Jungersen v. Morris Kaysen Co.
| Decision Date | 24 January 1940 |
| Docket Number | No. 358.,358. |
| Citation | 31 F. Supp. 703 |
| Parties | JUNGERSEN v. MORRIS KAYSEN CO. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Pennsylvania |
A. Yates Dowell, of Washington, D. C. (Karl W. Flocks, of Washington, D. C., and Manuel Steinberg, of Philadelphia, Pa., of counsel), for plaintiff.
Robert I. Silverman, of Washington, D. C., for defendant.
This is a suit in a civil action for patent infringement. The case was tried before me without a jury.
From the pleadings, proofs and briefs it is evident that if Patent No. 2,118,468 to Jungersen is valid, then it is also infringed. The defense is the asserted invalidity of the patent because of anticipation by the prior art: more specifically, prior patents, prior processes or methods, and prior publications.
The patent is for a method of casting articles of intricate design and a product thereof. Commercially, the articles of intricate design have been metal articles of intricate detail, such as jewelry, which are, in the words of the patent, "designed with hollows, undercut portions and perforations".
Prior to the method covered by the patent, metal articles of jewelry, such as rings for instance, were also made by a casting process, but the defect in the reproduction of the precise detail of the model was such as to necessitate a considerable amount of hand labor upon the article after casting, in order to bring out the detail which the casting failed to reproduce. This hand labor is an expensive item. It must be done by an "artist"—a skilled jeweler. Even so, the finished product is no exact counterpart of the model.
The above earlier casting method was known as the "Cuttlefish Process". Other methods of making jewelry not involving casting need not be considered, as they could not possibly have any bearing upon the validity of the patent involved in the suit.
The "Cuttlefish Process" involved a single direct casting. The model to be reproduced was impressed in a mould, the model was then removed, and a direct casting made by introducing molten metal into the mould. There is nothing to show that any applied force (such as a centrifugal force) is used in the "Cuttlefish Process" to insure the filling of all slight hollows in the mould caused by the intricate detail of the model. From what I can gather, the failure to obtain full reproduction of detail in the "Cuttlefish Process" is due either to this failure to use an applied force in the casting, or to the fact that the removal of the model from the mould is or can only be done in such manner that small particles of the mould adhere to the model, wherefore the depressions in the Cuttlefish mould are no longer an exact negative of the model.
The plaintiff's method overcomes these difficulties, as will become apparent from the following description.
The plaintiff's method involves two castings.
The model is first produced and then a primary mould — a pattern forming mould — is made about it. This mould must be so constructed and of such materials as to meet the requirements of two functions it must perform — (a) permit the removal of the model therefrom without alteration of the irregularities in the surfaces of the negative left by the model, (b) permit the removal of a wax pattern of the model later formed in the mould, without injury to the pattern.
To meet these two requirements and to effect the purpose of reproduction of intricate detail in the model, the primary mould is preferably made by building up a flexible mould-forming material, such as rubber, around the model — in two sections, a top and bottom section, in which a gate or pouring recess is allowed for. Once the model is surrounded by the mould-forming material, it is vulcanized, causing it to flow "intimately about the detail structure of the model". The mould then assumes a permanent shape with a cavity constituting an exact negative of the model.
The two sections of the mould are then separated and the model is removed. Because of the material of and method by which the mould is made, it is evident that no particles will adhere to the model, and precision in detail of the negative will be maintained.
Once the model is removed, the two sections of the mould are brought together again and a low temperature fusing material, such as wax or Wood's metal (a metal alloy), is introduced under an applied force (centrifugal force or a syringe) through the pouring recess into the negative in the mould. Due to the applied force, the material of the pattern enters every crevice of the negative (the cavity left by the removal of the model); and after cooling a faithful replica of the model once again reposes in the cavity which first contained the original model.
Once more the two sections of the mould are separated, and now the wax pattern is removed, as the model was in the first place. Because of the construction and constituent material of the mould, the wax pattern is removed intact. In the words of the patent, "The flexible rubber material from which the mould is made permits the moulded wax to be withdrawn without injury to undercut surfaces or delicate parts".
From the testimony and the commercial success of the plaintiff's method, I am convinced that the above is a justifiable statement.
The wax pattern is then "invested" in a suitable material for the forming of the secondary casting mould, such as, for instance, plaster of Paris. Obviously the nature of this material is such that it will closely surround the surface of the wax pattern, in such manner that after removal of the latter from the hardened mould by a proper process, the cavity remaining after the removal will again be a practically perfect reproduction of the wax pattern, or, what amounts to the same thing, an adequately close reproduction of the original model. The removal of the wax pattern from the hardened mould is effected by heating. This melts and vaporizes out the wax pattern completely, but does not affect the material of which the secondary mould has been made, or the cavity left by the removal of the wax.
The casting mould is then preferably placed in a centrifugal casting machine, and the molten metal from which the final product is to be made is poured into the mould, and introduced into the cavity, under centrifugal forces created by the rotation of the casting machine. The centrifugal force is used, of course, to insure that the molten metal will completely fill in all the recesses in the cavity. Finally, the mould is separated from the casting.
The defendant, contending for the invalidity of the patent, asserts that casting is old; that casting a pattern in a primary mould is old; that making a plastic or flexible mould is old; that the use of primary and secondary moulds in one process is old; that the lost wax process is old; and that the applied force is old; in a word, that every step in the process is old, and that even if the process be used in a non-analogous art, it is merely a combination of old elements, and therefore not patentable. Moreover, the defendant makes the argument, although he does not press it very strongly, that casting is a generic art by itself whether it be used in sculpture, dentistry or the manufacturing of jewelry; wherefore if the steps are old there cannot be any contention based upon non-analogous arts.
Plaintiff counters with the following contentions:
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Ostby & Barton Co. v. Jungersen
...instant suit have been adjudicated, relies also on the cases of Jungersen v. Jenkins et al., D.C., 30 F.Supp. 615, and Jungersen v. Morris Kaysen Co., D.C., 31 F.Supp. 703, in both of which the patent was held valid and infringed. The decisions in these cases by courts of coordinate jurisdi......
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Jungersen v. Baden
...and in an unreported case before an English judge — both substantially undefended by other manufacturers — and in Jungersen v. Morris Kaysen Co., D.C.E. D.Pa., 31 F.Supp. 703, the use of centrifugal force, as well as the commercial success of the process, is stressed to uphold the invention......
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Jungersen v. Baden
...dental and foundry arts", and commercial success. The court found all claims of the patent valid. The second is Jungersen v. Morris Kaysen Co., D.C.E.D.Pa.1940, 31 F.Supp. 703. The court found all claims valid. It emphasized the novelty of the use of centrifugal or similar force for the int......
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Ostby & Barton Co. v. Jungersen
...District Court decisions in which this same patent was found valid. Jungersen v. Jenkins et al., D.C., 30 F.Supp. 615; Jungersen v. Morris Kaysen Co., D.C., 31 F.Supp. 703. These prior adjudications, while not binding upon this court, are entitled to great weight. Standard Brands v. Nationa......