Improvements in Cigar-making Machines.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd May, 1898
4.000
Accented
18th Mar
1899
Date of Application, 2nd May, 1898
Complete Specification Left, 18th Jan., 1800 Accepted, 18th Mar
1899
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Cigar-making Machines.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of the Firm of A. M. & Wm. Clark, of 53,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Chartered Institute
of Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a communica-
tion to me by Bernhard Wertheimer, of Baden Strasse, Karlsruhe, Germany,
Manufacturer), to be as follows:-
This invention relates to the method of, and apparatus for, the manufacture
of bunches" and of cigars that is to say of the bunch provided with the wrapper
or cover.
In machines for the manufacture of cigars, and more especially in the machine
in respect of which Letters Patent dated the 26th day of March 1890 and num-
bered 4769, were granted, the difficulty experienced in forming a firm bunch
has been overcome only to the extent that it has been still necessary to apply
subsequent pressure.
According to this invention such pressure is applied during the rolling of the
bunch in the wrapper so that without having to remove the tobacco from the
bunching fold of the bunching cloth, a bunch of sufficient firmness is produced
to allow of it being formed into a finished cigar by rolling the wrapper around
the bunch whilst it is travelling further along the table.
In carrying out this invention the tobacco is placed on the band within a
mould, as in the patent above referred to, and the actuating roller of the bunch-
ing band is carried along over the tobacco and the tobacco is lifted out of the
mould without however packing the tobacco tightly. It is only after the bunch
has been raised out of the mould and the loop has been closed around it, that the
bunching band is tightened from the rear by the action of a tension roller. If
the cigar is finished in the same operation, two tightenings of the bunching
band are necessary. This band is longitudinally divided at its ends into three
A temporary tighten-
bands so that it is tightened independently at the sides.
ing of the two lateral bands towards the front is effected in succession, thereby
producing the tapered shape at the point or tip and end of the cigar respectively.
The two tightening operations must take place in succession because if they
took place simultaneously the tobacco would be forced out of the loop; and they
must also be temporary, because if the tension of the bunching band were per-
manent, the wrapper would readily become creased and would be damaged.
In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation and Figure 2 is
a plan view of the machine, the side plate of the machine in Figure 1 being
omitted.
D is the main shaft and V the driving pulley receiving to and fro motion.
Upon the shaft D there are keyed at both sides the levers E in the guides e e
of which are mounted to slide the rods F which carry the bunching roller R.
The rod F is guided by means of the friction roller G in the cam slot H. Upon
the shaft D there is also mounted the cam discs J having two noses whereby the

page_text: elbow levers (which rest upon the cams by rollers and which are pivoted
at ) is moved twice in an upward direction or to the left hand. The arms &
of these elbow levers carry the band roller & and also rollers K which latter strike
against the stop b of the bridge piece B (which is pivoted at c) and by their
upward movement raise the same to allow the bunching roller R free passage out
on to the bunching table. Over the band roller there runs the bunching
band C which passes round the tension rollers that slides in the slot S and has
the three strips into which it is divided respectively attached to the rollers 1, 2, 3,
which are adapted to be adjusted by hand. Upon the shaft ]) there
are also fixed two cam discs L and N each having at a determined point a tappet
which is formed with an abrupt upward inclination and with a somewhat more
gradual downward inclination. These two cam dises L and N serve to actuate
the two elbow levers 0 0¹ and P P which are pivoted at o', o'. The arms O¹, P¹,
are capable of being adjusted as to length for the purpose of regulating the
extent of motion. At their ends they have clipped to them at o and p respec-
tively, the two outermost strips of the triply divided bunching band, and they
tighten said strips by their oscillation. The middle strip of the bunching band
is not connected to any pulling device, because the cigar only undergoes change
of shape at its ends.
The operation of the apparatus is as follows:-After the bunch has been
placed in the mould M, the apparatus is set in motion. By means of the cam
discs J, the levers i, and the rollers K, the bridge piece B is raised to such an
extent that the bunching shaft R (which is actuated by the levers E and rods F)
obtains at the commencement of its forward movement free passage out over the
mould M on to the bunching table A. After the bunch has been lifted out of
the mould, the bunch band is pulled towards the rear by a second movement of
the levers, after the tension roller s has reached the upper end of its guide
slots and as soon as the bunch begins to roll the wrapper around it. By the
continued rolling along the bunching table the finished bunch, without any
further pulling action of the band roller k, reaches the point where the cam disc L
and the elbow lever 0 0, comes into operation. At the commencement of the
stroke of this elbow lever the strip of the bunching band which is attached to
the roller 6 is tightened whereby the corresponding end of the bunch that is
being rolled up in the wrapper is caused to assume a contracted form. Finally
by further rolling along, the bunch with the wrapper reaches the point at which
the cam disc N and elbow lever P P¹, comes into operation to tighten the band
strip attached to the roller 4 and thereby producing a tapering shape of the other
end of the cigar. The cam discs L, N, are so constructed that the levers exert
only a pull of three centimetres at most of the length of the bunching table
upon the band. The point or tip proper of the cigar, the pasting, and the cut-
ting of the end, are effected by means of well known devices. The completely
finished cigar falls at the forward end into a receptacle T.
D
1900
Improvements in Cigar-making Machines.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of the Firm of A. M. & Wm. Clark, of 53,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Chartered Institute
of Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a communica-

