Rosen v. Kahlenberg
| Decision Date | 10 August 1971 |
| Docket Number | No. 66-441 Civ. T.,66-441 Civ. T. |
| Citation | 171 USPQ 386,337 F. Supp. 1075 |
| Parties | Sidney ROSEN, Plaintiff, v. James F. KAHLENBERG and Kahlenberg-Globe Equipment Co., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Florida |
John C. Malloy, Miami, Fla., Walter G. Finch, Baltimore, Md., for plaintiff.
Stefan M. Stein, Tampa, Fla., for defendant.
On Trial as to Liability
FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. Plaintiff, Sidney Rosen, is a resident of the State of Maryland.
2. Defendant, James F. Kahlenberg, is a resident of the State of Florida, and does business in the State of Florida as Kahlenberg-Globe Equipment Company.
3. Plaintiff is the owner of United States Patent 2,907,614.
Findings of Fact with Respect to Validity.
5. United States Patent, 2,907,614, contains one claim, which is set forth in Column 4 of the patent. The claim pertains to a pump assembly wherein a piston reciprocates within a cylinder.
6. The patented pump is characterized in the claim as follows:
"A pump assembly in which a piston is adapted to reciprocate within a cylinder for pumping fluids comprising, a cylinder, means at one end of the cylinder through which the fluid is received and discharged, the other end of the cylinder having an opening for slidably receiving a piston rod which extends partly within and without the cylinder, said piston rod comprising an inner rod member and an outer sleeve member, the inner rod member having fixed to its end within the cylinder the innermost end of a piston, the opposite end of the piston comprising a bushing having a central aperture slidably receivable over the inner piston rod member, each piston end being slightly less in diameter than the inner diameter of the cylinder, a shoulder fixed inwardly from the fixed innermost end of the piston and about the end of the inner piston rod adjacent the fixed end of the piston and of larger diameter than the piston rod for receiving a plurality of elastic compression rings in which at least the center rings are of V cross-sectional form with flat side surfaces, the rings being of such width as to fill the space between the shoulder and the inner surface of the wall of the piston, the bushing end of the piston having a recess in its surface adjacent the shoulder for receiving a portion of the shoulder adjacent thereto to allow the bushing to be moved inwardly over the shoulder for a pre-determined distance against the compression rings without interference from the shoulder, the sleeve member of the piston rod telescoping the inner rod member from the slidable bushing end of the piston to a point without the piston adjacent the outer end of the inner rod member having its end within the cylinder abutting the surface of the bushing end of the piston about the aperture and opposite the compression rings, the outer end of the inner piston rod member beyond the opening in the cylinder being provided with an external thread and the outer end of the sleeve piston rod member beyond the opening in the cylinder being provided with an internal thread for threadably receiving the threaded end of the inner rod member for fixing the threaded end of the inner rod member for fixing the two piston rod members relative to each other and means for locking the two piston rod members in adjusted position, whereby adjusting the sleeve member relatively to the inner member of the sleeve member moves the bushing end of the piston relative to the fixed end of the piston for regulating the pressure on the compression rings and means on the outer end of the inner piston rod member for connecting the same to a crank mechanism."
7. A main advantage of the patented pump is that the structure described above provides the ability to adjust the internal seal of the pumps for wear or temperature gradients from the exterior of the pump without interference with the amount delivered per stroke. The seal is effected by rings in the piston head which are of a Teflon material. Teflon is a desirable material from a wearability standpoint, but has the disadvantage of having a coefficient of thermal expansion which is different than that of metal. Previously this caused leaks or sealing problems when Teflon material was employed. The structure of the pump permits adjustment of the seal because of temperature gradients without interference with the range of displacement of the structure or the distance between the roof of the cylinder and the top of the piston so that the delivered volume per stroke of the pump remains the same. Such adjustments do not interfere with batch sterility because removal of the piston assembly is not required.
8. The advantages of the structure of the patented pump were rapidly recognized. Soon after manufacture of the pump was commenced, demand for filling machines using the new pump was such that plaintiff's licensee, National Instrument Company, soon established a factory and sales have expanded progressively.
