Clarence Hobbs v. Fred Beach

• Decision Date: 05 March 1901
• Docket Number: No. 139,139
• Parties: CLARENCE W. HOBBS et al., Petitioners , v. FRED H. BEACH
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

180 U.S. 383

21 S.Ct. 409

45 L.Ed. 586

CLARENCE W. HOBBS et al., Petitioners,

v FRED H. BEACH.

No. 139.

Argued January 16, 17, 1901.

Decided March 5, 1901.

This was a bill in equity by Fred H. Beach against Clarence W. Hobbs and Richard Sugden, now deceased (whose estate is represented by his executors), doing business under the name of the Hobbs Manufacturing Company, for an injunction and a recovery of damages for the infringement of reissued letters patent No. 11,167, dated May 26, 1891, for a 'Machine for Attaching Stays to the Corners of Boxes.'

In his specification the patentee makes the following statements:

'That it has been customary heretofore in making paper or straw-board boxes to apply a stay or fastening strip over the joints at the corners of the boxes, which strip is pasted down on the outside of the box or is folded over the edge of the box and secured by paste both outside and inside of the corner; and such work, as far as I am aware, has heretofore been done by hand.'

'My invention relates to a machine for doing this work; and it consists in the matters hereinafter set forth, and pointed out in the appended claims.'

Following are fifteen drawings of the machine and distinct portions thereof, and a minute description of the same. The patentee continues:

'The machine herein shown is, as hereinbefore stated, constructed to turn into the inside of the box the projecting end of the stay, and for this purpose the stay-strip is made of such width, and its guides are so arranged that the inner edge of the strip extends over or past the edge of the box-wall, so that when the stay is pasted down on the ourside of the box-corner, a loose or free end projects outward beyond the inner edge of the box. After the plunger G has pressed the stay upon the box the secondary plunger or strip-bender H then descends and bends or turns this loose end vertically downward.'

'In many boxes the stay is simply pasted against the exterior surface of the box-corner, and is not turned in or over the edge of the same; in which case the work can be done by using a nonreciprocating angular lower die, or anvil, and a single upper die or plunger. In such case the form B will obviously be not necessary as a part separate from the die; or, in other words, a single lower die or form will take the place of the form B and movable lower die I.'

'As far as the main features of my invention are concerned, forms other than those illustrated of the several parts of the machine may be employed without departure from my invention—as, for instance, in place of the particular mechanism shown for feeding or delivering fastening-strips or staystrips to and between the clamping dies, or for applying paste or glue to the said staystrips, for applying paste or glue to the said staystrips, pasting devices may be used in practice with the same general result, as above described.'

The following are the claims alleged to have been infringed by the defendants:

'1. The combination, with opposing clamping-dies, having diverging working faces, of a feeding mechanism constructed to deliver stay-strips between said clamping-dies, and a pasting mechanism for rendering adhesive the stay-strips, said clamping-dies being constructed to co-operate in pressing upon interposed box-corners the adhesive stay-strips, substantially as described.

'2. The combination, with opposing clamping-dies, having diverging working faces, said clamping-dies being arranged to co-operate in pressing adhesive fastening strips upon interposed box-corners, a feeding mechanism constructed to feed forward a continuous fastening-strip, and a cutter for severing the said continuous strip into stay-strips of suitable lengths, substantially as described.

'3. The combination, with opposing clamping-dies, having diverging working faces, said clamping-dies being arranged to co-operate in pressing an adhesive fastening-strip upon the corner of an interposed box, a feeding mechanism constructed to feed between the dies a continuous fastening-strip, a pasting mechanism for applying adhesive substance to the strip, and a cutter for severing the strips into stay-strips of suitable lengths, substantially as described.'

'6. The combination of opposing clamping-dies having diverging working faces constructed to co-operate in pressing an adhesive stay-strip upon an interposed box-corner, one of said clamping-dies being constructed to act with an elastic or yielding pressure to enable the dies to operate upon the box-corners of different thicknesses, substantially as described.'

Upon a hearing, upon pleadings and proofs, the case resulted in a decree in favor of the plaintiff Beach upon the 6th claim, and a further finding that the 1st, 2d, and 3d claims had not been infringed. 82 Fed. Rep. 916.

