IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BINDING, WRAPPING, AND FORMING CIGARS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BINDING,
WRAPPING, AND FORMING CIGARS."-A communication from abroad
by Socrates Scholfield, of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island,
United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward
Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 16th June 1870.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BINDING,
WRAPPING, AND FORMING CIGARS," to be as follows:-
The object of the Invention is to construct cigar making machinery,
which, while simple and easy of operation, shall be capable of per-
forming its work with rapidity and without injury to the binder or
wrapper. The Invention relates, or mainly so, to that class of machines
in which a nest or cluster of rolls is used to rotate the tobacco or bunch
within them for the purpose of forming the cigar and rolling the binder

page_text: and wrapper on the mass which constitutes the filling. The Invention
consists in the use of a flexible tubular covering made to revolve upon
a stationary spindle or core to act as a substitute for the solid roll used
än previous cigar making machines. This revolving flexible covering
has a soft or easy action on the cigar, and prevents injury to the binder
and wrapper. The Invention also includes the employment of rolls for
the purpose or purposes herein-before named, formed with spiral or
screw thread surfaces on their peripheries, to effect the movement of the
tobacco within the rolls in the direction of the length thereof, so as to
secure a proper filling of the head of the cigar. The Invention likewise
includes a spindle or core in combination with a former head, and rigid
tubular rolls arranged to act upon the cigar longitudinally from tuck
to point, or throughout its entire length. Furthermore, the Invention
includes a slide or sliding head in combination with any tubular covering
used to perform the function of a forming, or binding, or wrapping roll
in a cigar machine to secure the opening of the machine for the purpose
of inserting the tobacco or removing the cigar as required by a direct
movement of said slide. The Invention also consists in the use of a
tool, instrument, or device for forcing the cigar into the head of the
machine at the will of the operator, the same including a shaft, and gear,
or its equivalent, together with a plunger, likewise an operating crank
or handle in combination with these devices, also a sliding thimble in
combination therewith. Again, the Invention includes a plugging or
stopping piece arranged to enter between the rolls in a cigar machine,
and so that the same is made capable of a swinging or sliding movement
with the opening roll or rolls of the machine. The Invention also
embraces an apron in combination with a cluster of rolls arranged to
form opposite series to prevent clogging on inserting the tobacco within
the machine prior to putting on the binder.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 16th December 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
3

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special
licence that I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Edward
Newton, 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 BINDING, WRAPPING, AND FORMING CIGARS,"
being a communication to me from abroad by Socrates Scholfield, of
Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, United States of America,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward
Newton, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should parti-
cularly 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 William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 Drawings here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say):
The object of the Invention is to construct cigar making machinery
which while simple and easy of operation shall be capable of performing
its work with rapidity, and without injury to the binder or wrapper.
The Invention relates or mainly so to that class of machines in which a
nest or cluster of rolls is used to rotate the tobacco or bunch within
them for the purpose of forming the cigar and rolling the binder and
wrapper on the mass which constitutes the filling.
The Invention consists in the use of a flexible tubular covering made
to revolve upon a stationary spindle or core to act as a substitute for
the solid roll used in previous cigar making machines. This revolving.

page_text: flexible covering has a soft or easy action on the cigar, and prevents
injury to the binder and wrapper.
The Invention also includes the employment of rolls for the purpose
or purposes hercin-before named, formed with spiral or screw thread
surfaces on their peripheries to effect the movement of the tobacco
within the rolls in the direction of the length thereof, so as to secure a
proper filling of the head of the cigar.
The Invention likewise includes a spindle or core in combination with
a former head and rigid tubular rolls arranged to act upon the cigar
longitudinally from back to point or throughout its entire length.
Furthermore, the Invention includes a slide or sliding head in
combination with any tubular covering used to perform the function of a
forming, or binding, or wrapping roll in a cigar machine to secure the
opening of the machine for the purpose of inserting the tobacco or
removing the cigar as required by a direct movement of said slide.
The Invention also consists in the use of a tool, instrument, or device
for forcing the cigar into the head of the machine at the will of the
operator, the same including a shaft and gear or its equivalent together
with a plunger, likewise an operating crank or handle in combination
with these devices, also a sliding thimble in combination therewith.
Again, the Invention includes a plugging or stopping piece arranged
to enter between the rolls in a cigar machine, and so that the same is
made capable of a swinging or sliding movement with the opening roll
or rolls of the machine.
The Invention also embraces an apron in combination with a cluster
of rolls arranged to form opposite series to prevent clogging on inserting
the tobacco within the machine prior to putting on the binder.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 represents a side elevation of a
cigar machine (in part constructed in accordance with the Invention)
as adapted to the putting on of the binder, a cigar being represented
therein as in the process of being made; Fig. 2 an end view of the same
with the rolls or substitutes for the rolls in section%; Fig. 3 is a
longitudinal sectional elevation of a cigar machine (in part made in
accordance with the Invention) as adapted to putting on the wrapper;
Fig. 4 a transverse section thereof, taken as indicated by the line x, x,
in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of a modification of
the flexible revolving covering or roll substitute with its core or inner
·

page_text: spindle and tapering former head shewn in Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a horizontal
section or sectional plan of the machine represented in Fig. 3; Fig. 7
represents a longitudinal section of a pair of rigid tubular rolls with
former heads under different forms of construction and as applicable
to a nest or cluster of rolls in a cigar machine operating in place of
the revolving flexible coverings herein-before referred to, and Fig. 8.
sectional end view taken as indicated by the sectional_line y, y, in Fig. 7,
shewing the gearing by which revolving motion is communicated to a
cluster or series of rolls constructed (for instance) as represented in
Fig. 7, the upper one of which may be made the opening one.
Referring in the first instance to Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawing,
A represents the bed of the cigar binding machine, and B the driving
pulley. This machine is made up of a cluster or series of rolls or sub-
stitutes for solid rolls, between which the bunch of tobacco is placed and
the binding rolled thercon, some one or others of said rolls (or their
substitutes) being made to open and close as in other cigar binding
machines. Two features of novelty are here shewn, the first. referring
to the use of an apron in certain relation to the opening and closing rolls
to prevent clogging or escape of tobacco through the rear side of the
opening rolls when filling the machine, and the second relating to a
substitution for solid or rigid rolls of a flexible revolving covering
arranged upon a spindle or core passing therethrough. This last-named
feature will be herein-after moro fully referred to when.describing the
cigar machine as constructed for putting on the wrapper. In the binding.
as also in the wrapping machine such flexible. rolling devices will be
designated or at least occasionally termed rolls..
The construction and operation of the cigar binding machine shewn in
Figures 1 and 2 is as follows:-The opening rolls C, C, C, being thrown
back by the action of a treadle upon an arm or roll carrier D (seen best at
Fig. 2), pivoted as at a*, the proper quantity of tobacco to form a cigar
filling may be either dropped upon the stationary hung rolls C', C, CC,
or upon an apron E, the upper surface of which corresponds with. the
path of the lower or rear opening roll when the carrier D'is swung back,
thereby causing said roll to sweep over its-surface. The machine is then.
closed, the rolls C, C,. C, passing forward over the apron E, and forming.
in connection with the rolls C¹, C¹, C', C¹, a chamber in which the tobacco
is made to revolve by the circular motion which is communicated to the:
rolls through gearing a and b, or in any other convenient manner. The

page_text: apron E arranged as shown and described prevents all falling of the tobacco
through the rear of the machine when the rolls are thrown open, and
prevents clogging or choking of the rolls, and it also insures the tobacco.
being adjusted to its place in the chamber formed by the several rolls
when the machine is closed. The proper binder is then passed between
the pair of the rolls into the machine and wound upon the bunch or
filling, after which the opening rolls are thrown back, the bound bunch
removed, and a new charge of tobacco inserted within the machine.
If preferred the machine may be opened and closed in a straight line
or course by means of a direct acting slide moving in direction of the
dotted line S, in Fig. 2, in which case the upper surface of the apron
should be made straight to correspond instead of being curved, as
shewn.
The flexible revolving coverings of which the rolls are here shewn to
be composed, and which may be made of wire or other suitable material,
are carried by stationary spindles or cores connected at their outer ends
(capable of division as regards the opening and closing series) of rolls by
tie pieces z to prevent the spreading of the rolls at their outer ends under
the pressure of the enclosed tobacco. These flexible coverings or rolls
may if desired be driven at both ends of the machine by gearing suitably
arranged for the purpose.
In Figures 3, 4, and 6 of the Drawing, which shew a cigar machine
(or portions of one) with the parts as arranged and constructed for
putting on the wrapper, C, C, represent the opening and closing rolls
of the machine, and C¹, C¹, C¹, the stationary ones, the former being
carried by a sliding head F made capable of an up-and-down movement
within a slot in the standard G which is mounted on the bed A. The
slide is retained in place by a suitably constructed cap which may be
made to carry the dead spindles of the rolls. The several rolls of both
series may be alike in construction and made to rotate through the
gearing a and b, as shewn, or by belt or other frictional devices, or only
certain of them may be driven and the others left free to be revolved
by the frictional action of the cigar or mass of tobacco. Thus the roll
over which the wrapper is passed may be left free to revolve by the
friction of the interior rotating mass assisted by the tension of the
entering wrapper. These rolls may consist of a flexible tubular covering
revolving upon a stationary curved spindle or core, or of an inner
metallic tube. (or its equivalent) arranged to support an outer non-

page_text: metallic flexible covering and revolving upon a central spindle or core.
In Figures 3, 4, and 6, the flexible tubular covering of each roll is
shewn as composed of a flat wire c wound (with freedom to revolve)
upon a stationary curved spindle or core d, the coverings having
attached to their inner ends the gear wheels 6 by which they are rotated.
These tubular flexible coverings need not necessarily be extended.
the whole length of the dead spindles or cores d, inasmuch as their
proper function will be confined to the one end of the cigar. They may
be made of any suitable material, but when composed of wire it is
advisable to wind them upon the cores which carry them, so that in
being rotated (more particularly when made of round or half round wire,
as in Fig. 5 of the Drawing) they will have a gentle screw-like action
on the cigar or mass being operated upon and urge it towards the
forward end of the machine, producing a well filled head to the cigar,
or if constructed as shewn in Fig. 7 of the Drawing, a spiral or screw
threaded surface n may be formed upon the rigid tubular roll or (upon
any solid roll or device performing the function of a roll) for producing
a like effect. This screw thread may be arranged at the inner or base
end of the rolls which may have a slightly larger diameter than the
smooth portion of the roll, so that by moving faster than the latter
portion it will insure the tobacco being forced up towards the front end
of the machine. In Figures 3 and 6 the dead spindles d are shewn as
not only curved in direction of their length but also as tapering and
curved at their forward ends, to give the required shape to the cigar, the
forward tapering or pointed ends being curved to meet as it were at a
common centre and constituting what may be termed former heads.
These former heads, as shewn at e in Fig. 5, may be of a shorter and
more abrupt construction, forming tapering curved shoulder-like
extremities to the bodies of the spindles which may be of uniform
diameter, or they may be, as represented at c in Fig. 7, separate
independent attachments to the outer extremities of the dead spindles d,
which may be made straight. Thus constructed, said former heads
serve to retain the revolving flexible coverings or tubular rolls from
slipping off the spindles.
The tubular, flexible, and revolving coverings c, where such are used,
may either be made straight or tapering according to the shape of the
dead spindles or cores they are arranged to surround, or according to the
1

page_text: thereof. Instead of using a loosely coiled wire c to form a soft and
flexible roll surface, a like effect as regards protecting the binder or
wrapper from being torn or injured may be produced by means of a
rubber tube or covering arranged around a flexible spiral wire or by
placing a rubber or other flexible covering around short metallic tubes
arranged to rotate upon a suitable core and forming in effect a single
flexible roll.
The sliding head F may be made to carry one or more roll spindles
according to the number of rolls it is desired to attach to the opening
portion of the machine. This slide or sliding head (furnished with a
slot f, through which the operating shaft 9 passes) may be operated to
open and close the machine by a treadle connected with the slide at its
lower extension. The operating shaft g, which may either be driven by
the pulley B or by a crank or handle, is represented as made hollow,
with a plunger h arranged to pass through it into the chamber formed
by the rolls when closed, which plunger may be pressed forwards to force
the bunch towards the forward end of the machine, so as to fill the
inclosed space at the head in a manner similar to the action of the screw
thread on the peripheries of the rolls, as herein-before described. This
plunger h may be geared (by means of a feather) with the operating
shaft g, and carry a crank or handle i, so that the rolls may be operated
by the turning of the said crank, and the plunger at the same time
be forced forwards with any desired degree of force by lateral pressure
on said handle, or the operating shaft g 'may be slotted near its outer
end and have a sliding thimble k upon it connected to the plunger h
by a pin passing through the slot, so that by traversing said thimble
through a bell-cranked lever connected with the treadle the requisite
forward pressure or action may be given to the plunger by the foot of
the operator, rotary motion at the same time being communicated to
the rolls by pulley or crank, as desired.
7
Plugging or stopping pieces may be arranged to enter between the
several rolls at their base or inner portions to give closeness to the
chamber formed by the rolls for the purpose of preventing the tobacco.
from working, out between them, thus, in Figures 3 and 4, a single
such plugging or stopping piece m is shewn, and is made capable of a
swinging or sliding movement with the opening and closing portion of
the machine, or in any other convenient manner, so as to be operated
in common therewith. This stop or plugging piece. being so arranged,

page_text: as to be out of the way when the machine is opened, and in its place
when the machine is closed, this object may be attained by a separate
slide or joint, if desired.
In operating the wrapping machine the cigar bunch with the binder
on it being previously prepared is inserted within the machine on raising
the sliding head F by means of the treadle, the sliding head is then
brought down and rotary motion is imparted to the enclosed bunch by
means of the rolls, when the plunger h is forced up and the wrapper
passed into the machine and wound (as in other machines) spirally
towards the point or head of the cigar upon the bunch. After the cigar
has thus been completed it is removed from the machine by raising the
sliding head F through the treadle.
The former heads e when not surrounded by a revolving flexible
covering produce a rubbing action on the head or point of the cigar, in
opposition as it were, to the rolling action of the rolls or revolving
flexible coverings.
Having now described the Invention which has been communicated
to me by my foreign correspondent, and having explained the manner
of carrying the same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me
by Letters Patent, as aforesaid,—
First. A flexible tubular covering made to revolve upon a stationary
spindle or core, and arranged to operate as a roll in a cigar machine,
substantially as herein shewn and described.
Second. The employment in a cigar machine of rolls formed with
spiral or screw thread surfaces on their peripheries arranged to move the
enclosed tobacco in the direction of the length of the rolls, essentially as
herein described.
Third. A spindle or core d in combination with a former head e and
rigid tubular rolls, as herein described with reference to Fig. 7 of the
Drawing.
Fourth. An opening and closing slide or sliding head F having a
direct movement in combination with any tubular covering (used to
perform the function of a roll) in a cigar machine, as herein shewn and
described.
Fifth. The operating shaft g and gear connected therewith (or its
equivalent) in combination with a plunger h made capable of being
adjusted longitudinally at the will of the operator to force the enclosed

page_text: cigar or mass being operated upon into the head of the machine, as herein
shewn and described.
Sixth. The combination of the crank or bandle i with the plunger h,
and operating shaft g, and gear connected therewith (or its equivalent)
substantially as described with reference to Figures 3 and 6 of the 5
Drawing.
Seventh. The combination of the sliding thimble k with the plunger h
'and operating shaft 9, and gear connected therewith (or its equivalent)
substantially as described with reference to Figures 3 and 6 of the
Drawing.
1
Eighth. A plugging or stopping piece m arranged to enter between
the rolls in a cigar machine, and made to move with the opening
rolls, or having a swinging or sliding movement, so as to be capable
of performing its function in connection with the rolls when closed,
and be out of the way when the machine is opened, substantially as 1
shewn and described.
Ninth. The combination of an apron E with a cluster of rolls forming
opposite series C, C, C, and C¹, C, C¹, C', the apron being so arranged
as to admit of an opening and closing action to the machine, sub-
stantially as shewn and described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 of 2
the Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Sixteenth day of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.