page_text: tion to me by Bernhard Wertheimer, of Baden Strasse, Karlsruhe, Germany;
Manufacturer), and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particu-
larly described and ascertained in and by the following statement: —
This invention relates to the method of, and apparatus for, the manufacture
of "bunches" and of cigars that is to say of the bunch provided with the inner
and outer wrapper or cover.
In machines for the manufacture of cigars, and more especially in the machine
in respect of which Letters Patent dated the 26th day of March 1890 and num-
bered 4769, were granted, the difficulty experienced in forming a firm bunch
has been overcome only to the extent that it has been still necessary to apply
subsequent pressure.
According to this invention such pressure is applied during the rolling of the
bunch in the bunch leaf so that without having to remove the tobacco from the
bunching fold of the bunching cloth, a bunch of sufficient firmness is produced
to allow of it being formed into a finished cigar by rolling the outer wrapper
around the bunch whilst it is travelling further along the table.
In carrying out this invention the tobacco is placed on the band within a
mould, as in the patent above referred to, and the actuating roller of the bunch-
ing band is carried along over the tobacco and the tobacco is lifted out of the
mould without however packing the tobacco tightly. It is only after the bunch
has been raised out of the mould and the loop has been closed around it, that the
bunching band is tightened from the rear by the action of a tension roller. If
the cigar is finished in the same operation, two tightenings of the bunching
band are necessary. This band is longitudinally divided at its ends into three
bands so that it is tightened independently at the sides. A temporary tighten-
ing of the two lateral bands towards the front is effected in succession, thereby
producing the tapered shape at the point or tip and end of the cigar respectively.
The two tightening operations must take place in succession because if they
took place simultaneously the tobacco would be forced out of the loop; and they
must also be temporary, because if the tension of the bunching band were per-
manent, the outer wrapper would readily become creased and would be damaged.
In the drawings accompanying the Provisional Specification Figure 1 is a side
elevation and Figure 2 is a plan view of the machine, the side plate of the
machine in Figure 1 being omitted..
D is the main shaft and V the driving pulley receiving to and fro motion.
Upon the shaft D there are keyed at both sides the levers E in the guides e e
of which are mounted to slide the rods F which carry the bunching roller R.
The rod F is guided by means of the friction roller G in the cam slot H. Upon
the shaft D there are also mounted the cam discs J having two noses whereby the
elbow levers 2 (which rest upon the cams by rollers and which are pivoted
at ¹) are moved twice in an upward direction or to the left hand. The arms 2
of these elbow levers carry the band roller k and also rollers K which latter strike
against the stop 6 of the bridge piece B (which is pivoted at c) and by their
upward movement raise the same to allow the bunching roller R free passage out
on to the bunching table. Over the band roller there runs the bunching
band C which passes round a tension roller s sliding in the slot S the three strips
into which the band is divided being respectively attached to the rollers 1, 2, 3,
which are adapted to be independently adjusted by hand. Upon the shaft D there
are also fixed two cam discs L and N each having at a determined point a tappet
which is formed with an abrupt upward inclination and with a somewhat more
gradual downward inclination. These two cam discs L and N serve to actuate
the two elbow levers 0 0¹ and P P¹ which are pivoted at o¹, o¹. The arms O¹, P¹,
are capable of being adjusted as to length for the purpose of regulating the
extent of motion imparted at their ends and respectively by which they
are clipped to the two outermost of the three strips into which the bunching band
is divided, so that they tighten said strips by their oscillation. These two strips
are attached to the rollers 4 and 6 whilst the middle strip of the bunching band
S

page_text: is attached to roller 5 and is not acted on by any pulling device, because the cigar
only undergoes change of shape at its ends.
The operation of the apparatus is as follows:-After the bunch has been
placed in the mould H, the apparatus is set in motion. By means of the cam
discs J, the levers i, and the rollers K, the bridge piece B is raised to such an
extent that the bunching roller R (which is actuated by the levers E and rods F)
obtains at the commencement of its forward movement free passage over the
mould M on to the bunching table A. After the bunch has been lifted out of
the mould, the bunch band is pulled towards the rear by a second movement of
the levers i 2, after the tension roller s has reached the upper end of its guide
slots and as soon as the bunch begins to roll the inner wrapper around it. By the
continued rolling along the bunching table the finished bunch, without any
further pulling action of the band roller k, reaches the point at which the cam
disc L acts on the elbow lever 001. At the commencement of the stroke of this
elbow lever the strip of the bunching band which is attached to the roller 6
is tightened whereby the corresponding end of the bunch that is being rolled
up in the outer wrapper is caused to assume a contracted form. Finally by
further rolling along, the bunch with the outer wrapper reaches the point at
which the cam disc N acts on the elbow lever P P₁ to tighten the band strip
attached to the roller 4 and thereby produce a tapering shape of the other end
of the cigar. The cam discs L, N, are so constructed that the levers exert only
a pull of three centimetres at most of the length of the bunching table upon the
band. The point or tip proper of the cigar, the pasting, and the cutting of the
end, are effected by means of well known devices. The completely finished
cigar falls at the forward end into a receptacle T.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is;-
1. The method of making bunches and cigars characterized by the fact that
the tobacco is lifted by the bunching band, with a slight tightening action out
of the mould on to the bunching table and after the inner wrapper is caught,
is pressed together or contracted by rearward tension of the bunching band sub-
stantially as specified.
2. The particular form of the method specified in Claim 1 characterized by the
fact that the bunch is rolled further along on its path, is wrapped up in the outer
wrapper, whilst the tip and the end of the cigar are formed by a temporary
tightening of the corresponding parts of the divided bunching band substan-
tially as described.
3. The herein described machine for carrying out the method herein specified
characterized by the fact that the bunching cloth, which is divided at both ends
into separate bands and is mounted upon adjustable rollers, is tightened from the
main driving shaft through the medium of levers and cam discs substantially
as specified.
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
Chartered Patent Agents, 53, Chancery Lane, London.