Oates v. Camp

• Decision Date: 06 April 1936
• Docket Number: No. 3977.,3977.
• Citation: 83 F.2d 111
• Parties: OATES v. CAMP.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

83 F.2d 111 (1936)

OATES v. CAMP.

No. 3977.

Circuit Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

April 6, 1936.

David P. Wolhaupter, of Washington, D. C. (Frederick S. Stitt, of Washington, D. C., and Williams, Mullen & Hazelgrove and Fielding L. Williams, all of Richmond, Va., on the brief), for appellant.

K. Wilson Corder, of Atlanta, Ga., and Edwin S. Clarkson, of Washington D. C. (Spalding, Sibley, Troutman & Brock, John A. Sibley, and Robert B. Troutman, all of Atlanta, Ga., on the brief), for appellee.

Before PARKER, NORTHCOTT, and SOPER, Circuit Judges.

PARKER, Circuit Judge.

This is an appeal from a decree holding Camp patent No. 1,793,673, for a road guard, valid and infringed. The defendant does not here contest the validity of the patent, except as to claim 10, which is said to be too broad; but contends that in view of the prior art, the claims should be construed as limited to the precise instrumentality described in the specifications and drawings, and that when so limited they are not infringed by the road guard of the defendant. The court below held that the patent of complainant constituted an important contribution to the art and was entitled to liberal treatment; that the device of defendant accomplished the same result in substantially the same way; and that, in application of the doctrine of equivalents, this device should be held an infringement of the patent. We think that this holding was correct.

The evidence leaves no doubt that complainant was the first to solve the problem of providing an effective road guard for use under modern traffic conditions. With the coming of the high speed motorcar and the hard surface highway, guards embodying devices of the old fence making art were obviously insufficient; and attempts to provide an efficient guard by the use of cable, wire mesh, and metallic rail failed to solve satisfactorily the problem presented and were in most cases abandoned. Most of the patents which these attempts brought forth remained mere paper patents; and the use made of the others is hardly worthy of mention. Complainant solved the problem by the use as a guard rail of a wide flexible band of sheet steel, maintained under longitudinal tension, and fastened to the supporting posts by offset springs in such a way, as to provide a substantially smooth continuous surface to meet the impact of the motor vehicle and to oppose to the force of the collision the resilience, not alone of the guard rail, but also of the springs by which it was held under tension. The invention met with immediate success and within a short while was being used on the highways of a large number of the states of the Union. It is thus described in the specification of the patent in terms of its object and principle of operation:

"The primary object of the present invention is the provision of a shock-absorbing guard under constant tension, and composed of a plurality of inherently resilient impact members arranged in substantial longitudinal alignment, and so connected, each to each at the ends, that an impact force against one of said members will be communicated to the connected resilient members adjacent each end thereof, thereby permitting each member in the train of connected elements, to absorb its quota of the shock.

"Another object of the invention is the provision of a resilient element, secured to a fixed support, and connecting the ends of adjacent impact members, whereby each connector element may add its inherent resilience as a factor in the absorption of any impactive force directed against any one of said members."

The appearance and construction of the road guard of the patent (advertised and sold under the trade-name "Resiliflex") are illustrated by the following photographs, taken from advertising matter of complainant introduced in evidence in the hearing below. The two small photographs show how the offset springs are attached to the supporting posts and to the sections of the guard rail.

Complainant relies upon claims 5 to 10, inclusive, which are as follows:

"5. A road guard, comprising a plurality of spaced supports, a series of sheet metal strips connected end to end to provide a substantially smooth continuance surface, means to secure the series wholly to one side of the supports and to maintain the respective strips under tension.

"6. A road guard, comprising a plurality of spaced supports, a series of sheet metal strips connected end to end to provide a substantially smooth continuous surface, spring connectors to secure the ends of the adjacent strips together under tension and to the supports.

"7. A road guard, comprising a plurality of spaced supports, a series of sheet metal strips, means for connecting said strips end to end to provide a substantially smooth continuous surface throughout the series and for connecting the strips to the supports under tension.

"8. A road guard, comprising a series of sheet metal strips overlapping end to end and spring connectors between said ends for imparting a longitudinal tension to the strips when the latter are attached to supports.

"9. A road guard, comprising a plurality of spaced supports, a series of sheet metal strips overlapping end to end to provide a substantially smooth continuous surface, and spring connectors between said overlapping ends to impart a longitudinal tension to the series when the latter is connected to said supports.

"10. A road guard, comprising a plurality of spaced supports, a sheet metal band extending longitudinally and wholly to one side thereof, and means for maintaining said band under longitudinal tension."

It may or may not be significant that defendant developed his road guard shortly after a visit to the plant of complainant in Atlanta, Ga. Certain it is, however, that defendant's device operates upon the same principle as that of the patent, and accomplishes the same result, in the same way and by practically the same means. There is the same sort of guard rail consisting of a wide flexible steel band composed of strips connected in such way as to present a substantially smooth continuous surface, held away from the supporting posts by steel springs; there is the same principle of maintaining longitudinal tension in the guard rail; and there is the same connection of the members of the device in such way that each member adds its inherent resilience as a factor in the absorption of the force of any impact. Instead of connecting the ends of the sections of the guard rail to the opposite wings of the offset springs attached to the posts, however, and thus maintaining the normal longitudinal tension required, defendant bolts the ends of the offset springs together and the ends of the sections of guard rail to them, and maintains the requisite longitudinal tension by placing heavy helical springs at each end of the assembly. Slots in the offset springs allow several inches of longitudinal movement and thus enable the helical springs at the ends to impart longitudinal tension to all of the sections of the guard rail. The structure and operation of defendant's guard is illustrated by the following photographs taken from his advertising matter introduced in evidence. The top photograph shows the offset spring, the manner in which it is attached to the intermediate posts, and the manner in which the ends of the spring are bolted together and the ends of the sections of the guard rail bolted to them. The other shows the end construction and how the helical springs are attached.

In the same advertising matter the operation of defendant's device is thus described by him under the heading "principle":

"At the moment of impact, the taut rail is driven into the form of an arc, requiring increased length. Additional length is acquired by the offset springs moving toward the impact. As the first springs move, they in turn move all other springs within the affected area, distributing the force of the impact over the entire assembly or to a point where the force is dissipated.

"The offset springs are greatly retarded in the longitudinal movement by compression springs in the end connections and by their own braking action or friction against the supporting posts. But before the total action of the end springs is reached the offset springs come to a complete stop, thus preventing the end posts from taking the entire shock.

"When the longitudinal movement of the offset springs stops, a rolling movement begins, bringing into resistance the full strength of each offset spring. Those springs nearest the impact are compressed, absorbing the transverse shock and protecting the supporting posts from direct shock. Since no traffic guard is stronger than its supporting posts, this feature is of the greatest importance."

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