This invention relates to handheld cigarette-making machines.
Handheld cigarette making machines are used to economically and efficiently fill empty filter-tipped cigarette tubes with tobacco. Since smokers typically prefer cigarettes (and use corresponding empty cigarette tubes) in two different filter lengths which result in two different tobacco-receiving portion lengths or in two different overall cigarette tube lengths, various approaches have been suggested to enable handheld cigarette making machines to accommodate the different tobacco-receiving portions of the tubes. These approaches are typically implemented in handheld machines that are complex and expensive to manufacture and use since it has been universally believed in the past that it is necessary to adjust the length of the cavity for receiving tobacco, the length of the tamper for compressing tobacco in the machine, and the length of the movement or throw distance of the device on filling a cigarette tube to correspond to different tube tobacco-receiving portion lengths.
If an easy to manufacture and use handheld cigarette-making machine that uses a single throw distance and a single tamper length to accommodate at least two different cigarette tube tobacco-receiving portion lengths could be developed, an important advance in the art would be at hand. Embodiments of the present invention comprise such easy to manufacture and use handheld cigarette making machines using a single throw distance and a single tamper length. These and other features and advantages are evident from the following description of embodiments of the invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Embodiments of the invention include a handheld cigarette-making machine with a base and a member mounted in the base for sliding longitudinally. The maximum sliding distance of the sliding member is referred to as the “throw distance” of the machine and corresponds to the distance between a distal loading position of the sliding member in which loose tobacco may be placed in the machine and a proximal sliding member filling position in which the tobacco fills the empty portion of a cigarette tube.
The sliding member has an elongated cavity for receiving loose tobacco and a cigarette tube holding assembly for attaching empty cigarette tubes with different tobacco-receiving portion lengths. A top member is mounted to the sliding member for pivoting between an open position and a closed position. This top member has an elongated tamping member attached to its lower surface to compress loose tobacco in the sliding member cavity when the top member is pivoted to its closed position. The length of this tamping member is not variable and is shorter than that of prior machines that accommodate different sized empty tobacco-receiving tube portions. The present tamping member serves for filling empty cigarette tube portions of varying tobacco-receiving lengths.
Finally, an adjustment member is mounted in the sliding member for adjusting the length of the elongated cavity as necessary to fill empty cigarette tubes of different tobacco portion lengths without varying the throw distance. In embodiments, the machine will accommodate two different tobacco-receiving tube portion lengths and the adjustment member is mounted for movement between a distal retracted position corresponding to a shorter tube tobacco-receiving portion length and a proximal fully open position corresponding to a longer tube tobacco-receiving portion length.
In embodiments, the adjustment member has a distal face and the base has a tobacco abutment member with a distal end that cooperates with the adjustment member distal face to form a proximal end of the tobacco receiving cavity.
In embodiments, the adjustment member has at least one downwardly directed protuberance and the sliding member has a sidewall with spaced slots for engaging the protuberance in distal and proximal positions corresponding to shorter and longer cigarette tube tobacco-receiving portion lengths.
Turning first to the exploded view of
A concave spoon 108 is mounted to base 102 with a tobacco abutment member 110 positioned at the proximal end of the spoon. The spoon is designed to rest in a concave receiving surface of pin holder block 114 that is mounted in a receiving cavity 116 in bottom wall 119 of the base. The proximal end of the spoon is captured between tobacco abutment member 110 and pin holder block 114 and held in place by downwardly directed abutment pins 112 which pass through a pair of holes 109 in the spoon and are affixed in pin holder block 114. The abutment member includes a circular portion 113.
The pin holder block 114 includes a distal surface 115 that cooperates with sliding member surface 113 (
Inner sidewalls 118 of base 102 also include inwardly directed ribs 121 running along the top edges of the sidewalls. Inwardly directed ribs 121 limit lateral movement of the sliding member within the base as it moves proximally and distally therein. Base 102 also includes outer sidewalls 124 with elliptical depressions 124a to assist the user in grasping and holding the base.
