Improvements in Machines for Cutting Tobacco, and for Grading the Cut Product.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Mar., 1897-Accepted, 3rd July, 1897.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Cutting Tobacco, and for Grading
the Cut Product.
I, NICHOLAS P. PERKINS, JAMES ORLANDO BRYANT PALMER, THOMAS ELMER
JAMISON, and JOEL ANDREW JAMISON, all of Roanoke, in the County of Roanoke and
State of Virginia, United States of America, Manufacturers, 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:-
My invention has relation to tobacco cutting machines, and more particularly
to that class employing rotary toothed cutting disks to cut and disintegrate
the tobacco, and to this end the novelty consists in the construction, combination
and arrangement of the same, as will be hereinafter more fully described and
particularly pointed out in the claims.
In the accompanying drawing the same figures of reference indicate the same
parts of the invention.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved tobacco cutting machine;
Fig. 2 is a view of the right hand side of the machine;
Fig. 3 is a left hand view of the same;
Fig. 4 is a longitudinal central section of the same;
Fig. 5 is a plan view of one of the larger toothed cutting disks;
Fig. C is a similar view of one of the smaller toothed cutting disks;
Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the throat plate, showing the slits into which the
larger cutting disks project:
Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section of the receiving and assorting chamber:
Fig. 9 is a top plan view of the cutting disks and throat plate:
Fig. 10 is an end elevation of the cutting disks;
Fig. 11 is a perspective view of a modification of the toothed cutting disks; and
Fig. 12 is a transverse section of the modification shown in Fig. 11.
1, designates the frame of the machine, mounted upon the supporting legs 2-2,
which rest upon and are rigidly connected to the cross braces 3-3, which are
firmly bolted to the floor. 4-4 are the side pieces, and in their front end is
journalled a roller 5, mounted in adjustable bearings 6 in the slots 7 in the side
pieces, and a similar roller 8 is mounted in the same plane in the rear end of the
side pieces in boxes 6-6, and these two rollers 5 and 8 are connected by an endless
apron 8 which forms the feed bed of the machine. Immediately above said
roller 8 is journalled a simliar roller 9, mounted in boxes 10-10 in the sides of the
machine, and these boxes are vertically adjustable by means of the set
screws 12-12, so that the said roller 9 is vertically adjustable in the same plane
with reference to the roller 8, one end of which is provided with a gear wheel 13,
meshing with a similar gear 91 on the same end of the roller 9. The opposite end
of this roller 8 is provided with a gear wheel 131 meshing with a gear wheel 14
on the main driving shaft 15, and by means of which said feed apron 81 and feed
rollers 8 and 9 are operated to continuously feed the tobacco to the machine.
The main driving shaft 15 is provided at one end with a pulley 16, which drives
ID Q77

page_text: the machine. Upon said shaft 15 is mounted a series of toothed disks 17, formed
with elongated knife edge cutting teeth.18, and inner teeth 18'. Intermediate
the disks 17 on said shaft is located a series of smaller toothed disks 19, likewise
formed with radial edged cutting teeth 20, of a uniform length.
These disks 17 and 19 are alternated on the shaft 15 to which they are firmly
clamped by the washers 21 and nuts 22, the teeth on the cutting disks 17 projecting
into the rectangular slits 23 in the throat plate 24, while the teeth 20 on the
smaller disks 19 are in line with the straight edges 25 between the slits 23. As
the shaft 15 revolves, the tobacco being fed by the apron and feed rollers to the
disks, the outer teeth 18 on the larger disks 17 cut into the tobacco in advance of
the inner teeth, and the teeth on the smaller disk 19, so that it is finely cut
longitudinally in the mass before it reaches the teeth on the smaller disk, when
they separate and disintegrate it into small sections. The teeth 18' assist in
keeping the cut made by the teeth 18 open, and 'as it were, clearing the way for
said teeth 18¹.
The casing 26-27 is cylindrical in form, and completely covers the disks 17
and 19 on the shaft 15, the half section 27 being secured to its opposite half
section 26 by hinges 28, and when closed, an ordinary staple, 29, secures the hinged
section in place. The rigid section 26 of said casing is formed with a longitudinal
opening or slot 30 in the same plane as the feed rollers 8 and 9, through which
the prepared tobacco is fed to the cutting disks. The bottom of said casing 26
is provided with a discharge opening 31, located immediately below the central
line of the cutting disks, and the sides extend downwardly to form a chamber.32
in the bottom of which is located an ordinary conveyor shaft 33, the outer end of
which is provided with a pulley 34, around which passes an endless belt 35, to a
similar pulley 36 on the shaft of the feed apron roller 8, which gives motion to
the conveyor shaft 33.
:
87 is a pipe connected to one end of the chamber 32, and leading to the receiving
and assorting chamber to be hereinafter described. 38 is a similar pipe, opening
into said pipe 37, through which a current of air is forced from a blower or
fan 39, so that as the tobacco is fed to and disintegrated by the cutting disks, the
stems being heavier than the lighter flaky leaf, fall to the bottom of the
chamber 32, where they are carried out by the conveyor shaft 33, while the lighter
comminuted leaf toltacco is carried by the air blast through the pipe 37 to the
receiving and assorting chamber.
The assorting chamber 34' is preferably rectangular in shape, and as the tobacco
enters it through the blast pipe 37, it falls into a semicircular sheet metal
trough 40, and is thence carried by a conveyor shaft.41 along a reticulated circular
casing 42, from the end of which the coarse tobacco is discharged through a
chute 43 into a receptacle placed there, and it is then returned to the feed apron
to be re-cut.
Immediately, below the upper reticulated circular casing 42 is located an inclined
vibrating trough 46; into which the fine loose tobacco falls, and is by it conducted
by gravity to the receiving end of the lower reticulated circular casing 43, where
It receives a second screening to separate the very fine tobacco dust, which falls
through the lower reticulated circular casing into a removable drawer 47. The
graded tobacco meanwhile is then discharged from the opposite end of said
reticulated circular casing 43 into a chute-45, from which it is delivered ready for
packing for the market.
The upper end of the rocking trough 46 is secured to a vibrating shaft 48,
mounted in one end of the chamber, and its end extends through the chamber and
is provided with a depending arm 49, the lower end of which lies in the path of
the periphery of the toothed wheel 50 secured on the conveyor shaft 44, on the
opposite end of which is a gear wheel 52, meshing with a similar gear wheel 51
on the upper conveyor shaft 41. The opposite end of said conveyor shaft 41 is
provided with a pulley 53, by means of which both conveyor shafts are rotated.
54 is a spiral spring encircling the vibrating shaft 48, one end thereof being

