Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Feb., 1891-Accepted, 21st Mar., 1891

page_text: •
sprocket wheel c¹, is mounted loosely on its shaft, and fast on the shaft is an arm²,
which has a segmental slot through which passes a set screw which secures the
sprocket wheel to the shaft, so that by moving this wheel in respect to the arm, and
locking it thereto by the set screw, the slack of the belt can be diminished or
.increased.
The two shafts B, and C, being driven at the same speed, the belt D, will be
taken up by the wheels c, as fast as it is delivered by the wheels b. Owing to this
equal movement of the belt, that portion of the belt which receives the tobacco may
be made to assume the form of a partial cylinder, as described above, the radius of
which may be adjusted either by the mechanism above described, or by the adjust-
ment of the links of the chains d, with respect to the sprocket wheels b, and c; the
greater the length of the belt between the wheels b, and c, on the working side, the
smaller the radius of the cylinder, and vice versa.
Owing to the character of the covering of the slats composing the belt, or a
portion of the belt, as shown in Fig. 1, and the manner in which it is secured to said
slats, the cover will be stretched between the slats as the belt passes over the wheels,
and as the belt follows the course of the partial cylinder, the loose portion of the
covering between the slats will be pressed up in the form of ribs, which act to
carry the tobacco up the side of the cylinder and loosen the leaves for the better
action of the atomizer.
These ribs will disappear as the belt passes over the wheels i, c, owing to the
greater space between the slats, so that any tobacco carried up to that point will
fall back to the bed of the trough. In order to insure the return of the tobacco to
this portion of the cylinder, I employ a brush F, mounted upon a shaft, and
rotating in contact with the belt as shown in Fig. 2, the brush also serving to
keep the belt clean and prevent an accumulation of the liquid discharged by the
atomizer.
The tobacco is fed into the machine from a chute G, which projects some distance
over the edge of the belt, its lower edge being nearly in contact with the ribs so
that the tobacco is gradually drawn from the chute by the movement of the belt,
and any overfeeding is prevented.
The atomizing device is mounted upon the frame of the machine and consists of
a slowly rotating liquid gathering roll, and a discharging brush roll, the lower
roll H, being mounted in bearings h, at the opposite end of a tank J, containing the
liquid employed in treating the tobacco, and being formed of any suitable material
to which a slight film of the liquid will adhere.
At the top of the tank is pivoted a scraping blade k, preferably curved, having its
edge resting against the roll and adapted to remove the film of liquid from said
roll, and maintain a small quantity of the same upon its curved surface.
In some instances at a convenient point between the surface of the liquid and
the scraping blade I pass a blade 1, which may be adjusted by any suitable
mechanism from or towards the roll so that the amount of liquid carried by said
.oll may be regulated and the tobacco saturated more or less as desired.
Above the roll H, and mounted in suitable bearings on the frame work of the
machine, is a brush roll I. This brush roll may be made of bristles as shown in
Fig. 5, or may be provided with a large number of spring wires or fingers i, as
shown in Fig. 6. The roll is so adjusted with relation to the lower roll H, that
when rotated in the direction of the arrow, the bristles or wires will project the
liquid from the surface of the blade k, upon the tobacco carried by the belt. D, or
other agitating device.
Owing to the minute surface of the ends of the bristles or wires, and the small
quantity of liquid upon the blades k, the liquid is very finely atomized, and the
tobacco is thoroughly moistened without danger of any portion of it receiving too
much of the liquid.
In some instances the scraping blade may be omitted and the brush I, may rotate
directly in contact with the liquid roll and discharge upon the tobacco the film of
liquid carried thereby.

