IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CIGAR LIGHTS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Robert Edward Grubb, of Bow Lane, in
the City of London, Accountant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CIGAR LIGHTS."
Sealed the 27th June 1876, and dated the 29th December 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Robert Edward
Grubb at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 29th December 1875.
I, CHARLES ROBERT EDWARD GRUBB, of Bow Lane, in the City of
London, Accountant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CIGAR LIGHTS," to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention is to effect an economy in as well as to
improve the manufacture of that class of cigar lights the igniting
compound of which is secured to the splint by means of an internal
wire, which is used to prevent the ash or cinder while hot from falling
away from the splint.
'

page_text: Instead of inserting a short length of wire into one end of the splint,
as heretofore, to receive the inflammable compound, I now propose to
prepare rods of splint wood in lengths of some two feet, more or less,
with an internal wire extending from end to end thereof, and which
rods are to be divided up into lengths suitable for cigar lights.
In order to introduce the wire into the rod the latter is split from end
to end, and while being passed through guides it will meet with the
wire that is to be drawn off a reel and forced into the slit by a pressing
roller.
The wire may be passed through a bath of glue or other adhesive
liquid before entering the slit in the wood, & thereby carrying enough
glue or other liquid with it to close the slit when under pressure of rollers
or draw plate; or over the wire, and parallel therewith, may be laid a
strand of cotton as it emerges from a bath of gum or thin glue, and the
whole may be consolidated by being passed through a draw plate or
between rollers.
The rod of splint wood instead of being slit longitudinally may be
formed of two strips to receive the wire as it emerges from a bath of
glue or gum, or the contact surfaces of the wood may receive a coating
of glue to ensure their adhesion; pressure in a draw plato will then
complete the preparation of the rod with metal core.
Another manner of carrying out my Invention of making splint wood
with a continuous core of wire is to lay strands of wire parallel to each
other and at suitable distances apart between two sheets of wood,
which are then to be glued together, and when firm split up into rods
suitable for conversion into splints. A cylindrical shape can then, be
given to the rods by passing them through a draw plate.
By using splints made from rods prepared in either of these ways, not
only will a material economy be effected, but a better article will be
produced than by the old plan of using an internal wire, as the splint
when dipped will receive the composition, not on the wire, but on, the
wood.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Robert Edward Grubb in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 29th June 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
ROBERT EDWARD GRUBB, of Bow Lane, in the City of London,
Accountant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of December, in, the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in
the thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her.heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles Robert Edward Grubb,
Her special licence that I, the said Charles Robert Edward Grubb, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Charles Robert Edward Grubb, 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 THE MANUFACTURE
OF CIGAR LIGHTS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Charles Robert Edward Grubb, 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 Charles Robert Edward Grubb, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the 'letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say) :-
The object of this Invention is to effect an economy in as well as to
improve the manufacture of that class of cigar lights the igniting
compound of which is secured to the splint by means of an internal

page_text: wire, which is used to prevent the ash or cinder while hot from falling
away from the splint.
Instead of inserting a short length of wire into one end of the splint,
as heretofore, to receive the inflammable compound, I now propose to
prepare rods of splint wood in lengths of some two feet, more or less, 5
with an internal wire or metal core extending from end to end thereof,
and which rods are to be divided up into lengths suitable for cigar
lights.
The manner in which I prefer to attain this object is to slit the rod
from end to end, and to introduce the wire into the slit while the rod is 1
being passed through guides. The wire is to be drawn off a reel, and by
means of pressing rollers and a draw plate the slit rod will be closed
upon the wire.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 shews in side elevation an
arrangement of apparatus for carrying out the object of my Invention; 1
Fig. 2 is an cnd clevation of the same; and Fig. 3 is a partial central
section taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 2.
A is the bed of the machine, to which are bolted two standards B, B,
for receiving the axles of a pair of nipping grooved rolls C, C¹. The
axles of these rolls I gear together by spur wheels D, D, and motion is 2
communicated to them through a winch handle E or its equivalent.
The roller C is flanged to form a guide for the splint that is to be com-
pressed between the rolls. The axle of the upper roll is mounted in
loose bearings, which are adjustable by screws F, which work through
tapped holes in the heads of the standards. In front of the rolls is a 2
table G; which is made fast by screws to the bed A. This table is
grooved to form a guide for the splint H as it is fed up to the nip of the
rolls. On the side of this guide is a bracket G³, made fast to the table
by screws, and carrying a fixed knife I for slitting the splint rod to the
depth of one-half of its diameter. Slightly in advance of this knife is
the instrument for inserting the wire core into the splint. This instru-
ment consists of a vertical guide bar K, the lower end of which is shaped
somewhat like but rather broader in cross section than the knife I, to
allow of its lower end being grooved. This bar is also provided at its
opposite ends with guides K, K, (see the detached views, Fig. 4) for
leading down the wire L from a reel or. bobbin into the slit made by the
knife I in the splint rod. In rear of the rolls C, O³, is a draw plate or

page_text: die M. The hole in this die or draw plate is in line with the groove in
the table G and the bite of the rolls C, C, and its diameter is somewhat
less than that of the circular opening formed by the rolls for the passage
of the splint rod. As therefore the rod is forced or drawn through the
die or draw plate the wood will be condensed on and compressed around
the inserted wire core. The grooves in the rolls are milled to allow of
their taking a good bite of the splint.
On rotary motion being communicated to the rolls the splints will as
they are fed thereto be seized hold of and quickly passed through the
apparatus, the knife I first dividing the splint longitudinally for one-half
its depth, and the guide bar K. holding open the slit while the wire is
passing therein.
It should be remarked that on starting the machine the wire must
first be drawn between the rolls and through the draw plate, to ensure
its taking its place in the splint.
By using splints made from rods prepared after the manner above
explained, not only will a material economy be effected, but a better
article will be produced than by the old plan of using an internal wire,
as the splint when dipped will receive the composition, not on the wire,
but on the wood.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements
in the Manufacture of Cigar Lights," and explained the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the
above in part recited Letters Patent I claim, manufacturing cigar lights
from splints obtained from the dividing up of rods prepared in the
manner and for the purpose above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Robert Edward Grubb, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-ninth day of June, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-