Potts v. Creager

Citation44 F. 680
PartiesPOTTS et al. v. CREAGER et al.
Decision Date03 January 1891
CourtUnited States District Courts. 6th Circuit. United States District Courts. 6th Circuit. Southern District of Ohio

C. & E W. Bradford, for complainants.

Jas Moore, for respondents.

SAGE J.

This suit is for the infringement of claim 6 of patent No 322,393, July 14, 1885, and claims 1 and 2 of patent No 368,898, August 23, 1887, both issued to C, & A. Potts for improvements in disintegrating clay. The purpose of these improvements is to disintegrate clay by means of a revolving cylinder, against which the clay is automatically pressed, as hereinafter described. The machine consists of a cylinder mounted on a shaft, having suitable bearings on the frame which supports it, the cylinder being of such length as to nearly fill the space between the sides of the frame. A series of steel bars if fitted into longitudinal grooves in the periphery of the cylinder, where they are held by flush screws at each end, or other suitable means, that they may be so adjusted as to present a sharp corner projecting above the surface of the cylinder. Opposite the cylinder strong plate is mounted on the shaft, so as to swing in bearings on the frame. The central part of this plate is cylindrical in outline, the upper portion presenting a straight surface and the lower portion presenting to the cylinder a curved surface, corresponding to the periphery of the cylinder. This plate is caused to oscillate in its bearings by means of an eccentric wheel.

The opposed sides of the cylinder and the upper and central portions of the plate form, together with sheet-metal end-plates which are secured to the frame, a trough, one side of which approaches and recedes from the other at intervals, and which has at the bottom a narrow opening of constant width.

The operation of the machine is as follows:

The upper end of the plate being swung back to the position furthest from the cylinder, the moist, untempered clay is thrown into the trough above mentioned. The cylinder revolving rapidly, successive portions are removed from the mass of clay, and carried through the opening between the plate and the cylinder by the scraping bars. At the same time the upper portion of the plate moves slowly towards the cylinder, thus keeping the mass of clay in close contact with the cylinder as successive portions are removed. The finely divided clay, after passing through the opening between the plate and the cylinder, falls upon the lower curved portion of the plate, and from thence to an incline, which carries it away.

Claim 6 is as follows:

'In a clay disintegrator, the combination, with cylinder, A, having a series of longitudinal grooves of the scraping bars, c, adjustably secured in said grooves, for the purpose specified.'

In patent No. 368,898 a plain cylinder, set oppositely to the cutting cylinder, and revolving therewith in close proximity, os that the raw clay may be fed, shredded, and discharged in an even and continuous manner, in readiness to be taken directly to the pug or other mill, is substituted for the swinging plate described in patent No. 322,393. This additional cylinder serves as a feeder, continuously pressing the clay towards the shredding cylinder, whereby an abutment is furnished for the shredding cylinder to act upon, which, while being unyielding and unchanging as to location, is at the same time continuously changing as to surface, distributing the wear evenly throughout the circumference of the periphery of the feed cylinder, and thus not operating to change or vary the width of the space between the two cylinders as rapidly as had resulted from the wear upon the plate in the old construction. The two cylinders being arranged in such a manner as to be adjusted towards or from each other, it is only necessary, when the feed cylinder becomes worn to such an extent as to render the space between the cylinders too wide for practical use, to adjust them until the space is reduced to the width desired, thus enabling the cylinder to be used for a long time; the wear upon its surface not resulting in changing the character of the abutment, as has been the case in the old construction, wherein the abutting portion of the plate would soon be worn into a flat condition, not suitable for practical use, requiring the substitution of a new one at considerable expense. The improved construction also obviated the objection of the clay sticking to the feeding device, the feeding cylinder being continuously rotated in one direction. Claims 1 and 2 of this patent are as follows:

'(1) In the supporting frame of a clay disintegrator, a rotating cylinder longitudinally grooved, and carrying cutting bars in and projecting beyond the grooves, in combination with a smooth-faced rotating cylinder, adapted to carry and hold the clay against the cylinder having the cutting bars thereon, which latter cut or shred the clay, and pass the same between the cylinders, substantially as set forth. (2) In clay disintegrators, the combination, with the main supporting frame and with the rotating cylinder fixed therein, and having longitudinal cutting bars projecting beyond the face thereof, of a positive revolving companion cylinder, fixed opposite thereto in said frame, and having a smooth face or surface, with which said cutting-bars directly co-operate to shred or clip the clay as the same is fed by and passed between said cylinders, substantially as described.' The defenses are, to the first patent, anticipation and want of novelty; to the second patent, anticipation, want of invention, and non-infringement. Respondents rely upon eight prior patents. The first of these is the Butterworth patent of 1865, for an apple-grinding machine or cider-mill, in which is employed a cylinder having its periphery armed with knives or cutters having serrated or toothed edges, which form a series of cutting projections, with chisel-shaped edges. These cutters are so adjusted as to project beyond the periphery of the cylinder.

Second. The Ennis patent, September, 1865, for a machine for preparing paper pulp, in which an engine roll is found having on its periphery a series of cutters set in grooves in the periphery of a cylinder, so as to be in close proximity one to the other.

Third. The Frost patent, April 3, 1866, for an improved construction of paper engine or pulping machine cylinders, which consists in so applying the grinding plates or knives that they may be moved outwardly from the circumference of the cylinder as they wear under the operation of grinding the pulp, provision being made to hold them firmly in position as adjusted.

Fourth. The Van Name patent, January 8, 1884, which shows a...

To continue reading

Request your trial
3 cases
  • Anderson Foundry & Machine Works v. Potts
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (7th Circuit)
    • 9 April 1901
    ...that circuit, each reversing a decree of the circuit court. Potts & Co. v. Creager, 155 U.S. 597, 15 Sup.Ct. 194, 39 L.Ed. 275; Id. (C.C.) 44 F. 680; In re Potts, 166 263, 17 Sup.Ct. 520, 41 L.Ed. 994; C. & A. Potts & Co. v. Creager, 71 F. 574; Potts & Co. v. Creager, 38 C.C.A. 47, 97 F. 78......
  • C. & A. Potts & Co. v. Creager
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit)
    • 23 October 1899
    ...Issues were made up by the filing of an answer and replication, and the circuit court, after a hearing upon the merits, dismissed the bill. 44 F. 680. The plaintiff then appealed to supreme court, and that court, after a full hearing, found the patent to be valid, found the defendants to ha......
  • Walker v. Brown
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of Iowa
    • 15 July 1897
    ...circuit court had found adversely to plaintiffs,-- sustaining the defense of want of novelty in the invention,-- and dismissed the bill. 44 F. 680. appeal to the supreme court the decree entered below was reversed, and the cause remanded 'for further proceedings in conformity with' that opi......

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT