US3542038A - Cigar manufacture - Google Patents

Description

United States Patent [72] inventors Harry Allison Hooper Larchmont, New York; Warren Arthur Brackmann, Cooksville, Ontario, Canada; Frank l-lollenton, Richmond, Virginia [21] Appi. No. 790,278 [22] Filed Jan. 10, 1969 ,[45] Patented Nov. 24, 1970 [73] Assignee American Machine & Foundry Company a corporation of New Jersey [54] CIGAR MANUFACTURE 8 Claims, 7-Drawing Figs. [52] US. Cl. 7 131/149, 83/100. 83/176; 131/105. 131/148 [51] lnt.Cl A24b 05/14; A24c 01/04 [50] Field ofSearch 131/1, 15, 105, 124, 148, 149; 83/17, 20,21, 1,4, 100, 176(Me'ister) [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 353,971 1 2/1886 Rowden 131/125 0 so llllllll ll/ll/l/u/ as 7a 76 74 Primary Examiner Samuel Koren Assistant Examiner-James H. Czerwonky AttorneysGeorge W. Price and Murray Schaffer ABSTRACT: An apparatus for processing whole tobacco leaf, utilizing an open contoured matrix for forming shaped patches of leaf suitable as wrapper and binder. A porous web travels patches between the web layers for subsequent storing as a booked roll.

1 Patented Nov. 24, 1970 3,542,038

Sheet 1 of 5 INVEN'IORS HARRY ALLISON HOOPER FRANK HOLLENTON BY WARREN A. BRACKMANN ATT NEY Sheet -3' of 5 FIG.4

INVEN'IORS HARRY ALLISON HOOPER FRANK HOLLENTON BY WARREN A. BRACKMANN Patented Nov. 24, 1970 Sheet Q of 5 INVEN'IORS HARRY ALUSON HOOPER- FRANK HOLLENTON BYWARREN A ammmu ATTO NEY mm mv Patented Nov. 24, 1970 /lOa Sheet FIG.6

U. INVENTORS HARRY ALUSON HOOPER FRANK HOLLENTON BY WARREN A. BRPKKMANN ATTO Y i the wrapper, both of which in many cigars are made remains to enablea wholebinder or wrapper shape to be cut shaped portions of tobacco leaf for'use as wrapper and/r binder in the manufacture ofcigars. w

'Itis usual in cigar making machines to form a cigar shaped roll of tobacco filler which is wrapped in a first sheet, usually termed the binder, and then in a second sheet, usu'allytermed from natural tobacco leaf. t

It is well known that theciga r industry is such that a very large variety of cigar'shapesf a nd sizes are necessary to meet sphericalend, e i

, In addition, custom demands that the wrapper, at least, be

For this reason it is not possible to provide the cigar machine operator with whole unstemmed leaves, for should such leaves be used and successively repositioned over the die as each shape is blanked out, the coarse mid rib could easily be avoided, but cigars would be produced, half of which would 'show the vein pattern different from the other half. Also, some tobacco leaves are quite large which, if positioned on the 1 rotating die turret, would occupy an inconveniently large applied in ah'elicaifashion so that'the overlap of the wrapper sheet is seen on the finished cigaras a helical ridge running around it. Thusto produce the good, smooth appearance,

which isnecessary, it 'will be" appreciated that a wrapper must have a particular if not peculiar shape so that it may be wrapped smoothly around the cigar filler. The wrapper must be cut to a complex shape and presented to the cigar shaped roll of filler'iin the correct attitude so that it is supplied to the roll in a precise manner.

For this purpose the cigar making machine is provided with at lease two cutting dies mounted on a turret arranged to index about a vertical axis. One such turret being provided for each of the binder and wrapper functions respectively. Each cutting die is surrounded by a perforated surface, the perforation being connected to a source of vacuum to hold a leaf taut across the die.

