I
! CHITTEI'iDEN t1.
MALLORY.
'215
CHITTENDEN
.11.
MALLORY
et ale
(Oircuit Oourt, D. Connecticut. Jalluary,8,1890.) 1. PA'1'icNT$:rOK ,INVENTxON-PATENT.A.BIL1TY.;."..ANTtCIPATION.
The improvement described in the seventh claim of letters patent No. 261,470! Issned·December 27,1881. to James R.Russell. conllisting, in a hat.feltingmoohme, of a vertically adj)Jstable roller combined with a foot an adjuiltable butter, consiiltil\g'of an adjttlltable screw under the, table of the machihe1,with a rubber end; raised or lowered 'by a hand wheel thereen so as to regulate tne distance the foot, ,lever. can ascen.d, the,reby regu,lat.in g th.e adj.ustable r.o11er, isn.0,t patentable, ,., as machines had been previously with two adjustable /ltops, and an English patent had been granted to William Grimshaw, in for a haHelti:!ig moohinewhich, though having noro11ers, had a concave, adjustable surface, adjusted:by a ., treadle,and adjustable stop, as in the Russell patent.
'2. B.um.' " , " . , Thet1J.1lt ,an<lsecond claims of lettier!! No, 844,166, issueti J.nne 22, 1886, to HallVey M.,Cllittenden for, the combinatlpp.,in a hat.feltipg machine, of a cllntral Shaft, a' w:ooden 'roller made in sections,' with grooved ends, and a metM cap with flanges 'and projeetionli taking into, groove. Ol' indentatlonB in tIte 'Wooden rolJer,
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FEDERAL REPORTER,
vol. 41.
a.SA-IIfE.
ws,B.allticlpated by the Hill roller and cap, ha\'ing simi1!lr construction, though the Chittenden cap has ribs lying in parallel straight grooves, while the Hill cap has radial ribs lying in radlal grooves. ., .
The fifth and sixth claims, in such letters patent, for an adjustable journal box, .secured to the frame of a felting machine, and adjusting itself in alignment with the was anticipated br the .journal box forming part of the felting machine made by· x u1e in 1879; the mlllor details of construction claimed not being patentable. The seventh and eighth claims, in such letters \latent, for aD adjustable stop con· sisting of a vertical screw attached to the under SIde of the table, with its lower end received within a tube atta.ohed to the treadle, which tube, in rising, strikes the hand wheel on thesorew, is not,a patentable improvement over a stop oonsistiDA' of a similar adjustable sorew, against; the end of which strikes a treadle having no tUbe.
I.
SAl\fIll-rnPROVIIlIlfIllNTS.
In Equity. Bill for infringement of letters patent. Jonathan Marshall, for complainant. M. B. Ph.iUip and A. M. Wooster, for defendants. SHIPMAN,J: This .is a bill in equity to restrain the alleged infringement of the,seventh claim letters patent, No. 251,470, d/!-ted Decem. ber 27, 1881, to James R. Russell, ",hich were assigned to the com.plainant April 14, 1887, and of the first, second, fifth, sixth, seventh, of letters patent No. 344.166, dated June 22, 1886, lVl. Chittenden. Each patent isfor a machine for felting hat . bodies. Upon the hearing the novelty qf the first and fifth claims of the was not insisted upon. Each ofthe cll,thns which are alleged. to "have .been infdnged is for an improvement in the construction , of an old part of a pat-felting machine, and each of the ,claims of the : Chittenden patent 'relates to minor detaiis of construction.. The seventh claimorthe Russell patent is for the I)lostimportant improvement. The following extract from the testimony of the complainant's expert gives a plain and easily-understood description of the alleged invention: "It is an improvement in machinery for felting hat bodies. It has long been common to use machinery for this...,purpose having one or more rollers in fixed bearings, and one or more rollers mounted above, with pro. visions for raising and lowering the upper'roller by means of a foot lever, sometimes termed a 'treadle.' 'fhe soft masses of material, having the apprOXimate shape ofhat bodies, but too larg.e and slazy, are rolled up into a bundle, and rolled and compfl'ssed by being introduced between those rollers. The rollers are usually. pr,ovided with lags. to induce a kind of kneading action on the bundle of hat bodies, and by this action, with a liberal supply of hot water, the hat bodies are treated many times, and finally reduced to the 'proper contracted and firm condition. , .It is common to,have the hat bodies ',rolled up in a cloth of jute qr Bome non-felting material, and to treat, two bundles alternately,-one being rolled and squeezed by the rollers while the :;Qther bundle is unrolled. and opened out, and readjusted, ready for the next ;;tr¥lltment·. It is found that the hat bodies require to be very delic'ately compressed during the first stages, and as the felting proceeds they may be treated more severely, 01' with greater pressure.. The lags on the rollers make the . action irregular; but in general it J'Il.I')'behlirder towards the last, and it must be gentle at first. One of the ways of attaining this elldJs to hold. up the ,upper roller so as to prevent descending, in!ln>; of .its irregular
· CHITTENDEN tl.
