IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF TOBACCO, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOB
Year: 1869

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James Porteous and Henry
Gibson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 27th January 1869.
We, JAMES PORTEOUS, of Edinburgh, and HENRY GIBSON, of Mussel-
burgh, both in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF TOBACCO, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOB,"
to be as follows, that is to say :-
"
The first part of this Invention relates to an improved arrangement
and construction of apparatus to be used in coiling twisted or spun
tobacco into rolls, and it consists of a shaft or spindle on which circular
flanges (by preference with openings formed in them) are placed, the
distance between these flanges being equal to the length of the rolls
which are to be coiled. On the end of the above-mentioned spindle a
worm or screw is fitted, and this gears into a worm wheel carried on a
stud or cross shaft. To the body of the worm wheel a heart or other
shaped cam is fixed which acts against an antifriction roller carried on
a horizontal guide rod, this guide rod being jointed to a lever to which
the vibrating action due to the cam is communicated. Attached to the

page_text: upper end of the vibrating lever is a horizontal sliding bar, to which the
reciprocating movement of the lever is communicated as the cam above
mentioned revolves. On that end of the sliding bar next to the flanges
between which the tobacco is coiled a tube or eye piece is fitted,
through which the twisted tobacco passes, so that as it is unwound from
the bobbin on which it was wound on the twisting machine the recipro-
cating movement of the tube or eye piece causes it to be coiled closely
and regularly between the flanges on the main spindle. A pressure
roller is applied to the machine; it is fitted into a frame having a hinged
joint so that it may rest upon the coil of tobacco between the flanges and
preserve as far as practicable an uniform level and circumference in the
rolled coil, thus giving a more finished appearance to the rolls or coils.
A friction guide is also applied for producing the more even rolling or
coiling of the tobacco, and it is situated near the attendant so as to be
brought into action when required.
The second part of this Invention relates to an improved method of and
apparatus for forming the central part or core of twisted tobacco. It
consists in placing a roller carried on a revolving spindle inside a
hollow cylinder or casing, which is formed of sufficient internal diameter
to allow an annular space between the roller and the casing equal to
the diameter of the core to be formed. At one side of the casing an
opening is left, through which the workman introduces the leaves of
tobacco into the space between the roller and casing; these being caught
by the roller are carried round by it and formed into a short length of
rolled core.
The machine is provided with a sliding shelf or plate
which the workman pushes into the slit or opening in the casing when
the core is sufficiently rolled so that it cannot pass the opening, and
therefore drops out on to the shelf or plate. The attendant then places
it on a travelling band, by which it is carried to a twisting or spinning
machine, where the pieces of the core thus formed are joined together
and the outer leaves twisted on so as to form a smooth and continuous
roll or cord.