Improvements in Providing Cigarettes with Moisture Protected Ends.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Jan., 1898-Accepted, 5th Mar., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Providing Cigarettes with Moisture Protected
Ends.
I, THEODORE EDDY ALLEN, of 547 Manhattan Avenue, in the City, County and
State of New York, United States of America, Manufacturer, 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:-
The present invention relates to cigarettes composed of a tobacco filler enclosed
in a paper wrapper, and, generally, it consists of improvements in coating or cover-
ing one end of the cigarette wrapper with moisture-resisting material and in
mechanism for accomplishing this result.
Heretofore, it has been customary, in order to protect the end of the cigarette
from the effects of the moisture of the mouth of the smoker, which quickly per-
meates the thin paper wrapper and soaks into the filler, thus interfering with the
smoking and flavor of the cigarette, to provide short mouth-pieces made in separate
pieces and slipped over the ends of the cigarettes. These mouth-pieces are
generally made by forming paper blanks into funnel shape and coating them with
melted paraffine or similar material, and, although they are effective for the pur-
pose intended, they add materially to the expense of the cigarettes.
It has also been the practice, to some extent, when the cigarettes are made by
the individual process, that is, by wrapping short tobacco fillers of the length of the
completed cigarettes in short paper blanks of substantially the same length as
the fillers, to apply by any suitable means a coating of melted paraffine, or other
moisture-resisting material, to one end of the wrapper blank, and after the coating
has dried or hardened to apply such wrapper to the filler to form the completed
cigarette. A cigarette made in this way will be provided with a substitute for a
mouth-piece which is integral with the cigarette and will protect to a large extent
the mouth end of the cigarette from moisture as it is smoked.
When cigarettes are made individually, as before described, it is easy to apply
the desired coating to one end of each wrapper blank before such blank is wrapped
around the filler and thus produce the desired result; but, when the cigarettes are
made by the continuous process, that is, by wrapping and securing a long or con-
tinuous strip of paper around a long or continuous filler or rod of tobacco, and then
severing the long cigarette thus produced into short marketable lengths, it has
been considered impracticable, although very desirable, to provide that each severed
cigarette shall have one end of its wrapper suitably coated to protect it from
moisture. This result is especially important, in view of the fact that a large
volume of cigarettes are made by the continuous process, and that their wrapper
ends cannot be thus coated, atter the cigarettes have been severed from the long
cigarette, without considerable expense and the liability that the coating material
will be brought in contact with the filler of the cigarette.
It is the object of my invention to accomplish this result in an efficient and
economical manner, and to this end my improvement consists, generally stated, in
forming a long or continuous cigarette, comprising a long or continuous filler or
rod of tobacco enclosed in a long paper wrapper, and providing such cigarette with

page_text: a series of sections or rings of moisture-resisting material (hereinafter for con-
venience called "coating material") extending around the cigarette and at equal
distances apart, and then severing the long cigarette into short or merchantable
cigarettes at such points of its length that each severed cigarette will carry, at
one of its ends, a section or ring of coating material to serve as a mouth-piece.
My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which
Fig. 1 is a view of a long cigarette provided with rings or sections of coating
material;
Fig. 2 is a section of a wrapper strip provided with sections of coating material;
Fig. 3 is a short or marketable cigarette having one of its ends provided with
a ring or section of coating material;
Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a machine for making cigarettes by the continuous
process and a mechanism for applying coating material in sections to a long
wrapper strip and mechanism for cooling the same;
Fig. 5 is an end view of mechanism for applying coating material to a wrapper
strip, certain parts being broken away and other parts being shown in section;
Fig. G is a sectional view along the line 6—6 of Fig. 5 looking towards the right
hand;
Fig. 7 is a section of wrapper strip provided with sections of coated material of
greater width and greater distance apart than those of Fig. 2; and
Fig. 8 is a view of a long cigarette provided with rings or sections of coated
material of greater width and at greater distances apart than the cigarette shown
in Fig. 1.
