In- PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CIGARS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "In-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CIGARS."
A communication from abroad by Albert Reiniger, Cigar Manufac
turer, of Paris, in the Empire of France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 21st September 1864.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CIGARS,"
a communication to me from abroad by Albert Reiniger, Cigar Manufac-
turer, of Paris, in the Empire of France, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates, firstly, to machinery for cutting tobacco intended to
be made into cigars, and depositing the same, when cut, into separate recep-
tacles in the proper quantities required for each cigar; and, secondly, to
machinery for rolling such cut tobacco inside the leaf or outer covering.
The machine comprised under the first head of this Invention consists of a
suitable base plate or platform provided with standards or uprights, which
carry a rocking shaft, having keyed thereon a pair of vibrating levers. Tothe
end of each of these levers is jointed a link or short connecting rod connected to
[Price 8d]

page_text: eccentric straps, and actuated by an eccentric keyed on to the main driving
shaft. On each side of the machine two other levers are keyed on to therocking
shaft, to the ends of which are jointed links connected to a knife which slides
in vertical guides. The eccentrics serve to impart a vibrating motion to the
levers and thereby work the knife. The tobacco to be cut is fed forward the
required distance after each cut by means of a pair of endless bands of
caoutchouc or other suitable material, which are kept in a state of tension on
suitable carrying rollers. An intermittent rotatory motion is imparted to these
rollers by means of a ratchet wheel and pall, the latter being actuated by a
third eccentric or crank pin carried by the main driving shaft, the throw of
such eccentric or crank pin being adjustable in a slot or groove, so as to vary
the amount of tobacco fed forward at each operation. A fourth eccentric,
also keyed on to the main driving shaft, gives motion by means of a sliding
hook and gearing to a set of four receivers or boxes, which are made to
revolve round a centre, making one quarter of a revolution at each stroke of
the eccentric, so that one of such receivers or boxes may be always presented
in front of the knife in readiness to receive the cut tobacco. Simultaneous
with the rotation of these receivers, motion is transmitted by means of a
pinion, spur wheel, and chain or notched pulley fast on the axis of the spur
wheel to sliding or travelling frames, each containing anumber of open boxes
or receptacles, and having an intermittent forward motion imparted to them
by the chain wheel. Whilst these frames are at rest the machine causes the
tobacco to advance, and closes by means of a rod and antifriction roller (the
latter carried on one of the eccentrics) the revolving receiver or box which
is immediately in front of the knife, whilst the receiver below is opened and
discharges its contents into one of the series of travelling boxes or receptacles
above referred to. These boxes or receptacles are moved forward as fast as
they are filled, and are then taken to the machine for rolling the tobacco
inside the leaf, which machine constitutes the second head of this Invention.
This machine consists of a convex curved table or fixed sector combined
with a vibrating forked lever carrying a roller, and with a non-elastic strap.
Each box, filled with the proper quantity of cut tobacco for a single cigar, as
it is brought to this machine is emptied into a pocket or recess at one end of
the table, such table and pocket being covered by the non-elastic strap, the
degree of slack of such strap being regulated by a roller for that purpose.
The leaf or covering and a piece of paper are then placed upon the strap on
the table, and the lever with its roller is caused to travel from one end of the
table to the other by simply depressing a treddle connected therewith by a
link, such motion causing the tobacco to be rolled inside the leaf by, the

page_text: action of the strap. On arriving at the opposite side of the table the cigar is
deposited in any convenient holder or receiver, thence removed and placed
in a suitable receptacle.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th March 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four,in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John Henry
Johnsen, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or 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
IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CIGARS,"
a communication to me from abroad by Albert Reiniger, Cigar Manufacturer,
of Paris, in the Empire of France, upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, should paricularly 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 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 John Henry Johnson, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked the.eon, that is to say:-
The said Invention relates, firstly, to machinery for cutting tobacco intended
to be made into cigars, and depositing the same, when cut, into separate

