Reeves Instrument Corp. v. Beckman Instruments, Inc.
| Decision Date | 25 June 1971 |
| Docket Number | No. 24060.,24060. |
| Citation | 444 F.2d 263 |
| Parties | REEVES INSTRUMENT CORPORATION and Dynamics Corporation of America, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. BECKMAN INSTRUMENTS, INCORPORATED, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Ford Harris, Jr. (argued), Walton Eugene Tinsley, of Harris, Kiech, Russell & Kern, Los Angeles, Cal., Fowler, Knobbe & Martens, Orange, Cal., for defendant-appellant.
George B. Finnegan, Jr. (argued), Thomas P. Dowling, Alfred P. Ewert, of Morgan, Finnegan, Durham & Pine, New York City, M. Roy Spielman, of Christie, Parker & Hale, Pasadena, Cal., for plaintiffs-appellees.
Before BARNES, DUNIWAY and WRIGHT, Circuit Judges.
Beckman Instruments appeals a decision of the district court which held that its analog computer check circuit infringed claims 7, 8, and 13 of U. S. Patent No. 2,967,997. We affirm.
U. S. Patent No. 2,967,997 (hereinafter the "McCoy patent") was issued to Rawley D. McCoy on January 10, 1961 as the result of an application filed April 20, 1955. All right, title and interest in the McCoy patent has been assigned to appellee Dynamics Corporation of America, of which appellee Reeves Instrument is a division.
The McCoy patent is entitled "Method and Apparatus for Checking Electronic Analog Computers" and deals generally with the problem of checking the operation of the numerous elements of an analog computer prior to utilization of the computer to solve complex industrial problems of a generally mathematical nature.
Electronic analog computers were initially developed following World War II and played an important role in the design of complex aircraft, weapons systems and space vehicles. Such computers are designed to solve a variety of problems by performing the mathematical operations required to analyze complex physical relationships.
Since a general purpose analog computer is designed to solve a variety of problems, it consists of a number of building blocks which can be interconnected in accordance with the mathematical definition of the problem to be solved. These building blocks include multipliers, summers, function generators and integrators. Perhaps the single most prevalent element in such computers is the integrator which can also be connected to perform other desired mathematical functions.
In order to program a general purpose analog computer for solution of a problem, it is necessary physically to interconnect the integrators and other elements in accordance with the problem definition. In addition to interconnection, the parameters of the problem are established by setting potentiometers to represent the various physical constants, etc., for the problem.
From this brief review, it is apparent that the interconnection of the elements as well as the potentiometer settings are vitally important to proper operation. Because such computers are designed to solve complex problems, it usually is not possible to determine whether the computer is properly programmed by examining the answers obtained. Rather, it is necessary to make some sort of initial verification of the programming before one may have confidence in the correctness of the solution. Certain visual checks of interconnection, potentiometer settings, etc., can be used to perform limited checking of the programming but in the final analysis it is necessary to perform some kind of operational check since connections that appear sound can be faulty, potentiometer settings may not reflect the actual value of the resistance, etc.
There were numerous attempts prior to McCoy to derive a satisfactory method of checking the computer prior to attempted solution of a problem. During trial, defendant Beckman introduced evidence of some 15 different prior art approaches to computer checking of which three are relied upon on appeal and discussed in detail in Section II, infra. Suffice it to say that the problem of checking analog computers was born with the development of such computers and has since occupied much time and effort in the computer industry.
The McCoy patent discloses and claims two different types of checks for analog computers: a static check and a dynamic check. The claims involved in this appeal deal only with the static check portion of the McCoy patent. Figure 1 hereof is a reproduction of Fig. 2 of the McCoy patent and illustrates an exemplary embodiment, including the static check portion of the McCoy disclosure.
As illustrated, the amplifier 39 and condenser 40 constitute the basic electronic integrator of the type now used in analog computers. As is well known, the output of the amplifier 39 will be the integral with respect to time of the signal at its input.
In actual operation, the signal to be integrated by amplifier 39 and condenser 40 is generally the sum of other signals as determined by the program. These other signals must first be summed prior to integration and this is done by the summing resistors 25, 26, 27, 28. The summed signal passes through the contacts 31, 33 of the "Y" relay and forms the input to the electronic integrator. The integrated output signal, in turn, passes through contacts 46, 47 of the "P.C." relay to output terminal 48 from where it is relayed to other sections of the computer in accordance with the problem program.
During operation of the computer for problem solving, the X, Y, and P.C. relays are de-energized and the circuit is operated as shown. To perform the static check, the McCoy patent utilizes the X and P.C. relays to modify operation and provide for checking of the program prior to actual problem solving. The Y relay is used only for the so-called "dynamic check" which is not involved in the claims whose validity and infringement are now in question.
To carry out the desired static check, the X and P.C. relays are energized at the appropriate time by a timer 63. With the X and P.C. relays energized, the amplifier 39 no longer acts as an integrator since a shunt resistor 41 is placed in parallel with the integrating condenser 40 via contacts 55, 57 of the X relay and contacts 43, 45 of the P.C. relay. When the shunt resistor 41 is placed in parallel with the integrating condenser 40, amplifier 39 acts essentially as a simple electronic multiplier.
In addition, energization of the P.C. relay disconnects the output of amplifier 39 from output terminal 48 and substitutes a fixed voltage from voltage source 53 in its place. This is accomplished by connecting movable contact 47 to contact 50 and disconnecting movable contact 47 from contact 46. Since the X and P.C. relays are simultaneously energized for all integrators in the computer, the outputs of all of the integrators (as they appear on output terminal 48) become fixed voltages established by the pre-determined settings of the potentiometers 53 in each integrator.
In this way, the interconnections between the integrating amplifiers are broken to "open the loop." Fixed voltages are substituted for the outputs of the integrating amplifiers and these fixed voltages circulate through the interconnections to form the inputs to other integrators in the circuit. Since these voltages are both fixed and known, it is possible to predict what the input to each integrator must be if the problem is properly programmed and the potentiometer values properly established.
In the static check, the input to each integrator is checked. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in the McCoy patent, the input to each integrator is checked by a digital converter and recorder 64 which is connected to the output of amplifier 39. Amplifier 39 no longer acts as an integrator because of the shunt resistor 41, but rather as a simple multiplier circuit. Its output voltage is thus representative of the input signal to the integrator. This voltage may be digitized and either manually or automatically checked with previously computed values to ascertain whether computer interconnections, potentiometer settings, etc., are proper.
The claims in issue on appeal deal with the static check portion of the McCoy patent. Claim 7 is the broadest of the three and provides:
The essence of McCoy's contribution is thus defined in claim 7 as including switching means to open the loop and render the integrator ineffective, followed by circulation of a fixed voltage through the open loop system and measurement of the voltage which appears at the input to the integrator. Claims 8 and 13 are similar but more detailed in their recitation of the elements of the claimed combination.1
The first item of prior art relied upon by Beckman is the so-called Initial Condition (I.C.) static check. This method of checking analog computers originated admittedly more than one year prior to the filing date of the McCoy patent, to constitute a valid reference under 35 U.S.C. §§ 102, 103.
The initial condition circuitry of an analog computer is used primarily for the purpose of establishing certain pre-determined initial conditions in conformity with the problem to be solved by the computer. That is, certain variables in the...
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