In re Reckford

• Decision Date: 23 January 1933
• Docket Number: Patent Appeal No. 3135.
• Citation: 62 F.2d 842
• Parties: In re RECKFORD.
• Court: U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals (CCPA)

62 F.2d 842 (1933)

In re RECKFORD.

Patent Appeal No. 3135.

Court of Customs and Patent Appeals.

January 23, 1933.

Philip Mauro and Reeve Lewis, both of Washington, D. C., for appellant.

T. A. Hostetler, of Washington, D. C. (Howard S. Miller, of Washington, D. C., of counsel), for the Commissioner of Patents.

Before GRAHAM, Presiding Judge, and BLAND, HATFIELD, GARRETT, and LENROOT, Associate Judges.

HATFIELD, Associate Judge.

This is an appeal from the decision of the Board of Appeals of the United States Patent Office affirming the decision of the Primary Examiner rejecting claim 14, the only one in appellant's application for a patent for an alleged invention relating to improvements in rubber eraser attachments for lead pencils.

The appealed claim reads as follows: "An article of manufacture consisting of an integrally formed ferrule whose wall is approximately concentric throughout to a common axis and which comprises an annular shoulder at the middle portion thereof, a pencil receiving portion of relatively small diameter extending from said shoulder in one direction and an eraser receiving portion of substantially larger diameter extending from said shoulder in the opposite direction; a pencil one extremity of which fits within said pencil receiving portion of said ferrule, being closely embraced by the wall thereof and permanently and immovably secured therein; and an eraser of substantially larger diameter than said pencil secured within and closely embraced by the wall of said eraser receiving portion of said ferrule and extending substantially beyond the outer extremity thereof."

The references are:

Brauns, 814,899, March 13, 1906. Handly, 897,530, Sepember 1, 1908. Tregoning, 977,762, December 6, 1910. Antler, 1,248,988, December 4, 1917.

The appealed claim defines appellant's ferrule as being integrally formed, with walls approximately concentric throughout to a common axis, and comprising "an annular shoulder at the middle portion thereof, a pencil receiving portion of relatively small diameter extending from said shoulder in one direction and an eraser receiving portion of substantially larger diameter extending from said shoulder in the opposite direction." One end of the pencil fits into the receiving portion of the ferrule, where it is permanently and immovably secured. The eraser, secured in the eraser-receiving portion of the ferrule and extending substantially beyond its outer end, is substantially larger in diameter than the pencil.

The patent to Brauns discloses a lead pencil having a ferrule, which consists, generally, of a nonrotatable cap securely and permanently attached to the pencil. The outer end of the cap is closed and enlarged to form an annular head or shoulder. Mounted upon the nonrotatable cap is a rotatable sleeve, provided with an annular shoulder at approximately its middle portion which abuts against the shoulder formed by the head of the nonrotatable cap. A rubber eraser, which, from the drawings, appears to be of slightly greater diameter than the pencil, is screwed into the outer end of the rotatable sleeve.

The patent to Handly discloses a pencil of the ordinary type, having a ferrule permanently and immovably secured to the pencil, and an eraser of the same diameter as that of the pencil.

The patents to Tregoning and Antler were cited in the decision of the Primary Examiner, because, he said, they disclosed erasers substantially larger than the pencils to which they were attached. They were not referred to by the Board of Appeals.

The patent to Tregoning relates to eraser tips for pencils and means for securing them in position. It appears from his specification that the purpose of the patentee was to so construct the eraser, and the device by which it was secured to the pencil, that, when the eraser became worn, it might be removed, "reversed...