Cigarette-Making Machines and Methods of Using the Same
Cigarette-making machines that provide improved safety and improved user ergonomics are disclosed. A disclosed example cigarette-making machine of the tobacco-injecting type includes a faceted handgrip that projects upward from a top surface of the machine and partially encloses a pivot axis of an actuator. The faceted handgrip being configured to enable a user to apply a counter-rotational force to the machine to prevent the machine from sliding on a surface as the actuator is operated. In a disclosed embodiment, the faceted handgrip includes a knob having a plurality of facets and a semi-circular riser integrally formed between the knob and the top surface, an axis of the knob substantially coinciding with the pivot axis of the actuator. The semi-circular riser may circularly extend around or partially enclose an end of a shaft and a nut that couples an end of the actuator to the shaft.
Latest REPUBLIC TOBACCO L.P. Patents:
This disclosure pertains generally to injector-type cigarette-making machines, and, more particularly, to improved injector-type cigarette-making machines and methods of using the same.
BACKGROUNDInjector-type cigarette-making machines are well known. U.S. Pat. No. 2,731,971, to Kastner for “Cigarette Making Machine,” issued Jan. 24, 1956, describes a cigarette-making machine for domestic use that compresses a portion of loose tobacco equivalent to one cigarette and then injects the compressed tobacco into a pre-formed cigarette tube by means of a plunger. The pre-formed empty cigarette tube is held at one end of a hollow nipple of the cigarette-making machine during the injection of the portion of tobacco. Once the compressed tobacco is fully injected into the pre-formed cigarette tube, it is released from the cigarette-making machine to be smoked or stored for later smoking thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,127,900 to Kastner for “Cigarette Machine,” issued Apr. 7, 1964, U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,278 to Kastner for “Cigarette Making Machine,” issued Oct. 25, 1983, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,557,560 to Kastner for “Cigarette Making Machine,” issued May 6, 2003 provide various improvements to the cigarette-making machine described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,731,971. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,127,900 describes modifications to the above-described cigarette-making machine to adapt it for making cigarettes with pre-formed cigarette tubes having a filter. U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,278 describes a cigarette-making machine of the same general type as discussed above, but providing a new manufacturing method for substantially reducing the cost of production of the prior devices. All of the foregoing patents are expired. While the aforementioned patents provide various useful improvements for injector-type machines, which have achieved substantial commercial success, such machines still have problems that have remained unsolved until now.
SUMMARYCigarette-making machines that provide improved safety and improved user ergonomics are disclosed. A disclosed example cigarette-making machine of the tobacco-injecting type includes a faceted handgrip to improve safety and ergonomics. The faceted handgrip projects upward from a top surface of the machine and partially encloses a pivot axis of an actuator of the machine. The faceted handgrip is configured to enable the user to apply a counter-rotational force to prevent the machine from sliding or rotating on a surface as the actuator is operated. In a disclosed embodiment, the faceted handgrip includes a knob having a plurality of facets, and a semi-circular riser integrally formed between the knob and the top surface. An axis of the knob may substantially coincide with the pivot axis of the actuator. The semi-circular riser circularly extends around or partially encloses an end of a shaft and a nut that couples an end of the actuator to the shaft. In another aspect, methods of using an improved cigarette-making machine are disclosed.
Use of existing cigarette-making machines occasionally results in injury to a user of the machine, particularly users that fail to familiarize themselves with operation of the machine, fail to fully read the operating instructions, fail to fully read safety instructions, or to fail to heed warnings provided therein. Referring now to
While warnings have been generally effective in substantially reducing user injuries, the warnings have caused many users to operate the machines improperly, resulting in broken or otherwise malfunctioning machines. In particular, some users noticing the warnings may tend to overcautiously operate the machine. For example, users may operate the machine solely with a hand on the ejector handle 16. These overcautious users may rotate the handle 16 clockwise while exerting a downward force on the handle 16 to prevent the machine 10 from sliding on a surface during clockwise rotation of the ejector handle 16. While exerting the downward force on the handle 16 does prevent the machine 10 from sliding, the downward force undesirably causes additional wear and tear on the machine components (e.g., rotating shaft, shaft bushing, linkage assembly, etc.) that couple the handle 16 with the compacting member 14. Many manufacturers of cigarette-making machines offer a warranty for repairing/replacing damaged machines at no cost to the user, which results in lost revenue. To this end, it is desirable to provide a machine that improves ergonomics, improves user safety and reduces improper machine operation. Example injector-type cigarette-making machines that overcome at least these deficiencies are disclosed herein.
As further shown in
As shown in
One can appreciate that, despite the presence of the optional slip-minimizing (e.g., rubber) base 102, the machine 100 may still undesirably move on a surface during rotation of the actuator 150. To this end, the faceted handgrip 160 is provided so that a user can grip the faceted handgrip 160 as shown in
To improve ergonomics, the location of the faceted handgrip 160 substantially coincides with the pivot axis of the actuator 150. However, the faceted handgrip 160 could be implemented apart from the pivot axis. Moreover, while the pivot axis and the faceted handgrip 160 are located in the left, rear corner in disclosed embodiments, the pivot axis and the faceted handgrip 160 could located elsewhere as dictated by internal mechanics or other product design considerations. The example faceted handgrip 160 is generally circular and has a plurality of facets 161 defined on a circumference of the handgrip 160. Because the fingers and thumb of a user will readily fall into place on respective ones of the facets 161, the facets 161 substantially increase the ability of a user to firmly grasp or grip the handgrip 160 and, thus, to apply a counter-rotational force to the machine 100 via the handgrip 160. For example, without the facets 161, the handgrip 160 can more readily turn or slip within a user's hand. Moreover, the facets 161 substantially alleviate fatigue of the hand, wrist or arm during use of the example machine 100.
In a disclosed embodiment, the faceted handgrip 160 includes a knob 162 having the plurality of facets 161 arranged on an outer surface or edge of the knob 162, and a semi-circular riser 164. Preferably there are six facets 161 to enable a thumb, fore finger, etc. to naturally, readily and firmly grasp the knob 162. As shown, the semi-circular riser 164 may be integrally formed between the knob 162 and the top surface 112. In other words, the faceted handgrip 160 may be unitary with the top surface 112. Alternatively, the faceted handgrip 160 (including the knob 162 and the semi-circular riser 164) may be affixed to the top surface 112 with, for example, adhesive, welds, screws, bolts, pins, and the like. In some examples, the faceted handgrip 160 may be removable. An example manner of mounting a removable faceted handgrip 160 is described below in connection with
Referring now to
As shown in
While not shown or described herein, the injector-type cigarette-making machine 100 may include an adjustable volume compacting chamber 44 as described in, for example, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/401,126, entitled “Cigarette-Making Machine” and filed on Apr. 10, 2006.
In another aspect, a method of using the improved injector-type cigarette-making machine 100 is provided. Initially, the machine 100 should be prepared or readied by the user to accept a portion of tobacco, for example, by rotating the actuator 160 to be at the starting orientation S. A paper cigarette tube is disposed on the hollow nipple 146 and a portion of tobacco is disposed in the compacting chamber 142. A user places a first hand (e.g., the user's right hand) on the actuator 150 and places a second hand (e.g., the user's left hand) on the faceted handgrip 160. In placing the second hand on the faceted handgrip 160 the user may rotate their hand on the handgrip 160 such that their thumb and fingers align with one or more of the facets 161. The user may apply a counter-rotational force (e.g., in a horizontal plane in a counter-clockwise direction) to the faceted handgrip 160 while they rotate the actuator 150 (e.g. in a horizontal plane in a clockwise direction) with the user's other hand. During rotation of the actuator 150, the user may intermittently or substantially continuously apply the counter-rotational force to the faceted handgrip 160 to prevent slipping of the machine 100 until the paper cigarette tube is filled with tobacco, making a completed cigarette.
All references, including publications, patent applications, and patents cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entirety herein.
Although certain example apparatuses, articles of manufacture and methods have been disclosed herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is not limited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all apparatuses and apparatuses, articles of manufacture and methods fairly falling within the scope of the claims of this patent.
Claims
1. A cigarette-making machine comprising:
- a housing including a top surface having an aperture;
- an actuator to rotate about a pivot axis above the top surface;
- a compacting chamber within the housing, the compacting chamber in communication with the aperture;
- a compacting member disposed in the compacting chamber and coupled with the actuator, the compacting member to translate according to movement of the actuator;
- a hollow nipple configured on the housing proximate the aperture, the hollow nipple in communication with the compacting chamber; and
- a faceted handgrip projecting upward from the top surface and partially enclosing the pivot axis.
2. A cigarette-making machine as defined in claim 1, wherein the faceted handgrip comprises:
- a knob having a plurality of facets defined thereon, an axis of the knob substantially coinciding with the pivot axis; and
- a semi-circular riser integrally formed between the knob and the top surface.
