HOE V. CRANSTON.
837
HOE (CfJrmtit Oourt,
et al.
fl. CRANSTON.
D.ConneCUCut. June 28, 1890.)
L
PATENTS 1I'OR INVENTIONS-PATENTABILITy-INVENTION.
Letters patent No. 216,787, issued June 24, 1l!79, to George C. Gill for an Improvement in apparatus for stopping and reversing machinery. consisting of two pulleys on the driving shaft, one fast and one loose, a belt, with a fork and lever for shifting it, and a Vibrating frame, carrying a frictionally acting wheel, the shaft of which is,geared with the loose pulley, are not invalid for want of invention· Said patent is infringed bya device which ditrers from the patented machine only ill using a friction wheel instead of a cog-wheel in the gearing.
.. SAME-IN1!'RINGEMENT.
M. H., Phelp8, for complainants. Frederick E. Ta8ker and Donald G. Perkins, for defendant. SHIPMAN, J. This is a bill in equity to restrain the defendant from the alleged infringement of letters patent No. 216,787, dated June 24, 1879, to George C. Gill, assignor to R. Hoe & Co., for an improvement in apparatus for stopping and reversing machinery. The apparatus is designed to be used mainly upon printing-presses, and to enable the operator to quickly stop and reverse the press if a sheet of paper has been improperly fed to it. The description of the improvement which is contained in the specification cannot be understood without constant reference to the drawings, and I therefore use, slightly abbreviated, the clear description which is contained in the testimony of the plaintiff's expert, Mr. Henry B. Renwick: '''.rhere are many machines which require to be reversed or have their wheels turned in opposite directions or stopped, while the motor shaft is always revolving in the same direction. The Gill invention performs this duty by the aid of only two pulleys on the driving shaft, and a single belt, capable of transferring the motion of the motor shaft to the driving shaft. On the driving shaft there are two pulleys. The one nearest to the frame of the printing-press is a fast pulley, kej'ed upon the shaft. The outer pulley on this driVing shaft is a loose pulley; 'that is, one free to revolve upon the shaft as a journal, or one which will permit the shaft to revolve in either direction ,while the pulley stands still. A belt connects the motor shaft with either pulley on the driVing shaft at the will of the attendant; thebelt being shifted by means ofa shifting 'lever, which carries a fork that embraces the belt. When the fork is shifted into its position nearest the frame of the printingpress, the lower part of the belt is on the fast pulley, and when this fork is in the position furthest from the machine the belt is shifted upon the loose pulley. In order to reverse the motion of the driving shaft, as the fast and loose pUlleys both revolve in the same direction under the operation of the motor shaft, it was necessary to make some connection between the loose pulley and the driVing shaft, so that the revolution of the loose pulleyshotdd drive the driving shaft in a direction opposite ,to that of the loose pulley and of the motor shaft. Mr. Gill devised means, combined WIth the pUlleys and shafts and belt" which will perform this duty. .On the left-hand side of the fast and loos6 ;pUlleys of the driving shaft there IS mounted what .the patent calls a · vibrating frame.' 'fhis frame carries a shaft which has at one end a f1:iction wheel or fdction gearing, and at the other end a cog-wheel, [this frie-
In Equity.
';sas
FEDEn-Ali
I
vol. 42.
