US2184567A - Cigarette tobacco preparation - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 26, 1939. R. E RUNDELL 2,184,567`

CIGARETTE TOBACCO PREPARATION ATTORNEY Dec. 26, 1939. R. E. RUNDELL 2,184,567

CIGARETTE TOBACCO PREPARATION Filed Dec. 18, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 @I e l ATTORN EY l Patented Dec. 26, 1939 CIGARETTE 'roAcco PREPARATION Rupert E. Rundell, Rockville Centre,l N. Y., assignor to American Machine & Foundry Company, a corporation of New Jersey -j Application December 18, 1935, Serial No. 55,010

- 25 Claims. (Cl. 131-123) i which is more uniform, and hence produces more by crushing any stem portions remaining in.' the 5 uniform cigarettes, and which is uier and less tobacco leaves after the stemming operation compacted than that made in the usual ways. 'l which is only intended to take out the large part Great difficulty has been found in the past in of the stem as a rule.- The stems so crushed and making uniform cigarettes at high speed such shredded are little different in physical qualities that the weights of the cigarettes are uniform from the tobacco shreds and do not interfere with 10 and their resistance to compression is uniform. the making of the. cigarettes. This has a further Various attempts have been made to overcome advantage in that when desired more of the stem this, which attempts usuallyconsisted in elaboportion can be left in,' with a consequent saving rate feed structures. While these feed structures of tobacco. Indeed, it is contemplated that and other devices for overcoming this difficulty where 'a certain type of product is desired al1 of 15 were effective to some extent, they did not fully the stem portion may be left in. overcome such diiliculty. 'Applicant has found It is noted that once the tobacco leaves are that by rendering the cigarette tobacco more uniyshredded into thin shreds for cigarette use, they form, particularly by cutting the tobacco so as become very diflicult to handle and hence it is 0 to produce shreds of approximately the same one of the objects of the invention to provide for 20 lengths and lengths relatively shorter than ordicross cutting the tobacco prior to shredding, and narily resulted from previous tobacco shredding then delivering the cross-cut tobacco to the methods, he has been able to produce a tobacco shredder by suitable means which will reliably which lends itself to more 'uniform feeding. This deliver this tobacco tosaid shredder. To this end tobacco tends to pour or feed more readily and suction means 'are employed, together with means 25 uniformly than irregular or long shreds which .providing a blast of air tocarry the cross-cut tend to cling together in ropes or knots. It has leaves into the nip of the shredding disks, and long been known that by picking the tobacco fresuitable means are provided for keepingthe crossquently or more severely so as tc break up the cut means clear and for stripping the same of m shreds, more uniform feeding of the cigarettes adhering leaf portions. .30

