US2039298A - Cigarette mouthpiece - Google Patents

Description

y 1935- G. DAVIDSON 2,039,298

CIGARETTE MOUTHPIECE Filed Dec. 3, 1952 INVENTOR. 5782771 Dania/60?:

' ATTORNEYO.

Patented May 5, 1936.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFiC-E f CIGARETTE- MOUTHPIECE Glenn Davidson, Bloomington, m. Application December 3, 1932,-Serial No. 645,548

. 4 Claim.

This invention relates to mouthpiece construction for smokers articles, especially cigarette mouthpieces of the type comprising a plug or insert within that end of the cigarette which is received. into the mouth, and to the method of and apparatus for making such mouthpieces.

The desirability of cigarettes containing such mouthpieces has long been recognized because of their numerous advantages among which may be listed the following: the prevention of "shedding oi shreds of tobacco into the mouth; theavoidonce of waste of expensive tobacco otherwise contained in the butt which is thrown away, i. e. the substitution therefor of comparative inexpensive paper; the prevention. of the loss of tobacco from the end, of the cigarette, while it is being carried in the pocket or purse, which loss leaves the cigarette soft between the lips; the much higher standard of sanitation possible in an insert made of paper, for example, which is handled entirely mechanically as compared to a natural product such as a leaf of tobacco, which must, of necessity, be handled many times by human fingers; the presentation of a firm feeling between the lips similar to a cork-tipped cigarette; a material reduction in theiire hazard of the discarded butt, when fire resistant paper or other material is used in making the mouthpiece plug.

In addition it may be said that if theflller portion of the mouthpiece plugs is properly compacted, they produce no change in the draft or flavor of the cigarette, as compared to a cigarette composed entirely of tobacco.

Despite the fact that mouthpiece cigarettes have nitsmerous advantages to the smoker;- that they would save the cigarette manufacturer vast sums of money annually by the substitution of comparatively inexpensive paper for expensive tobacco; and further could reasonably be expected to materially reduce our national fire loss; they have not come into use in the case of commercial tobacco cigarettes.

One of the prime requirements of such cigarette mouthpieces is that the filler be of such a character that it may be compacted so as to oifer a resistance to the passage of smoke substantially equalto that of the replaced tobacco, otherwise the smoking-characteristics of the'cigarette, particularly the draft and the temperature or the smoke entering the mouth, are materially changed from that to which the smoker has become accustomed in the ordinary all-tobacco cigarette.

At least one of the reasons why mouthpiece nor apparatus for the fabrication for the same.

It is one of the'objects of the present invention to provide such a form of construction of cigarette mouthpieces, as well asa method and apparatus for the fabrication for the same.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related objects, the invention, then, comprises the features hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims,the following description and the annexed drawing setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these being indicative however, of but a f 'ewof the various ways in which the principle of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawing:--- 1 i Fig. 11s a semi-diagrammatic perspective view of apparatus contemplated in the invention; Fig.

- 2 is a similar view of a modification; Fig. 3 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale, a portion of the wrapper being broken away, showing va cigarette as produced in accordance with the invention; and Figs. 4-9 inclusive are enlarged cross- I sectional views of mouthpieces in modified censtructions.

Referring more particlularly to Fig. 1, there is shown a plurality ofstrands 2, each from its source of supply or spool 3, and directed to a funnel-like guide 6, and thereby shaped together into substantially cylindrical form. Goacting with the guide is a web of wrapper-paper 1 fed from.

a suitable source ofsupply or roll 8, and directed a into the turning-up guide-means 9, a pull-belt it running over the pulleys ll, l2, IS, with suitable drive, coacting'to forward the wrapper with the. enclosed plurality of 1 strands through the sealing means I l, and past the cutting'knife l5 which cuts the assembledrod-form into lengths ii. The detail of the sealing means and the cutting means may vary, and since someforms, of sealing and cutting means are commercially known in wrapping a tobacco body in ordinary cigarette manufacture and could, in some cases be adapted as elements to complete the combination, further detail description of these particulars is unnecessary.

Depending upon the particular form of thestrands 2 as fed to the assemblingguide 6, the detail of the cross section of the finished mouth-'- piece portions may vary somewhat. As shown in Fig. 4, the strands are of a width relatively narrow as compared with the total diameter of the finished mouthpiece, and the strands are allowed to feed into the guide-way and assemble in a haphazard manner, thereby allowing ample draft openings between adjacent strands as they are assembled in longitudinal position with respect to the mouthpiece. If a longitudinaily crinkled paper be employed as the material for the strands, draft spacings or openings are in any event always adequately provided. In the assembly shown in Fig. 5, the strands are of round individual section, and these may be in the nature of twine, fabricated or textile fibre, or of paper in twine form. In Fig. 6, the strands are of greater individual width than the diameter of the finished mouthpiece, three such strands being shown as assembled into the cylindrical mouthpiece, these being allowed to arrange themselves in haphazard folds filling the space, and leaving intermediate draft-way passages. Fig. 7 shows an assembly made up of seven strips for instance, all of the width of the diameter of the mouthpiece, some conforming into haphazard folds. Fig. 8 shows an assemblage in which two strands have been folded in haphazard form, and Fig. 9 shows the result obtained with a plurality of strands of graduated widths and supplied such that each forms a complete chord of the cross section, rendering folding unnecessary. Again, by the use of longitudinally crinkled paper, ample draft-way passages are assured in any case.