Both parties appealed to the circuit court of appeals, which reversed the decree of the circuit court with respect of the first three claims of the patent, and affirmed it as to the 6th claim, and remanded the case for further proceedings in conformity with the opinion. 34 C. C. A. 248, 63 U. S. App. 626, 92 Fed. Rep. 146.

Messrs. Samuel T. Fisher and Edward S. Beach for petitioners.

Mr. John Dane, Jr., for respondent.

Mr. Justice Brown delivered the opinion of the court:

The art of making paper boxes requires that the better class of square or other angular shapes be stayed or reinforced at the corners, where a union of the sides and ends is to be brought about by the application of adhesive strips of paper or muslin placed upon the joints, and the corners thereby strengthened, before receiving their final covering of paper. Prior to the Beach invention, the work of thus strengthening the corners of paper boxes by these adhesive strips had always been performed in a tedious and irregular way by hand.

The Beach machine and its operation are thus described by the plaintiff's expert:

'The machine consists of an anvil or lower die, having at the upper portion two working faces which diverge downward from one another at a right angle. Working in connection with this anvil or die, and above it, is a vertical movable die or plunger, having also two diverging working faces, the working faces of the plunger forming a notch therein, which notch co-operates with the upper portion of the lower anvil or die, the dies being adapted to operate upon the right-angle corner of a tax to compress the said corner between the working faces of the opposing dies. A strip of paper suitable for the stay is fed by automatically moving mechanism over a pasting device, and between a pair of shears, and thence between the upper and lower die when separated. The operation of the machine briefly described is as follows: A box whose corner is to be strengthened by the addition of a stay-strip is placed upon the lower anvil or die, the inside of the corner of the box resting upon the apex of the lower die. The machine as it is revolved then feeds forward the stay-strip which has the paste upon it, and as the upper die descends the shears also operate, severing from the continuous stay-strip a portion sufficient for the stay. As the cutting operation is completed the upper die or plunger is descending, and forces the gummed stay-strip into position upon the outside of the box-corner, and the stay-strip and box corner are pressed between the working faces of the two opposing dies, and thus the stay-strip is caused to conform to and be stuck upon the corner of the box. When the upper die or plunger rises, the box with its attached stay-strip can be removed and another corner presented, when the operation will be repeated. The upper die or plunger is provided with a spring of rubber or metal, so that it may yield slightly in the direction of its motion, so that it may give an elastic pressure upon the box, and also be made to operate upon different thicknesses of box or stay-strips.'

'Briefly, this description describes the machine, so far as it is necessary to describe the same for the purposes of this case. I must state, however, that the machine is also arranged to fold in the end of the stay-strip within and into the interior of the box, and this it accomplishes by having the lower die longitudinally movable, and by supporting the box upon both the working faces of the lower die and upon the faces of the block within which the lower die can move. The faces of the upper portion of the die and of the block are arranged so that they form two planes at right angles to one another, the planes of the upper working faces of the die corresponding with the planes of the upper faces of the block. I refer to this capacity of the machine merely for the purpose of showing that I have considered the same, but such capacity, that is, the ability to turn the end of the stay-strip in and over the edge of the box, is not a feature of the machine which need always be present. I quote as follows from the specification of the patent:

"In many boxes, the stay is simply pasted against the exterior surface of the box-corner, and is not turned in or over the edge of the same, in which case the work can be done by using a nonreciprocating angular lower die or anvil, and a single upper die or plunger.'

'From the above quotation it will be clearly evident that the patentee contemplated using his machine in the simple form in which I have described it, and devested of that mechanism which is involved when the stay-strip is turned over the edge of the box and into the same. As the issue in this case involves a mechanism which does not turn the stay-strip over and into the box, I have deemed it best not to put into the record a description of the mechanism necessary to accomplish that result.'

The 1st claim of the patent is for (1) two opposing clamping-dies, having diverging working faces; (2) a feeding mechanism which delivers the stay-strip between the clamping-dies, when the upper die is raised; and (3) a pasting mechanism. The...