could be obtained, but this has the disadvantage One of the most difcult operations in utilizof producing an excessive proportion of shorts. ing disk'type Shredders is thek feeding of the The present invention makes possible more unileaves in suitable condition for shredding. 'As form feeding and thus more uniform cigarettes already pointed out, irregular feeding in bunches without producing 'an excessive amount of shorts. or knots jams the disks. l Hence, an important 35 Another object of the present invention is to object of the invention is the provision of means offset one of the difficulties that arise in connecfor feeding leaves a leaf at a time, or at least in tion with the use of the gang disk type tobacco .a very thin layer, and for feeding the leaves in shredder which is that the tobacco shreds resultoutspread disentangled flattened condition.' To -in ing aretoo long for the best manufacture of this end pneumatic leaf feeding means are pro- 40 cigarettes. Hence it is an object of the invenvided which may or may not be associated with tion to provide a convenient and effective mechastem removing means and from which the leaves nism which operates in conjunction with the disk are delivered with their laminae outspread. The shredder to cut the tobacco so that shreds of a outspread stemmed leaves are then fed through 4.-, shorter length result, and to do this without addlcrushing rollers which flatten the stems vand tional feeding operations. larger veins and deliver the leaves between op- From the above, it will be seen that one of the posed conveyor belts which continue to` hold the more general objects 'of the inventionis to render Aleaves in outspread flat condition as they are demore convenient and satisfactory the method of livered to the cross, cuttingmeans and thence shreddingtobacco which consists in shearing a to the shredder' disks. f 50 thin layer of tobacco leaves into long shreds ex-I Anothery object of the -present invention, partendingin the direction of movement of the ticularly the crushing'feat'ure thereof is'the elimileaves through the shredding means, in order to a't'i'on of so-ca-lled match sticks, birds-eyes, y shred tobacco without compressing the same into and losses due to excessive quantity' of tobacco s; a cheese and thus rendering the tobacco less material being winnowed out in the cigarette 5r fluffy and sometimes darkening it. In this confeed. In using the disk type Shredders, Vwhen a nection, it is an object of the invention to elimistem extends'lengthwise 0f the plane of the disk, nate certain feeding troubles had in connection there is often produced a long sliver or match with disk-Shredders. Disk Shredders are quite stick which is quite objectionable in the finished '60 sensitive to jamming as a result of large stem 60 'I'his invention relates to the preparation of shredded cigarette tobacco from tobacco leaves. The main object is to produce shredded tobacco of a type superior to that hitherto available,

portions passing through, especially several at one time, and to stoppage as a result of bunches of tobacco going through 'at one time. Hence one purpose of the invention is to obviate` this cigarette. lWhen a good sized stem or veined portion passes through the disks crosswise, there is produced what is often termed a birds-eye, namely a slice of the. woody stem portion. In order to eliminate kthese stem pieces, modern feeds are commonly provided with winnowers, but

down below that necessary to keep out these objectionable parts. In any case, there is a. considerable loss in that a larger weight of tobacco is required to make the same quantity of cigarettes. With the present construction, however, any sliver or birds-eye forming material will be first crushed so that it loses its objectionable characteristics. Machine efficiency is increased because there is less opening of the seam of the cigarette rod by projecting stem parts, as occasionally occurs with ordinary shredded tobacco. Another advantage and object of crushing is to avoid jamming of the disk such' as is likely to occur when a stem portion gets crosswise so that a large. number of disks strike the stem at the same time.

With these and other objects not speciilcally mentioned in view, the invention consists in certain constructions and combinations which will be hereinafter fully described and then set forth Fig. 1 is a sectional side elevation of an apparatus illustrating the invention;

Fig. 1a is a detail in sectional side elevation of a bearing structure of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 2'is an end elevation, partly in section and Referring to the drawings, the apparatus selected to illustrate the invention includes a tobacco leaf opening device, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, into which the leaves are fed one by one as illustrated, tip first. When feeding the tobacco leaves into said device which is described in detail in Letters Patent No. 1,864,765, granted to R. E. Rundell and G. E. Hagquist, the leaf is guided by means of a pair of flaring lips I3 into the mouth of a shallow air chamber Il which is divided into two halves, one of which is connected by means of a pipe l2 to a suitable source of suction. A pair of belts AI3 running over rollers I4 and l5 carry the tobacco leaf T through the chamber` fl. The suction and the effect of the air drawn in along the center of the leaf andacross its laminae towards the edges thereof,

serves to uncurl and spread out the leaf and at the same time to subject the same to a powerful cleaning action, as is described in the above mentioned patent. The direction of this suction is shown by the arrows in Fig. 3.