page_text: receptacles in the proper quantities required for each cigar; and, secondly, to
machinery for rolling such cut tobacco inside the leaf or outer covering.
The machine comprised under the first head of this Invention consists of a
suitable base plate or platform provided with standards or uprights, which
carry a rocking shaft, having keyed thereon a pair of vibrating levers. To
the end of each of these levers is jointed a link or short connecting rod con-
nected to eccentric straps, and actuated by an eccentric keyed on to the main
driving shaft on each side of the machine. Two other levers are keyed on to
the rocking shaft, to the ends of which are jointed links connected to a knife
which slides in vertical guides. The eccentrics serve to impart a vibrating
motion to the levers, and thereby work the knife. The tobacco to be cut is
fed forward the required distance after each cut by means of a pair of endless
bands of caoutchouc or other suitable material, which are kept in a state of
tension on suitable carrying rollers: An intermittant rotatory motion is
imparted to these rollers by means of a ratchet wheel and pall, the latter being
actuated by a third eccentric or crank pin carried by the main driving shaft,
the throw of such eccentric or crank pin being adjustable in a slot or groove,
so as to vary the amount of tobacco fed forward at each operation. A fourth
eccentric, also keyed on to the main driving shaft, gives motion by means of
a sliding hook and gearing to a set of four receivers or boxes, which are made
to revolve round a centre making one quarter of a revolution at each stroke of
th ecccentric, so that one of such receivers or boxes may be always presented
in front of the knife in readiness to receive the cut tobacco. Simultaneous
with the rotation of tliese receivers motion is transmitted by means of a pinion,
spur wheel,and chain or notched pulley fast on the axis of the spur wheel to
sliding or travelling frames, each containing a number of open boxes orrecep-
tacles, and having an intermittant forward motion imparted to them by the
chain wheel. Whilst these frames are at rest the machine causes the
tobacco to advance, and closes by means of a rod and antifriction roller (the
latter carried on one of the eccentrics) the revolving receiver or box, which is
immediately in front of the knife, whilst the receiver below is opened and
discharges its contents into one of the series of travelling boxes or receptacles
above referred to. These boxes or receptacles are moved forward as fast as
they are filled, and are then taken to the machine for rolling the tobacco
inside the leaf, which machine constitutes the second head of this Invention.
This machine consists of a convex curved table or fixed sector, combined
with a vibrating forked lever carrying a roller, and with a non-elastic strap.
Each box, filled with the proper quantity of cut tobacco for a single cigar, as
it is brought to this machine is emptied into a pocket or recess at one end of

page_text: the table, such table and pocket being covered by the non-elastic strap, the
degree of slack of such strap being regulated by a roller for that purpose
The leaf or covering and a piece of paper are then placed upon the strap on
the table, and the lever with its roller is caused to travel from one end of the
table to the other by simply depressing a treadle connected therewith by a
link, such motion causing the tobacco to be rolled inside the leaf by the action
of the strap. On arriving at the opposite end of the table the cigar is
deposited in any convenient holder or receiver, and thence removed and placed
in a suitable receptacle.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that
purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the corre-
sponding Figures..
Figs. 1 and 2 represent two opposite side elevations of the improved
tobacco-cutting machine herein-before referred to; Fig. 3 is an end elevation
of the same looking on the cutting and delivery end of the machine, and
Fig. 4 is a corresponding plan of the same.
In this machine the tobacco to be cut is introduced at a, parallel to the
knife, upon a belt of caoutchouc (which may be adjusted at will) and
between metal bands. On the main shaft of the machine are keyed four
eccentrics and two pullies. The positions and functions of the eccentrics are
as follows: The eccentric c (Figs. 1 and 4) and the eccentric (Figs. 2
and 4) serve only to cause the knife to rise and fall by the aid of a lever arm
or beam. The eccentric e (Figs. 1 and 4) gives motion to the receptacles a¹,
whilst the apparatus f, which removes the cut portions, is performing its
revolution. The eccentric g (Figs. 2 and 4) gives motion to the rollers h
and i, over which are stretched endless belts of india-rubber, which cause the
tobacco to advance or be fed forward in the direction of the arrow, whilst the
tobacco is compressed by a shorter belt. When the shaft b (Figs. 1, 2, and
4) commences to rotate, the journal k, capable of being adjusted along a
slotted arm or crank, gives a rotatory motion through the rod and pall m to
the wheel n, which acts upon the rollers and i. These latter cause the
tobacco to fall into the boxes f provided for that purpose. When the
eccentric has moved so as to bring the journal to the position /¹, the
required quantity of tobacco will have advanced, and the pall m will move
back. At this moment the eccentrics c and d (Figs. 1 and 2) will move and
cause the levers r, y, to assume the position 1, 7, and the knife t (Fig. 3),

page_text: attached to the side u, which works in vertical guides, descends and cuts the
tobacco. The eccentrics c, d, then return from their full throw, and the
knife rises again. The eccentric g withdraws and no longer acts upon the
endless bands or belts when passing its dead centre; whilst the eccentric e
(Fig. 1) by the intervention of the hook, which slides in the guide w, and
of the disc x, causes the apparatus to turn from 2 to 1, that is to say, to
make a quarter of a revolution. When the shaft 1. (Fig. 1) is thus moved,
the pinion II. of 24 teeth fixed on this shaft drives the wheel n of 96 teeth,
the shaft IV. of which carries the chain wheel V., which causes the frames a¹
to advance, each-carrying 28-compartments or receptacles, into which the
tobacco falls, and which are connected to each other by hooks. During the
time the frames a¹ (Fig. 1 and 3) remain stationary, the machine causes the
tobacco to advance, and closes by means of the rod 6 (Fig. 2) and an anti-
friction roller mounted on the eccentric d, the lid of the box or receiver, which
is just in front of the knife, whilst the box, which is below, is opened and
allows the tobacco contained therein to fall into one of the receptacles in the
framed. These full receptacles, after having been removed from the machine
just described, are conveyed to the machine, which effects the rolling of the
tobacco in the leaf or outer covering, and which is represented in side and
end elevation respectively at Figs. 5 and 6. The receptacles are placed
upon the small table or shelf b (Fig. 5), and then emptied as required by
the attendant, who deposits the cut tobacco in a species of pocket formed at
m by a non-elastic strap, the tension of which is regulated by the tension
roller d. The outer leaf and a piece of paper are then placed upon the sector
which
n, and the foot is placed upon the treadle /. The arms of the lever g,
carry the roller h, then cause this roller to advance from 1 to 1, where the
rolled cigar is held between two movable jaws by the aid of a spring or
weight, the cigar is then removed and placed in a suitable receptacle.
When the foot is removed and replaced at f', the lever g returns, carrying
back with it the roller from 1 to h, and the operation is repeated for the next
cigar.
Having now described and particularly ascertained_the_nature_of_the_said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein.
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the general combination and arrangement of self-acting machinery
for cutting tobacco intended to be manufactured into cigars, and depositing

page_text: the same into separate receptacles in the proper quantities required for each
cigar, substantially as herein-before described and illustrated by Figs. 1, 2, 3,
and 4 of the Drawings annexed.
Second, the peculiar construction and arrangement of apparatus for first
receiving the tobacco, as herein-before described and illustrated in reference
to the cutting machine.
Third, the peculiar arrangement of mechanism for causing the receiving
apparatus to advance, as herein-before described and illustrated in reference
to the cutting machine.
Fourth, the application and use of the travelling frames and their recep-
tacles for severally receiving the requisite quantity of tobacco for the
manufacture of a cigar, as herein-before described and illustrated in reference
to the cutting machine.
Fifth, the general combination and arrangement of machinery or apparatus
for rolling the tobacco in the leaf or outer covering in the manufacture of
cigars, as herein-before. described and illustrated, by Figs. 5 and 6 of the
Drawings annexed.
Sixth, the combination of a convex sector with a lever carrying a roller,
which operates upon a non-elastic band for the purpose of rolling cigars, as
herein-before described and illustrated at Figs. 5 and 6 of the Drawings
annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twentieth day of March, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-five.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)