Sanitary Refrigerator Co. v. Winters

• Decision Date: 06 March 1928
• Docket Number: No. 3935.,3935.
• Citation: 24 F.2d 15
• Parties: SANITARY REFRIGERATOR CO. v. WINTERS et al.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

24 F.2d 15 (1928)

SANITARY REFRIGERATOR CO. v. WINTERS et al.

No. 3935.

Circuit Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

February 9, 1928.

Rehearing Denied March 6, 1928.

E. Hayward Fairbanks, of Philadelphia, Pa., for appellant.

Frank E. Liverance, Jr., of Grand Rapids, Mich., for appellees.

Before ALSCHULER, EVANS, and PAGE, Circuit Judges.

EVAN A. EVANS, Circuit Judge.

A patent, No. 1,385,102, to Winters and Crampton, issued July 19, 1921, covering a latch, was the basis of the instant suit. Seven claims are involved, two of which (5 and 6) are broad, generic claims, while the other five (1, 2, 3, 4, and 7) are narrow, specific claims.

The District Court sustained all claims, and found appellant to be an infringer thereof. Thereafter appellees brought suit upon this same patent in the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and the court there held that claims 5 and 6 of the patent were invalid and the other five claims were not infringed by latches similar to the ones made by appellant.

Counsel, with commendable frankness, have made concessions in this court which greatly narrow the controverted issues. Appellant admits the validity of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7, while appellees concede that claims 5 and 6 are invalid. The sole issue remaining, in view of these concessions, is one of infringement of the five valid claims. The concession that these five claims are valid was accompanied by the statement that validity was recognized only in view of an asserted construction which gave to each claim so narrow a field that infringement was not disclosed.

The inventor said:

"This invention relates to a latch of the swinging lever type, particularly adapted for use on refrigerators though applicable in many other relations where a door is to be closed and held in closed position. The swinging lever latch, or as it is better known, the Condit latch, is pivotally connected at one end to the door jamb or casing, allowing the door to be opened when the latch is thrown to an upper vertical position, and coming down across the meeting edges of the casing and door when swung to horizontal position, engaging with a cam member on the door to wedge the door tightly shut. This latch is a very serviceable latch but is relatively hard to operate due to its attachment to the casing instead of the door, and the same is liable to drop to horizontal position in which case the door cannot be closed without first raising the lever to upper vertical position while, many times, the door is inadvertently swung toward closed position and against the lever in its horizontal position with injury either to the lever or door or both. In the present invention, it is a primary object and purpose to provide a latch which may be pivotally connected to the door and which is automatically operated to engage with a retaining member or keeper fixed on the door casing when the door is closed irrespective of the vertical or horizontal position of the latch lever, working as well in the one case as the other. A further object of the invention is to construct a latch of few parts, whereby it may be economically made and which will be durable and efficient in service."

Two typical claims are 1 and 7, herewith quoted:

"1. In combination, a door and casing therefor, a keeper attached to the casing comprising a base, an outstanding post and a head at the outer portion of the post, said head depending below the post and formed with upper and lower curved outer sides coming substantially to a point and with an inner upwardly and inwardly inclined side, a member attached to the door comprising a base, an integral outstanding post projecting from the base and a laterally extending arm at the upper end of the post paralleling the base, and a latch lever pivotally mounted between its ends between the said arm and base of said member, said lever having one arm formed with an under cam side extending from the pivot and adapted to be engaged under the depending portion of the keeper, a handle portion extending in the opposite direction from the pivot and another arm projecting from the handle portion a distance from the pivot and lying substantially at right angles to the first arm of the lever and likewise being formed with an inner cam side, substantially as and for the purposes described."

"7. In combination, a door and a casing therefor, a keeper attached to the casing, a latch lever pivotally mounted on the door between its ends, one end of the lever being formed into an operating handle and the other into a keeper engaging arm, a second arm projecting from the handle portion of the lever a short distance from its pivot and at an angle to the first arm, said keeper being formed at its outer sides for engagement with the respective arms when the lever is in horizontal and vertical positions, respectively, as the door is closed, to automatically...