As the outspread leaves pass from between the lower rollers I4, they are guided between two sets of conveyor belts 13a running in grooves of rollers I4 and I3 onto the surface of a perforated cyllndrical'suction drum l1 which rotates about Shaft 35 also carries a gear 33 engaging with a a stationary hollow apertured 'suction box I3 communicating through a tube I9 with one of the suction pipes I2. y

The leaf is then stemmedas follows: The tip of the leaf is carried around by the suction effect 5 of the drum I1 and is held fast to said drum and carried -toA a point where the leaf is gripped between the drum and a loop 20a of a conveyor belt 20 (Fig. 4). This belt runs over suitable roll'- ers 2|, 22, 23, and 25. Parallel with and in l0 opposed relation to the drum I1 is a rotating cylinder 26 having a series of axially spaced slotted cylindrical flanges 21. Mounted for axial movement on this drum are a plurality of plungers 28 each of which is provided with a row of in- `1:1 clined pins movable in slots of the flages 21 to form transversely and circumferentially extending gangs of grippers which grip the portion of the stem projecting above the laminae of the leaf from the cylinder I1, as described in the above mentioned patent. The distance between the suction drum I1 and the gripper cylinder 23 is set to accommodate the thickness of the leaf portion and so much of the small end of the stem as it is desired to leave in the leaf, without the i. same being gripped. 'I'hus that portion of the stem larger than the distance between drum I1 andiianges 21 will be gripped. Since the surface of .the drum I1 and the grippers 23 and flanges 21 of the drum 26 travel along diverging paths, the stem will be tom-away from the laminae, as shown in Fig. 4. Suitable brushes 30 and 3| serve to strip any clinging leaf or stem portions from the drums I1 and 26, Vand the stems pass into the chute 32.

The stemmed leaf is thenv delivered in' outspread condition by the belt 20 to the stem crushing and leaf flattening device illustrated in Fig. 1. This flattening device consists of a bottom roller 33 and a top roller 34, said rollers spaced apart a distance which is about equal to the thickness of a tobacco leaf. Bottom roller 33 is mounted on a shaft 35 driven by means of a pulley 33 and a belt 31 from the main drive of the machine:

. 45 gear 33 mounted on a shaft 43 to which top roller 34 is attached. The latter is driven slightly faster than the bottom-roller 33 in order to get a combination of sliding and pressing action of the rollers upon the passing leaf, thereby assuring a most efficient flattening of the stems and veins in the leaf L.

nach of said roners /n and u is equipped wana rotary moisture cleaner, each of which consists of a felt roller 4| engaging with and driven in a 65 direction opposite toits roller 33 or 34 respectively. Each felt roller 4I is mounted on a perforatedhollow shaft 42, the ends of which, by means of pipes 43. are connected toa water reservoir 44 supported by the main frame 45 of the machine. 6 The water acts as a liquid solvent, and preferably is supplied under an adequate degree of pressure, aiforded'by the gravity head from reservoir 44 in the instance illustrated. 'I'he wiping action of the moist rotating felt rollers 4I prevent any particles 65 of tobacco or other foreign matter from sticking to any of said rollers and keeps the same clean at all times. A scraper 41a in engagement with each felt roller 4I is provided for the purpose of pre- 70 K venting accumulation of dirt on said let rollers.'

the direction indicated by arrows in runs'over rollers 48, 49 and 50.

In order not to disturb the flattened and stemmed leaf during conveying, an additional conveyor or guide belt 5|, running over rollers 52, 53 and 54 is guided onto belt 41, both belts of course running in the same direction and at the same speed and guiding the leaf into the cross cutting device illustrated in Figs. l and.2. The cross-cutting device consists of a cylinder carrying a desired number of slightly spirally shaped knife blades 56, the cutting edges of which, during) rotation of cylinder 55, engage with a cutting roller 51 mounted on a shaft 58 supported in bearings of main frame 45. Shaft 58 carries a pulley 59 (Fig. 2) driven by means of a belt 60 from the main drive of the machine. Cylinder 55 is mounted on a shaft 6| which is actuated by shaft 58 through a pair of gears 62 (Fig. 2). To shaft 58 is attached a sprocket 63 driving, through a` chain 64 and a sprocket 63a, a shaft 65 which carries the driving roller 50 of the conveyor belt 41. Shaft 65, through a pair of gears 66 (Fig. 2), drives also a shaft 61 which carries the roller 54 driving conveyor belt 5|.