An operator sits in convenient proximity to the die turret, selects a portion or tobacco leaf, examines it for holes, coarse veins or other imperfections and stretches it over the cutting die where it is held in stretched, creaseless' formation by the i ,vacuum applied via-the perforations in 'the surface surrounding the die, care ibeing takento insure that thecontourto be cut by thedie will not include any imperfections. Having placed the leafportionin position the operator initiates one cycle of the cigar making machine, usually by means of afoot switch, which causes the turret to index to the next position where the leaf'stretched over thedie, is cutout. The cut leaf is then transferred from the die to be rolled about the shaped roll there had been previously-spread and cut awrapper. This second die has the remainder of the leaf of the wrapper suctionally held on the perforated surface. This the operator removes and eitherdiscards,.orplaces over the die again in a new position ifyasifrequently happens, sufficient leaf area y from the remainder. t I 7 From this it will be seen thatthespeed of production of the cigar maker is determined by thefspeed at whichthe operator can successivelyplac'e th e'leaf portion over the dies. To assist in this operation,,whole' tobacco leavesarepreprepared and arranged. in an orderly stackfrom which the operator may manually remove the topmostleaf portion for booked in a separate. pile for, as is well known, the subsidiary veins on'the leaf run, out from the mid rib diagonally and have a different texture on the front as compared with the back so that each half ofthe leaf is a mirror image of'the other as far as veins are concerned. It is usual in the industry to feed' the differing halves of leaves to different cigar making machines to' avoid mixing theproduction of. cigars showing the vein'pattern in a different position relative to the axis of the cigar.

space, interfering with the machines operation.

For these reasons it is the universal practice to remove the coarse mid rib from each leaf, which operation is usually known as stemming", thereby separating the leaf into two parts and to book each half of the leaf separately.

Consequently, it will be appreciated that the preparation of tobacco leaf for useas wrapper and/or binder and the subsequent application of such leaf in the actual formation of the cigar is complex, consisting of a number of mechanical and manual steps; time consuming, requiring separate visual, manual and intellectual functions on the part of the operator; and'wasteful oftobacco in that often good tobacco lamina is discarded with the stem, or tobacco is incorrectly booked" and leaf ismisapplied to the turret die.

It is the prime objective of this invention to eliminate these deficiencies of operation, speed up the production of cigars and provide for a more economical use oftobacco and labor.

As a specific object this invention is intended to provide for the production of reservoirs of wrappers and/or binders to enable cigar making machines as described above to be automatically fed. Another object is to provide means for booking wrappers in the form of a roll, interleaved and supported by a web woundupon itself. 1

Another object is to provide means for cutting out cigar wrapperswhich is practical to operate without removing the coarse mid rib from each leaf.

Another object is to stretch the leafin two dimensions and to hold it in the stretched condition while cutting out wrappers.

r tAnotherobject is to store the wrappers in a stretched condition in the roll'. v V Another object is to provide means whereby it is not neces sary for the operator to relinquish the hold on the tobacco leaf while the wrapper is being cutout.

Another object is to provide booked wrapper in the form of a roll, interleaved and supported by-a web wound upon itself, said web being adaptable as'a conveyor for transporting the wrappers to a cigar making machine.

Other objects and features of this invention will appear as the description of the particular physical embodiment selected to illustrate the invention progresses.

To facilitate the following description, the term patch will .be used to mean a shaped portion of tobacco leaf, or manufactured tobacco or other material sheet. It will be understood to include both binder and wrapper, in the finished contour or slightly larger than finished size, from which the finished piece can be cut. It willbe appreciated that the present invention may find wide use with existing cigar making machines and that consequently in converting existing machines for such use minimum alteration is desirable. Secondly it is proposed to automatically feed to the cigar making machine, patches which are slightly larger than the final contour required, employing the already existing dies to produce the final wrapper or binder shape. However, it is obvious that in designing a completely new machine, the patch may be cut to finished size before booking, eliminating dies on the cigar maker itself in which case the die turret would be replaced by a simple suction transfer device. 1

In the accompanying drawings which form part of this specification, likecharacters of reference have been applied to corresponding parts throughout all drawings.

FIG. I shows a general external view of structure in accordance with the principles of this invention,

FIG. 2 illustrates the positioning of patches between the layers of a web rolled upon itself.

FIG. 3 illustrates in side elevation somewhat diagrammatically the mechanism for cutting out patches and forming the roll.

FIG. 4 is a front elevation of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 illustrates an alternative method of winding the web on itself.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of the electrical current.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 there is generally depicted the booked" roll of particularly sized and shaped cigar patches which it is an object of this invention to produce as well as the apparatus for obtaining the same. Whole, generally unstemmed and veined tobacco leaf is prepared into specific individual patches 2 without stem, and with oriented veins. The leaf is placed in stretched condition on the horizontal run ofa porous web 10 which is drawn from a source of supply 12 and are wound between the layers of the web in a tight roll 14, as the support 18 for roll is turned in the direction of arrow A. It will thus be appreciated that with the technique described herein, large volumes of tobacco leaves can, in one step and operation and by a single worker, be stemmed, processed and oriented and collected into manageable reservoirs or storage contain'ers for use later on in the automatic feed of a cigar machine. In our copending applications Ser. No. 790,277 and Ser. No. 790,302 filed simultaneously herewith, we show a method and apparatus 'for automatically feeding cigar machines with reservoirs of patches produced according to this disclosure.

