Bailey v. Galion Iron Works & Mfg. Co.

• Citation: 80 F.2d 805
• Decision Date: 06 January 1936
• Docket Number: No. 3944.,3944.
• Parties: BAILEY v. GALION IRON WORKS & MFG. CO.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (4th Circuit)

80 F.2d 805 (1936)

BAILEY v. GALION IRON WORKS & MFG. CO.

No. 3944.

Circuit Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

January 6, 1936.

Claude K. Wingate, of Columbia, S. C. (J. Fraser Lyon, of Columbia, S. C., on the brief), for appellant.

Charles M. Nissen, of Columbus, Ohio (Tobias & Turner, of Columbia, S. C., on the brief), for appellee.

Before PARKER and SOPER, Circuit Judges, and COLEMAN, District Judge.

SOPER, Circuit Judge.

James F. Bailey, patentee of United States patent No. 1,479,422 of 1924, brought suit in the District Court charging infringement of the patent by the Galion Iron Works & Manufacturing Company. The District Judge, holding valid the claims relied on but finding no infringement by the defendant, dismissed the bill, and this appeal followed.

The invention is entitled "Demountable Attachment for Tractors." It relates to a structure having the general form of a running gear construction of an automotive truck for the transportation of heavy articles. The stated object is to provide an attachment adapted to be detachably secured to a tractor of ordinary type without extensive change in the construction of the tractor; and to provide in the attachment a frame to be attached to fixed parts of the tractor, wheels for supporting the frame, and a novel spring suspension arrangement for mounting the frame upon the wheels; and also a power take-off arrangement from which the power may be transmitted.

With this end in view, the iron or steel frame is made of convenient width and length. This frame is supported by axles upon which are wheels resting on the ground. Upon this frame a tractor containing a power unit is mounted and from the rear axle of the tractor the wheels have been removed. There is substituted for these wheels an attachment which, working in conjunction with an attachment on the rear wheels of the supporting frame, transmits the power from the tractor thereto. In the drawings accompanying the letters patent, a sprocket and chain arrangement is used for the transmission of power from the rear axle of the tractor to the ground wheels of the frame; but the patentee states that he is not limited to this means of power transmission and any other practical means may be employed for the purpose. The principle of the invention is the utilization of the power produced by the tractor to propel both itself and the attachment as a unit whereby cheap power capable of doing heavy work is secured.

The frame consists of a pair of spaced apart longitudinal members, each consisting of a rear and a front section, and a cross member connecting the said members at the extremities of the rear sections. The forward end portions of the rear sections are secured to the front sections. A U-shaped yoke is provided as the connection between the forward ends of the front sections and the front suspension member of the tractor. The web portion of the U-shaped yoke is pivotedly attached to the suspension member at the rear of the front axle so that the web portion of the yoke extends transversely of the tractor and the arms thereof extend upwardly at opposite sides of the radiator of the tractor. By this means the framework is attached to a fixed part of the tractor. The axles of the ground wheels are provided with a pair of semi-elliptical leaf springs for each of the axle housings. With the organization described, the frame of the attachment is flexibly supported above the axle housings whereby shocks and jars occasioned by inequalities of road surface will be dissipated to a considerable extent without being transmitted to the frame.

The specifications contain the following statement: "From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, the operation of the same may be readily understood. A tractor may be employed in the transportation of loads ordinarily requiring the use of a truck when an attachment embodying my invention is applied thereto, in the manner described. Since the attachment is demountable, the tractor may be used in performing the functions for which originally provided when not being used in the transportation of materials."

The Galion Iron Works' roller, which is charged to infringe, may be described as follows: A frame of suitable dimensions is made and mounted upon a rear axle, to which are attached two ground wheels or rollers. Another ground wheel or roller is attached to the front end of the frame. Upon this frame is supported a power plant or unit of the type used by the International Harvester Company in a tractor. The power plant is modified as to its rear axle construction and additional parts are supplied, and the plant is permanently built into the road roller, the frames extending forwardly from the power plant and not rearwardly therefrom. Upon each end of the tractor's rear axle is placed a pinion gear and another gear, commonly called a "bull gear," is built about the hub of the roller; the pinions on the rear axle of the tractor being made so as to mesh into the bull gear. By this means the power is transferred from the tractor to the rollers so that the whole...