Referring to Fig. 1a, shaft 6| is supported by means of bearing blocks 19 slidably mounted in Fig. 1 and guide -channels 80 of frame 45. In order to assure positive cutting action during the engagement of blades 56 with cutting roller 51, each bearing block 19 is equipped with a tension spring 8|, the pressure of which is adjustable by means of adjusting screw 82 held by frame 45. Each block 19 is further provided with an adjustable stop stud 83 for the purpose of preventing undesirable reciprocation of shaft 6| and cylinder 55 during disengaging and re-engaging of blades 56 with rollers 51.

Cylinder 55 as well as cutting roller 51 is provided with rotating brushes 68 for the purpose of preventing any part of tobacco from adhering ieither to said cylinder or roller. Each rota-ting brush 68 is further subjected to an air blast comf ing out of nozzles 69 provided for the purpose of keeping the rotating brushes 68 clean and direct- .ing the cut leaf pieces into the rotary disk shredder.

ing long and undesirable strings likely to tangle, after the leaf is cut by the rotary disk shredder.

The disk shredder consists of two engaging rows of disks 10, each of which is mounted on a shaft 1| .connected to each other by means' of a pair of gears 12 (Fig. 2) To one of the shafts 1| is mounted a pulley 13. driven by means of belts 141` from the main drive of the machine. Each one of the smaller disks 18a of each row is in engagement with a stripper plate 15 for the purpose of guiding the shredded tobacco into a suction conveyor 16 located underneath said rows of disks. This suction from this conveyor also serves to feed the cross-cut leaf portions from the cutter rolls 55 and '56 to thedisks. Gravity also aids in this since the disks are directly below said rolls. The cross cutting device, aswell as the rotary disk shredder, are enclosed in a housing 11 connected tothe suction conveyor 16. The air blast supplied to nozzles 69 is created by an exhaust fan (not shown) and directed to each nozzle by means of pipes 18 (Fig. l)

In the operation of the machine selected for the purpose of illustrating theapparatus and method of the invention. tobacco leaves are fed between the flared lipsy ||l` of the pneumatic leaf opening mechanism shown in Figs. 3 and 4. As the leaves are carried downwardly through the suction The cross cutting of the leaf is done for :the purpose of preventing the tobacco from formchambers Il, air is sucked in at the central slot between the chambers and drawn from the stem portion across the laminae towards the edges of the leaf. Since the air is closely confined, its

velocity is considerable and it has a powerful 5 straightening and disentangling effect. The opened and disentangled leaves are then delivered by belts |3a to the. stem removing means shown in Figs. 3 and 4 which may be of any suitable construction such as that already described in connection with the drums I1 and 26. It is noted, however, that this stemming means removes the portion ofthe stem which is above a certain thickness and leaves the remainder in the leaf, and thus a certain predetermined portion of the stem is left in the leaf and ultimately forms a part of the shredded tobacco, and so far as this stem portion can be used in the making of a cigarette it constitutes va saving over completely removing the stem. The partly stemmed leaf is then delivered by belts 2|l to the stem crushing rolls 33 and 34. These rolls are of conventional construction and are set apart a distance somewhat greater than the thickness of the laminae of the leaf, but less than the thickness of the stems and the larger veins in 2 order to insure crushing `of the stems and veins. Since the stem portions are crushed, there are no slivers or birds-eyes in the ultimate shredded roduct having a size siicien't to be objectionable to the smoker or to split open the seam of the rod in cigarette manufacture, and the use of a certain proportion of the stem inthe manufactured cigarette is rendered unobjectionable. It is worth nothing that one of the causes of burning of holes by cigarettes is the falling of glowing pieces of stems from the cigarette, and crushing to a large extent eliminates this. The crushed and flattened leaves are then delivered between belts 41 and 5| which hold the leaf in the position in which it is delivered from the crusher, ordinarily lengthwise of the direction of movement of the leaf, and grips the leaf to carry the same between the cutting rolls 55 and 51. The blades 56 acting against the roll 51 as a ledger surface, cut the leaves into predetermined lengths 4as shown in Fig. 1. While these lengths may be greatly varied to meet different conditions and kinds of tobacco and types of cigarettes,'one satisfactory length for United States cigarettes has been found to be approximately 1%". Y