page_text: The necessary rotative movement is imparted to the rolls H, and I, by means of
belts, h', running over pulleys m, and n, on the shaft N, rotated by the belt p,
running from a pulley on the shaft C'.
In the machine shown in Fig. 1, the roll H, has a cone pulley, and the pulley on
the shaft N, is also a cone pulley, so that the speed of the roller may be regulated
by the speed of the belt.
At a convenient point on the frame work of the machine is placed a supply tank
from which the smaller tank J, is fed, a regulating valve of any suitable construction
being placed between the two, to keep a constant level in the tank J.
In a machine such as that shown in Fig. 1, where the belt has ribs in front of the
feed chute and overlapping plates in front of the atomizer, it will be understood
that the liquid from the atomizer tends to hold the tobacco leaves from upon the
belt said leaves falling or turning over when they reach a certain point, the action
being the same as when a full ribbed belt is used, such as that shown in Fig. 4.
In operation, the tobacco fed in at the chute or table G, is carried up by the
belt D, and at the same time is fed forward by gravity.
As the leaves travel on the belt, they come opposite the atomizer which thoroughly
coats the leaves with the liquid, the belt acting in such a manner as to turn the
leaves in their passage through the machine, whereby both sides of each leaf are
thoroughly coated with the liquid.
At the back of the belt, as shown in Fig. 2, is a cleaning brush F', which extends
the full width of the machine, this brush removes any particles of tobacco and dirt
which may cling to the belt, so that when the belt is presented for a fresh supply of
tobacco it will be clean and free from dirt. In some instances this brush may be
dispensed with, as well as the brush F in front of the belt.
I have shown in Fig. 8, the metallic plates carried by the wooden slats which
extend the full length of the machine, one half of said slats being covered by these
plates, and the other half by canvas or other suitable material, as fully described
above, but in some instances, the slats under the plates may be dispensed with, or
in fact two distinct belts may be arranged side by side, one of covered slats
and the other of the plates, but I prefer to use the construction shown in the
drawings.
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. The combination of the agitating device with an atomizing device, the same
consisting of a tank, a rotated liquid raising roller therein, a scraping blade adapted
to gather a quantity of the liquid from said roller, and a brush roll adapted to
project the liquid from the said blade, substantially as hereinbefore specified.
2. The combination with an agitating device of an atomizing device, the same
consisting of a tank, a water raising roller therein, and a rotated brush adapted to
bear against the surface of the roller and to discharge the film of water carried
thereby, substantially as hereinbefore specified.
3. The combination with an agitating device of an atomizer consisting of a liquid
gathering roller, a brush roller adapted to project the liquid therefrom and an
adjustable blade adapted to regulate the thickness of the film of liquid carried by
the liquid gathering roll, substantially as hereinbefore specified.
4. The combination in a tobacco treating machine, of an atomizer with an
agitating device, the same consisting of a belt adapted to carry the tobacco, and
devices for guiding said belt into the form of a partial cylinder, substantially as
hereinbefore described.
. 5. The combination in a tobacco treating machine, of an atomizer with an
agitating device comprising a covered slatted belt, guided to the form of a partial
cylinder, the surplus covering being made to assume the form of ribs, substantially
as hereinbefore specified.
6. The combination in a tobacco treating machine, of an atomizer with an

page_text: agitating device comprising a slatted belt, curved to the form of a partial cylinder,
and a brush rotated in contact with said belt to clean the same, substantially as
hereinbefore specified.
7. The combination in a tobacco treating machine, of an atomizer, with an
agitating device comprising a slatted belt in the form of a partial cylinder, link
belts at the opposite edges of said slatted belt, sprocket wheels adapted to guide
said link belts, and a tobacco feeding device, substantially as here:nbefore specified.
8. The combination in a tobacco treating machine, of the frame, longitudinal
shafts mounted in bearings on said frame, a slack agitating belt passing around said
shafts, with an atomizer and a feed chute situated in front of said belt, substantially
as and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.
9. The combination in a tobacco treating machine of the belt, composed of a
series of slats, one portion of the belt being covered with canvas or other flexible
material, and the other portion of the belt being covered with plates, with an
atomizing device opposite that portion of the belt covered with plates, substantially
as hereinbefore set forth.
10. The combination in a machine for treating tobacco, of the carrying belt, one
portion of the belt having canvas or other suitable material on its surface, the other
portion of the belt having plates which overlap, with an atomizing device opposite
that portion of the belt carrying the overlapping plate, substantially as herein before
set forth.
11. The combination in a tobacco treating machine, of the carrying belt,
mechanism for driving the same, said belt being arranged on an incline so that the
tobacco will be fed transversely by gravity, with an atomizer arranged in front of
the belt, so that as the tobacco is fed along the belt it will be sprinkled with the
liquid from the atomizer, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.
12. The combination of the shafts B, and C, sprocket wheels thereon, tobacco
carrying belt adapted to said sprocket wheels, with positive driving belt wheels on
said shafts, positive driving belt adapted to said wheels, one of said positive driving
wheels being adjustable on its shaft, whereby the trough of the belt can be
regulated, to have more or less curve substantially as herein before set forth.
Dated this 7th dow of Fahruary 1801
DAY, DAVIES & HUNT,
321, High Holborn, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.