the plunger. The tooth 31 being longer than the distance
between the pivot 30 and the bottom of the serrations 32 will, when the plunger is
moved forward, stand at a slight inclination towards the front as shown in dotted
lines in Figure 1, so that it will engage the teeth and prevent backward move-
ment until the bar 33 has passed entirely over it when the arrester will then
assume a vertical position under the action of the weight 34 and upon the return
of the plunger through the force of its spring 35, Figure 1, the said arrester will
be free to incline in the other direction and thus allow the plunger to return.
I do not wish to limit myself to spiral springs as the separating distributing
means as other yielding devices may be used, such as tubes or cylinders and these
may be hung from the cross rods in a manner similar to the springs shown.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said in-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1 A match igniting device, comprising a hopper, a pair of feed plates recipro-
cating therein in opposite directions, a discharge channel leading from the hopper
and a plunger working in the said channel, substantially as described and shown.
2 In combination with the devices of Claim 1, the cams moving with the dis-
charge plunger for reciprocating the feed plates, substantially as described.
3 In combination with the devices of Claim 1, the separating and distributing

page_text: means independent of the feeding device, comprising a plurality of yielding tubu-
lar members arranged over the discharge passage within the hopper, substantially
as described.
Dated this 7th day of February 1898.
For the Applicant,
PRYOR & HARVEY,
Agents, 3, St. Nicholas' Buildings, Newcastle-on-Tyne.