The leaves cut to predetermined lengths are then fed directly in a vertical direction to the disks 10 ofthe multiple disk gang cutter. Since the length of the shreds and the proper functioning of the disk shredder is dependent to a considerable extent on the uniform and orderly feeding of the leaf pieces edgewise, and approximately at right angles to the cut of the leaves, it is important that the leaves be delivered directly and in a controlled manner from the cutter to the shredder. For this purpose. the cutting rolls are arranged directly above the shredding disks and the leaves are dropped by gravity to the disks underneathz Also, brushes 88 are provided for insuring that the rolls stay clean and that the cut leaves are stripped 'therefrom and forwarded into the nip of the disks 10. For this purpose the brushes constitute movsame. to the shredder by means of a suction air current induced through the suction conduit 16. Movement of the leaves into the nip of the disks is furtherassisted by air blast nozzles 69, although these may in`some formsbe dispensed with. These nozzles also have the advantage of cooling the disks which are subject to heating due to their intimate face to face contact. Y

The disks and spaces betweenthe disks are o substantially the same thickness so that each disk fits closely in face to face contact between the two adjoining and opposing disks of the other gang.

This produces a scissor like shearing cutting with-- fed with the cut edges thereof approximately at right angles to the direction of feed into the disks, the shreds will not ordinarily materially exceed the length of the leaf pieces. Thus a relatively short shred will be produced as compared with that which would result from feeding whole leaves to the disk either crosswise or sidewise of their length, and a shred will be produced which is much more uniform in length and shorter in length than that which will result from guillotine cutting. Moreover, after shredding, there will be no stem or vein portions or slivers or birds-eyes of objectionable thickness, because of crushing prior to disk cutting. Due to this crushing the operation of the disk shredder is facilitated since there are few or no jams due to relatively thick stem portions striking the disks.

The method, apparatus and product above described and illustrated may be widely varied in construction within the scope of the claims, for the specific methods, products and structures selected to illustrate the invention are but certain of many possible embodiments of the same. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted to the details illustrated and described nor to the particular embodiments chosen as illustrative of the invention.

From the foregoing it will be clear that the broad strips in moving from the cross cutter to the shredder are under constant control. It is also to be noted that the compressed air blasts from the nozzle 69 smooth and feed the leaves in close succession.

What is claimed is: l

1. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a shredding device comprising a plurality of gangs of interengaging shearing disks in face to face contact arranged to cut tobacco leaves into shreds of a width suitable for cigarette manufacture, of a cross cutting device arranged to cut the tobacco into long, broad strips, and means to feed the broad strips under control, While said strips are maintained transversely of the direction of cut of said disks, into the range of action of said disks, preliminary to said shredding operation.

2. In a machine of the character described, the

combination with a shredding device comprising ..trol, while said strips are maintained transversely of the direction of cut of said disks, and preliminary to said shredding operation, from one of said devices directly into the range of action of the other.

3. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a shredding device comprising a plurality of gangs of interengaging shearing disks in face to face contact arranged to cut tobacco leaves into shreds of a width suitable for cigarette manufacture, of a cross cutting device arranged to cut the tobacco into long broad strips transversely of the direction of cut of said disks and preliminary to said shredding operation, and pneumatic means including a suction vconduit for feeding the broad strips of tobacco from one of said devices directly to the other, said feeding suction being applied after the cross cutting operation and preliminary to the shredding operation and acting in the direction of the lengths of the shreds.

4. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a shredding device comprising a plurality of gangs of interengaging shearing disks in face to face contact arranged to cut tobacco leaves into shreds of a width suitable for cigarette manufacture, of a cross cutting device arranged to cut the tobacco transversely of the direction of cut of said disks preparatory to the shredding operation, one of said devices being placed above the other to feed the tobacco in the form of long strips, cut transversely to the leaf, edgewise into the bite of said interengaging shearing disks, with a gravity bias, and cooperating opposed pneumatic streams and complemental opposed brushes, adapted to supplement and control said vertical gravity feed to said disks.

5. In a machine of the character described,

the combination with a cigarette tobacco shredding device comprising a plurality of rotating gangs of interengaging shearing disks for cutting tobacco leaves into shreds for cigarette manufacture, of a cross cutting device operating to cut the tobacco in a direction transverse to the direc- .tion of cut of said shearing disks, and means for delivering the cross cut tobacco from said cross cutting device to said shredding device, said delivery means being adapted to maintain the crosscut tobacco inbroad strips under constant control from the cutter to the shredder, with the leading and trailing edges of the successive strips in substantially a plane passing through the bites of the cutting and shredding devices in the order named.

6. A machine of the character described, having the features claimed in claim 5, and said delivering means including instrumentalitles for supplying opposed blasts of compressed air in position to smooth and feedin close succession the broad strips of cross cut tobacco into said tobacco leaves into shreds for cigarette manufacture, of a cross cutting device operating to cut the tobacco in a direction transverse to the direction of dut. of said shearing' disks, means for delivering the cross cut tobacco from said cross cutting device to said shredding device, a'pair of crushing rolls and means for delivering leaves from said crushing rolls under constant -control directly to said cutting and shredding devices, in the order named, whereby the leaves are crushed to a substantially uniform condition for utilization of the entire leaf structure, are then cut into broad strips transversely of their length,

and are sheared into shreds of uniform length defined by the breadth of each strip.

8. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a shredder comprising a plurality of rotating gangs of interengaging disks for cutting tobacco leaves into threds for cigarette manufacture, of a cross cutting device arranged to cut the tobacco in a direction transverse to the direction of cut of said disks, and mechanism for spreading out tobacco leaves and delivering the tobacco leaves in outspread c ondition to said cutting and shredding devices, in the order named. maintaining said outspread condition after reduction of each leaf to a series of transversely disposed broad strip components by the cutting mechanism, and thereby insuring the production of a shredded product in which the shreds are of uniforln length and unimpaired quality, and are delivered in the direction of the length of the shreds.

9. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a shredder comprising a plurality of rotating gangs of interengaging disks for shearing tobacco leaves into shreds for cigarette manufacture, of means to remove the heavy stem parts of tobacco leaves, stem crushing means to act on horizontally traveling tobacco leaves, so partially stemmed, conveying means for receiving the horizontally traveling tobacco leaves from said crushing means and delivering the crushed tobacco leaves under constant control downwardly toward said disks, and a crosscutter'device adapted to divide said crushed and flattened partially stemmed leaves into broad strips preparatory to the shredding thereof by said disks.

10. In a machine ofthe character described, the combination with a shredding devicecomprising a plurality of gangs of interenga'ging shearing disks in face to face contact arranged to cut tobacco leaves into threds of a width suitable for cigarette manufacture, of a cross cutting device arranged to cut the tobacco transversely of the direction of cut of said disks, said cross cutting device being arranged above said disks to feed the cross cut tobacco into said disks with the aid of gravity, means acting positively in addition to the gravity bias to control said feed from the cutter to the shredder,.and said crosscut tobacco being constituted of long strips cut transversely of the length of the leaf and being vfed edgewise intothe bite of said disks.4

