Kilmer Manuf'g Co. v. Griswold

• Citation: 67 F. 1017
• Decision Date: 23 April 1895
• Docket Number: 93.
• Parties: KILMER MANUF'G CO. v. GRISWOLD et al.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (2nd Circuit)

67 F. 1017

KILMER MANUF'G CO. v. GRISWOLD et al.

No. 93.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

April 23, 1895

W. H Singleton and S. A. Duncan, for complainant.

Edwin H. Brown, for defendants.

Before WALLACE, LACOMBE, and SHIPMAN, Circuit Judges.

LACOMBE Circuit Judge.

Inasmuch as the decree of the circuit court is not final, the only appeal which can be considered is from so much of such decree as grants an injunction. The bale tie of No. 282, 991, as complainant contends, possessed the following characteristics: (1) A band made of wire. (2) A clasp made of wire, and of larger gauge than that of the band, and presenting a rounded bearing surface to the band wire. (3) A pinching angle in the wire clasp, formed by bending the wire composing the clasp into the form of a V, having an apex smaller than the diameter of the band wire. (4) Such a union between the band wire and the clasp that the pull upon the band arising from the expansive force of the bale will operate to hold the sides of the pinching angle from spreading under the wedging action of the free end of the band.

(Image Omitted)

It is manifest that the tendency of a wire forced down into the angle of the V is to spread the arms of the V apart. This is overcome in the patent by prolonging the arms, and inclining them inward until they touch each other; thus forming approximately, a diamond-shaped aperture, into one corner of which the loose end is forced, and then placing an eye or loop at the extremity of each arm, through which the clasp end of the wire is passed, and made fast. Whenever expansion of the bale forces the loose end of the wire deeper down into the angle, the same expansion draws the two eyes tighter together, and thus prevents any spreading of the arms of the V. The circumstance that the clasp is made of wire very much stouter and stronger than the band wire prevents the elongation of the diamond-shaped aperture, and any consequent drawing together of the sides which form the V-shaped angle Patent No. 372,375 declares that: 'This invention is an improvement upon U.S. patent No. 282,991. In this patent (meaning No. 282,991) the band has a clasp made of wire much larger than that of which the band is made. This clasp has an angle in which the loose end of the wire of the band is caught and bound when the bale expands. In this patented device (still referring to No. 282,991) the ends of the clasp are close together where the clasp is secured to the band, and hence when the bale expands the clasp maintains its normal position.'

(Image Omitted)

Then follows a description of the drawings, the essential feature of which is the clasp, B--

'Substantially a V-shaped piece of * * * wire, the ends, b, of which surround the (loose end of the bale wire when placed in the angle of the V), and are spread some distance apart, * * * and not in contact, as in the patent (No. 282,991) referred to.'

The arms of the clasp form the angle b5. The patent proceeds:

'In use, after the bale is compressed, the band is placed about it, and the loose end, a2, is inserted into the angle, b5, and twisted about itself. The bale, being released, expands, tightening on the band. This causes the sides, b2, to come towards each other until the ends, b, contact. The result is that the wire, A, is not simply held in the angle by being pulled therein, as shown in the patent referred to (No. 282,991), but there is a positive action of the clasp, so that the wire is not only pulled into the angle, but also the clasp is jammed against the wire, thus forming a double security against the wire being pulled out.'

The claim relied on is:

'(2) The band, A, having the clasp, B, with the angle, b3, and its ends, b, apart, as set forth.' The extent of this improvement is quite clearly set forth. By reason of the circumstance that the prolongations of the arms of the V do not curve inward, and normally contact, the pressure exerted by the expansion of the bale operating to pull the wire which is rove through the eyes at the ends of the V arms, draws them together so that

...