Cimiotti Unhairing Company v. American Fur Refining Company

Decision Date15 May 1905
Docket NumberNo. 192,192
Citation49 L.Ed. 1100,198 U.S. 399,25 S.Ct. 697
PartiesCIMIOTTI UNHAIRING COMPANY and John W. Sutton, Petitioners, v. AMERICAN FUR REFINING COMPANY and Max Mischke
CourtU.S. Supreme Court

This action was begun in the circuit court of the United States for the district of New Jersey for the purpose of enjoining the alleged infringement of certain letters pattent of the United States, issued to John W. Sutton, and bearing date of May 22, 1888, number 383,258, for a certain new and useful invention or improvement upon machines for plucking furs.

In the circuit court a decree was rendered granting an injunction (120 Fed. 672); upon appeal to the circuit court of appeals for the third circuit this judgment was reversed, and the cause was remanded to the circuit court with directions to dismiss the bill. 59 C. C. A. 357, 123 Fed. 869.

The case was brought here upon writ of certiorari to review the judgment of the circuit court of appeals.

Messrs. Louis C. Raegener and John W. Griggs for petitioners.

Mr. Henry Schreiter for respondents.

Mr. Justice Day delivered the opinion of the court:

The patent in controversy has been frequently sustained in the Federal courts (95 Fed. 474; 108 Fed. 82; 53 C. C. A. 2301, 115 Fed. 498; and 53 C. C. A. 161, 115 Fed. 507), and its validity is not contested here. The question presented to us is one of infringement. The invention which is the subject-matter of the controversy relates to machinery for unhairing pelts, and particularly, and perhaps, exclusively, so far as practical use is concerned, sealskins or 'coney' skins. The latter are skins of French or Belgian rabbits, which, under the name of 'electric' sealskins, have been put upon the market, and have been largely sold and used as substitutes for the genuine sealskin. It is said that only an expert can tell the difference between the finished coney and the genuine sealskin.

It is disclosed in the testimony that sealskins, before they are fit for the market, are required to be submitted to a process by which the long hairs, sometimes called 'water hairs,' are separated from the fur, and clipped or plucked from the pelt. Up to about the year of 1881 the removal of such hairs was effected by hand, the pelt being stretched over the finger, by blowing down on the fur a part was made, and the hairs were clipped out by means of scissors. This was necessarily a slow and laborious process. An improvement was made in this art by the Cimiottis, predecessors of the petitioner, by the introduction of an air blast for the purpose of separating the fur, which invention was the subject of a patent to them, number 240,007, under date of April 12, 1881. In 1888 the Sutton patent in suit was issued, in which was introduced a rotating brush apparatus for the purpose of separating the fur, as will be hereinafter more particularly shown. Of his invention, Sutton said in the specifications;

'This invention relates to an improved machine for plucking sealskins and other furs, so as to remove the stiff water hair therefrom without injuring the soft hair or wool of the same.

'The machine is more especially designed with a view to overcome some of the defects and insufficiencies of the plucking machines heretofore in use, and produce the plucking of the skins at the lower parts of the neck and shoulders, where the hairs point outwardly and backwardly and are the most difficult to pluck, as they lie down close to the skin when the same is drawn over the stretcher bar.

'My invention is further designed to dispense with a blast fan or other air-forcing devices, and produce the removing of the water hairs entirely by mechanical means, which are operated by power, so that a quick and uniform plucking of the skin takes place.

'The invention consists of a machine for plucking seal and other skins, which comprises a fixed stretcher bar, means for stretching and intermittently feeding the skin over said stretcher bar, a fixed card above the stretcher bar near the edge of the same, a rotary separating brush that is intermittently moved up in front of the stretcher bar, an oscillating guard below the stretcher bar, a rotary cutting knife and a vertically-reciprocating cutting knife working in conjunction with the rotary knife for cutting off the stiff projecting hairs, said rotary cutting knife being provided with a card supported back of the knife, all of which parts are operated from a com- mon driving shaft, so as to produce for each rotation of the same the cutting off or plucking of the hairs projecting from that part of the skin in front of the stretcher bar.'

The invention was illustrated by certain drawings, some of which are here given, which, together with the description, illustrate the operation of the machine, so far as necessary for the purposes of this case.