9. Defendant, James F. Kahlenberg, an attorney and an engineer, also recognized the advantages of the patented pump. Until he began manufacture of the accused device, defendant had been a substantial purchaser of plaintiff's pump.
10. While the application for the patent in suit was pending in the United States Patent Office, the Examiner cited and considered the following United States patents:
United States Patent 2,807,213 United States Patent 1,474,201 United States Patent 1,744,565 United States Patent 1,806,078 United States Patent 2,420,929 United States Patent 2,600,061 United States Patent 2,757,994
These prior art patents were the subject of considerable testimony at the trial. These patents fall into two classes: First, pumps wherein an external adjustment is provided to vary the sealing surfaces of a piston head within the cylinder; and, second, the provision of a stack of rings which are adapted to be expanded for effecting a seal. Whether considered separately or collectively, these patents fail to anticipate or render obvious a structure such as the patented pump, which confirms the previous determination by the Patent Office.
11. The primary reference upon which the defendants based their case is a patent issued in 1916 for a syringe, United States Patent 1,222,424. United States Patent 1,222,424 is totally different in structure and in contemplated use from that of the continuously operating pump of the patent in suit. It is for use in one-shot injections, as opposed to a continuous high speed filling operation. United States Patent 1,222,424 specifies a piston head of soft rubbery material so that it can be pressed together. United States Patent 1,222,424 does not disclose a plurality of rings with vertically oriented, V-shaped mating surfaces, which nest within one another and permit circumferential expansion. Rather, the single piece plug is provided with horizontally oriented, A-shaped circumferential apexes which are spaced from one another. The plug is of a normal diameter which is oversized with respect to the diameter of the cylinder so that in reciprocal action within the cylinder, the soft rubbery apexes buckle or flex through a horizontal attitude each time there is a change in the direction of the stroke and are always in a trailing position with respect to the motion of the piston head to effect a wiper action against the glass with the soft rubber apexes flowing into the uneven surface of the cylinder wall. When not in use the soft rubber apexes stick to the uneven cylinder surface and, while an adjustment structure is provided to free the soft rubber from the glass wall, it is for a different problem than that faced by plaintiff in the patented pump. The syringe adjustment is without attention to maintaining the relative position of the top of the piston head with respect to the top or roof of the cylinder. Additionally, in United States Patent 1,222,424, there is no provision for separate entrance and exit passageways to permit withdrawal of discrete amounts of fluid from one large container and the discharge of the separate discrete amounts of that fluid through a separate passageway to smaller vessels. Plaintiff utilized oppositely acting one-way valves to close one line while the other is opened. Such structure is not suggested by United States Patent 1,222,424.
12. A second reference relied upon by defendants French Patent 398,899. French Patent 398,899 appears to have piston composed of a stack of leather washers, each of which has a differently sized opening and when stacked in the proper order define a cone-shaped recess to accommodate a truncated cone-shaped member which is adapted to be moved to expand some, but not all, of the washers against the wall of the cylinder. It appears that any adjustment by movement of the cone involves a change of the displacement of the piston head with respect to a cylinder in which it might be inserted, a problem overcome in the patented pump. The French Patent appears to have a different operating mechanism composed of at least three concentric piston rod members that move relative to one another in contrast to the two of the patented device. No evidence was adduced to show that the French Patent is operative or could be rendered operative. French Patent 398,899 does not disclose or render obvious the mechanism of the patented pump.
13. Considered separately, United States Patent 1,222,424, and French Patent 398,899 do not disclose or render obvious the patent in suit.
14. Portions of engineering and professional publications relied upon by defendant do not disclose or render obvious the patent in suit.
15. Considered collectively, United States Patent 1,222,424, French Patent 398,899, engineering and professional publications, introduced by defendant, and the United States patents cited and considered by the patent examiner do not disclose or render obvious the...
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...Tool Works, Inc. v. Continental Can Co., 273 F.Supp. 94 (N.D.Ill.1967), affirmed, 397 F.2d 517 (7th Cir.1968). 4 See: Rosen v. Kahlenberg, 337 F.Supp. 1075 (M.D.Fla.1970), rev'd on other grounds, 474 F.2d 858 (5th Cir.1973); and Porter-Cable Machine Co. v. Black & Decker Mfg. Co., 274 F.Sup......