Seiler v. Fuller & Johnson Mfg. Co.

• Decision Date: 07 February 1903
• Docket Number: 907.
• Citation: Seiler v. Fuller & Johnson Mfg. Co., 121 F. 85 (7th Cir. 1903)
• Parties: SEILER v. FULLER & JOHNSON MFG. CO.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

121 F. 85

SEILER v. FULLER & JOHNSON MFG. CO.

No. 907.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

February 7, 1903

Charles M. Peck and Lysander Hill, for appellant.

Wm. R Bagley (Robert M. Bashford, on the brief), for appellee.

By the decree appealed from it was adjudged that appellant was infringing claim 1 of letters patent No. 423,723, March 18 1890, to Bemis; claims 3, 4, and 6 of No. 423,724, March 18 1890, to Bemis; and claims 1, 2, 6, and 7 of No. 486,200 November 15, 1892, to Starks and Felland, assignors to appellee.

The claims are as follows:

First Bemis patent: '(1) In a transplanting-machine, the combination, with the runner or plow provided with the usual mold-board, of the gathering and spreading plate formed or provided upon its end, on one side thereof, with a downwardly-extending flange, substantially as set forth.'

Second Bemis patent: '(3) In a transplanting-machine, the combination, with plow or runner supports, of adjustable angular brackets secured thereto, laterally-extending shoes secured to said adjustable brackets or to their equivalent, and a plow or runner secured between said supports, substantially as set forth. (4) In a transplanting-machine, the combination, with plow or runner supports, of angular brackets secured thereto, said brackets provided on their vertical members with elongated slots, transverse pins passing through said elongated slots and through perforations in the supports, whereby adjustability may be given, laterally-extending shoes secured to the horizontal members or arms of said brackets, and a plow or runner secured between the supports, substantially as set forth.' '(6) In a transplanting-machine, the combination, with plow or runner supports, of a plow or runner secured between said supports, and laterally-extending shoes secured to said supports, the outer edges of said shoes being turned downwardly, so as to gather the earth into the furrow after the plant has been set, substantially as set forth.'

Starks and Felland patent: '(1) In a machine of the class described, the combination, with the main frame, of the beam, I, pivoted to the main frame, the furrow-opener carried by the beam, and a beam or beams, G, pivoted to the frame and supported upon the furrow-opener beam, all substantially as shown and described. (2) In a machine of the class described, the combination, with the main frame, of the furrow-opener beam, I, the beam or lever, G, pivoted to the main frame and supported upon the furrow-opener beam I, and an adjustable connection between the said beam I and the beam G, whereby the leverage of the latter beam may be varied as desired.' '(6) In a machine of the class described, the combination, with a main frame, of a block or frame, Z, pivoted thereto at its forward end, and a lever, b, pivoted to the main frame and adapted to engage slots formed in the main frame and in the frame, Z, all substantially as shown and described. (7) In combination with a main frame having a block B at its forward end, said block having a slot or recess, a, in its rear face, a supplemental frame or block, Z, provided with a wheel, e, and connected with the block, B, of the main frame by means of a bolt, Y, and a lever, b, pivoted to the block, B, and adapted to enter the slot, a, and a corresponding slot in the frame or block, Z.'

Before JENKINS, GROSSCUP, and BAKER, Circuit Judges.

BAKER Circuit Judge, after stating the facts as above, .

The patents relate to transplanters. Before Bemis's time (Tucker, No. 93,250, August 3, 1869; Tennent, No. 193,734, July 31, 1877; Smith, No. 335,724, February 9, 1886, reissued No. 10,982, January 29, 1889; Smith, No. 345,184, July 6, 1886), transplanters were known, and the Smith machine was being manufactured and used with some degree of success. The Smith transplanter may be described generally as a wheeled implement having a furrow-opener, with one side-- the land side-- in line with the draft of the machine, so as to cut perpendicularly into the soil, and the other side extended at an angle so as to throw the earth out of the furrow; at the land side of the furrow-opener, a roller that compresses the soil and makes firm the perpendicular wall against which the plants are set; at the heel of the furrow-opener, a spout through which at regular intervals water is let into the furrow; following the opener, on the mold side thereof, a plate that gathers the soil into the furrow; to the rear of this, a roller that presses the soil into the furrow and about the plants without touching them; and, suspended from the rear of the frame, seats from which operators may set the plants by hand in the furrow in advance of the scraper and roller. For the Smith roller at the land side of the furrow-opener, Bemis substituted a plate to compress the soil and make firm the perpendicular wall. This feature is included in claim 5 of the first Bemis patent, but is not involved in this suit. For the scraper and roller at the rear and on the mold side of the opener, Bemis substituted a plate having its rear outward portion bent downward obliquely to the furrow. The bent portion gathers the soil into the furrow, and the remainder of the plate presses it about the plants without touching them. This plate is an element in the first claim. In the specification Bemis stated:

'The particular objects of my invention are to provide a machine having improved facilities for smoothing and pressing the soil on one side of the furrows; furthermore, in means for covering the furrow in a simple and effective manner. * * * The advantages claimed by me are the construction of the compressing plate or spring secured to the land side of the runner, which leaves a smooth perpendicular wall against which the plants are placed; also the construction and arrangement of the gathering and spreading plate, which has decided advantages over the rollers ordinarily used for the same purpose, inasmuch as in certain conditions of the soil-- as, for instance, when damp or wet-- the dirt will adhere to the wheel, thus to a certain extent impairing its

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