page_text: secured to. said shaft and the other to the inside of the casing, so as to return
said shaft with a quick jerk or vibration, when its arm 49 is moved forward by
the toothed wheel 50, thereby vibrating the trough and feeding the contents'down
to the mouth of the lower casing 43.
In practice, I make the perforated cylindrical casing 43 of wire gauze of a
considerably larger mesh than that of the wire gauze of which the lower cylindrical
casing 43 is made. It will thus be seen that the cakes or blocks of tobacco as fed
to the machine, are thoroughly cut up and disintegrated by the toothed cutting
disks, the stems falling to the bottom of the chamber 82, whence they are discharged
outwardly by the conveyor shaft 33, while the leaf tobacco is carried along by the
air blast from the fan 39, through the pipe 37 to the assorting chamber, where the
dust and dirt are separated from the disintegrated leaf, and the graded tobacco
is discharged at the casing 45, ready for the market.
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. In a tobacco cutting machine, a cutting device comprising the rotating.
shaft 15, upon which is mounted a series of disks 19 having radial cutting teeth 20,
and a series of disks 17, which are thinner in cross section than the disks 19 and
are mounted on said shaft alternately with the former, and are formed with
elongated knife edge cutting teeth IS and intermediate shorter teeth 18', in com-
bination with the stationary throat plate 24 having the rectangular slits 23,
through which the elongated teeth 18 pass, and the straight edges 25, contiguous
to the teeth 20 on the disks 19, and means substantially as described for con-
tinuously feeding the material to said cutting device, as and for the purpose
set forthi.
2. In a tobacco cutting and grading machine, the shaft 15, the cutting disks 17
and 19 mounted alternately on said shaft, the throat plate 24 having the slits 23
and the intermediate straight edges 25 contiguous to the disks 17 and 19
respectively, the roller 8 mounted in fixed bearings, the roller 5, and the endless
apron 8 connecting said rollers, the roller 9 vertically adjustable in boxes 10-10
in the sides of the machine, in combination with the chambers 32 and 34', the air
or blast pipe connecting them, the conveyor shafts 41-44, located in said chamber,
the reticulated circular casings 42 and 43, encompassing said conveyor shafts 41-43
respectively, and the vibrating trough mounted in said chamber 34 between the
said casings 42-43, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
3. In a tobacco cutting machine, comprising a series of toothed cutting disks 17
and 19, and a throat plate 24 formed with slits 23, the combination with the feed
roller 9, and the rollers 5 and 8 mounted in the same plane and connected by an
enlless feed apron 81, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
4. In a tobacco cutting machine comprising a feeding device substantially as
described, the combination with the main shaft 15, upon which is mounted a series
of cutting disks 17 formed with radial edged outer cutting teeth 18, and inter-
mediate inner cutting teeth 18' and a series of alternating smaller cutting disks 19,
formed with radial edged cutting teeth 20, substantially as and for the purpose
set forth.
5. In a tobacco cutting machine, means substantially as described for cutting
the tobacco, in combination with a receiving and assorting chamber provided with
stationary perforated cylindrical chutes 42 and 43, in which are located the
rotating conveyor shafts 41 and 44, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
G. In a tobacco cutting and grading machine, the main shaft 15, provided with
the toothed cutting disks 17 and 19, the slitted throat plate 23-24, the endless
feed apron 81 mounted on the rollers 5 and 8, and the feed roller 9, mounted in the
same vertical plane as the roller 8, in combination with the chamber 32, the bottom
of which is provided with a conveyor shaft 33, an air pipe leading from the fan 39,
the pipe 37 leading to the chamber 34 in which is located the conveyor

page_text: shafts 41-44, the perforated cylindrical chutes 42 and 43, and the inclined
vibrating trough 46, substantially as shown and described.
7. In a tobacco cutting machine, a main shaft, a polygonal faced drum mounted
thereon, and a series of sectional toothed cutting disks secured to the polygonal face
of said drum, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 23rd day of March 1897.
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
Agents.