Referring to the drawings, A, of Fig. 1, represents a long cigarette provided
with sections or rings B of coating material which extend around the exterior of
the cigarette. These rings are formed by applying to the paper wrapper a thin
layer or coating of any suitable material which will readily dry or harden and will
prevent the moisture of the mouth of the smoker from penetrating through the
thin paper of the wrapper. Melted paraffine, stearine, or any other suitable
material may be employed. The coating material may be applied to the wrapper
strip before it is engaged with the filler rod, as shown in Fig. 2, in which case the
sections B of coating material will extend across the paper strip, at right angles
to its length; but, when the strip with such sections is wrapped around the filler,
the cigarette will be provided with rings or sections B, as shown in Fig. 1, with
the same result as if such rings had been applied to the exterior of the cigarette
after it was formed. The coating material to form these sections or rings may be
applied by any suitable instrumentality, as by hand brush or stamp, either before
or after the wrapper is applied to the filler, and while the wrapper is stationary
or is in motion. The width of the sections or rings B, when they are arranged as
shown in Figs. 1 and 2, is preferably about one-half of an inch, and the distance
between them, including the width of one of the sections or rings, is equal to the
length of the merchantable cigarettes to be produced. Instead of arranging or
disposing the sections or rings B, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, they may be arranged
as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, where they are about one inch in width and their dis-
tances apart, including the width of one of the sections, is double that of the
length of the short or merchantable cigarettes. When the long cigarette is formed
and provided with rings of coating material, as shown in Fig. 1, it is divided into
short or marketable cigarettes by cutting or severing it along or near the line of
union of the rings B with the uncoated portions of the cigaretie, so that each
severed cigarette will have one end of its wrapper protected by the coating material.
In case the rings B are disposed as shown in Fig. 8, the long cigarette is divided
or severed along the lines which pass through the rings B, and also midway
between the rings B, as along the lines y-y, as indicated in Fig. 8, thus producing
two short cigarettes each provided at their contiguous ends with a coated section or
ring. The division of the long cigarettes into short or marketable lengths, may
be accomplished by any cutting devices adapted for this purpose.
Referring now to the drawings as illustrating a preferred form of mechanism

page_text: embodying my invention, Fig. 4 shows a machine, as X, for making a long or con-
tinuous cigarette by wrapping and securing a long strip of paper around a long
filler or rod of tobacco and a mechanism, as Y, for applying coating material in
sections to the long wrapper strip, and mechanism for dividing or severing the long
cigarette into short merchantable lengths along or near the union of the sections
or rings of coating material with the body or uncoated portion of the cigarette,
these mechanisms being so arranged in relation to each other that they will operate
together to produce the desired results.
The main operative parts of the cigarette machine X, as shown in the drawings,
are suitably mounted on a frame C, and consist of filler-forming devices D, devices E
for wrapping the paper strip around the filler rod, devices, as belt F, for advancing
the paper strip and filler rod, devices, as G, for securing the wrapper strip around the
filler rod, and devices, as H, for dividing or severing the long or continuous cigarette
into short or marketable lengths. It is not considered necessary to describe in
detail the special construction and operation of the parts and devices above referred
to, as they may be, in all essential particulars, substantially the same as those
described in Letters Patent of the United States of America, No. 247,795, dated
October 4, 1881, to which reference is here made, or they may be of other and
different construction, provided they operate to deliver a long or continuous filler
or rod of tobacco upon a long or continuous strip of paper and advance the
wrapper and filler through the machine, meanwhile wrapping or folding the paper
strip around the filler and securing its opposite edges into a permanent seam and
thereby forming a long or continuous cigarette which is then cut into short mer-
chantable cigarettes of equal lengths.