Since for purposes of this invention the web 10 should be preferably porous, any woven or felted textile material glass fiber fabric, chemically produced fibers, perforated sheet of plastic material or even thin perforated or woven metal will be suitable. A thin woven web of nylon has been found to be most satisfactory, for it is strong relative to its weight, will produce a small roll and is unaffected by the chemical constituents of the tobacco leaf portions themselves.

Turning to FIGS. 3 and 5 the web 10 is drawn from the roll 12 and is passed over a forward roll 16 and fastened on to the core ofa takeup roll 18. The roll 18 is journaled at the end ofa pair of parallel locating arms 20 pivotally mounted by their rear ends on bearing'blocks 22. Fastened to the roll, 18 is a sprocket 24, connected by means ofchain 26 to the shaft 28 of a motor 30, whereby the roll 18 may be positively rotated in the directions of arrow A.

Beneath the horizontal run ofthe web 10 there is provided a hollow box 32 pivotally mounted at its rear end 34 and perforated over the whole of its top surface. The perforations 36 extend between the forward roll 16 and below the takeup roll 18, and are in communication, through the box 32 with a source of vacuum connected to a fitting 38. The vacuum acts to hold the web 10 in close slideable contact with the top surface of the hollow box 32 by reason of the difference in air pressure on the web 10 induced by the application of vacuum through perforations 36.

As the roll 18 is worked with wrapper, it becomes larger as indicated by the dotted lines but the point at which the web 10 joins the roll 18 will always remain tangent to the top surface of the hollow box 32 by reason of the fact that the roll rests thereon under the influence of gravity. The locating arms 20 are progressively raised by the roll itself as it grows, thus providing conditions under which the roll is tightly wound without impairing the function of chain 26 which continually swings in fixed length around the center ofdrive motor 30.

A work table 40 is rigidly mounted on the frame of the machine above the top surface of the hollow box 32, its lower surface being a fraction of an inch above the horizontal plane tangent with the highest point of roller 16 and parallel to the surface of box 32. A spring 42 mounted between the lower surface of box 32 and the frame of the machine F causes the box 32 to normally swing around its mounting pivot 34, to press the web 10 into close contact with the underside of work table 40. A solenoid 44 is mounted onv the frame and has its operating plunger fastened to the lower surface of the box 32.

The solenoid 44 is adapted, when energized, to overcome the normal upward biasing of suction box 32 and will cause the box 32 to pivot downwardly on command. Should the box 32 be under the influence of suction the web 10 will also be carried downward.

The work table 40 is of laminate construction as shown in FIG. 5 with the parts relatively distorted for the sake of clarity. The composite work table comprises a perforated upper plate 46 below which and spaced from it is a secondary plate 48, sealed around the edges and communicating with one or more fittings 50 which in turn are also connected to the source of vacuum. Below plate 48 and spaced from it is mounted a third plate 52, the space between plates 48 and 52 being provided to permit one run of a band knife 54 to move freely for the purpose described below.

The third plate 52 completes the composite work, table, below which, as stated above, passes web 10 and against which the web 10 is pressed by the topsurface ofthe box 32.

Through the three plates 46, 48 and 52 is cut a vertical hole generally indicated at 56. The hole comprises a matrix which determines the size and shape of the tobacco wrapper to be produced. The hole has substantially vertical walls and a contour parallel to the plane of the table that substantially conforms to the size and shape of the desired patch to be produced.

Referring to FIG. 5, it will be seen that when the porous web 10 is pressed upwardly against plate 52 by the perforated box 32 the bottom of the hole 56 is comprised of the porous web 10 through which air passes by reason of the perforations 36 and the applied vacuum. The top most plate 46 is also provided with a series of peripherally spaced holes 58 so that in addition, air flows from the hole 58 into the space between plates 46 and 48, by reason of the vacuum applied through fitting 50.

As a result of this construction, a properly conditioned, moist and pliable tobacco leaf 60, when drawn across the work table 40 will cover the hole 56 and beheld flat against the table by the vacuum applied through holes 58. The vacuum applied through perforations 36 and porous web 10 will draw the leaf down to the bottom of the hole causing it to slide slightly across suction holes 58 if necessary, by an amount dependent upon the degree of vacuum applied at each point. It will be seen that this downward drawing will cause the drawn portion of the leaf to be stretched or tensioned in all directions within the horizontal plane, according to the applied vacuum, effectively removing all creases, pleats etc., and insuring that that portion of the leaf adhering to porous web 10 is perfectly flat and smooth.