[NOTE: MATERIAL SET AT THIS POINT IS NOT DISPLAYABLE (GRAPHIC OR TABULAR MATERIAL)]

Referring to the drawings, the inventor says (in part):

'A represents the supporting frame of my improved machine for plucking seal and other skins. On the frame A is supported a fixed transverse stretcher bar, B, which is tapered to a narrow edge, over which the skin to be plucked is stretched. The skin is applied by tapes to the rollers B' B' which are intermittently actuated by gear wheels operated by a pawl-and-ratchet-wheel mechanism from the driving shaft S, as customary in plucking machines of this class. By the gear wheels and the pawl-and-ratchet mechanism the skin is fed intermittently for a small portion of its length over the front edge of the stretcher bar, it being unwound from the upper and wound up on the lower feed roller. Below the edge of the stretcher bar is arranged a vertically-reciprocating knife C, which moves in slots or ways of fixed guide plates C', and which is operated by fulcrumed levers C2, the rear ends of which are engaged by cams C3 on a cam shaft, S', that is supported above the driving shaft § in suitable bearings of the frame A.

'In front of and at some distance from the stretcher bar B is supported a shaft, D', in bearings of the frame A, said shaft being provided with radial arms d d, to which the rotary knife D is attached, which, in conjunction with the vertically-reciprocating knife C, serves to cut off the water hairs projecting form that part of the skin in front of the edge of the stretcher bar B. To the arms of the rotary knife D, and at some distance back of the latter, is applied a carding brush, D2, which acts on that part of the skin that is fed forward over the edge of the stretcher bar immediately after the hairs of the next preceding section of the skin have been cut off. The shaft D' of the cutting knife D is rotated from the cam shaft S', by means of an intermediate longitudinal shaft, S2, and two sets of miter wheels, D3, D4.

'Immediately above the stretcher bar B is arranged a stationary card, E, which is attached to the ends of the stretcher bar B by means of thumb screws. (Not shown in drawings.) The points of the teeth of the card E are close to but do not touch the surface of the skin, so that the hair and fur are both straightened as the skin is fed forward. The teeth of the card E hold down the fine fur, but permit the stiff hairs to stand up between the teeth, owing to the slow forward movement of the skin, which gives the hairs sufficient time to adjust themselves.

'Below the stretcher bar B is arranged a rotary separating brush, F, which is supported in oscillating arms F', that are guided by pins f, in arc-shape slots f' of fixed guide plates f2, as shown clearly in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the oscillating arms F' being pivoted to horizontally-reciprocating connecting rods F2, which are provided with yokes f3, having anti-friction rollers at their rear ends, and acted upon by cams F3 on the cam shaft S', the cams being so shaped and timed that the forward and upward motion of the brush F takes place at the proper time.

'The brush F receives rotary motion from two belts, f4, which pass over pulleys f5 on the shaft S' and the brush shaft, and which are kept taut by weighted idlers f6, as shown clearly in Fig. 1.

'The brush F is made of soft bristles and is rotated at a speed of one hundred and fifty revolutions per minute. The soft bristles allow the stiff hairs to stand, while the quick motion of the brush bends the soft hair in downward direction and brushes it below the stretcher bar, so that it can be taken up and held in position by the softrubber wipers g of an oscillating guard bar, G, which moves in arc-shaped slots g' of the guide plates C'.'

The operation of the machine is thus described.

'The skin is placed in the machine by being attached to the feed rollers and drawn tightly over the edge of the stretcher bar, so as to lie close to the upper and lower surface of the same. The skin is put in in such a manner that the head end is foremost. The stiff hairs in seal skins point toward the tail, except at the lower part of the neck and shoulders. These parts are at the sides of the head end of the skin, as the skin is split open at the under side. At these parts of the skin the hairs point outwardly and backwardly and are the most troublesome to cut or pluck, as they lie down close to the skin when it is drawn over the stretcher bar. A sharp and quick rub over these parts of the skin from the edge toward the center of the skin is therefore necessary, so as to straighten up the hairs and present them to the action of the cutting knives. When the skin is in place, the stationary card E is drawn backward a few times over that part of the skin that is upon the stretcher bar B, so as to card back the fur and hair and produce thereby a parting of the fur at that part of the skin then covering the edge of the stretcher bar. One half of the fur upon that section of skin will, by the parting, be kept above and the other half below the edge of the stretcher bar. This permits the hair upon that section of the skin...

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