The structure of the completed cigarette in volves a body I! of tobacco or usual filler, and abutting this at the end is amouthpiece 18, which in the particular form shown is that rep resented on enlarged scale in Fig. 9, in which the multiplicity .of strips are graduated widths, each forming a complete chord of the cross section. Enclosing the entire assemblage is the wrapper I9, this covering the tobacco body and mouthpiece uniformly, and presenting externally the aspect of the customary all-tobacco type of cigarette.

Instead oi providing the strands for the mouthpiece from a plurality of spools or sources of prepared supply, the strands or strips may be prepared by suitably cutting or slitting a web of material, as illustrated in Fig. 2. The web 10, which may be of any suitable material, most usually paper, and preferably crinkled paper, is arranged to be fed from aroll 2|, and aplurality oi cutters 22 are arranged to'coact with the web, arranged as desired. Adjacent the cutters or slltters is a series of guides 5 serving to separate and direct the respective strands or strips to the funnel-like guide 6, wherein they are brought together in substantially cylindrical form. The wrapper-paper 1 is arranged to be assembled about the cylindrical body thus formed, a turning-upguide 9 receiving the wrapper and contained body and placing the 'wrapper inform. Coasting withthe. wrapper-web I is a pull-belt l0 running over the pulleys H, H, I3, with suitable drive, and a sealing means H and cutting means I! of desired detail is arranged to receive the cylindrical rod and provide the ultimate cut-lengths l6.

As seen, in the assembly of mouthpieces in accordance with the invention, the strands or strips, as supplied from the spools 8 or thecutters 22, are forwarded into theguide 6, while the wrapper-web fed therebeneath is supplied and turned up thereabout and sealed, and the resultant rod-form is then cut up into lengths IE or IE. It will be noted that the general characteristics of a mouthpiece made in accordance with this procedure can be varied within considerable limits. For instance, it is readily seen that the firmness of the mouthpiece between the lips depends to a considerable extent upon the character of stock used in the assemblage. If a hard, firm sheet of paper is used, the mouthpiece will present a very firm and rigid filling, whereas if a very soft paper is employed, the reverse is true. The mouthpiece wrapper stock is also another variable by which the characteristics of the mouthpiece as a whole can be controlled. Again, it will be noted that since the cross sectional area of the mouthpiece is fixed within rather definite limits by established convention, the more fills-retool; that is crowded into this given cross section, the more draft resistance is offered to the passage of smoke, and conversely, the less filler-stock crowded in, the less the draft-resistance. A nicety of control to any desired standard may thus be had. and by assembling the desired amount and character of filler and wrapper-stock, any preferred firmness and amount of draft-resistance to the passage of smoke can be provided.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed, change being made as regards the details described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims, or the equivalent of such, be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:-

1. A mouthpiece for cigarettes and the like, comprising a plurality of crinkled paper strips of graduated widths each forming substantially a chord of the mouthpiece cross section.

2. A cigarette having a consumable body, a wrapper, and at one end within the wrapper an insert comprising a plurality of crinkled paper strips of graduated widths each forming substantially a chord of the insert cross-section.

3. An intermediate product in the manufacture of cigarettes and the like, comprising a mouthpiece rod having a wrapper and a continuous filler of relatively indefinite length of a plurality of pieces of material crinkled longitudinally and compressed together, to impose a resistance to the passage of smoke substantially equal to that of a tobacco cigarette and adapted to be cut into a relatively indefinite number of mouthpieces, wherein the pieces of material consist of strip like elements forming chord like members having their longitudinal edges contacting the inner surface of the wrapper.

4. An intermediate product in the manufacture of cigarettes and the like, comprising a mouthpiece rod having a wrapper and a continuous filler of relatively indefinite length of a plurality of pieces or material compressed together to impose a resistance to the passage of smoke substantially equal to that of a tobacco cigarette and adapted to be cut into a relatively indefinite number of mouthpieces, wherein the pieces of material consist of strip like elements one of such elements lying above another of such elements and each of said elements having a wavy configuration in cross section.

GIENN DAVDDSON.

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