Balogh v. Crot

• Decision Date: 04 October 1949
• Docket Number: Patent Appeal No. 5601.
• Citation: 176 F.2d 923,83 USPQ 130
• Parties: BALOGH v. CROT.
• Court: U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals (CCPA)

83 USPQ 130, 176 F.2d 923 (1949)

BALOGH v. CROT.

Patent Appeal No. 5601.

United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals.

June 28, 1949.

Rehearing Denied October 4, 1949.

Richey & Watts and H. F. McNenny, Cleveland, Ohio (Watts T. Estabrook, Washington, D. C., of counsel), for appellant.

Albert L. Ely, Akron, Ohio, for appellee.

Before GARRETT, Chief Judge, and JACKSON, O'CONNELL, and JOHNSON, Associate Judges.

JACKSON, Judge.

This is an appeal in an interference proceeding from a decision of the Board of Interference Examiners of the United States Patent Office awarding priority of invention of the subject matter contained in three counts to appellee.

The interference involves the application of appellant, No. 515,672, bearing the filing date of December 27, 1943, and assigned to the Weatherhead Company of Cleveland, Ohio, and the application of appellee, serial No. 501,354, filed September 6, 1943, and assigned to the Lockheed Air Craft Corporation, Burbank, California.

Count 3 is representative of the counts in issue and reads as follows:

3. A fluid conducting joint adapted to be connected between two fluid handling elements, the joint comprising a socket unit and a ball unit, said units being related for relative universal movement, a tubular member carried by one of said units for relative axial movement, means on the member for facilitating its connection with one of said fluid handling elements, means on one of said units for facilitating its connection with the other fluid handling unit, and means for separately balancing the axial fluid pressures acting on said ball unit and said member, comprising isolated areas balanced against each other and oppositely disposed relative to a transverse plane through the ball unit and subjected to the internal fluid pressures in said joint, means sealing the inner end of said tubular member, and means exposing the exterior surface of said sealed inner end to atmospheric pressure.

The invention relates to a flexible joint for high pressure fluid lines. The joints are designed to connect two rigid conduits in such manner that rotary, swinging, and longitudinal movements between the conduits are permitted. It is said that friction opposition in the movement of the flexible joint is reduced for the reason that the forces exerted by the fluid pressure on the relatively movable parts are neutralized or balanced by an oppositely acting pressure. The devices of the parties are quite similar, the principal difference being that the outlets in the device of appellant are at right angles to one another, while those of appellee's device are in alignment. Each device comprises an outer casing to which one of the outlets is attached and within which there is a socket containing a ball, mounted with sealing means between the ball and the socket so that no oil will be lost while the ball is rotating. A rotatable tube, seated in the ball, moves axially therein. That tube is the outer outlet of the flexible joint. Between the tube and the interior of the ball, sealing means are provided in order that the tube may rotate and reciprocate without the fluid leaking, and also sealing means are provided to prevent the escape of fluid between the ball and its socket. That sealing means is mounted in the socket of the device of appellant and in the ball of the device of appellee. The tube of appellant's device is closed at one end and exposed to the atmosphere for the purpose of balancing atmospheric pressures acting on the tube. In the device of appellee, that result is obtained by means of a small passageway leading to the atmosphere. It is said that the corresponding oppositely located areas, which are subjected to fluid pressures, are made equal so that the resultant forces in the joint due to fluid pressure are zero, and consequently there is no tendency to force the ball against the wall of the socket and likewise none to drive the tube in piston fashion to one end of its travel.

Both parties took testimony, filed briefs, and were represented at the final hearing before the board.

Appellant, being the junior party, had the burden of proving priority of invention by a preponderance of the evidence.

It is conceded by appellee that appellant is entitled to prior conception of the invention as of the date, September 22, 1942. Such concession was noted by the board in its decision.

Appellee contended below that, although appellant was the first to conceive the invention, he did not actually reduce it to practice, and he is therefore confined for constructive reduction to practice to the date of the filing of his application, December 27, 1943, and also that the earlier conception is of no avail by reason of lack of diligence, from just prior to the time appellee entered the field, April 30, 1943, as was properly held by the board, until the filing date of appellant.

Appellant contends that the proofs show that he made an actual reduction to practice by reason of certain tests, and that, therefore, being the first to conceive the invention and the first to reduce it to practice, he is entitled to an award of priority. It is further contended by appellant that even if it be found that his tests were not sufficient to amount to actual reduction to practice, that, nevertheless, he exercised due diligence during the critical period in reducing the invention to practice constructively by the filing of his application.

The record discloses that appellant's claimed actual reduction to practice is based upon certain laboratory tests, which were made in June 1943, of a device in evidence, which was made from working drawings also in evidence. The tests consisted in closing one end of the fitting and applying oil pressure to the other end and while the pressure was on subjecting the fitting to "torque tests of the swiveling in the ball, the ball swiveling in the body, and also the lateral motion of the bolt being pushed back and forth in the ball at various pressures." The extent of the torque was...