11. In a machine of -the character described, the combination with a shredding device comprising a plurality lof gangs' of interengaging shearing disks in face to face contact arranged to cut tobacco leaves into 'shreds of a width suitable for cigarettelmanufacture, of a cross cutting device arranged to cut theY tobacco transversely of the direction of cut of said disks, said cross cutting device being arranged above said disks to advance into the bite of said disks with the 4cross cut leaves into the disks. l

12. In a machine of the character described,

the combination with a shredding device comprising a plurality of gangs of interengaging shearing disks arranged to cuttobacco leaves into shreds of a width suitable for cigarette manufacture, of a cross cuttingdevice arranged to cut tobacco leaves transversely of the direction of cut of said disks and auxiliary feeding means" device between which means the cross cut leaves are delivered by said cutting device.

13. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a cross cutting device for cutting tobacco leaves into predetermined lengths, of a shredder comprising a plurality of gangs of interengaging shredding disks, and means for feeding tobacco leaves edgewise through said cutting device to said shredder, and delivering means adapted to maintain the crosscut tobacco in broad strips with the leading and trailing edges of the successive strips in substantially a plane passing through the bites of the cutting and shredding devices in the order named.

14. In a machine of the character described,

the combination with a shredding device comprising a plurality of gangs of interengaging shearing disks, of leaf crushing means and leaf feeding means for feeding crushed tobacco leaves into said disks, cutter mechanisms for cutting the crushed leaves transversely of the direction cf-their movement from the crushing means to the'shredding devicevas they are delivered to the latter, and delivery means adapted to maintain the cross cut tobacco in broad strips with the leading and trailing edges of the successive strips disposed in edgewise succession substantially in a plane passing through the bites of the cutting and shredding devices in the order named.

15. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a shredding device comprising a plurality of gangs of interengaging shearing disks, of leaf crushing means and leaf feeding means for fedding crushed tobacco leaves into said disks, cutter mechanisms for cutting the leaves transversely of the direction of their movement from the crushing means to the shreddingdevice as they are delivered tothe latter, means operating said cutting mechanism to give the same travel in the direction of movement of said leaves to the shredding device, and delivery means adapted to maintainthe cross cut tobacco in broad strips with the leading and trailing edges of the successive strips disposed in edgewise succession substantially in a plane passing through the bites of the cutting and shreddin devices in the order named.

16. The method of preparing shredded cigarette tobacco from tobacco leaves which comprises cutting the leaves crosswise of their length into a plurality of pieces and shredding said pieces in a direction transverse to the direction of said cutting to produce'shreds not longer than a predetermined length, and maintaining the cross cut tobacco, after cutting and prior to shredding, in substantially a planiform arrange' ment of broad strips, each of substantially a length corresponding to a cross dimension of ,the leaf, and ofa width corresponding to the desired shred length, by applying to said strips rotating forces and pneumatic forces from opposite sides of the strips, and operating in the general direction of travel toward the shredding station'.

1'?.V The method` of preparing cigarette tobacco from tobacco leaves which comprises feeding the leaves` endwise, cutting the leaves crosswise of the direction of their feeding movement to a predetermined length, shredding the cu't leaves lengthwise of their direction of movement to produce shreds not longer than a predetermined length, determined by the cross cut dimension,

and maintaining the cross cut tobacco, after cutting and prior to shredding, in substantially a. planiform arrangement of broad strips, each of substantially a length corresponding to a cross dimension of the leafl` and of a Width corresponding to the desired shred length, by applying to 'form arrangement of broad strips, each of substantially a length corresponding to a cross dimension of the leaf, and of a Width corresponding to the desired shred length, by applying to said strips rotating forces and pneumatic forces from opposite sides of the strips, and operating in the general direction of travel toward the shredder,

19. The method of preparing shredded tobacco leaves which comprises continuously feeding the leaves, passing the traveling leaves between moving crushing surfaces to crush the stems, cuttingthe leaves crosswise of their direction of movement into pieces and shredding said cut pieces into shreds suitable for cigarette manufacture, and maintaining the cross .cut tobacco, after cutting and prior to shredding, in substantially a planiform arrangement of broadstrips, each of substantially a length corresponding to a cross `dimension of the leaf, and of a width corresponding to the desired shred length, by applying'to said strips rotating forces and pneumatic forces from opposite sides `of the strips, and operating in the general direction of travel toward the shredder.

20. The method of preparing shredded tobacco leaves which comprises continuously feeding the leaves, passing the traveling leaves between moving crushing surfaces to crush the stems, cutting the leaves crcsswise of their direction of movement into pieces and shredding said cut p1eces into shreds suitable for `cigarette manufacture, and partially stemming said leaves prior to crushing, and maintaining the cross cut tobacco, after cutting and prior to shredding, in substantially a planiform arrangement of broad strips, each of substantially a length correspondmg to a cross dimension of the leaf, and of a width corresponding to the desired shred length, by applying to said strips rotating forces and pneumatic forces from opposite sides of the strips, and operating in the general direction of travel toward the shredder.

-21. In a cigarette tobacco shredding machine, the combination with a shredder for shredding cigarette tobacco into narrow shreds of a width suitable for use in cigarette tobacco feeds for manufacturing cigarettes, of feeding means for feeding tobacco to said shredder, a cutter for lcutting the tobacco fed to said shredder by said feeding means into predetermined lengths prior to delivery to the shredding means, said feeding means including mechanism for maintaining control of the leaves between cutting and shredding positions to hold said lengths with their cut edges in substantially a predetermined position relative to the direction of cut of the shredder as said lengths are delivered thereto, by applying to said strips rotating forcs and pneumatic forces from opposite sides of the strips, and operating in the general direction of travel toward the shredder.

22. The method of preparing tobacco for cigarette manufacture which comprises, forwarding the leaves, drawing a current of air over the surface of the leavesKoward the opposite margins thereof to clean the same, cutting-the forwarded leaves into a plurality of relatively large pieces, and cutting the pieces of the forwarded leaves in a .direction transverse to that of the first mentioned cutting into narrow shreds suitable for cigarette manufacture, and maintaining the .cross cut tobacco, after cutting and prior to shredding, in substantially a planiform arrangement of broad strips, each of substantially a length corresponding to a cross dimension of the leaf, and of a width corresponding to the desired shred length, by applying to said strips rotating forces and pneumatic forces from opposite lsides of the strips, and operating in the general direction of travel toward the shredder.

23. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a shredder comprising knives for shearing tobacco leaves into shreds for cigarette manufacture, of a cross-cutting device arranged to cut the tobacco in a direction transverse to the direction of cut of said shearing knives, to form broad strips of tobacco, mechanism for spreading out tobacco leaves and delivering the tobacco leaves in outspread condition to said cross-cutting device and means acting upon said ut sections as they pass from the cutting to the shredding devices to smooth and feed in close succession said broad strips of the cut leaves for shredding, said broad strips being thus individually controlled as they pass to the shredder, whereby the shreds are likewise individualized and fed lengthwise in multiple.

24. A machine of the character described, having the features claimed in claim 5, in which provision is made of means for spreading out the tobacco leaves and delivering them to said cross cutting means.

25. In a machine of the character described, the combination with means to remove the butts and heavy stem parts of tobacco leaves, crushing rolls for crushing and flattening residual stem portions in the tobacco leaves, a moving conveyor for receiving the partially stemmed and crushed tobacco leaves from said crusher and delivering them to a cutting station, cross-cutting devices at said station acting to reduce said outspread leaves to the form of a substantially continuous succession of outspread flat strip components having each a width corresponding to the desired initial length of desired shreds, shearing knives for shearing said strips transversely of their length into shreds the "major portion of which are of uniform width andlength, suitable for use as cigarette tobacco, and means to control said strips in their passage from said cutting station to said shredder.

RUPERT E. RUNDEIL.

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