The base has a front end 126 with a cigarette tube clearance slot 128. A cigarette tube holding nipple assembly 132 is mounted in nipple assembly side rail receiving slots 140 in sliding member 104. The assembly includes a throughhole 134 and nipple side rails 136 that are received in slots 140. The assembly further includes a tube portion 137 dimensioned to be received in the open end of an empty cigarette paper tube 200 (
Sliding member 104 has an inner generally rectangular tobacco receiving cavity 142 of adjustable length into which loose tobacco will be placed by a user before compressing and transferring the tobacco into the empty filter-tipped cigarette tube, as will be explained below. The tobacco receiving cavity has a circular bottom surface 143 (
Handheld cigarette making machine 100 includes an adjustment member 148 which is illustrated, inter alia, in
Enlarged cross-sectional views of a proximal portion of a cigarette making machine 100 with adjustment number 148 in its predetermined proximal and distal positions corresponding to predetermined empty cigarette tube portions are shown in
Handheld cigarette making machine 100 has a top pivoting member 170 (
A downwardly directed elastomeric cigarette tube holding member 182 is also positioned on bottom surface 176 (
Cigarette making machine 100 is shown in a bottom perspective view in
This view also illustrates downwardly directed adjustment member stop 162 which abuts the inner surface 163 of proximal wall 165 of the sliding member when the adjustment member is in its proximal position with protuberances 158a and 158b sitting in proximal protuberance-receiving slots 159a and 159b. When the adjustment member is in its distal position with the protuberances sitting in the distal protuberance-receiving slots, outwardly directed adjustment member ribs 157a and 157b will abut endpoints 169 of slots 167, to prevent distal movement beyond this point. Stops 171 which project inwardly from sliding member internal sidewalls 146 further limit distal movement of the adjustment member by engaging the protuberances adjacent to distal protuberance receiving slots 169a and 169b.
The movement and containment of the adjustment member is illustrated in the cutaway views of
If a user wishes to fill a shorter cigarette tube tobacco-receiving portion, the user will push adjustment member 148 distally until it reaches and is locked in its most distal position. This can be done by pressing the proximally facing top surface 155 of the adjustment member with the tip of the user's finger 206 as shown in
In
The loose cigarette tobacco in cavity 142 may be tamped in place with a tool like tamper accessory 210 which is illustrated in
If it is desired to fill a cigarette tube 200a with a shorter empty tobacco-receiving portion (as in
The operation of the machine to fill a cigarette tube 200 (with a longer empty portion) proceeds as follows:
If it is desired to fill a cigarette tube 200a with a shorter empty portion, adjustment member 148 is pressed distally as shown in
A base 218 which may be used with hand-held cigarette making machine 10 is illustrated in
Base 218 includes an elongated machine-receiving cavity 220 with lateral inner sidewalls 222 and 224, a back wall 226 and a front wall 228. Front wall 228 includes a preferably circular passage 230 dimensioned and positioned to enable a cigarette tube to move across the front wall during the tube filling process.
Base 218 has a support surface 232, lateral outer sidewalls 234 and 236 as well as a rear end wall 238 and a front end wall 240. It is preferred that the outer sidewalls, rear end wall and front end wall are angled away from machine-receiving cavity 220 to increase the size and hence surface area of support surface 232 to thereby increase the stability of the base. It is also preferred that outer sidewalls 234 and 236 be generally inwardly rounded as shown to facilitate gripping of the base during operation of the machine. Finally, the lateral outer sidewalls 234 and 236 include elliptical gripping areas 242 with raised lines as shown to facilitate gripping of the base during the operation of the machine.
Insertion of machine 10 into base 218 is illustrated in
Mounting the handheld machine in the base, converts it into a far more stable “tabletop” machine assembly. That is, rather than holding the handheld machine in the air or on a surface where it can readily move about during the introduction of tobacco and the tube filling operation, base 218 of the assembly may be placed on a tabletop or other appropriate support surface 242 (
In
While particular embodiments of the invention are best shown and described above, various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and, therefore, it is intended that the appended claims cover all embodiments and modifications which fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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5398701 | Neumann et al. | Mar 1995 | A |
20040099276 | Parcevaux | May 2004 | A1 |
20040200485 | Garbarino | Oct 2004 | A1 |
20110192406 | Neumann | Aug 2011 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
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202012102605 | Oct 2013 | DE |
Entry |
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Extended European Search Report from the European Patent Office for Application No. 17190642.3 dated May 17, 2018 (11 pages). |
Partial European Search Report from the European Patent Office for Application No. 17190642.3 dated Feb. 8, 2018 (12 pages). |