An Improved Machine for Moulding the Fillers of Oigars.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Aug., 1896-Accepted, 12th Sept., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Machine for Moulding the Fillers of Oigars.
We, ANTOINE GROUVELLE and EMILE BELOT, both of 16, Rue Drouot, Paris
in the Republic of France, Engineers, 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 machine which forms the object of the present invention is intended to
mould the fillers or interiors of cigars, of whole or chopped tobacco, by means of:
separate moulds in such a way that the moulding is as perfect as that obtained with
block moulds, whilst the accessory operations of presentation, opening, closing, and
arranging the separate moulds, which considerably retard the work of manufacture
of the fillers when done by hand, are avoided.
In the accompanying drawing,
Figures 1 and 2 show a front and side elevation respectively of the machine.
The separate half moulds a are piled in advance in vertical boxes in the frame D,
the two identical parts of these moulds when placed one upon the other forming
the complete mould.
The work-girl seated in front of the machine takes the two open half moulds.
which the machine has presented to her, as will be seen hereinafter. She rolls up
roughly a cigar filler without any care in order to cause it to enter into the lower
balf mould; and covers it then with the other half mould and pushes the mould
thus provided with a filler between the jaws F F of the machine.
She then presses on the pedal A which by means of a rod c' and lever c³ engages
a friction cone c keyed on a shaft C. The upper jaw F is then lowered onto the
mould under the action of a spring B2 (Figure 2) which up to then was counter-
balanced by the pressure of a roller al on a cam c¹¹. At the same time a bar b
attached to the side of the support of the jaw F is lowered, and acts on a lever b²,
the end of which raises the movable supports 6 of the lower jaw F. The
lower half mould is thus completely held by the sides in this jaw. The ends fof
the two branches of the upper jaw Fare movable on springs in this jaw so as to
impart an elastic and progressive pressure to the mould.
The lower jaw F is carried by a lever E oscillating on a shaft A' and operated
by a roller a bearing on a cam c having a series of undulations which displaces a
certain number of times the lower half mould relatively to the upper half mould
with an alternating movement. This movement has the effect of causing the parts
of the wrapper of the filler which might form a seam in the plane of separation of
the two half moulds to re-enter the mould, and has further the action of rendering
uniform the packing of the interior of the tiller.
A double cam c2 actuates two pairs of shears K' K' by means of elbow
levers oscillating on the shaft A. These shears cut the filler to the desired
length at each end. A pusher F' operated by a cam by means of levers L
forces the mould which is always kept under pressure by the jaws, into the slide
or chute T.
A bar E parallel to the pusher F¹ and connected with it is operated by the same
movement, which thus brings from the box D to the front of the place where the
operative is seated, the two half moulds which she will use in the succeeding
revolution of the machine.
Finally a finger H acting on the longitudinal side of the mould driven into
the slide or chute T, pushes the mould as well as all those in front of it under the

page_text: cover G of this slide. The finger H is operated by a lever H2 on which a cam
acts. The cover G is of sufficient weight to keep all the moulds closed. This
action may be assisted by that of spiral springs h. At the end of one revolution
of the shaft A', the disengaging of the friction cone is produced automatically by
the action of the finger H.
The machine such as hereinbefore described may be employed alone or in com-
bination with mechanisms for emptying or conveying the full moulds to a drying
device or into storage boxes or cases.
Figure 1 shows the parts for rapidly transferring the moulds into a box or case Y
placed on a plate I. By means of a lever N acting on a regulating device or gauge
having the length of 25 moulds placed side by side under the cover G, they are
pushed into the box Y. By means of a handle acting with an alternating
movement on the rack escapement J the plate I and consequently the case or
box Y is caused to descend to the height of one mould. By means of the lever N
a second row of moulds may then be placed in the box and so forth until the box
is filled.
One of the principles employed in the machine being to always maintain the
moulds under pressure, care must be taken that a longitudinal weight P always
bears on the upper row of the moulds of the case or box until the latter is filled.
The lever N and the handle may be replaced by a pedal operated by the
operative seated in front of the machine, or may be operated at every 25 cigars by
the machine itself.
In case the moulds are not arranged in a special case or box Y intended to hold
them in stock or to convey them into a drying apparatus, it will be of advantage
to prolong the slide or chute T sufficiently to allow of the moulds, always under
the pressure of the cover, passing through a drying apparatus, at the end of which
the dry fillers may be separated without difficulty from the moulds, seeing that the
latter are not provided with clasps.
The forms, dimensions, proportions, and accessory parts of the machine may be
varied at will and any suitable material may be employed for their construction.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is
A machine for moulding the fillers of cigars characterized by the combination
of a series of mechanical parts allowing a series of operations to be effected
simultaneously or successively, such operations consisting in first bringing the
mould open in front of the operative, and then causing the two parts of said mould
when filled and closed to undergo a series of oscillations to cause the seams in the
filler to disappear; and in then cutting the ends of the latter, and forcing the
moulds thus filled into a slide or chute where they remain under pressure up to
the moment when they are conveyed into the drying apparatus, a rack arrangement
being provided if desired to allow a series of moulds to be piled up in a single
box or pigeon hole, in order to enable the transportation to be more easily effected;
the whole substantially as herein before described and shown as an example in the
accompanying drawing.
Dated this 21ot dov of July 1896
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6 Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicants.