Richards v. Chase Elevator Co 312

• Decision Date: 11 November 1895
• Docket Number: Nos. 310,311,s. 310
• Citation: Richards v. Chase Elevator Co 312, 159 U.S. 477, 16 S.Ct. 53, 40 L.Ed. 225 (1895)
• Parties: RICHARDS v. CHASE ELEVATOR CO. et al. , and 312
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

159 U.S. 477

16 S.Ct. 53

40 L.Ed. 225

RICHARDS

v CHASE ELEVATOR CO. et al.

Nos. 310, 311, and 312.

November 11, 1895.

[Petition for Rehearing from pages 478-485 intentionally omitted]C. K. Offield, for petition.

Mr. Justice BROWNdelivered the opinion of the court.

A petition was filed at the last term for a rehearing the these cases, upon the ground that the court erred in assuming judicial knowledge of the construction and operation of grain elevators, and in holding that these elevators contained practically the same elements as the grain-transferring apparatus of the Richards patents.The argument is that the object of Mr. Richards' invention was to obviate and do away with elevators, by securing the continuous and automatic transfer of grain from one car to another, weighing it in transit, and preserving the identity of each lot; whereas, in the ordinary elevator, the grain is raised from the car or vessel, deposited in a storage bin, where its identity is lost, and other grain is withdrawn, as required, from the storage bin, to take its place.

That the device described may be a convenient and valuable method of transferring grain from one car to another is not denied.The question is whether it involves invention.

There is certainly no novelty in the result, since the grain may be transferred by shovels from one car to a platform or bin, where it may be weighed, and again transferred to a receiving car, though, doubtless, this is a slow and laborious process.Is there any novelty in the method by which this is done?The grain is shoveled from one car into a chute, from which it passes into the elevator leg, through which the buckets move upward, and is discharged into a hopper.It is there weighed, without being mixed with other grain; a valve is opened; and the grain discharged into the receiving car.There is clearly no novelty in the individual steps of this transfer.Indeed, the...