Eagleton Manuf Co v. West, Bradley Cary Manuf Co

• Decision Date: 05 May 1884
• Citation: 111 U.S. 490,28 L.Ed. 493,4 S.Ct. 593
• Parties: EAGLETON MANUF'G CO. v. WEST, BRADLEY & CARY MANUF'G CO. and another. 1
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

111 U.S. 490

4 S.Ct. 593

28 L.Ed. 493

EAGLETON MANUF'G CO. v. WEST, BRADLEY & CARY MANUF'G CO. and another.¹

May 5, 1884.

Frederic H. Betts, for appellant.

Wm. C. Witter, for appellee.

BLATCHFORD, J.

This suit was brought in the circuit court of the United States for the southern district of New York, on letters patent No. 122,001, granted to the plaintiff, the Eagleton Manufacturing Company, December 19, 1871, for an 'improvement in japanned furniture springs.' The patent contains these recitals: 'Whereas, J. J. Eagleton, of New York, New York, (Sarah N. Eagleton, administratrix,) has presented to the commissioner of patents a petition praying for the grant of letters patent for an alleged new and useful improvement in japanned furniture springs, (she having assigned her right, title, and interest in said improvement, as administratrix, to Eagleton Manufacturing Company, of same place,) a description of which invention is contained in the specification of which a copy is hereto annexed and made a part hereof, and has complied with the various requirements of law in such cases made and provided; and whereas, upon due examination made, the said claimant is adjudged to be justly entitled to a patent under the law.' The specification of the patent is as follows: 'Be it known, that I, J. Joseph Eagleton, of New York, in the county of New York and state of New York, have invented a new and useful improvement in furniture springs; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, in which the drawing represents a furniture spring provided, according to my improvement, with a japan covering. The helical springs heretofore employed for furniture seats, mattresses, etc., have generally been made of iron wire, brass, or copper; but steel wire, although a far superior material for such springs, has not been commonly employed, owing to the lack of means for protecting such springs from corrosion, and the lack of means for imparting to them the necessary stiffness or temper. The object of this invention is to produce steel furniture springs that shall not only be protected from corrosion, but shall also be sui ably tempered and stiffened. The drawing is a perspective view of one of my improved springs. In carrying out my invention, I provide a suitable quantity of steel wire of the size of which the spring is to be made, and this I wind upon blocks in the usual manner, giving the wound spring the ordinary pressing or set. I then provide a suitable bath containing the ordinary preparation of japan varnish, in which I dip or place the springs, so as to cover them with japan. They are then removed and strung on wires, or put on pegs, to drain, after which they are placed in a baking oven of the ordinary kind suitable for the baking of japanned articles, in which oven the springs are subjected to a temperature sufficient to bake and harden the japan; after which the springs are removed from the oven and allowed to cool, when they are ready for use. The treatment of the springs in this manner imparts to them two important and valuable qualities: First, the springs, when they come from the oven and are cooled, have firmly attached to their exterior surface a water-proof covering or coating, which perfectly protects them from corrosion, and fits them for service in all kinds of climates, hot or cold, dry or damp;second, the springs thus prepared are strengthened or stiffened, the application of heat to the springs in the oven having the apparent effect to temper the steel of which they are composed, making the springs stronger and more elastic. As between a steel spring not japanned, as I have described, and a steel spring japanned, as described, both being of the same size and made from the same piece of wire, the japanned spring will be found to be much stronger than the spring not japanned. The spring not japanned is, therefore, not only lacking in strength, but it is also practically useless, for want of a protecting covering. But the improved article, produced substantially in the manner I have described, forms a strong and durable spring, and no article like it has, so far as I am aware, ever been known or used. While I do not claim, broadly, the making of furniture springs of steel wire, I wish it to be understood I do not limit or confine myself to the exact order or method of operation here described, in producing my im- proved springs; as the order or method may be varied without departing from my invention.' There are two claims, namely: '(1) The method, herein described, of strengthening metal springs; (2) as an improved article of manufacture, a spring made substantially as herein described.'

Eagleton, as inventor, filed in the patent-office, on the sixth of July, 1868, a petition for a patent for an 'improvement in furniture springs,' accompanied by an affidavit, a specification, a drawing, and a model, and the proper fee, and, in the petition, appointed Munn & Co. 'to act as his attorneys in presenting the application, and making all such alterations and amendments as may be required, and to sign his name to the drawings.' The affidavit, that Eagleton verily believed himself to be 'the original and first inventor of the within described improvement in furniture springs,' was sworn to by him June 26, 1868. The specification then filed was as follows: 'Be it known that I, J. Joseph Eagleton, of New York, in the county of New York and state of New York, have invented a new and useful improvement in furniture springs, and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, in which the drawing represents a furniture spring provided, according to my improvement, with a japan covering. [The nature of this invention relates to improvements in helical furniture springs, such as are used for mattresses, sofas, etc., the object of which is to provide steel springs which will not be so liable to injury from corrosion as those now in use. It consists in providing steel...