A New or Improved Machine for Making or Fashioning the Fillings or Inner Parts of Cigars.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Nov., 1898- Accepted, 21st Jan., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A New or Improved Machine for Making or Fashioning the Fillings
or Inner Parts of Cigars.
I, JEAN REUSE, of Hal, in the Kingdom of Belgium, Sculptor, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
This invention has for object a machine for making the fillings or inner parts
of cigars permitting of use of long tobacco as well as short tobacco, the result
being that the fillings obtained are in no way different from those made by hand.
This machine comprises essentially a drawer in which is deposited the quantity
of tobacco which is approximately necessary for forming the inner part of a
cigar, a movable frame within this drawer, which serves to gather the tobacco
together and press it against the fore part of the drawer and to subsequently
cause the latter to slide, so as to bring the tobacco under a plunger which is then
lowered and presses the tobacco through an appropriate opening upon an apron
by the aid of which it is wrapped in a leaf or leaves of covering tobacco to finish
the fillings which may then be placed and pressed in a mould as usual. In the
accompanying drawings.
Figure 1 is a side view of the machine ready to receive the tobacco.
Figure 2 is a front view thereof.
Figure 3 is a plan view of the same, the sliding cover of the drawer and the
plunger being removed.
Figure 4 is a side view corresponding to Figure 1 with the parts in the position
which they occupy when the tobacco has been pressed upon the apron by the
lowering of the plunger.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures.
A is the frame of the machine the upper part of which has the form of a plate
and carries a movable frame or drawer a, which is capable of sliding in the
direction of the length of the machine. A pin a fixed at the rear part of the
underside of the drawer a enters a groove a² in the frame of the machine the
length of which groove limits the forward movement of the said drawer.
In the drawer a is a second frame or drawer b which is capable of sliding in
the drawer a in the same direction as the latter but the sliding of which is pre-
vented by a hook e fixed by a pivot against the outer wall of the drawer a and
held in position by a spring fixed to the same wall; the other end of this hook
carries a projecting screw or stop e which, when the drawer a advances toward
the front of the machine, meets an incline formed on the frame of the machine
and, pushes the tail of the hook against the spring so as to cause the hook
to turn on its pivot and disengage the drawer b.
A third drawer d is located in the drawer band is free to slide therein toward
the front of the machine until its outer front wall which is curved to the shape
which the fillings are required to have, meets the inner front wall of the drawer b
which is similarly curved but in the contrary direction.

page_text: The drawer d is furnished at the rear part with a handle e by the aid of which
it can be operated.
The space marked X in Figure 3 comprised between the inner curved wall of
the drawer b and the outer curved wall of the drawer d, when the latter is at
the end of its backward stroke serves to receive the tobacco for forming the
fillings; this space is covered by a lid f the rear part of which is pivoted in open
bearings formed on the sides of the drawer a in such manner that the said lid
may be raised from the front to give access to the space intended to receive the
tobacco.
The front of the lid or cover f has a prolongation extending beyond the outer
side of the front wall of the drawer a and in this prolongation is formed a trans-
verse opening into which passes the lower end of a plunger g sliding in a support
g fixed to the top of the lid or cover and furnished with a spring, g² which auto-
matically raises the plunger. The lower end of this plunger is furnished with a
die or matrix having in it a hollow the shape of which is the counterpart of
about one half of the fillings to be formed.
The forward end of the cover f is furnished with a projecting flange or with a
plate forming a projection towards the bottom, which serves as a stop! for
limiting the forward movement of the drawer b.
Upon the front part of the machine frame a table his formed the face of
which is slightly curved in the direction of length of the machine; the rear part
of this table is formed of a separate piece i jointed to the fixed parth and furnished
on each side with a curved lever ; the free end of which rests against a projecting
spindle k fixed on the side of the drawer a so that when the latter slides toward
the front of the machine the spindles & push forward and lift the tail ends of the
levers the effect of which is to raise the movable table i and bring it nearer to
the underside of the plunger g.
The face of the movable table j is formed of a plate in which is an opening
corresponding in shape to that of the outline of the fillings to be made with a
narrow prolongation at each end. An apron of cloth or other flexible material
fixed at one end to the front of the stationary table h is stretched on the face of
the latter, covers the movable table and is attached at its other end to a spindle m
fixed in holes n formed in the machine frame which may be pierced, as illus-
trated, with a series of such holes so as to permit of regulation of the tension of
the apron.
At the part of the opening of the movable table, the apron forms a
pocket or loop which hangs in this opening to receive the tobacco of the fillings
as will be explained farther on. Bands or cords o, fixed at one end to the rear part
of the pocket or loop of the apron and at the other end to springs p attached to a suit-
able part of the support of the machine, keep the loop of the apron in the opening
and re-form the said loop in this opening after the fillings have been rolled in
the apron. Behind the movable table and beneath the apron is located a
roller the periphery of which is hollowed out approximately to the shape of the
outline of the periphery of the fillings to be made; this roller is pivotted at each
end to one extremity of a curved lever r the other extremity of which is pivotted
to the lower part of the front of the machine frame A and carries a toothed pinion
which gears with a toothed segments mounted on the frame of the machine
and furnished with an arm to the extremity of which is fixed a bar t connected to
a pedal not illustrated by means of which the segments and the pinion rl can
be turned the effect being to cause the lever r to oscillate and to cause the roller g
to advance toward the front of the machine between the tables and h and the
apron l.
b
A spring a fixed to the segments and to the front of the machine frame serves
to return the roller to its place.
The machine acts as follows:
The different parts being in the positions represented in Figures 1 and 3, the
quantity of tobacco necessary for forming the fillings to be made is placed in
the space X and by the aid of the handle the drawer d is pulled forward the