tion gearing is the wheel 22 of the 3d claim.] and there is provided In the machine a lever,by meal1:fil,l)rwhicll this vibrating frame can be vibrated by the hand of an attendant; its range of vibration being so great that at one time the frictiol) gear carried vibrating· frame in gear with a friction surface making part of the fast pulley on the dri ving shaft. and that, when the vibrating frame is moved in the other:direction, said friction gear 1Ii'tl1e''v-rbl:ating imIDe will be contact with the friction' surface on the 'fastllulley:. Now if, frlt;tion surfaces arElincontact, that one on 'j the',:vU)l'ating trame could: ,be driven in the same direction as the,loose pulley is driven; and' by motion derived1irom the looscpulley,then the .fast pulley would, i;le driven in theopposi,te dir,ection to the loose pulley, and the motion ofthe'cli'i'ving shaft and,the ,P:!I11':lI'ine would be III order to perform this duty, Mr. Gill secured to the loose pulley, sothHt'lt would turn with it, a cog-Wheel, and this cog-wheel gears into another cog-wheel, and,this cog-wheel gears into a third cog-wheel, which latter is the wheel that is carried by the vibratinl( frame. In consequence of thii'J l'oilstruction,' the shaft upon the Vibrating frame, with its friction gear, revolves in the same direction as the loose pulley. If we now suppose the belt shifted upon the fast then the fast pulley anll shaft will ,be driven, what 1 call, Now, if it be desired to stop the th,e attendant shifts tQe belt 'tdthe loose pUlley, when it win be revolved aimlessly, and the driving 'shaft will stand still. ' If he now desires to turn the driving shaft and the fast pulley, in the opposite direction,' he brings the vibratitigfrallle into such 'position that the friction gear supported by it will engage with the friction ,sul'(aceontbe fast pulley_ . Thenthe.loos,e pUlley will no longer revolve aimbllt,i:lY means of the gearing before described, will qrive the fast pulley anq "tb,e ,driving shaft in the direction from that, in which the loose :puIfey is'.being dr!ven. tbus motion of tbe driving ,and of themachme.lf It be now desired to' the machine, all that is necessary i8 to shift the position of the vibrating :fral11e so that the friction gear thereon is out of contact with the fast pulley, and the machine, and driVing shaft will stop, al,thougb :the loose. pulley still revol ves. If it be now desired to make '"lacbine go ahead., again,the ben is, by means of the shipper and fork. loose to the fast pulley; and it will be noticed that these three are by the ,use of a single pulley on the motor shaft, of .a single belt. and of onlytw,o pulleys, one fast and one loose, on the driVing sbaft." Tbesec'ondand of the five claims of the patent are alone said to be infringe,<l" and are as follows: U(2) The combination, with the belt, 13, the driving shaft, and its fast and loose pulleys, of the vibrating frame, carrying a frictionally-acting wheel, and gearing connecting the shaft of said wheel with the loose pulley, substantially as described. (3) The combination, with the belt, l3,and a device for shifttng the same, ,of the driVing shaft, 20, fast and loose:pulleys. and a Vibrating frame carl'ying a wheel, as 22, the shaft of which is geared with the loose pUlley, all SUbstantially as described." " which','Jlre combined in the tbirdolai'm are thebelt, a device for shifting the ,belt; which is the fork and, lever, the driving shaft, f,rfastpuUey, and a pulley; the vibrating frame carrying a friction friction,surface tp, or 'part pf the, shaft9f thll frame bemggearea. With the loose of gearing, subs{a.ntiallysuch as is described,so that in the same direction as the loose pulley.Tbe
HOE fl.
839
elements of the second claim are the same, with the exception olthe fork and lever. The printing-press of the defendant-has a belt, a fork and lever for shifting the belt, a driving shaft, a; fast and a loose pulley, a vibrating frame carrying a shaft provided at one end with a friction gear ,and at the other end with a cog-wheel. The vibrating frame can he moved towards and away from the fast pulley, and when it is nearest to the pulley its friction gear is in contact with the surface of the fast pulley. The shaft on the vibrating frame is driven from the loose pulley, being so geared with it that the friction gear revolves in the same direction as the loose pulley. A cog, called in the case "the small iron cog," is driven from the loose pulley by friction gearing, viz., the friction surface of the loose pulley and a little pulley keyed upon the same shaft as the cog, and this iron cog gears into a cog-wheel on the vibrating shaft. The apparatus, which was patented to the defendant in 1883, is the same as' the plaintiffs', except as to the means for driving the iron cog. In the plaintiffs' device this cog is driven by another cog keyed to the loose 1>ulley, instead of by friction gearing. Thebnportant question in the case is that ofpatelltability. The defendant does not insist that the particular combination existed before the Gill invention, but that stopping and reversing mechanism was well known, -and consisted of fast and loose pulleys, a shifting device, gears which transmitted motion, so that thedrivirigshaft should be driven in a reverse direction, for which purpose a vibrating frame had been used, and therefore, whenever it was required in a particular machine to stop and reverse, the skilled mechanic knew how to adapt his ma"hille to the necessities of the particular case. These general statements in regard to the elements of the combination are true, but it is necessary to look more closely into the history of the art, to see what had been reached, and thence to as.certain whether the character of the new combination was such as to be within the scope of mere mechanical knowledge and of expected skillful adaptation of known means to ends. The defendant introduces the stopping and reversing mechanism in divers existing machines, books, and patents whichsbow the state of the art in machines of this kind before the Gill invention. The C. B. Rogers & Co., the Hopkins & Allen, and the Sibley planers, the Tilton and the Soger patents, have no vibrating frame, but, as a consequence, have three pulleys, so that the belt may be easily transferred from the fast to' the loose pulley. In the "Model of Lathe Head" the revolution of the lathe spindle can be made at different velocities, and can be stopped, but cannot be reversed. It has but one pulley,and cannot be altered so' as to reverse the motion of the shaft, without making a new and different machine. No. 59 in "Brown's Mechanical Movements" is also for using a.Bhaftwit4vatying velocities, and has thrE(e pulleys and no frame. The mechanism of the "Sibley Lathe Head" both stops and'reverses the motion of a shaft. It has one pulley, and of course no shipper. It has a vibrating frame which carries two sets of for. moving the shaft in one direction , and the other for lIlovihg it in another directibn. The Williamson patent is the only other patent relied upon in the argu-
840
FEDER.4L REPORTER,
merit. It has no reversing apparatus. There.is thus no mechanism which both stops, starts, and reverses a machine bythe use of two pulleys, one faatand one loose, and a vibrating frame which throws in and out of operation a single set of gears,which, when put in motion by the loose pulley. cause the fast pulley to revolve in the opposite direction to the loose pulley. The Gill mechanism is a simple and compact [uethod of stopping and reversing, has but one train of reversing gear, and gives the and easily-manllged control of the press. The importanteleinents which give the combination its superiority are the franie,and the.frictiongear, which acts upon the friction surface of the fast :pulley , or, as they are called in the second claim, "the vibrating frame, carrying a frictionally acting wheel." The elements of the combination have never been thus brought together before,and the arrangement'produceR an important result, without unnecessary wear and tear, and without loss of power, and by a simple and economical combination of parts, which is easily managed,. This combination in the use of the vibrating frame and its frictional wheel seems to me to have been the result of invention, and to have been beyond the scope of mere mechanical skill. Upon the question ofinfringement. the only difference which is claimed by the defendant's expert to be of inlportance is that, instead of the cogin Gill's machine, the defendant uses a friction wheel, which is driven by the surface of the loose puUey, and transmits motion to the iron cog. These two kinds ofgeariIig were,in the place an!lfor.the purpose for whioh they were there used, known :equivalents or substitutes for each other,! and, unless a most narrow construction should be given to the Gill patent, they create no difference between the two de'\7ices. Let there be a decree against the defendant for the infllingement of the second and third claims, and an accounting.
ASHE ". MUTUAL LASTING
Co. etaZ.
Wtrcwlt OOUTt, D. Maine. April 25,1890.) P4TJ1lNTSPOR
Suit Was brought under Rev. St. U. S. § 4915, to determine whether A. or G. & C. . were the inventors of a machine fol' Which a patent was gt'JInted to G. & C., claima, tack-strip the combination of a sUJ,lport for the tackstriP. consisting of a disk having peripheral teeth to engage between the shanks of the strip, a clamping jaw, and a header." The evidence IJhowed that A. was the first to sUt!'gest the use ofa wheel having teeth to engage between the shanks of the striP, Dut that 1Jtle wheel was to have a'positive movement, which was found to . work imperfectly, while in the perfected machine of G. and C. the strip is not fed by the pO/litive Qf the Wheel, but thE' wheel is moved by the strip. Held, thatA.'s claim to be the inventor of the complete machine is not sustained, and his bill Will' be dismissed. '
CLAIMS.
InEquity. . Predei'ick P.,JiTishll.nd J(J/me$ H. Lange, for complainant. 'f!horna8W. OlfArke, fo),' defendant$.