IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING TOBACCO.
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert John Hilton, of Belfast, in the County
of Antrim, in Ireland, Tobacco Manufacturer, for the Invention of
" IMPRADO TV MIGHTYYDY HAD MANDANUDING TAP1000 ”
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING TOBACCO.'
Scaled the 10th March 1871, and dated the 2nd November 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert John Hilton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 2nd November 1870..
I, ROBERT JOHN. HILTON, of Belfast, in the County of Antrim, in
Ireland, Tobacco Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING
TOBACCO," to be as follows:-
In lieu of the cross rollers; cross belts, hammers, or other contrivances
heretofore used for the purpose of spinning tobacco I employ a horizontal
plate revolving on its centre, and a conical bar or roller placed horizon-
tally over, and receiving a reverse motion from the revolving plate by
means of a friction pulley on an axial pin or shaft extended: through

page_text: or from the apex of the conical bar or roller or by other suitable con-
trivance, and in order that the tobacco may be passed under and in the
direction of the cone I use a guide bar or roller revolving in the same
direction as the cone.
And in order to regulate the velocity of the wheel or bobbin according
to the quantity of spun tobacco coiled upon it I employ a friction plate
upon the axle of the bobbin, which is set in motion by a small pulley
or roller upon a revolving shaft, and the distance of the pulley or roller
from the centre of the friction plate is increased by a spring or lever
acted upon by the coil of tobacco as it increases in diameter on the
bobbin, so as proportionately to diminish the velocity of the bobbin.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert John Hilton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 1st May 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
JOHN, HILTON, of Belfast, in the County of Antrim, in Ireland, Tobacco
Manufacturer, send greeting.
1
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Robert John Hilton, Her special licence
that I, the said Robert John Hilton, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert John Hilton, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS. IN
MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING TOBACCO," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Robert John Hilton, my executors. or adminis-
trators, by an instrument 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 per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent

page_text: Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert John Hilton, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, 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 thereon, that is to
say:
The said Invention relates to the spinning, twisting, and winding
or coiling of tobacco by machinery, and consists in the use of a circular
horizontal plate revolving on its centre, and a conical bar or roller
placed horizontally over, and revolving in an opposite direction to part
of the circular plate, and of a bar to guide the material for the purpose
of spinning tobacco; and also in the use of a friction plate acted upon
by a pulley or roller upon a revolving shaft for the purpose of regulating
the winding or coiling of the tobacco on the bobbin.
The circular horizontal plate is placed under the leaf of the table
from which the machine is supplied with tobacco, the leaf of the table
being cut away so as to expose the circular plate under the conical bar
or roller and the friction pulley hercin-after described. The conical bar
or roller occupies a position over a portion of the line of a chord of the
circular plate, and at an angle from the axial line of the bobbin frame,
and is provided at each extremity with an axial pin or shaft. The
large end or base of the conical bar or roller is placed next to the
bobbin frame. The axial pin or shaft extending from the small end or
apex of the conical bar or roller is connected by means of an universal
joint with a shaft carrying a friction pulley, which is brought into
contact with the edge of and receives motion from the circular plate
causing the conical bar or roller to rotate in the opposite direction to
that of the part of the circular plate over which it is imposed. The
circular plate may be covered with leather or other suitable material at
the edge and to the breadth traversed by the friction pulley, and I
prefer to adopt this arrangement. The axial pin or shaft of the conical
bar or roller, and the shaft of the friction pulley are furnished with
adjustable journals set in arches or slotted uprights connected with
the frame of the machine, in which arches or slotted uprights the journals
may be elevated or depressed by means of screw bolts, so as to accom-

