Remington Cash Register Co. v. National Cash Register Co.

• Decision Date: 30 July 1925
• Docket Number: No. 1637.,1637.
• Citation: 6 F.2d 585
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut
• Parties: REMINGTON CASH REGISTER CO., Inc., et al. v. NATIONAL CASH REGISTER CO.

6 F.2d 585 (1925)

REMINGTON CASH REGISTER CO., Inc., et al. v. NATIONAL CASH REGISTER CO.

No. 1637.

District Court, D. Connecticut.

July 30, 1925.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Drury W. Cooper, George Ramsey, and E. D. Given, all of New York City, for plaintiffs.

Melville Church, of Washington, D. C., Frank Parker Davis, of Chicago, Ill., and C. B. Des Jardins, of Washington, D. C., for defendant.

THOMAS, District Judge.

This is a suit brought to restrain infringement of letters patent No. 1,429,201, issued September 12, 1922, to William S. Gubelmann, for improvements in adding and recording machines. The Remington Cash Register Company, Inc., has the exclusive license thereunder to make, use, and sell cash registers. The bill charges the defendant with infringement as to a number of its various makes of cash registers, and seeks an injunction, accounting, and damages. The plaintiff withdrew its charges against all models made by defendant, except as to the so-called class 1700 and class 2000 machines, thereby materially narrowing the issues to be discussed and decided here. It is stipulated by the parties that the defendant sold in this district cash registers exemplified by certain of defendant's machines, which are in evidence, and marked Plaintiffs' Exhibits 3 and 4, respectively.

The defenses upon which the defendant relies are, broadly stated, the invalidity of the patent in suit and noninfringement. As against validity, the defendant, in its answer and brief, has set forth at length 17 reasons why the patent should be held invalid; but for the purposes of this discussion they may be grouped or summarized under four main topics or heads, viz.: First, because of undue delay in the Patent Office; second, because of abandonment; third, because of laches, estoppel, etc.; and, fourth, because of inoperativeness.

While the Gubelmann patent in suit is directed more especially to an adding machine, and defendant's machines are cash registers, adding machines and cash registers belong to the same art, and cash registers are merely adding machines adapted to specific work. Analogous — in fact, identical — mechanical organizations occur both in cash registers and in adding machines, and in the present suit adding machines and cash registers are referred to by the witnesses, without any attempt to distinguish one art from the other. The patented inventions in the Gubelmann patent which are complained of in this suit all relate to the adding and recording mechanisms of the defendant's cash register machines.

The Gubelmann Patent.

Gubelmann's patent discloses an adding machine characterized by a plurality of sets of totalizer wheels and associated printing mechanism capable of printing items introduced into the sets of totalizer wheels, and also of printing totals under control of either of the sets of totalizer wheels. It is further characterized by mechanism whereby items introduced are printed, a subtotal may be printed, and the subtotalizer cleared, without disturbing the amount standing on a grand totalizer. Another feature of the Gubelmann machine is that of a plurality of sets of totalizer wheels having the successive denominational register wheels of one set of totalizer wheels interspersed with the totalizer wheels of a totalizer of another set, so that totalizer wheels of like denominational orders are grouped together, and with the printing mechanism having elements corresponding to the denominational orders of the totalizer wheels, and arranged so that the printing mechanism may co-operate with the totalizer wheels of any set of totalizers selected by the operator. This machine also provides that, when a subtotal is printed, mechanism may be rendered effective during this cycle of operations to reset the subtotalizer wheels to zero, thus clearing the subtotalizer after the printing has occurred, and this is done without disturbing the amount standing on the grand totalizer wheels. This arrangement permits the accumulation of a grand total, the printing of an itemized record, and the printing of a subtotal thereof, without disturbing the grand total, which may be printed at the end of the day or whenever desired.