In addition it will be observed that the relative vacuum applied to the leaf through web 10, peripheral holes 58 and between the plates 46 and 48 cause the leaf to assume a position in which it has substantially vertical peripheral walls running about its entire contour. Thus the leaf assumes a dishlike shape as shown diagrammatically in FIG. 5, except that it is in close contact with the various elements and not spaced from them (as shown, which is only for the sake of clarity).

At this stage and in this position the leaf 60 is prepared for cutting by the band knife 54 which moves across the opening as more fully described later to sever a patch suitable as a cigar wrapper from the drawn leaf. The portion severed is of the desired contour, dependent upon the shape and size of the hole 56, but at this stage is still'held in a dished shape in the hole 56. The dished patch is then withdrawn from the confining contour of the hole 56, when the suction box 32 is lowered on energization of the solenoid 44. The patch 2 is promptly flattened on the web 10 while retaining the stretched condition. Thus, the completed patch 2 is cut from a whole leaf and adhered to web 10.

It will be appreciated that as the suction is maintained on the patch 2 throughout the whole of its movement from the point where it was cutout, up to the point where it is trapped between the two layers of web 10 on roll 14, it must remain in the stretched smooth condition for as long as it is stored in the roll.

The band knife 54,.employed to sever the wrapper shape is shafts which are rotatably supported in stationary sleeves 66 which are v prevented from rotating by m'eans'of sliding keys 68, th'e whole being supported in the frame of the machine, a portion of which is'shown at 70 Sleeves 66 are furnished with rack teeth 72 which mesh withquadrants 74 keyed to shaft 76 which is also supported in themainfranie. At one end of shaft 76 is keyed a single lever 78ivhich is pivotally connected to arm 80 andthence to the piston-rod 82 of air cylinder 84. When air is admitted to the air cylinder, the piston iscaused to move from leftto rightiarrow B) as shown in-FIG. 3 and 'the two quadrants 74 can then be made to move in unison by reason of their connection shaft 76 I On pivoting ofquadrants 74, the sleeves 66' mov'e in an axial direction carrying the'band knife assembly withthem; causing the knife to pass through the leaf 60and'tosever the tobacco leaf drawn into space 56. On completion of its severing stroke, the piston 82,carrying arm 80, "causes a link pin'86 secured The microswitch thus senses thefactthat the'leaf60 has been severed. The microswitch 8,8 'c'ontrols an air valve feeding the cylinder 84 andconsequently permitsthetFlG. 5)"entire knife assembly to return to its initial position permitting the withdrawal of the piston84. A spring 90 is provided to facilitate withdrawal. If desired; the return motion'rnay be obtained by suitably programming the air cylinder or utilizing a double action cylinder. Suitable sharpening devices of known construction, not shown, may beapplieci to the band knife if desired as also may be suitable tensioning devices.

Turning to FIG '4, the band knife 54 is driven by means of with respect to the leaf or the opening 56. Other equivalent meansmay be employed. v

The mechanical operation of the device will be described in conjunction with FIG. 7',- which is a schematicrepresentation of its electical circuitry and the appurtenant mechanical ele ments. The device is supplied with sources of electrical power and of vacuum, both of which are commonly found in cigar making factories. The band knife'motor 88 isconnecte'd directly to the source, of power so *thatthe knife 54 is constantly rotated. The vacuum box 32'and the work table'4 0 are also connected-directly to "the source of vacuum through fittings 38 and. respectively so that the web lil'and patch forming mechanism is always under the influence of negative pressure.

A single operator sitsin front of the machine with a supply of whole leaf resting on shelf 98. The operator "removes a.

whole leaf 60 and spreads it out ontable top 40, examining it 25 thereon to contact a microswitch 88 mounted on the frame; T

6 severing movement is automatically sensed by means of the link pin86 (FIG. 4) breaking the contact of the microswitch 88 FIG. 3) at the end of working stroke of piston 82. The relay 98 reverses and is thus caused to break the circuit of its holding coil and to consequently cause the return of the pneumatic valve to its original open position, permitting cylinder 84 to exhaust to the atmosphere so that the spring 90 may return the knife 54 to its original position. Alternatively the air valve may be of such a type that air or vacuum is alternatively provided to the air cylinder 84 to move the pistonpositively in either direction, in which case the spring 90 would not be necessary.

Simultaneously,-on completion of the severing stroke, the reversal of the relay 98 starts an electrical timer relay T of knownconstruction. The timer relay energizes two further electrical circuits for very short periods of time, both of which may be adjusted according to the construction of the timer. First, the solenoid 44 isener gized to lower the 'top surface of vacuurnbox 32 away from the underside of the work table 40 carryingwith it the porous web 10 and the just cut patch, Because of the continuously applied vacuum in box 32, the patch is heldin stretched formation on the surface of the web and the'dished edges flattened out as soon as they are clear of the contoured hole 56 as previously indicated. Secondly, and simultaneously with the energization of the solenoid 44, the motor 30 is energized which causes the web 10 to be indexed and wound on to the roll 14. A series of patches 2 may be 7 present on the web 10 between the point ofcutting out and the final trapping between the layers of the web on roll 14, but these are continuously and properly held in during transport by reason of the continuous vacuum in box 32.

As'soon asthe last out patch is sufficiently transported away I from the hole 56 the timer relay deenergizes both the solenoid.

44 and the motor 30, permitting the spring 42 to return the suction box 32 to its uppermost position. The indexing of the web. 10 and winding on to roll 14 is then automatically stopped. Now the machine is ready for repeating the cycle of events described, but, before this, the operator has been examining the remainder of the leaf and is free, to start to move it to the table 40 as soon as the band knife has completed its cutting stroke.

It will beseen that with this construction'the operator may hold the edges of the leaf at all times, even while the patch is being cut, so as to be able to move it to the next position ex peditiously. This is one of the most important features of this invention, for when comparedwith the operation of the stanmany patches as possible from the leaf areaon one side of the for imperfections, The'chosen area of'the leaf is: slidac'ross the table to coincide with the patch-shaped'contour hole 56 where it is immediately drawn into the hole by reason of the con stantly applied vacuum and assumes the dish formation previously ,described. The operator then signals the machine to move through one cycle byany' suitable means such as by a foot switch. The foot switch is'connected through the normally closed microswitch 88 to a relay 98. Relay-98 is a single pole double terminal type which on activation is biased to operate a pneumaticvalvewhich opens topermit air to be withdrawn from the air cylinder 84 to'the source of vacuum or negative air. The bandknife 54 thus is caused to move axially through opening56, sever the cigar patch 2 from the 'drawn contour of the leaf 60 The completion of the band knife stem and, with a machine with a single opening as described separate rolls. Such work stations would be laterally spaced in conformity of the requirements for two separate flow channels but would still be within easy access of the operator. Under these conditions the operator would feed all the leaf on one side of the stem to one station, moving to the adjacent station when feeding leaf from the remaining side of the stem using a i j different foot switch for each channel. In this way the opposite hand of booked rolls can be kept separate while handling the leaf once only and without stemming.

Alternatively, when dealing with good quality leaf it is practical to provide two work stations in line of travel, making possible the production of two patches for each positioning of the leaf.

As described above, the web winding motor 30 runs for a length of time dictated by a timer. This time could be constant, in which case the longitudinal pitch of the patches in the roll 14 will increase as the diameter of the roll increases. As the preferred feeding apparatus according to the above mentioned copending patent application Ser. No. 790,277 locates the position of the patches from the wrappers themselves this is not of serious consequence but it does mean that the roll does not contain as many'patches as it would should they be substantially equally spaced. A number of ways exist to do this, for instance, the timer adjustment could be varied in accordance with the diameter of roll 14 as detected by a floating feeler resting on the roll or by the angle of the arms 20. The same signal could be used to vary the speed of the motor 30 leaving the timer constant or the roll could be wound up by the application of a frictional drive cooperating with its outside diameter to give a constant peripheral movement during each cycle etc.

As an alternative some economy in the feeding apparatus according to the aforementioned copending patent application can be obtained by providing this type of booked roll in which at least one edge of the porous web 10 is provided with a continuous series of equispaced sprocket holes in conjunction with the equal spacing of the wrappers in the roll. This arrangement makes possible the serial feeding of the patches to a single delivery station by merely feeding the web a constant amount during each cycle as determined by the sprocket holes. To provide such a roll apparatus as shown at FIG. 6 is employed. Generally the apparatus functions as described for FIG. 3 but the feeding of the porous web 10a which in this case in provided with sprocket holes along its edges is changed to function as follows:

The roller 16a around which the web passes on its way to being wound on to booked roll 14a is provided with two suitable sprockets 100 to match the series of sprocket holes along the edges of web 10a. A motor 102 is furnished instead of motor 30 of FIG. 3 which motor 102 is energized to run con- .tinuously as long as the machine is in operation. It drives to roll support 180 by means of pulleys and the crossed belt 104 and the slipping clutch 106 which is devised to transmit a suitable torque for winding the web into a roll 14a and yet will slip when the web is not available for winding. Motor 102 also drives by means of suitable sprockets and chain 108, a single revolution clutch 110 which is controlled by a solenoid 112,

' making exactly one revolution each time the solenoid is energized. Thus, the web 1041 is advanced by a distance determined by the number of teeth of the sprocket 100 which distance is, of course, equal to the pitch of the wrappers as wound in the roll.

In this case the apparatus functions as follows:

The operator feeds the leaf to the cutting station 56 as described above and operates the foot switch when ready for the machine to cut out a wrapper and move through one cycle. The air cylinder moves the band knife through its cutting operation and on the return stroke the switch is operated as previously described, causing the starting of a timer relay which in turn energizes solenoid 112 for a very short period of time. The movement of solenoid 112 unlatches the single revolution clutch 110 permitting the motor 102 to rotate the clutch exactly one revolution before it again assumes the inoperative position. This revolution causes the sprockets 100 to feed the web 10a forwardly by an amount corresponding to the number ofteeth on-sprockets, indexing the cutout wrapper forward with it and permitting the slip clutch 106 to rotate the roll 14a by an equal amount after which the timer releases solenoid 112 and the apparatus is ready for the next cycle.

lt will be observed that any errors which may exist in the position of the patches in relation to the sprocket holes in the web 10a are noncumulative making possible the location of the patches on the delivery mechanism solely by means of the sprocket holes.

The invention herein described is given by way of an example only and many changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. In particular, such a reservoir can be produced with the patches entrapped between the web 10 and a secondary web 10' (as indicated in FlG. 2.) The webs l0 and 10' being used together. This permits the transport of the patches between the two webs only, dispensing with the requirements during the transport operation. As a consequence the web need not be porous and need not be rolled but may be folded or otherwise formed into a unitary container.

While the present invention has been described in connection with the booking of natural leaf wrapper it is equally adaptable to the booking patches from sheets or foils ofreconstituted artificial or treated tobacco products.

It will then be seen that the present invention provides apparatus for the automatic processing of leaf, production of shaped performed patches of whole leaf, and storing them in stretched oriented condition in booked rolls. Since various modifications, changes, etc., may be made, it is intended that the present description be illustrative only and that the invention not be limited solely by the embodiments described.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for producing a reservoir of tobacco leaf patches suitable for use as wrapper and/or binder in the automatic manufacture ofcigars comprising an open matrix having a contour substantially approximating the shape of said patch,

an elongated porous web adapted to travel beneath said matrix, suction means for creating a vacuum acting through said web and said matrix to cause a leaf placed thereover to have a portion thereof assume the shape of said patch, cutting means for severing said shaped portion of leaf and means for simultaneously transferring said shaped portion to said web, and means for winding said web to entrap said patch between the layers thereof.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 including means for operating said shaping, cutting, transferring and wrapping means in predetermined cyclical sequence, to produce a plurality of patches wrapped in said web from successive portions ofleaf placed on said matrix.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said matrix comprises a substantially flat table, having a hole therein with substantially perpendicular walls, said hole being provided with air channels at least along its periphery and suction means acting through said air channels to cause said leaf to be extended and stretched within said hole.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3 including a suction box having a porous upper surface mounted beneath said web,

said box being mounted so as to be movable away from said.

hole responsive to the severing of said shaped portion, said suction means acting through said box on said web to cause it to simultaneously remove said patch from said hole as said web is wound.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said table comprises a plurality of layers spaced from each other, and said cutting means comprises a rotating band knife transversely indexed to transverse said hole between two of said layers.

6. The apparatus according to claim 4 including a rotatable core, means for attaching the web to said core and means for rotating said core to wind said web thereon responsive to the transfer of patches to said web, said core being pivotally mounted above the suction box to maintain its periphery tangent thereto whereby said web is maintained under action of the suction.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6 including means for varying the rotation of said core as a predetermined function of the amount of web wound thereon.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said hole has one dimension longer than its other coplanar dimensions, said hole being arranged in said table with said longer dimension transverse to the direction of travel of said web whereby patches may be deposited thereon in spaced side by side orientatron.

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