IMPROVEMENTS IN TOBACCO-CUTTING MACHINES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Welch, of Wood Green, Tottenham, in the
County of Middlesex, Tobacco Manufacturer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TOBACCO-CUTTING MACHINES."
Sealed the 1st August 1864, and dated the 8th February 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Welch at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 8th
February 1864.
I, EDWARD WELCH, of Wood Green, Tottenham, in the County of
Middlesex, Tobacco Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TOBACCO-CUTTING MACHINES," to be as
follows:-
My Invention of improvements in tobacco-cutting machines relates to the
action of the knife employed for cutting tobacco by machinery. In such
machines the tobacco to be cut.is fed by rollers or otherwise up to a recipro-
cating knife, which severs a film or quantity from the bulk; but in consequence
of the knife moving perpendicularly to the tobacco, the cutting is performed
by pressure only. Where the knife does not cut with contact of a supporting
substance, or by contact with one of the feeding rollers, whereby tobacco is
imperfectly cut, has an indifferent appearance, and produces a large quantity.
of what is termed "smalls," and consequent waste of the tobacco.
Now according to my Invention I arrange and construct my machine so
that a drawing cutting motion will be imparted to the knife, whose edge at

page_text: same time is not subject to contact with the surface supporting the tobacco, or
with any extraneous substance whatever; this I effect either by mounting
the fulcrum of the knife, which acts in the manner of a lever, on an oscillating
rod, or otherwise so mount it that when the power end of the knife reciprocates
up and down it will at same time perform a lateral to-and-fro movement,
whereby the edge of the knife is drawn across the tobacco at same time that
it is descending. A drawing cut may also be produced by a reciprocating
blade working in a slide, the blade and slide being mounted at an incline to
the horizontal bed or mass of material to be cut.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Welch in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 8th
August 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
WELCH, of Wood Green, Tottenham, in the County of Middlesex, Tobacco
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of February, 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 I, the
said Edward Welch, Her special licence that I, the said Edward Welch,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Edward Welch, 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 TOBACCO-CUTTING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Edward Welch, my executors or administrators, 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 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 Edward Welch, do hereby déclare
>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

page_text: statement, reference being had to the two Sheets of Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of improvements in tobacco-cutting machines relates to the
action of the knife employed for cutting tobacco by machinery. In such
machines the tobacco to be cut is fed by rollers or otherwise up to a recipro+
cating knife, which severs a film or quantity from the bulk; but in consequence
of the knife moving perpendicularly to the tobacco, the cutting is performed
by pressure only. In cases where the knife does not cut with contact of a
supporting substance, or by contact with one of the feeding rolls, the tobacco is
imperfectly cut, has an indifferent appearance, and produces a large quantity
of what is termed smalls, and consequent waste of the tobacco.
Now according to my Invention I arrange and construct my machine so
that a drawing cutting motion is imparted to the knife, whose edge at same
time is not subjected to contact with the surface supporting the tobacco, or
with any substance except the material to be cut; this I effect either by
mounting the fulcrum of the knife on an oscillating lever, or otherwise, so
that when the power end of the knife moves up and down it will at same time
perform a lateral to-and-fro movement; by this combination of motions the
edge of the knife is drawn across the tobacco at same time that it is
descending, and so producing the drawing cut desired. A drawing cut may
also be produced by a reciprocating blade working in a slide, the blade and
slide being mounted at an inclination to the horizontal bed or mass of material

page_text: }
the main shaft G of the machine. The eccentric imparts a to-and-fro
motion to rod F at each revolution of shaft G, and consequently an oscillating
movement to the lever C. The opposite end of the knife A has an up-and-
down 'motion communicated to it by a connecting rod H from a crank pin in
plate I, fixed on shaft G in the ordinary manner. a, a; is the cutting edge or
mouth of the bed, over which the tobacco is projected and fed up to the cut.
It will be evident that while the knife A is descending by the oscillatory
motion imparted to the lever C, the fulcrum B, on which the knife moves, will
travel from the point 1 to point 2, that therefore the edge of the knife will
traverse across the tobacco to the same extent simultaneously with and while
it is performing. its descending cutting motion, thereby producing a drawing
cut while severing the tobacco into shreds as required. In this way the knife
will cut much cleaner, the shreds severed will be finer, and will present a
better appearance than when cut by the ordinary machines, and at same time
creating less waste of the tobacco in what is termed smalls.
Fig. 2 represents a front view, and Fig. 3 a partial vertical section of a
machine-shewing another mode of imparting a drawing cut to the kuife, which
in this case is obtained by moving the knife in an inclined direction to the
bed or mouth from which the mass is projected. In general appearance this
machine differs much from ordinary machines, but the difference is mostly in
the framework and knife carrier, the feeding rolls and gear for actuating the
same, together with the bed or mouth, being all as in ordinary.
L, L, is the framework of the machine; behind the front uprights of the
framing L the knife frame M is fitted so as to slide in the inclined direction
indicated, the whole being of cast iron and fitted to move freely and steadily
in dovetailed guides or grooves Q, Q. The knife frame is in the form of three
sides of a parallelogram with an arched top over the middle side, from which
point it is driven. The knife P is fixed on the upper side on front of frame M,
with its bevilled edge in front, the flat side being at the back and against the
mouth R of the machine; this mouth has a lower cutting face or bar, against
which the knife P cuts as usual. S is the lower and large feeding roller, and
T the small upper ones, driven as in ordinary by the spur wheel and pinion U.
An endless screw V communicates the motion received from the first mover of
the machine by ratchet and pawl gear as usual. The knife, as before men-
tioned, is driven from the top, having a pin W fixed in it, on which the upper
end of a double connecting rod X, X, takes; the lower part of the connecting
rod X is actuated by a crank Y, to which it is attached, the rotation of the
crank transmitting and producing the reciprocating motion of the knife
frame M and knife P as desired.

page_text: As well understood in cutting tobacco the material is fed between the
rollers S and T, and projected a little at the mouth R between each cut of the
knife, so that the descent of the knife severs the quantity so projected, the
direction of motion of the cutting edge of the knife being laterally as well as
in the downward direction, the cutting edge will be drawn across the tobacco
at the same time it is descending through it, and so produce the clean drawing
cut desired. Various other mechanical means may be adopted to impart the
drawing cutting action to the knife which it will be unnecessary to specify, as
being mere mechanical equivalents for the arrangements shown.
Laving described the nature of my Invention and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the arrangement of parts,
herein-before described and illustrated in the Drawings annexed, constituting
a machine or machines for producing a drawing cut in the knives of tobacco-
cutting machines or any mere mechanical equivalents thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Welch, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
EDWARD WELCH.
(L.S.)