IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR PRESSING AND SHAPING CIGAR BUNCHES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Cope, of the Firm of Cope, Brothers, and
Company, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Cigar Manu-
facturers, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR PRESSING AND
SHAPING CIGAR BUNCHES."
Sealed the 3rd March 1868, and dated the 5th September 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Cope at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th September 1867.
I, GEORGE COPE, of the Firm of Cope, Brothers, and Company, of Liverpool,
in the County of Lancaster, Cigar Manufacturers, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR PRESSING. AND
SHAPING CIGAR BUNCHES," to be as follows:-
Apparatus constructed according to this Invention consists of two frame.
pieces made of wood or other material so fitted or furnished with projections
and recesses on their faces that when they are placed together into the
position they occupy when giving pressure for either shaping or pressing
a number of moulds or openings are left between them,, each one an exact
Degative of the shape of the cigar the apparatus is designed to produce. The
recesses on one of the said frame pieces are formed by and between projecting
sliding blocks, the face sides of which project like the teeth of a rack. These
blocks slide on feathers or ribs secured to the frame; they are coupled
together by a flexible or elastic band by which they can be separated from

page_text: each other a short distance. The recesses on the other frame are the spaces
between stationary projections.
The manner of using the said apparatus is as follows:-The band which
connects the sliding blocks is first drawn out and fastened tightly; this
separates the blocks and makes the recesses between them larger. The cigar
bunches are placed one in each recess, and when all the recesses are filled
the band is unfastened; the other frame piece is then placed on the
one containing the bunches and the two brought closely together by clamps
or otherwise. The sliding blocks are brought up against each other or their
outer sides by a projecting piece which fits in between the end sliding block
and a stationary part of the frame. At this time the ends of the bunches are
trimmed off, and when this is done the operation is completed. The bunches
are allowed to remain under pressure as long as is necessary to give them
the configuration of the moulds or openings.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Cope in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 5th
March 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE COPE,
of the Firm of Cope, Brothers, and Company, of Liverpool, in the County
of Lancaster, Cigar Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
George Cope, Her special license that I, the said George Cope, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Cope, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR
PRESSING AND SHAPING CIGAR BUNCHES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said George Cope, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my,, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed

page_text: in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Cope, do bereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying illustrative
Drawings, and to the figures and letters thereon, that is to say :-
Apparatus constructed according to this Invention consists of two frame
pieces made of wood or other material so fitted or furnished with projections
and recesses on their faces that when they are placed together into the
positions they occupy when giving pressure for either shaping or pressing a
number of moulds or openings are left between them, each one an exact
negative of the shape of the cigar the apparatus is designed to produce. The
recesses on one of the said frame pieces are formed by and between projecting
sliding blocks, the face sides of which project like the teeth of a rack. These
blocks slide on feathers or ribs secured to the frame. They are coupled
together by a flexible or elastic band by which they can be separated from
each other a short distance. The recesses on the other frame are the spaces
between stationary projections.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents a view in perspective of the complete apparatus, the parts
being shewn in the position they occupy when giving pressure; Fig. 2 is a
face view, and Fig. 3 a side elevation of the top part; Fig. 4 is a face view,
and Fig. 5 a side elevation of the bottom part, the sliding blocks being
shewn in the positions they occupy when the apparatus is not in use; and
Fig. 6 is a view of the under side of the bottom, sbewing the sliding blocks
separated and the recesses thereby increased in size the more easily to receive
the cigar bunches. In all these views like letters denote the same parts.
A is the bottom or receiving part; this consists of the projecting sliding |
blocks a fitted to move freely on the longitudinal ribs or feathers b. To move
the said blocks a a leather or other band c is provided; when c is drawn out
and fastened over the pin c¹ the blocks are held in the position shewn by
Fig. 6. d are transverse pieces which with 6, to which they are secured, form
the stationary frame; B is the top or pressure giving part; this is formed of
one or more pieces, the parts e projecting from the frame f being hollowed out.
The spaces between e form recesses, here marked g, to receive part of the sliding
blocks a. his a projecting wedge or pressure piece to fit between d and
the end one of a, the use thereof being to bring the sliding blocks a close

page_text: together and reduce in size the spaces occupied by the cigar bunches, and
thereby give them the desired compression or form.
The manner of using the said apparatus is as follows:-The band c which
connects the sliding blocks a is first drawn out and fastened tightly by being
passed over c¹; this, as before stated, separates the blocks and makes the
recesses between them larger. The cigar bunches are placed one in each recess,
and when the recesses are filled the band c is unfastened from c¹; the top
part B is then placed on A, and the two brought closely together by clamps or
otherwise. Clamps are not shewn on the Drawings, but it will be obvious
various kinds of them can be used either to squeeze together and hold in
that position one or a number of the apparatus. The sliding blocks a
are brought nearer to each other by the projecting wedge piece h, which
fits in between the end sliding block and the transverse piece d; the ends
of the cigar bunches are now trimmed off, and when this is done the operation
is completed. The bunches are allowed to remain under pressure as long as
is necessary to give them the configuration of the moulds or spaces left
between A and B.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and particularized
the same by the exact details which in practice have been found to answer
well, more particularly in respect of enabling a manufacturer to produce cigars
of uniform firmness and of symmetrical form with operatives possessing less
skill, I would have it understood that what I claim is, apparatus constructed
and combined substantially in the manner set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Cope, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
.
In the presence of
JOHN T. KING,
Patent Agent,
Liverpool.
GEORGE COPE. (L.S.)