This Gubelmann machine is also so designed as to be capable of printing a grand total and in the same cycle of operations to clear the grand totalizer. The clearing operations are optional with the operator, who may print subtotals or grand totals with or without clearing these totalizers, as is desired. It was common in the art, prior to Gubelmann, to provide suitable carrying mechanism between the several denominational wheels of a totalizer, and Gubelmann might have used carrying mechanism old in the art; however, he discloses carrying mechanism of his own design, whereby, when any denominational wheel of either totalizer makes a complete revolution, the next higher order denominational wheel is advanced one step to register the necessary carry, and overflow wheels are provided and are actuated by the same kind of gear segments as are used to drive the key-controlled totalizer wheels. These outstanding characteristics may properly be designated as the law of the Gubelmann machine.

When a key is depressed in the Gubelmann machine, certain differential mechanism is rendered effective to control a pivoted adding gear segment of the denominational order corresponding to the key depressed, and to limit the movement of this gear segment to an amount corresponding to the key operated. Prior to the movement of this gear segment, it is placed in engagement with its corresponding denominational order adding wheel, and as the gear segment swings on its pivot the totalizer wheel with which the gear segment engages is turned an amount in an additive direction equal to the value of the operated key. At the same time a subtotalizer member is also turned a corresponding amount in an additive direction, whereby the amount is registered in both the grand totalizer and the subtotalizer. Printing mechanism is connected with the adding gear segments in such manner that numeral type corresponding to the differential movement of the adding gear segments are presented to the printing point, and at the proper time printing hammers are actuated to drive type against the paper on the platen and imprint a record of the item introduced into the machine during the adding operation. The gear segment is then withdrawn from the adding wheel, and in the subsequent operation of the machine the gear segment is returned to normal position. Zero stop lugs are provided to prevent the operation of any gear segment other than that which corresponds to the denominational order of the key depressed. The machine at each adding operation thus registers or adds into both a grand totalizer and subtotalizer, and also makes a printed record of the item added. These operations are repeated during a series of transactions, and totals are thus accumulated on a plurality of totalizers.

In Gubelmann's organization he provides snail cams, one for each denominational order of the totalizers. These snail cams are part of the totalizer mechanism, and rotate simultaneously with the corresponding totalizer denominational elements. When it is desired to take a total, a total key is depressed and the machine operated; but now the adding gear segments, or racks, do not come into engagement with the adding wheels. Instead, certain feeler fingers are moved forward by yielding spring connections to encounter the snail cams and set differential mechanism, which causes the proper type to be brought to the printing point to correspond to the amount standing on the totalizer with which the feeler fingers co-operate. After the type have been brought to the printing point, the printing hammers drive the type against the paper and print the total in the same manner that the item printing was accomplished. The feeler fingers are so constructed as to be capable of co-operation with either the grand totalizer or the subtotalizer, whereby the printing mechanism may be controlled to print either a grand total or a subtotal.

When it is desired to print a subtotal and preserve the grand total in the Gubelmann machine, a subtotal key is depressed. This operates mechanism to cause the feeler fingers to shift in position to co-operate with the subtotalizer cams, and if a clearing key is also depressed, certain gear mechanism rotates the shaft carrying the subtotal members, and also carrying spring pawls which pick up the subtotal members and snail cams of the subtotalizer, and turn the same to zero after the subtotal has been printed. This operation does not disturb the amount standing on the grand totalizer.

Where a grand total is to be printed by the Gubelmann machine, the grand total key is depressed, and this time the feeler fingers which control the printing type come under control of the grand totalizer denominational members, or cams, to position numeral type at the printing point corresponding to the amount standing on the grand totalizer, and the printing hammers operate to print the grand total. The operation of the machine up to this point, not only has positioned the printing type at the printing point, but has caused the gear segments to differentially descend out of engagement with the grand totalizer, so that each denominational gear segment has been stopped at a position corresponding to the amount standing in its respective denominational grand totalizer wheel. If the grand totalizer is to be cleared, the grand totalizer clearing key is now depressed. This operation brings the gear segments into mesh with the grand totalizer wheels. The gear segments move up while in engagement with the grand totalizer wheels, and each gear segment therefore rotates its corresponding grand totalizer wheel in a nonadditive direction, thereby subtracting out of the grand totalizer the amount standing thereon, so that, when the gear segments reach normal zero...