The
A mechanism for applying the coating material to a long wrapper strip, as A,
in sections at desired distances from each other, and a device for cooling or drying
such material after it has been applied and before the strip is brought in contact
with the filler rod, are shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 of the drawings, in which 1 is a
frame conveniently secured to the base of frame C of the cigarette machine X, in
which are rotatively journalled rollers 2, 3 and 4, the latter being arranged so that
its periphery will rotate in a reservoir or receptacle 5 which contains the coating
material to be applied to form the sections B upon the wrapper strip A.
rollers 2, 3 and 4 are preferably driven by suitable connection with the main shaft J
of the cigarette machine, as by bevelled gears K and 6, the latter being fixed to
the upper end of vertical shaft 7 whose opposite end carries gear 8 which meshes
with gear wheel 9 on shaft 10 of roller 2, which roller is preferably loosely mounted
on its shaft. Roller 3 is driven by gear wheel 11 on shaft 10 meshing with gear
wheel 12 on shaft of roller 3; and roller 4 is driven by gear wheel 12 meshing
with gear wheel 13 on shaft of roller 4. The length of rollers 2, 3 and 4 is prefer-
ably equal to or a little greater than the width of the paper strip A, and the roller 3
is provided with one or more ribs 14 extending along the length of its peripheral
surface and parallel with its axis, and this roller is arranged relatively to the
rollers 2 and 4, so that, as the roller 3 rotates, the ribs 14 will come into contact
with the surfaces of the rollers 2 and 4. The reservoir 5 may be of any material
and shape adapted to receive and hold the coating material in proper relation to
roller 4, and is preferably made vertically adjustable by any suitable devices, as
by screw bolts 15 extending through brackets 16 and taking against the flanges 17
formed on the side of the reservoir. A scraper or doctor 18, for the purpose of
removing any excess of coating material from the surface of roller 4, is con-
veniently secured to the edge of the reservoir 5 and made adjustable to the surface
of the roller by a set screw, as 19.
The coating material, as paraffine, stearine, or any other suitable substance
adapted for the purpose indicated, may be melted in the reservoir 5 or kept in the
desired state of fluidity, by any suitably applied heat, as by a jet or flame of lighted
gas from a burner 20 located beneath the reservoir, and the rollers 3 and 4 may be
heated to maintain the coating material in a fluid or melted condition as it is con-
veyed from the reservoir to the paper strip, by a current or currents of heated air

page_text: applied to the interiors of these rollers. A convenient construction and arrange-
ment for this purpose is to make the rollers 3 and 4 hollow or provide them with
cavities and to form channels 21 leading through one end of their shafts and con-
nected with the ends of pipes 22 and 23 which lead from a Bunsen burner 24 or
other device for heating the air. The rollers may be of any suitable material as
rubber, brass or other metal, which will take the melted material from the reser-
voir 5 and properly convey and apply it to the paper strip as it is advanced between
the rollers 2 and 3.
The arrangement of the ribs 14 on the roller 3 is such that they will take the
coating material from the surface of the roller 4 and apply it to the paper strip in
sections B of the desired width and at equal distances apart, as shown in
Figs. 1 and 2, the distance of the sections B from each other, including the width
of one of the sections, being equal to the length of each of the cigarettes when they
are sévered from the long cigarette.
The devices for advancing the paper strip through the mechanism which applies
the coating material are arranged to operate in proper relation to or in unison
with the devices which advance the strip and filler through the wrapping devices
and deliver the long cigarette to the cutting-off devices.
In the construction
shown in the drawings, the device which performs these functions is the endless
belt F which passes through the wrapping devices and by its constant movement
draws the strip between the rollers 2 and 3 at the same rate of speed at which it
advances the strip and filler through the wrapping devices and delivers the com-
pleted long cigarette to the cutting-off devices. The belt F is operated by passing
over the pulley L which is driven from the main shaft J through the bevelled
gear M meshing with bevelled gear N, the latter being fixed to the pulley shaft.
