Improvements in Cigar Tip Cutters.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 1st June, 1894-Accepted, 7th July, 1894
COMPLEIN DIECIFICATION.
Improvements in Cigar Tip Cutters.
I, WILLIAM HENRY CAMPBELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at
No. 107 Fort Greene Place, in the City of Brooklyn, in the County of Kings, and
State of New York, Mechanical Engineer, 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 :-
This invention relates to machines for automatically cutting tips from cigars.
Heretofore such automatic cutters have had a rotating radial cutter blade, carrying
a fixed stop, and driven by a spring, and a movable latch engaging this stop and
pivoted to the frame of the machine, has been operated by the insertion of the
cigar, whereby the rotation of the cutter blade was permitted to sever the tip end
from the cigar. With such devices the spring driven blade would rotate until the
cigar was removed from the latch, thus endangering complete unwinding of the
spring if the cigar was held too long.
The aim of this invention is to provide a simple tip cutter, cheap of construction,
effective in operation, and which cannot be unwound by a continued insertion of
the same cigar.
To this end the invention provides a rotating cutter, a fixed stop carried on the
frame of the machine, a latch engaging this stop and carried by or operated from
the cutter, and a releaser carried by and moving with the rotating knife and
operating the latch to disengage it from the stop and permit the cutting operation.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 is a top view of the cutter ;
Fig. 2 is a vertical section cut on the line 2-2;
Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section cut on the line 3-3, and looking in the direction
of the arrow;
Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the line 4-4, showing a top view of the knives;
Fig. 5 is a cross section on the line 5-5, looking in the direction of the arrow.
Referring to the drawings, A is an enclosing casing, B the tip holes, the knives,
D the driving spring, E the arresting and releasing mechanism, F the rotating
knife frame, G the shaft therefor, H the fixed frame carrying this shaft, I a driving
pinion on the shaft, J a gear wheel meshing therewith, K the driving shaft, L the
winding key, N the fixed stop carried on the frame H, p the movable nose or latch
engaging this stop to hold the knives against rotation, and M the plate or bar
opposite the tip holes for operating the nose when a cigar is inserted in the holes.
In the particular construction shown the frame of the machine consists of the
casing A and inner frame H. The casing has a round top a, a long slot b and
rectangular vertical sides c, and the frame H has vertical walls u fitting the interior
of the casing and dividing it into a central compartment & and end compartments ww.
The bottom of the frame is fixed to the casing by screws Q and has an opening
at y beneath the chamber .. This opening y is the outlet for the tips, and is closed
by a thin plate z fastened to the frame by screws P.
The driving mechanism is carried by the frame H at the outer sides of its walls u
in the compartments w, the gears I and J at one end, and the motor or spring D at
the other end, and the cutting knives are carried by this frame in the compartment &
between the walls. All the cuttings are kept in this compartment, and thus
prevented from impairing the driving mechanism.
The spring or other motor D preferably consists of a coiled spring i engaging
the shaft K at one end and a stud j at its other end. The winding of this spring

page_text: is effected by the key L, the internally screw-threaded shank n of which enters a
hole m in the casing and screws onto the screw-threaded end of the shaft K.
The tip holes B, of which one or more are used to suit different sized cigars, are
formed in the casing A, or in a steel plate e carried by the casing or the frame H.
This plate is shown as screwed to the top of the frame, so that it can be removed
to adjust it closer to the knives if necessary. Three holes B are preferably placed
in line parallel with the axis of the cutter. When a cigar is inserted in any hole
it passes inward until stopped by the small size of the hole, after which the inwardly
projecting tip is cut off by one of the knives h which rotate beneath and close to
the hole. The knife projects the cut tip to one side and downwardly, where it falls
to the bottom of the chamber a.
The improved rotary-knife-is-best-constructed as a cast metal spool F, having a
tubular spindle f keyed to the shaft-G, and disks or wings near its ends, carrying
the knives h, of which one or more may be used, two being shown. The spool F
rotates beneath the plate e, and the knives are peripheral knives, being constructed
of thin blades h, one being slightly past the tip holes and the other diametrically
opposite, when in the locked position. In cutting, the knife furthest from the
holes rises and passes these, whereupon it is stopped by the arresting mechanism E,
and rotation of the knives is prevented until this mechanism is again operated,
whereupon the frame F again rotates far enough to pass the next knife past the
holes.