page_text: modate the position of the conical bar or roller to the size of the spun
tobacco required to be manufactured.
Instead of clevating or depressing the journal carrying the pin or
shaft at the base of the conical bar or roller by means of a screw bolt
I may apply an adjustable lever and weight to such pin or shaft to
increase when necessary the action of the conical bar or lever itself
upon the tobacco. The arched or slotted upright carrying the journal
of the pin or shaft at the base of the conical bar or roller is con-
nected with the frame of the machine by means of a snug or bracket
through a slot, in which a pin or bolt from the arch or slotted upright
passes, and the arch or slotted upright at the opposite extremity of the
axial shaft of the friction pulley is connected with the frame of the
machine by means of a cross bar or a snug or bracket through, a slot
in which a pin or bolt from the arch or slotted upright passes. The
slots in the suugs or brackets and cross bar are employed in changing
the set of the conical bar or roller, so as to accelerate or retard tho
forward delivery of the spun tobacco, as may be requisite or desired. The
bar by which the material is to be guided is held in position by means
of snugs or brackets attached by bolts to the table of the machine, and
'the snugs or brackets or the table may be slotted to receive the bolts,
in order to admit of the adjustment of the bar to the size of the spun
tobacco. The guide bar is placed so as to guide the material under the
conical bar or roller.
I do not hereby intend to limit myself to the use of one only of such
bars, as I prefer to use a bar on cach side of the material under tho
conical bar or roller.
The filler or core of the spun tobacco. is introduced between the
.centre of the circular plate, and the axial pin or shaft at the apex of the
.conical bar or roller, and the wrapper is introduced from the opposite
.side of the conical bar or roller, and is put on while the filler or core
is under the rolling process.
The contrary motions of the revolving plate and the conical bar or
roller spin and twist the tobacco, and at the same time carry it
forward towards the bobbin. The velocity of the wheel or bobbin is
regulated by my said Invention according to the quantity of spun
tobacco wound or coiled upon it by the employment of a friction plate
fixed on the axle of the bobbin, which is set in motion by a small pulley
or roller upon a revolving shaft driven off the axle of the bobbin frame.

page_text: The pulley or roller moving the friction plate of the bobbin is connected
by means of a bár or lever with a moveable frame which sits between
the flanges of the bobbin, and is made to slide up the axle of the bobbin
frame by the pressure of the wound or coiled tobacco against a bar or
roller across the inner end of the moveable frame. The effect of this
arrangement is, that as the coil of tobacco upon the bobbin enlarges the
moveable frame carries the small pulley or roller nearer to the circum-
ference of the friction plate, and increases its orbit upon the friction
plate, so that (the speed of the small pulley or roller being unchanged)
the speed of the bobbin gradually decreases until it is filled.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I
shall now proceed to describe the same by a reference to the several
Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hercunto annexed, the same letters
of reference indicating the same or corresponding parts throughout all
the Figures.
Figure I. is a plan of the machine, shewing the improvements herein-
before mentioned; Figure II. is an elevation of the same; and Figure III.
is an enlarged section shewing the revolving plate, conical bar or roller,
friction pulley, and guide bar, and their several connections.
A is the table of the machine, B is the driving shaft, C is the bobbin
frame, and D is the axle of the bobbin frame. a is the circular
horizontal revolving plate, having the edge a¹ covered with leather;
b is the conical bar or roller; c, c, are the axial pins or shafts extending
from bat each end; d is the universal joint connecting c with the shaft
of e; fis the friction pulley in contact with the edge of a; g, g, are the
journals bearing one of the pins c and the shaft e; h, h, are the arches
or slotted uprights; i, i, are the screw bolts for adjusting the friction
pulley f; k is the lever for increasing the pressure of the conical bar
or roller; I is a slotted snug or bracket, and m is a slotted bar carrying
h, h; n is the slot in 1, and o is the slot in m; p, p, are the bolts
fastening h, h, to land m; q, q, are two guide bars; is the friction
plate on the bobbin axle 8; t is the pulley driving the bobbin; u is the
shaft of t; is the bar or lever for adjusting t; wo is the moveable frame
connected with t by means of v; and x is the roller at the inner end
of w.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that
I do not claim the use of a horizontal plate and conical bar or roller

page_text: revolving in opposite directions, nor of the friction plate and adjustable
pulley or roller, except when the same are used in the manner herein-
before described for the purposes of my said Invention, nor do I claim
the use of friction pulleys or rollers and guide bars, nor the separate
mechanical parts, which form the spinning, twisting, and winding or
coiling machine used by me; but I claim,―
First. The use of a horizontal plate and conical bar or roller revolving
in opposite directions, and of a guide bar or guide bars, in the manner
herein-before described for the improved manufacture of spun tobacco.
Secondly. The use of a friction plate and adjustable pulley or roller
in the manner herein-before described for winding or coiling spun
tobacco.
And, thirdly. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting
the spinning, twisting, and winding or coiling machine, constructed and
arranged as herein described for the purpose of spinning, twisting, and
winding or coiling tobacco in the manner herein-before mentioned and
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert John Hilton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of April,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-