Cleveland Automatic Mach. Co. v. National Acme Co.

• Citation: 52 F.2d 769
• Decision Date: 09 October 1931
• Docket Number: No. 5677.,5677.
• Parties: CLEVELAND AUTOMATIC MACH. CO. v. NATIONAL ACME CO.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit)

52 F.2d 769 (1931)

CLEVELAND AUTOMATIC MACH. CO. v. NATIONAL ACME CO.

No. 5677.

Circuit Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

October 9, 1931.

John Weld Peck, of Cincinnati, Ohio (Fay, Oberlin & Fay and A. M. Brown, all of Cleveland, Ohio, on the brief), for appellant.

C. A. Weed, of New York City (Thompson, Hine & Flory, of Cleveland, Ohio, and Dolle, O'Donnell & Cash, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Kwis, Hudson & Kent, of Cleveland, Ohio, on the brief), for appellee.

Before MOORMAN and HICKS, Circuit Judges, and HOUGH, District Judge.

HICKS, Circuit Judge.

Suit upon alleged infringement of patent No. 1,092,462, for a Metal Working Machine, granted April 7, 1914, to Enoch Trobeck, and assigned to appellee. Claims 3, 4, 5, 12, and 13 are involved. The defenses were: (1) Lack of invention; (2) anticipation by prior patents, uses, and publications; (3) that the specifications of the patent are incomplete, uncertain, and ambiguous; and (4) noninfringement. The District Court held all the claims valid and infringed.

Claims 3, 4, and 5 are built around (1) a bed; (2) a work carrying head; (3) a sliding tool carrier; (4) a shaft carried by either the work head or the tool carrier, and extending into the other; and (5) a tool support mounted on said shaft between the work carrier and the tool carrier. The principal elements of claim 12 are: (1) A bed; (2) a sliding tool carrier mounted thereon; (3) a work spindle carrying head; (4) a nonrotatable member extending into said work spindle head from the tool slide and adapted to securing turning tools thereto. Claims 3 and 12 are printed.¹

The Trobeck patent relates to multiple spindle screw machines for the automatic production of metal screws, nuts, bolts, spindles, and other related articles. These multiple spindle automatic machines had their origin in the ordinary lathe and the single spindle automatic machine. Before Trobeck, the familiar type of multiple spindle automatic was one having a longitudinally extending bed, and upon one end thereof a work carrying head upon which was mounted a multiple of work carrying spindles (usually four) arranged about and equidistant from the axis of the machine, and upon the other end thereof a turret supporting a plurality of tools (usually four) likewise arranged about and equidistant from the axis. In some forms, the turret revolved to bring the tools into operating relationship with the work on the spindles; while in others, the work carrying spindles rotated or indexed to bring the work into proper relation with the tools. In some forms, the work head reciprocated longitudinally on the bed causing the work to travel to and from the stationary tools; while in others, the tool carrier was the moving member causing the tools to travel to and from the work.

Trobeck conceived, or at least thought he had conceived, an improvement upon the ordinary multispindle machine. He used the type of multiple tool carrier arranged to slide through guides upon the bed of the machine. Attached to the inner face of the tool carrier by means of bolts and spider arms was an axial extension called a "central tool carrier." To avoid any overhang thereof, and to give rigidity thereto, he provided a tubular member as a support. It was fashioned to encircle the drive shaft, and inserted longitudinally and axially through the central tool slide and was attached thereto, and, sliding therewith, entered the head of the work carrier. The central tool carrier as ordinarily constructed had four sides each with a longitudinal slot thereon arranged for receiving and holding turning or other nonrotatable tools.

We think it manifest that this arrangement presents distinct advantages, and involves more than mere mechanical skill. The box or turning tool was removed from the tool turret and attached to the extension or central tool carrier. There was a resultant shortening of the took shank, and a consequent reduction in the chattering or vibration incident to the use of a long shank. The merit in this is obvious, when it is remembered that the machine work upon the products of these devices must be substantially accurate, i. e., within two and a half thousandths of an inch, or less than a hair's breadth of a precise fit. The drilling or boring must be executed with extreme care and steadiness to prevent the slightest variation or "out of round."

Further, before Trobeck, when it was required to both bore and turn the work at the same time, it was necessary to fix the drill into the hollow shank of the turning tool or, vice versa, to fix the turning tool into the shank of the drill, and, as the turning tool did not rotate, the drill could not. The drilling as well as the turning was accomplished by the rotation of the work spindles, but each was retarded because the work spindles alone revolved. But Trobeck attached the turning or box tool to the central tool slide or extension, and left the drill projecting from the main tool slide. It thus became free, and by suitable gearing was made to rotate independently of the turning tool. With the drill and the work spindle each rotating in opposite directions, the time required for the operation on each spindle was substantially shortened.

Further, if it was desired, additional box tools could be attached tandem to the central tool slide, and, in case of heavy side cutting or turning, rollers or steady-rests could be attached to minimize the incidental vibration.

The Trobeck patent was acquiesced in except by appellant, and even by it for more than ten years and until it built and sold an admittedly infringing machine to the Federal Screw Company in November, 1924. The patent is prima facie evidence of its utility, and, if we entertained any doubt of its practical usefulness, appellant, having in its answer admitted infringement, is estopped from denying it. Lehnbeuter v. Holthaus, 105 U. S. 94, 26 L. Ed. 939; Westinghouse Co. v. Wagner Mfg. Co., 225 U. S. 604, 616, 32 S. Ct. 691, 56 L. Ed. 1222, 41 L. R. A. (N. S.) 653; Seymour v. Ford Motor Co., 44 F.(2d) 306, 308 (C. C. A. 6).

It is urged that "high speed drilling," that is, the simultaneous rotation of the drilling tools and the work in opposite directions was an afterthought with Trobeck, and was not described in the specifications of his patent. We think it is sufficiently described. The specificaitons state that the object of the invention is to provide means by which "additional as well as better work may be done along certain lines. * * *" It is also stated "preferably the central tool holder 9 is constructed and arranged in such manner that the tool spindles remain free and can be used for internal work or drilling simultaneously with the outside turning." This necessarily means that the drill and the work may rotate in opposite directions for drilling simultaneously with the outside cutting or turning operation. But this is not material. This "high speed" function was present in the Trobeck attachment, whether sufficiently described or not, and contributed to its usefulness, and we think the patentee should have such construction of the specifications and claims as will protect his invention. McCormick Harvesting Mach. Co. v. C. Aultman & Co., 69 F. 371, 378 (C. C. A. 6); Goshen Sweeper Co. v. Bissell Carpet-Sweeper Co., 72 F. 67, 74 (C. C. A. 6); Kellogg S. & S. Co. v. Dean Electric Co., 182 F. 991, 998 (C. C. A. 6).

We give little weight to the argument that the limited manufacture and sale of the Trobeck improvement indicates its inutility. Failure to manufacture and sell the patented device does not always negative utility. Appellee, as assignee of Trobeck, did manufacture a limited number of...