217
motions. below a certain line. '" '" '" The precise arrangement of the devices. as the invention was carried out in the patent. was to have a long screw inserted in a hole in a timber under the table or plank on which the man crozes the hat bodies; the screw extending down, and carrying on its lower end a foot. apparently of India rubber, held in the right position to be struck by the treadle when it rises, after he has relaxed the pressure of his foot thereon to allow the top roller to descend. There is a hand wheel fixed on that screw, to· turn it by. When he wants to allow the top roller to descend a littlll lower, he reaches under the table. and gives a half turn. more or less. to that wheel. thus screwing up the screw, and stopping the treadle after it has gone a little further up, and consequently has let the top roller a little further down than before." The seventh claim was as follows: "(7) In a hat-sizing or scalding machine. a vertically adjnstable roller, com· bined withs foot lever, and an adjustable buffer to fix the adj ustment of such ruller, Bubs.laotially as described." In the defendants' machine the roller is not vertically adjustable, but moves in the arc of a circle; and the adjustable stop is not provided with any elastic material to soften the force of the blow when pressure is suddenly removed from the treadle. If the patent demands the presence of these two details, there is no infringement. Otherwise. it is to be. con· ceded that some of the defendants' machines infringe. It is not strenuously urged that the fact that the roller moves in the arc of a circle, rather than in a direct vertical line, is a matter of importance; but it is insisted that the claim demands that the adjustable stop shall be provided with. some elastic or yielding material as a protection against concussion, and therefore shall be a buffer. Such a construction might relieve from the charge of infringement an imitator who had merely taken off the thimble of rubber from the bottom of the wooden stop, and would indicate a greater adherence to the letter than to the spirit of the patent. The question whether the improvement, with or without rubber, has a. patentable character, is one of much more substantial interest and im'" portance. Before the date of Russell's invention, which was in March, 1881, hat-felting machines were in use which contained two adjustable stops or buffers, one upon each side of the machine. These stops limited the descent of the swinging frame which carried the adjustable roller; this roller being connected with a treadle so that it was moved to and from the other rollers by the foot of the operator. The Waring ratchet rna.. cnine had an adjustable felting roller so attached to a swinging frame that it was nearly over the space between the two lower rollers. To the free end of the swinging frame one end of two pitmans was pivoted; the other end being connected with the treadle. The swinging frame, when released from the control of the treadle, came in contact with ratchet bars having pawl teeth, and upon the top of the bars, sockets, each containing a rubber buffer. The Waring screw machine had, in place of the ratchet bars and pawls, a screw-threaded rod at each end of the machine, whieh worked ina threaded nut attached to the Bwingingframe. By
218
FEPlilRAL REPORTER"
means Of ll.hand wheel the rods were adjusted up and down. Whenever thEf swinging fraII1ewasftee·to fall, the lower end of the threaded rod cairiinn contact with an Upright projection provided with a socket containing rU,bber. In the Yule machine, patented Qy letters patent No. 241,267, dated May ,10, 1881, the top roller was secured to a swinging frame. The treadle, which was attached to the main frame, was connected to one end of the swinging frame so that it was caused to move to and from the main frame as the treadle was moved up and down. . The main frame had two adjustable screws, which could be turned'to adjust the position of the upper roller relatively to the lower rollers. These screws were provided with rubber at the point where they came in contact with the end of the. swinging frame. The comanswer to the character of this class of machines is two stops. one on each side of the machine, and all