The main feature of this invention consists in placing a latch operating plate or
bar on the rotating knives, or their rotating frame F, in such manner that the
latch operator will stand opposite the tip hole or holes B when the knives are
stationary, and when a cigar is inserted in any hole the plate when moved by a
cigar will release the latch mechanism, and will then itself move laterally away
from the cigar. This prevents the possibility of a further operation of the releasing
bar by the continued inward pressing of the cigar into the tip hole. This con-
struction is best accomplished by providing a bar N pivoted to the frame F behind
each knife h, which bar at its free end engages a movable nose or latch, as the
nose p, and, when the bar is depressed, moves this nose out of the path of a fixed
stop, thereby freeing the frame for rotation. Preferably the bar M has a wide top
beneath the tip holes, and it and the nose p are formed of a single piece of metal
pivoted at one end to one wing of the frame F and projecting through a slot o at
the other end through the other wing, where the nose engages the stop N, which
latter is fixed to the adjacent wall u. The top face of the nose has a rear bevel t, and
the under face of the stop an inclines, so that when the parts are rotated backwards,
in winding the spring with the key L, the nose will snap past the stop and permit
such winding. Slender springs 9 press the bar M and nose p outwardly to the
position for engaging the stop. The nose p is shown as moving radially of the
spool F and carried thereby, but this is not absolutely essential, and it will be
understood that the fixed stop and movable nose may be arranged in any suitable
manner so long as the releasing bar is carried by or as a part of the rotating cutter.
Any interengaging stops for locking and releasing the rotating cutter may be used
in conjunction with any mechanical device carried by or forming part of the
rotating cutter which will be depressed by the insertion of a cigar in the hole and
thereby cause the stops to disengage and permit rotation of the knives. The
springs 9 may be omitted, and any suitable means substituted for sustaining the
bar M or uose p.
In operation the tip of a cigar is inserted into one of the holes B, which depresses
the bar M until the nose p moves below the stop N. The spring immediately
rotates the spool F until the next knife blade h passes and cuts off the tip of the
cigar, and until the next nose behind this blade strikes the stop N. This
requires a half revolution of the frame. The stop and nose thus engaging hold the
frame against rotation until another cigar is inserted, when the operation is repeated.
When the cigar is pressed into the hole B, after the bar M passes away from the
hole, the cigar moves inward as far as the size of the hole will permit before it is

page_text: cut by the knife, and hence after cutting it cannot move in any further to depress
the next bar M; therefore one cigar can only cause one operation of the cutter.
This prevents malicious or accidental unwinding of the spring.
It will be understood that the invention can be employed with other constructions
of cutting mechanism than the particular one shown, this requiring only the
ordinary skill of a mechanic to make such changes as are necessary to adapt it to
other known forms of cigar cutters.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A cigar tip cutter having a casing and a rotating knife, means for rotating
the knife, and stops holding the knife from rotation, in combination with a releasing
device for disengaging the stops, mounted opposite the tip hole in the casing, moved
by the insertion of a cigar in the said hole, and when so moved disengaging the said
stops, permitting rotation of the knife and moving laterally away from the cigar,
substantially as hereinbefore described.
2. A cigar tip cutter, having a casing, a tip hole, a movable knife, and stops
preventing movement of the knife, in combination with a releasing device carried
by the knife opposite the tip hole, moved by the insertion of a cigar in the said
hole, and when so moved disengaging the said stops and permitting the knife to
move past and cut the cigar, substantially as hereinbefore described.
3. A cigar tip cutter, having a casing, a tip hole, and a movable knife moving
past the said hole, in combination with a fixed stop carried by the said casing, and
a movable uose carried by the said movable knife, and means for moving the said
nose out of engagement with the said stop to free the said knife when a cigar is
inserted in said hole, substantially as hereinbefore described.
4. In an automatic cigar tip cutter, a casing having a tip hole, a moving knife,
a spring for moving the knife, and a fixed stop carried by the said casing, a movable
nose carried by the knife and engaging the stop to prevent movement of the knife,
and a releaser carried by the knife opposite the tip hole, and operated when a cigar
is inserted in the said hole to move the nose away from the said stop, substantially
as hereinbefore described.
5. In a cigar tip cutter, the casing A. and inner frame H having walls u, and the
rotating knives carried by the spool F and automatically released by the insertion
of a cigar into a tip hole, the said knives mounted between the walls u, a spring i
for driving the said knives arranged at the outside of one of the said walls, and
gears I and J mounted at the outside of the other of the said walls for transmitting
the motion of the spring to the knives, substantially as set forth.
6. In an automatic cigar tip cutter, the rotating spool F carrying a knife blade h,
a bar M pivoted to one wing of the said spool back of the said blade, and projecting
at its other end as a nose p through a slot o in the said spool, moving radially
thereof, and engaging a stop for preventing rotation of the cutter, substantially as
set forth.
7. In a cigar tip cutter, a spring driven rotating cutter frame having a peripheral
blade, a peripheral releaser behind the said blade, a nose actuated by said releaser
and engaging a stop for locking the cutter against rotation, and a tip hole plate e
opposite the said releaser and having a number of aligned tip holes, substantially as
and for the purpose set forth.
8. An automatic cigar tip cutter constructed substantially as-described and
shown in the drawings.
Dated this 31st day of May 1894.
J. C. MEWBURN & ELLIS,
55, Chancery Lane, London, Patent Agents.