As the cutter blade is arranged to come into contact with the long cigarette and
sever therefrom a single short cigarette at each complete rotation of the main
shaft J; the gear M should be so related to the gear wheel N on the pulley shaft
that at each rotation of the shaft J the desired length for each short cigarette' will
be advanced past the cutter blade 0, while the paper strip will be drawn or
advanced through the mechanism which applies the coating material an equal
distance at each revolution of the main shaft. In the drawings, the roller 3 is
shown as geared to the main shaft J, so that it will make one-third of a rotation
while the main shaft makes a complete rotation, and the ribs 14 are at such a dis-
tance apart on the circumference of the roller 3 that they will apply a section of
coating material to the paper strip as often as a cigarette is presented to the cutter
to be severed. It is desirable to so adjust the cutter blade that it will sever the
long cigarette at or close to the line of union of the sections or rings B with the
body or uncoated part of the cigarette, the severing cut being preferably along
the lines, as seen in Fig. 1.
To obviate the liability of the lighting ends of the cigarettes carrying any of the
cutting material, a different disposition or arrangement of the sections or rings B
is easily made. Instead of applying the sections at a distance apart substantially
equal to the length of the desired cigarette, as shown in Fig. 2, they may be double
such distance apart, as shown in Fig. 7, and in this case they are preferably about
double in width, so that when the long cigarette is presented to the cutter blade to
be severed, it will be in the condition shown in Fig. 8, and the cutter will be
adjusted or set to cut along the lines - and y-y, as shown in Fig. 8. In this
case, a single cut will form the mouth ends of two cigarettes, while the next cut
will form the lighting ends of two cigarettes, or vice versa. The only change
required in the mechanism to accomplish this result is to increase the width of
the ribs 14 on roller 3 and arrange them at double circumferential distance from
each other.
To facilitate the hardening or drying of the coating material after it has been
applied to the wrapper strip, so that it will not adhere to or soil the belt F or other
parts of the cigarette machine, a blast or current of air may be directed upon the
strip at any convenient point of its advance. A mechanism for effecting this result

page_text: is designated by Z in Fig. 4, and is located to deliver a blast of air against the strip
as it passes over a pulley 25, the length of the pulley being preferably equal to or
greater than the width of the strip. The coated sections B, as the strip passes
over the pulley, will be brought directly in front of the blast, and the strip will
be so held in position at this point that the blast will be uniformly delivered across
its entire width. The mechanism Z may be of any construction adapted to create
and deliver the desired blast of air upon the strip. As shown in the drawings, it
consists of a rotating fan 26 mounted on shaft 27 which is driven from main
shaft J of the cigarette machine, through pulleys 28 and 29.connected by belt 30,
and gears 31 and 32.
The expression, "long or continuous cigarette," as herein used, is applied to a
cigarette whose length is equal to or greater than the combined lengths of several
cigarettes as they are generally sold to consumers in the market.
The operation of the mechanism herein before described and shown in the draw-
ings is briefly as follows:
The long paper strip A is drawn under proper tension from a reel or other
convenient supply, and is properly threaded through the mechanism, passing
between the rollers 2 and 3, over the pulley 25 and through the wrapping devices E,
above and in contact with the endless helt F by which the strip is continuously
advanced. As the strip passes between the rollers 2 and 3, the sections B of coated
material are applied at equal and desired distances apart by the pressing contact
of the ribs 14 of the roller 3, this pressure being resisted by the frictionally
driven roller 2, and the ribs taking the coating material from the surface of
roller 4 which dips into the reservoir 5. The applied coating material is dried or
cooled, during the passage of the strip from the rollers 2 and 3 to the point of its
contact with the endless belt F, and this drying or cooling may be hastened, if
desired, by the impact of a blast of air upon the strip as it passes in its course.
