AN IMPROVEMENT IN CIGAR HOLDERS AND PIPES FOR SMOKING
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Townsend Connolly, of Marseilles, Rue Paradis, 125,
Br'v't-Colonel, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN CIGAR HOLDERS AND
PIPES FOR SMOKING."
Sealed the 1st December 1876, and dated the 12th June 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Townsend Connolly at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 12th June 1876.
JOHN TOWNSEND CONNOLLY, of Marseilles, Rue Paradis, 125, Br'v't-Colonel. "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN CIGAR HOLDERS AND PIPES FOR SMOKING."
It has been for long time a desideratum to render the use of tobacco less injurious
by interposing between the stem of the pipe or cigar holder a cleansing appliance
for keeping back the nicotine so as to prevent its entering the mouth of the smoker.
A very large number of contrivances have been brought out for this object, but
none of them have ever become generally used by smokers.
The object of my Invention is a contrivance for this purpose which avoids the
inconveniences of those hitherto proposed. It is chiefly intended for the cigar
holder, but is applicable to the ordinary pipe, and consists chiefly in placing the
cleansing appliance upon the stem and in the axis thereof, so as not to hinder the
smoke in its passage through the stem, or oblige the smoker to draw more strongly
than usual.
To absorb the nicotine I make use of a ball of cotton or other spongy material,
which I place in the intermediate reservoir, where it is held by a vertical disc
pierced with holes. This disc divides the reservoir into two compartments, one of
which contains the ball of cotton, while the other receives the purified smoke,
leaving it a space sufficiently large to favour its passage up the stem of the pipe.
The reservoir opens in two parts, and the filtering disc is fixed therein by a
bayonet arrangement, which permits its easy removal; and the ball of cotton or
other material can be removed when filled with nicotine and replaced by another.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Townsend Connolly in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 7th
December 1876.
JOHN TOWNSEND CONNOLLY, of Marseilles, Rue Paradis, 125, Br'v't-Colonel. "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN CIGAR HOLDERS AND PIPES FOR SMOKING."
It has been for a long time a desideratum to render the use of tobacco less injurious
by interposing between the stem of the pipe or cigar holder a cleansing appliance
for keeping back the nicotine so as to prevent its entering the mouth of the smoker.
A very large number of contrivances have been brought out for this object, but
none of them have ever become generally used by smokers.
The object of my Invention is a contrivance for this purpose which avoids the
inconvenience of those hitherto proposed. It is chiefly intended for the cigar
holder, but is also applicable to the ordinary pipe, and consists chiefly in placing a
cleansing appliance upon the stem and in the axis thereof, so as not to hinder the
smoke in its passage through the stem, or oblige the smoker to draw more strongly
than usual.
To absorb the nicotine I make use of a ball of cotton or other spongy material,
which I place in the intermediate reservoir, where it is held by a vertical disc
pierced with holes. This disc divides the reservoir into two compartments, one of
which contains the ball of cotton, while the other receives the purified smoke,
leaving it a space sufficiently large to favour its passage up the stem of the pipe.
The reservoir opens into two parts, and a filtering disc is fixed therein by a
bayonet arrangement, which permits its easy removal; and the ball of cotton or
other material can be removed when filled with nicotine and replaced by another.
The accompanying Drawings will enable my Invention to be thoroughly under-
stood.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of my improved cigar holder provided with the
new appliance and purifying agent.
Figure 2 is an end view of the same.
Figures 3 and 4 are inside views of each side of the reservoir.
Figure 5 is a separate view of the filtering disc.
Figure 6 is a sectional view of a modified arrangement with two filtering disc.
Figure 7 shows my Invention applied to a pipe.
And Figures 8, 9, and 10 show modifications of the preceding arrangements.
The reservoir, which is preferably of spherical form, or nearly so, is composed of
two hemispherical parts a and b, which are screwed together by means of screw
threads formed on the outer side of one and the inner side of the other. These two
halves of the reservoir are in the same piece with the tubular parts c and d, which
connect them, the one with the stem of the cigar holder g, and the other with the
amber or other mouth-piece thereof h. The junction of the two tubes c and g is
effected by a screwed part, but these tubes may be very advantageously used in one
piece only. The tubes c and d receive the stems i and j of wood or other material,
in which the draw tube is pierced. The stem j is prolonged by a threaded part k,
upon which is screwed the mouth-piece h.
The filtering disc is placed vertically near to the point of connection of the two
parts of the reservoir. It isolates the ball of the cotton placed in the part a. This
disc, shown apart at Figure 5, is pierced with holes over its whole surface, and
presents also two notches m, m, near which are two little pins p, p; these notches
and pins assist the hand in holding the two hemispheres when necessary.
When putting the disc in place it is so arranged as to cause tenons n, n, fixed in
the part 6 to enter into the notches m, m, and they are turned by the aid of the
pins p, p, against the circular rim formed also upon the part b. The disc is thus
perfectly maintained against the rim and the tenons n, n, which constitute a
bayonet connection.
It will have been remarked that the exit orifice of the smoke from the reservoir

page_text: is preceded by a little conical tube y, and the object of this little conical tube is for
the purpose of preventing the nicotine juice which may have escaped through the
filter froin entering the passage to the mouth. With the same object the edges of
the entry orifice and the reservoir are made to slightly project. This projection
of the entry orifice into the reservoir should be greater with pipes than cigar
holders, as shown at Figure 7, because the pipe may assume all sorts of inclined
positions, and the nicotine juice has a greater tendency to return towards the pipe
bowl.
It may be feared that the fibres of the cotton or other absorbent material may
get into the smoke tube, but if it is desired to guard against the possibility of this
happening, it is sufficient to double the filtering disc and to lodge the cotton ball
between the two discs. The reservoir is then arranged as shown in Figure 6.
In order to obtain a larger space in which to lodge the wad of cotton or other
material I change the position of the filter 1, and instead of placing it in the medial
diameter of the two hemispheres a and b, as shown at Figure 1, I give to the filter,
as shown at Figure 10, the form of a tubular disc placed exactly at the entrance of
the tubular part d, as will be seen clearly at Figures 8 and 9. This modification
leaves all the inner volume of the two hemispheres a and b disposable to receive
the wad of cotton.
In the arrangements above described the reservoir is of metal, but it can be made
of wood, hardened caoutchouc, shell, horn, or any other material which harmonizes
with the other material of which the cigar holder or pipe tube may be formed.
I do not limit myself to the spherical form of the reservoir a and b, which may
assume any other convenient form, oval or elongated, for example.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,―
Firstly. The application, as herein-before described and shown with reference to
the accompanying Drawings, of a smoke filter or purifier to cigar holders and pipes.
Secondly. As applied to the purposes of my Invention, the bayonet or screwed
arrangement for connecting and disconnecting the two parts a and b of the reser-
voir, as herein-before described and as illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Thirdly. Filling the said reservoir a and b with a mass or wad of cotton or other
absorbent material to intercept the nicotine and other juices from the tobacco before
they reach the mouth of the smoker, as herein-before described and shown in the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Townsend Connolly, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-forth day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-six.
10 Witness,
CH. ARMENGAUD,
Civil Engineer,
J. TOWNSEND CONNOLLY. (LS.)
Boulevard de Strasbourg, 23,
Paris.