3. A cigarette-making machine as defined in claim 2, wherein:
- the pivot axis comprises a shaft having an end extending through the top surface;
- the cigarette-making machine further comprises a nut and a bushing to couple an end of the actuator to the end of the shaft;
- the semi-circular riser is configured to circularly extend around and partially enclose the nut, the bushing, the end of the shaft and the end of the actuator; and
- the semi-circular riser includes an opening through which the actuator protrudes and can rotate about the pivot axis.
4. A cigarette-making machine as defined in claim 1, wherein the faceted handgrip comprises:
- a knob having a plurality of facets defined thereon, an axis of the knob substantially coinciding with the pivot axis; and
- a semi-circular riser integrally formed with the knob and having a flange, the flange having a slot defined therein to couple the faceted handgrip to the top surface via a shaft extending from the top surface, the shaft having a head at one end, the slot having a first end dimensioned to substantially correspond the head and a second end dimensioned to substantially correspond to the shaft.
5. A cigarette-making machine as defined in claim 4, wherein the first and second ends of the slot are oriented so that a counter-rotational force applied to the faceted handgrip during a cigarette making operation is in a same direction as a rotation of the faceted handgrip to couple the faceted handgrip to the top surface.
6. A cigarette-making machine as defined in claim 1, wherein the faceted handgrip includes an opening through which the actuator protrudes and can rotate about the pivot axis.
7. A cigarette-making machine as defined in claim 1, wherein an axis of the faceted handgrip substantially coincides with the pivot axis.
8. A cigarette-making machine as defined in claim 1, wherein the faceted handgrip is generally circular and comprises a plurality of tangential facets.
9. A cigarette-making machine as defined in claim 1, wherein the faceted handgrip comprises a knob having a plurality of facets.
10. A cigarette-making machine as defined in claim 1, wherein the faceted handgrip is configured on a left, rear portion of the top surface.
11. A cigarette-making machine comprising:
- a housing including a top surface having an aperture;
- a shaft having an end extending through the top surface;
- an actuator to rotate above the top surface;
- a nut and a bushing to couple an end of the actuator to the end of the shaft;
- a compacting chamber within the housing, the compacting chamber in communication with the aperture;
- a compacting member disposed in the compacting chamber and coupled with the actuator, the compacting member to translate according to movement of the actuator;
- a hollow nipple configured on the housing proximate the aperture, the hollow nipple in communication with the compacting chamber;
- a faceted knob having a plurality of facets defined thereon, an axis of the knob substantially coinciding with the shaft; and
- a semi-circular riser integrally formed with the knob, the semi-circular riser configured to circularly extend around and partially enclose the nut, the bushing, the end of the shaft and the end of the actuator, the semi-circular riser including an opening through which the actuator protrudes and can rotate.
12. A method of making a cigarette with an injector-type cigarette-making machine including a housing including a top surface having an aperture, an actuator to rotate about a pivot axis above the top surface, a compacting chamber within the housing, the compacting chamber in communication with the aperture, a compacting member disposed in the compacting chamber and coupled with the actuator, the compacting member to translate according to movement of the actuator, a hollow nipple configured on the housing proximate the aperture, the hollow nipple in communication with the compacting chamber, and a faceted handgrip extending from the housing and partially enclosing the pivot axis, the method comprising:
- preparing the machine to accept tobacco;
- disposing the tobacco in the compacting chamber;
- disposing a paper cigarette tube on the hollow nipple;
- grasping the actuator with a first hand;
- grasping the faceted handgrip with a second hand;
- moving the actuator with the first hand; and
- applying a counter-rotational force to the faceted handgrip with the second hand to prevent rotation of the machine while the actuator is moved.
13. A method as defined in claim 12, further comprising rotating the second hand on the faceted handgrip to align at least one of a thumb or a finger with one of the facets.
14. A method as defined in claim 12, further comprising:
- aligning a first end of a slot defined in a flange of the faceted handgrip with a head of a shaft extending from the top surface; and
- rotating the faceted handgrip relative to the top surface to engage the shaft in an opposite end of the slot.
15. A method as defined in claim 14, wherein the rotation of the faceted handgrip to engage the shaft in the opposite end of the slot is in a same direction as the counter-rotational force.
16. A method as defined in claim 12, further comprising:
- rotating the faceted handgrip relative to the top surface to disengage a shaft extending from the top surface from a first end of a slot defined in a flange of the faceted handgrip; and
- removing the faceted handgrip from the injector-type cigarette-making machine.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 10, 2011
Publication Date: Dec 13, 2012
Applicant: REPUBLIC TOBACCO L.P. (Glenview, IL)
Inventor: Mei Lin (Glenview, IL)
Application Number: 13/157,517
International Classification: A24C 5/06 (20060101); A24C 5/00 (20060101);