When the strip reaches the wrapping devices, the filler rod, formed by any suit-
able mechanism, is delivered upon the strip which is wrapped around the rod as
the two are advanced through the wrapping devices, the wrapper being secured in
place by the devices G, thus forming a long or continuous cigarette provided with
a series of sections or rings B of coating material extending around its exterior,
as shown in Figs. 1 and 8. The long cigarette is then advanced to the cutting-off
blade O, which is set or arranged to operate in unison with the mechanism which
applies the coating material to the strip, 'to sever the long cigarette into short or
marketable lengths in the manner before described, so that each several cigarette
will carry upon one of its ends a section or ring of coated material to serve as a
mouth-piece.
In the construction of the mechanism shown in the drawings, the operations are
preferably continuous, the strip A being continuously advanced and supplied with
sections of coating material, the filler rod being continuously delivered upon the
strip and the strip being continuously and progressively wrapped around the
filler rod to form a long or continuous cigarette, the continuity of the operations
being limited only by the length of the cigarette or filler rod, or the action of
the machine.
It is not intended to limit this invention to any special form or construction of
devices or mechanisms for applying the coating material, or for forming and
delivering the filler rod to the wrapper strip, or wrapping and securing the same
around the rod, or for dividing the long cigarette thus formed into shert or market-
able lengths, since it is evident that many forms of mechanisms or devices may be
employed for these purposes without departing from the principle of the invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. The herein described method of producing cigarettes with moisture-protected
ends, which consists in forming a long cigarette, providing the same with sur-

page_text: rounding sections or rings of coating material, and dividing such cigarette into
short or marketable cigarettes, each carrying at one of its ends a section or ring
of coating material.
2. The herein described method of producing cigarettes with moisture-protected
ends, which consists in applying a series of sections of coating material to a long
paper strip, wrapping and securing the strip around a long filler or rod of tobacco
to form a long cigarette with a series of surrounding rings of coating material,
and severing the long cigarette into short or marketable cigarettes, each having a
section or ring of coating material at one of its ends.
3. The combination substantially as set forth, in a mechanism for making cigar-
ettes with moisture-protected ends, of devices for applying a series of sections of
coating material to a long wrapper strip, devices for delivering a long filler or rod
of tobacco to the strip, devices for wrapping and securing the strip around the
filler rod to form a long cigarette with a series of surrounding rings of coating
material, and devices for severing the long cigarette into short marketable
cigarettes, whereby each severed cigarette is provided with a ring of coating
material at one of its ends.
4. The combination substantially as set forth, in a mechanism for making
cigarettes with moisture-protected ends, of devices for applying a series of sections
of coating material to a long wrapper strip, devices for wrapping the strip around
a long filler rod, and means for cooling or drying the applied coating material
located between the devices for applying the same and the wrapping devices.
5. The combination substantially as set forth, in a mechanism for making
cigarettes with moisture-protected ends, of devices for applying a series of sections
of coating material to a long wrapper strip, devices for wrapping the strip around
a long filler rod, and an air blast mechanism for cooling or drying the applied
coating material located between the devices for applying the same and the wrap-
ping devices.
6. The combination substantially as set forth, in a mechanism for making
cigarettes with moisture-protected ends, of devices for applying a series of sections
of coating material to a long wrapper strip, devices for wrapping the strip around
a long filler rod, an air blast mechanism and a retaining surface for the wrapper strip,
as pulley 25, located between the devices for applying the coating material and
the wrapping devices.
7. The combination substantially as set forth, in a machine for making cigarettes
with moisture-protected ends, of devices for forming a long cigarette and providing
it with surrounding rings of coating material at equal distances apart, devices for
severing the long cigarette into short or marketable cigarettes, devices for advanc-
ing the long cigarette to the severing devices and means for relatively adjusting
and operating the advancing and severing devices, whereby each severed cigarette
is provided with a ring of coating material at one of its ends.
8. A long or continuous cigarette, comprising a long rod or filler of tobacco
enclosed in a long wrapper strip and provided with a series of surrounding rings of
coating material at equal distances apart, substantially as and for the purpose set
forth.
ד
1000
S. S. BROMHEAD,
Agent for Applicant, 171, Queen Victoria Street, London."