Ford Motor Co. v. Parks & Bohne
| Decision Date | 30 September 1927 |
| Docket Number | No. 7741.,7741. |
| Citation | 21 F.2d 943 |
| Parties | FORD MOTOR CO. v. PARKS & BOHNE, Inc. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Frank Parker Davis, of Chicago, Ill. (Glen E. Smith, of Chicago, Ill., and Carr, Carr & Gravely, of St. Louis, Mo., on the brief), for appellant.
Ralph Kalish, of St. Louis, Mo., for appellee.
Before KENYON, Circuit Judge, and MOLYNEAUX and JOHN B. SANBORN, District Judges.
Parks & Bohne, Inc., appellee plaintiff, filed its bill in equity in the District Court, seeking to restrain the appellant defendant from further infringement of United States letters patent Nos. 1,198,090 and 1,198,091, issued on September 12, 1916, to Thomas Locke White, for automobile transmission bands. Both patents relate to brake bands operating upon drums for the control of speeds, for reversing, and for retarding and stopping. The patents are not for the transmission mechanism, but only pertain to a detail in the construction of the band itself which allows the band to be removed and replaced more conveniently, saving time and labor. The District Court upheld the validity of the patents.
The errors relied upon are summed up by the appellant as assigned error in not decreeing invalidity for anticipation and lack of patentability in putting an old contrivance to use in a new environment, where it performs the same office as before; and also error in decreeing infringement of appellant's claims. Appellee is engaged in manufacturing and selling transmission bands for use in Ford automobiles of the manufacture of appellant. Formerly the band used in Ford transmissions had so-called ears, permanently riveted upon both ends. These ears are fixtures by which to lay hold of the ends of the band for the purpose of contracting it so as to apply brake friction to the drum and encircled by the band.
Appellee's improvement consists in making the ear at one end of the band detachable; the purpose of this being to make the band more readily removable and replaceable. This is an advantage and desirable, because in practice the constant use of the band in applying friction wears out the drum, making it necessary to frequently remove it for the purpose of renewal or relining. The casing of the Ford transmission mechanism is such that it snugly embraces the interior parts, and, with the ears riveted on both ends of the band, removal and replacement thereof required the removal of the upper half of the casing, and this required removal and replacement of a considerable number of associated parts, consuming considerable labor and time. By making one of the ears detachable, a band can be slipped out of the cap opening in the top of the same, thereby saving labor and time.
That the construction under consideration may be more readily visualized and compared with each other, we show them in the subjoined figures; in Figures 1 and 2, White's first and second ear on the band, in Figure 3, appellee's ear on the band, and in Figure 4, Brown & Sharpe's ear on the band.
We refer to patent No. 1,198,090 as the first patent in suit and to patent No. 1,198,091 as the second patent in suit.
It is appellant's contention that White's structure was anticipated by, and finds a complete response in, the Brown & Sharpe construction:
Referring to Figure 1, showing the ear in the first patent in suit, the outstanding portion of the detachable ear 12 has the same bifurcated or forked form as the old Ford riveted-on ear, but the base is specially fashioned for dovetailing into flanges 25 formed at opposite sides of the band 9 at one end thereof. This formation of the base and this flanging of the band provide for sliding the ear into position at the end of the band and interlocking it therewith against outward separation therefrom. The lateral projections 27 at the rear of the ear base, by abutting against the rear ends of the flanges 25, limit the sliding-on movement, and enable this ear to serve the same function as a riveted ear when a pull is applied to contract the band around the drum. At the same time, when occasion requires, the ear can be slid back out of engagement with the band flanges and taken away so that the band can then be removed from the casing by laying hold of the other riveted ear and working the then earless end around through the space between the drum and the casing.
Referring to Figure 5, portraying the ear in the second patent in suit, as before, the outstanding portion of the ear is of the customary bifurcated or forked form to co-operate with the usual operating devices just as a riveted ear does. Instead of the dovetail formation of the first patent, a "keyhole slot and lug connection" is employed for interlocking the base of the ear with the band. The keyhole slots 25 and 26 are made in the band, and the studs or lugs 27 and 28 are secured in the base of the ear. The operation is the same as in any keyhole slot and lug arrangement. The heads of the lugs are put through the large ends of the keyhole slots and then relative lengthwise movement of the parts interlocks them.
In this construction of the second patent, a spring catch is used to prevent accidental backing off of the detachable ear. This catch consists simply in a thin spring strip 29 fastened at one end to the base by a screw 30, and having a pin or stud 31 at the other end, going through a hole in the base and engaging in one of the keyhole slots 26.
White did not create any new combination of elements making up an automobile transmission mechanism, nor any new mounting or encasing or controlling arrangement of the same. His contribution consisted solely in replacing one of two riveted-on ears on an old brake band or transmission band, by a detachable ear at one end of the band, thus securing the advantage of making the band more readily removable and replaceable.
He conceived that by this expedient, leaving the other things as they were, he could secure this improvement. We do not think this conception patentable invention. It was perfectly obvious that there was not space enough between the drums and the casing to permit an ear to be passed between them. This was apparent to any one, from the most casual observation; and the perception of replacing one of the pivoted-on ears by a detachable ear is mere mechanical facility, and does not require exercise of the inventive faculty.
Whether it was invention to devise such a form or means portrayed in the patents and set out in the claims thereof, whereby to accomplish detachability in the ear, we pass without discussion and without deciding, as in our view the prior uses and prior patenting and publication anticipate all that is claimed in these patents which could have any application to the appellant's construction. Ever since 1902 Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Company of Providence, R. I., have had in use and public sale screw machines in which a brake band is used around a drum; the band having a detachable ear, as shown in Figure 4, hereinbefore portrayed.
The ear or angle plate of this band being the shorter one of the two ears shown in the illustration, Figure 4, above, is made detachable by forming its base with the keyhole slots to engage head lugs on the band. This is made slidably engageable with the band, the same as is claimed for the first patent in suit, and is so made by "a keyhole slot and lug" as is claimed for the White patent.
The purpose of making the ear detachable is the same in the Brown & Sharpe ear as in the White patents, namely, for convenience and economy in saving time and labor. It was stated in the catalogue illustrating the Brown & Sharpe construction:
Mr. Kinealy, appellee's expert witness, testified as follows:
Brown & Sharpe used this expedient on a brake band in a screw machine drive, and term the appliance a "spindle brake," whereas the patentee of the patents in suit used the same expedient on an automobile drive, and terms his appliance a "transmission band."
The other claims in patent No. 1,198,091, relate to the spring catch, whose office is to prevent the detachable ear from accidentally backing off from the end of the band.
The figure below illustrates the spring catch:
The figure is a longitudinal section, showing the detachable ear in place on the band, the keyhole slots in the band are designated 25 and 26; the ear slots, 27 and 28; and the spring, 29; number 30 designating the screw, securing the...
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