Adee v. Thomas

• Decision Date: 25 January 1890
• Parties: ADEE et al. v. THOMAS.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York

41 F. 342

ADEE et al. v. THOMAS.

United States Circuit Court, E.D. New York.

January 25, 1890

A. V Briesen, for complainants.

Louis W. Frost, for defendant.

LACOMBE J.

The patent upon which complainants bring suit is No. 286,746, for a waste-trap, dated October 16, 1883, and issued originally to the defendant. On July 15, 1888, he assigned it to the complainants for a valuable consideration. In vindication of the waste-traps which defendant now makes against the charge of infringement, the only evidence introduced is found in three patents, two prior and one subsequent to that sued upon. The subsequent patent is No. 371,107, October 4, 1887 granted to defendant for 'waste-trap for basins, closets etc.' That defendant manufactures traps under a subsequent patent, and that such subsequent patent covers improvements of great merit, (if it does,) is wholly immaterial, should it appear that the traps made thereunder do in fact infringe upon the patent in suit. There is no expert testimony in the case as to the prior state of the art, or explanatory of the earlier patents, one of which was not even set up in the answer. This branch of the case is therefore to be determined upon the face of the papers. By the disclaimer in the patent sued upon it is apparent that no claim was made for traps the sole distinguishing feature of which was the presence of dams at an inclination to the body of the trap, and covering the lateral opening to the sewer 'as in English patent No. 1,504 of 1858. ' No testimony as to what this English patent covered is to be found in proof. The claim made is:

(1) In a waste-trap adapted to be inserted in a line of pipe, the combination, with the inlet-pipe, a', and exit-pipe, d, of the cup, b, and the partition, f, the upper end of which is inclined towards the exit-pipe, d, and united to the interior of the cup, b, above said pipe, d, substantially as set forth.

Reference to the specification shows quite clearly the object of the invention. In the manufacture of cast-lead traps for plumbers' use, great care has to be exercised in making them of a desirable and efficient form, and also in such a manner that the cores can be easily removed after casting. It is also desirable to have no seam in the lower part of the trap where the waste water remains, as the rough or projecting edges of this seam are liable to catch and retain particles that eventually will interfere with the proper washing of the trap; and this seam is also liable to open or separate from expansion and contraction produced by heat and cold, and thus become leaky,--probably the most serious defect in a waste-trap. The patentee states that the 'object of his invention is the making of a cheap, efficient, and reliable waste-trap, wherein the seam is in the upper portion, where the water does not come into contact with it, and the cup portion is of such shape that the cores can be easily and quickly removed after casting. ' Figs. 1 and 2 of the patent show the manner in which he accomplished these results.

The trap is constructed of the upper portion, a, and the bottom or cup...