required two operations to adjust the approach of the felting rollers together, and neither one had an adjustable buffer, arranged to be operated at one point. I agree with the complainant that the buffer in the Russell machine is a single one, and is arranged so as to be operated at. one place. I am not clear that when two buffers had been used to limit the line at which the top roller could descend and approach the lower rollers, 'the top roller being adjustable by the action of a treadle, and a single buffer never had been used, there would have been patentable invention, in having one adjustable stop, acting directly upon the treadle, and through the treadle upon the roll. It would seem to have been a mere mechanical question whether the treadle should strike against a single buffer, or the swinging frame which carries the roller should strike against a buffer at each end of the machine; but the hat-felting machine described in the English pa:tent granted to William Grimshaw, in 1872, brings another fact into the case. This machine did not have therollersoftbe machines which have been described, but had a lower curved felting surface, and an upper flat surface, which was moved backward and forward; the bundle of hats being placed between the two. The concave surface was adjustable. The machine had a treadle, the upward movement of which was limited by a screw working in a nut. The outer end of the treadle'was connected with a lever which carried the concave surface. .The machine had a single adjustable stop, which aeteddirectly upon the treadle, and through the treadle upon one of the feltmg surfaces. The complainant earnestly insists that the Grimshaw machine was of a rlldically different class from the roller machines, and was useful only upon a very coarse grade of hats. and that it required invention to transfer the Grimshaw adjustable roller to the more modern machines. Inasmuch as it was a machine for felting hat bodies, which subjected the roll of hat bodies to the action of two felting surfaces, al· though not two rolling surfaces, and the only thing to be done was to change two buffers in aro11er machine into a single buffer, and the single buffer was found in' the table machine, where it performed the lame office in the same way in which it now does, without any substantial chnnsein>the manner of applying. it, there was no patentable
,CHITTENDEN tI. MALLOR¥.
inventionm SUbstituting a single buffer for the two buffers of Waring or Yule. OtJUins 00. COe8, 130 U. S. 56, 9 Sup. Ct. Rep. 514. The claims ofthe Chittenden patent, which were originally thought to have been infringed, are.as follows: "(1) In combination, a central shaft, a sectional roller with grooved or dented ends, and a cap plate with projections or flanges taking into said grooves or indentations; all substantially as described. (2) In combination with a central shaft and a wooden roller made in sections, with grooved ends, a cap fast to the shaft, and bearing flanges projecting into the grooves, and sections are clllmped together; all substantially as. ,described. whereby (5) In combination with the frame of a felting or sizing machine, a shaft bearing a roller, and an adjustable journal box secured to said frame, and adapted to adj list itself in alignlilent with the shaft; all substantially .as described. (0) In combination, the frame branched to inclose a journal box. With a sunken surface on one branch adapted to receive. the rounded ,surface of the box, and a mortise in the other bl'anch, the block movable in the mortise. and with. its lower surface conforming to the rounded surface of the box, the plug beating the flange. and the set-screw; all SUbstantially as described. (7) In C9mbination with the main frame of a felting-machine, a sWingIng frame bearing a roller, a treadle with rods connecting it to said frame, and a brace or like device having sliding sections, and an adjustable stop device; all substantIally as described. (8), In combination with the main frame of a felting odike machine. a SWinging roller frame. the treadle and conm,cting rods, and the brace composed of the tubular section and the rod section, the latter attached to a part on the frame and bearing a set-nut; all substantially as described."
In-
These claims are in three pairs, the first and second being substan. tially alike, the fifth and sixth being not very different, and the seventh and eighth being substantially alike; so that if one of each pair of claims had been omitted the alleged invention would have been about as well secured. It is now admitted that the first claim was anticipated by the Hill roller and cap, a part of a hat-felting machine which was constructed and used before October 1, 1883. This roller consisted of a central metal shaft, around which was p1l;lCed a wooden roller made in sections, and provided with a metal cap whose hub was secured to the central shaft. Each cap had flanges which took into grooves in the end of the wooden collaT, and a flange which prevented the wooden ,Toller from moving away from the shaft. This last mentioned flange was in the periphery of the cap in the.Hill machine, and in the central portion of the cap in the Chittenden machine. The Chittenden cap has ribs lying in parallel straight grooves. Hill's cap has radial ribs lying in radial grooves in the wood. The Chittenden roller seems to me to be the better· me· chanical structure; but its peculiarities are those which naturally result from a new attempt to lock together the sections of a revolving wooden roller by a metallic cap, and are not such as to be properly called the result of invention. The fifth and sixth claims relate to an adjustable journal box adapted to adjus't itself in alignment with the shaft bearing a roUer. The fifth claim is capable of a broader construction than the sixth, and is admitted to have been anticipated by the Yule split journal box, which
,220
FEDERAL. REPORTER,. vol.
41.
::was a part of the hat-felting machines made by George Yule in 1879. As stated by the defendants' expert,the construction of both boxes is such that the frame which receives the box holds it inclosed between two sunken surfaces, and at the same time allows it to adjust itself in alignment with the journal of the roller with which it used. The minor details, which are mentioned in the sixth claim and not in the fifth, I do not consider. of patentable importance. The seventh and eighth claims relate to the patented device for an adjustable stop; which consists of a vertical screw which is a.ttached to the under side of the table; and its lower end is received within a tube which is attached to the treadle. On the screw above the tube is a hand wheel. By turning the hand wheel it is rt,n down; and when the treadle is released from the pressure of the foot of the operator the tube on the treadle rises up, and strikes the under side of the wheel. The tube rises up and strikes. the stop, whereas in the Russell machine the treadle This particular kind of adjustable stop rises up and strikes the was apparently new, but a brace or a screw within a sleeve was not new; and there was no invention in having the sleeve or tube which was attached to the treadle strike the handwheel or the stop instead of having the treadle strike the stop. It was a modification of the previously existing stop mechanism, which had the advantage of strength, but was within the ordinarj' scope of the skilled mechanic. The bill should be dismissed.
, COCHRAN
V.
WILSON et al.
Oourt, W.D.PennsylAJania. Novembe'r2'l',1889.} PATENTS FOR
Letters rfatent No. 824,922, dated August 25,1885, issued to JolIn M.pavidson for an improvement in sucker-rods for deep wells, describe the invention as being a section ,for deep-well sucker.x:ods, consisting of a spirally twisted metal rod, having at one 13nd a threaded pin and at the Opposite end a threaded box, both integral with the rod; the twist of the rod being in reverse direction from the thread of its connectiQn. H,eZd, that the device is not anticipated by metal lightning rods of the same form; its use being in no wise similar to that for which the latter are adapted·.
FOR WELLS.
In Equity. Bill for infringement of·' patent. James a. Boyce and D. F. Patter8on, for complainant. W. Bakewell SOnB, for McKENNAN, J. This bill is founded upon letters patent No. 324,922, dated August 25, 1885, issued to JohnM. Davidson, for an improvement in sucker-rods for deep wells. On the 6th day of October, 1885, the patent was duly assigned to the complainant. The patent contains two claims, both of which are alleged and shown to have been infringed. The invention, as described and claimed,consists of a section or length for deep-well Bucker-rods, consisting; dia spirally twisted metal rod.