page_text: When
The
curved wall of which compresses and forces the tobacco against the inner curved
wall of the drawer until the resistance offered by the tobacco thus compressed
is greater than the power exerted. The drawer d then carries the drawer b
forward with it and consequently the drawer a, to which the drawer b is con-
nected by the hook c, and the cover f which is fixed to the said drawer a.
the stop a of the drawer a reaches the end of the groove a², this drawer will be
stopped, the plunger 9 will lie exactly above the opening of the loop the pin k
will have lifted the tail of the lever i to bring the opening of the loop immediately
beneath the plunger and the stop having met the inclined portion c³ of the
machine frame, will have compressed the spring and released the hook c.
drawer being thus disengaged from the drawer a will continue to advance with
the drawer d until it is stopped in its turn by contact with the stop at the
front of the cover f. The parts then occupy the positions represented in Figure 4
and the space enclosing the tobacco having passed the forward extremity of the
plate of the machine frame, the tobacco is now retained only by the pressure exer-
cised by the curved walls of the drawers band d and lies immediately above the
opening of the loop. The plunger g is then lowered the inner hollowed face of
which drives the tobacco through the opening and presses it onto the bottom
of the loop of the apron 7. The plunger is then released and is automatically
lifted by its spring and the handle é is returned to the end of its backward
traverse, the effect of which is, to lower the movable table and the loop of the
apron 7 containing the tobacco to the position represented in Figure
1. The tobacco leat or leaves for forming the covering or wrapper
of the fillings are then placed upon the forward part of the apron 7, above the
fixed table the pedal depressed to lower the bar t, and the roller q, carried
forward by its levers r passes between the apron and the rear part of the table i,
and rolls the tobacco within the apron on the wrapping leaves which become
wrapped around the fillings and finish it. The pedal is then released and the
spring moves the roller q backward while the pull of the springs p and the
bands or cords o on the apron reforms the loop of the latter in the opening of
the table. The fillings are then finished and may be placed and pressed in a
mould to preserve their shape until the moment when they are to be covered with
the outermost wrapper for finishing the cigar.
It is to be observed that the tobacco employed for making the fillings may be
indifferently long or short and this constitutes a great advantage over the majority
of known machines in which only short tobacco can be employed.
In point of fact, in my invention, if long tobacco be used, it may be placed in
any position whatever between the curved walls of the drawers b and d; the
drawer din moving forward, gathers together the pieces of tobacco leaves parallel
or nearly so and if a piece becomes placed at right angles' to the curved walls of
the drawers, it must turn in the other direction or break.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I wish it to be under-
stood that I do not claim as novel the use of the apron and of the roller which I
employ for completing the fillings. and I do not limit myself to the details of
construction of the machine above described, but I declare that I claim :-
-
First: A machine for making or fashioning the fillings or inner part of
cigars characterized by a stationary plate on which the tobacco is deposited
between one of the inner walls of a frame or drawer and one of
the outer walls of another frame or drawer which is capable of being
slidden within the former in order to cause the two walls above mentioned to
approach each other and to compress the tobacco between them and afterwards
to carry the tobacco, thus compressed under a plunger which is then lowered to
force the tobacco through an appropriate opening onto an apron by which it is
rolled in a covering leaf or covering leaves, substantially as above described.
Secondly: In a machine of the kind defined in the first claim :

page_text: a-Mechanism for gathering together and compressing the tobacco to the
desired shape comprising a stationary plate a drawer (6) the inner front wall of
which is curved and a frame or drawer (d) sliding in the drawer first referred to
and the outer front wall of which is correspondingly curved.
Mechanism for conveying the tobacco, compressed between the drawers b
and d over the opening of a pocket formed by the rolling apron and beneath
a plunger g, the lower face of which is hollowed, comprising a drawer a, with a
lid or cover having the plunger g fixed on it and being capable of sliding the
necessary distance to bring the plunger over the opening of the pocket, a drawer.b
within the drawer a participating in the sliding movement of the latter, a releas-
ing mechanism permitting the drawer b to continue its sliding movement after
stoppage of the drawer a, a stop on the cover for limiting the motion of the
drawer b, and a drawer sliding in the drawer b and carrying the latter and the
drawer a with it in its motion.
-Mechanism for raising the pocket of the rolling apron 7 beneath the plunger g
prior to descent of the latter and for lowering the said pocket again after the
raising of the plunger comprising a table i jointed to the stationary table h and
furnished with projecting arms resting on pins k projecting from the sides of
the drawer a, the said table i being formed of a plate in which is cut an opening
2, having approximately the shape of the fillings to be produced, and in which is
located the pocket formed by the apron 7.
d-Means for automatically re-forming the pocket of the apron after the
fillings have been rolled therein, comprising bands or cords o attached to the apron
at the part which forms the back of its pocket, and springs attached to the said
bands or cords and to the support of the machine.
The whole substantially as above described and represented in the annexed
drawings.
Thirdly A machine for making or fashioning the fillings or inner part of
cigars, constructed, arranged and operating substantially as above described and
represented in the annexed drawings.
Dated this Thirtieth day of November 1898.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicant.