Stromberg Motor Devices Co. v. Zenith Carburetor Co.

• Decision Date: 14 September 1918
• Docket Number: 2247.,2234
• Citation: 254 F. 68
• Parties: STROMBERG MOTOR DEVICES CO. v. ZENITH CARBURETOR CO. ZENITH CARBURETOR CO. v. STROMBERG MOTOR DEVICES CO.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

254 F. 68

STROMBERG MOTOR DEVICES CO. v. ZENITH CARBURETOR CO.

ZENITH CARBURETOR CO. v. STROMBERG MOTOR DEVICES CO.

Nos. 2234, 2247.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

September 14, 1918

Rehearing Denied November 19, 1918.

Charles A. Brown, of Chicago, Ill., and William H. Kenyon, of New York City, for Stromberg Motor Devices Co.

Clarence P. Byrnes, of Pittsburgh, Pa., and William M. Swan, of Detroit, Mich., for Zenith Carburetor Co.

Before BAKER, MACK, and EVANS, Circuit Judges.

BAKER Circuit Judge.

Stromberg Company sued Zenith Company for alleged infringement of four patents on carburetors for internal-combustion engines.

Claims 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7 of patent No. 684,662, October 15, 1901, to Ahara, and claims 8, 10, and 11 of patent No. 791,501, June 6, 1905, to Richard, were held valid and infringed by Zenith carburetors identified as Exhibits 1 and 10, but not infringed by Exhibit 2.

Claim 1 of patent No. 1,063,148, May 27, 1913, to Anderson, and claim 1 of reissue patent No. 12,611, February 19, 1907, to Sturtevant, were held valid, but not infringed by any Zenith device.

Each company assigns error on those parts of the decree that are adverse to its contentions.

I AHARA.

'Feeder for explosive engines,' namely, a carburetor, is the subject-matter of the patent. No improvement of explosive engines in kind or degree was contemplated or involved. 'This invention,' Ahara said, 'relates particularly to a structure adapted to vary the amount of fuel mixed with air fed to such an engine'; that is, an explosive engine. He pictured and described in detail the adaptability of his carburetor to vary the amount of fuel to correlate properly with the air conditions, both as to quantity and heat, in a one-cylinder work engine in which the desired uniformity of speed is obtained within fairly close limits by the automatic action of a governor in holding the intake valve shut and the exhaust valve open during one or more of the four-cycle periods of operation. But he also declared that 'changes in details of construction to adapt the device to other types of explosive engines are obvious and within ordinary mechanical skill.' Of course his saying so does not make it so. But in connection with the general statement of the nature and object of the invention it demonstrates that Ahara's inventive concept covered a carburetor, not an improved one-cylinder work engine, and that he intended to claim, though unnecessarily, all uses to which his carburetor could be put.

In giving the operation of his carburetor when applied to a one cylinder hit-and-miss engine, he illustrated and described three styles of construction; but, as they all operate in the same way, it will suffice if we follow through one type.

(Image Omitted)

'Referring to Fig. 1, the letter A indicates the casing forming a part of an engine, which is provided with an aperture A1, controlled by a valve A2 at the inlet-port for the cylinder of an explosive-engine, and communicates with the main air-in-let passage A4 of the engine. This valve A2 is ordinarily closed by any desired means-- for instance, a spring A3-- and is opened by the suction of the engine-piston in moving away from the valve, so as to draw inward the explosive mixture composed of fuel and air, while in the return movement of the piston the valve is closed and the mixture placed under compression, as is well known in this art. In Fig. 1 I have shown at B a casing comprising the feeding device, which is formed at its upper portion with a fuel-reservoir B1, having a discharge opening B2 below the fuel-level therein and valve-controlled port B3, from which port a feed-tube B4 extends upward into the space or passage adjacent to the inlet-opening A1. Any preferred construction of valve may be used in this connection; but I have shown in the present instance a needle-valve C, adjusted by means of a threaded portion C1, and provided at its outer edge with a handle C2, while the stem of said valve passes through a packing-sleeve C3, secured to the casing B in any desired manner. In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 1 there is provided a collecting passage or chamber D, having one end communicating with the atmosphere above the fuel-level of the reservoir, and the other end extending downward to the lower portions of the casing B, and thence upward upon an inclined plane, as shown at D1, where it communicates with a feed-tube D2, extending parallel to and in contact with the fuel-tube B4, which tube is provided with an opening B5, communicating with the feed-tube D2. It will thus be seen that when the valve is set to permit the continuous flow of any desired quantity of fuel at each suction-stroke of the engine this amount would pass into the fuel-tube B4, and be drawn upward with the proper amount of air to effect the explosive mixture for use in the engine, while if the feed of fuel be omitted or cut out the fuel continues to flow into the tube B4, and not being drawn upward by suction into the cylinder, flows through the aperture B5 downward into the inclined portion D1 of the passage D. Sufficient fuel will collect in this passage, depending upon the time interval between the suction-strokes of the engine, so that when the next charge of fuel is drawn into the engine an excess of fuel in proportion to the air is secured sufficient to compensate for the cooling of the cylinder and the air which may be therein, and thus produces an explosive action equal in character with the regular action of the engine.

'The fuel in the reservoir B1 is maintained at a predetermined level by any desired means.'

Claims 1 and 2 are enough to consider in determining all the essential points of dispute:

'1. A feeder for explosive-engines comprising a fuel-reservoir having a feed-outlet below the fuel-level therein to effect a continuous feed, a passage communicating with the atmosphere and with said outlet from said reservoir to receive fuel therefrom, and means adapted to control the communication between said reservoir and said passage, substantially as specified.'

'2. A feeder for explosive-engines comprising a casing having a reservoir at its upper portion, a passage below said reservoir communicating with the atmosphere, a fuel-passage extending from below the fuel-level of said reservoir to said first-named passage, and means for regulating the capacity of a normally open port to control the flow of fuel through said fuel-passage, substantially as specified.'

Crossley's British patent No. 24,584, December 21, 1893, is the main reliance for overthrowing Ahara. Counsel and experts contend interminably concerning the nature and capacity of the Crossley device, the meaning of certain suggested, but unillustrated, substitutions of parts, and particularly whether the alternative constructions, as each side conceives them to be, would work. We have fully considered all these disputes; but find it unnecessary to state them in detail, because our entire answer is given by considering the Crossley patent, and by placing above the various parts of the provisional and of the complete specification headings that in our judgment indicate the classifications Crossley had in mind.

From the provisional specification:

General Statement.

'Our invention is for the purpose of measuring the quantity of oil required for each working stroke of such oil engines as in governing take a charge or none in the well-known way. It consists of a chamber into which the oil is delivered of a certain definite capacity, this chamber being the proper size to hold the maximum quantity of oil required for one working stroke, and being emptied by the suction of the engine piston at each charging stroke.'

Large Engine.

'There are some conditions under which the quantity of oil per working or charging stroke requires modification to give the best results, as, for instance, an engine working at maximum load, and thus giving working strokes as frequently as possible, requires a definite amount of oil to give the best result. Should, however, the load decrease so as to cause the governor to miss out one or more working strokes in succession, a slight increase in the amount of oil delivered into the engine to form the next working stroke gives a better result than without such increase.

'We obtain this increased amount in the following manner: A pump is arranged to deliver at the necessary intervals the best quantity for each working stroke when working at maximum load; this quantity being delivered into the measuring chamber, and, owing to the special form given to the measure, is drawn into the vaporiser by the piston of the engine during each suction stroke. The total capacity of the measuring chamber, however, is somewhat larger than the volume of this full-power oil charge, so that, when a working stroke has been cut out by the governor, the pump, which still continues delivering its definite quantity, delivers a second charge-- or more charges-- into the measuring chamber, which, owing to its greater capacity, retains a slightly increased amount for delivery to the engine the next time a working stroke is required, the excess overflowing and returning to the oil receptacle.'

Small Engine.

'In a modification of our invention, more especially applicable to smaller engines, in which it may not be necessary to give more than one measured oil charge, the measuring chamber may be made of a suitable size to give the definite amount of oil required, the pump, however, being made to throw a larger volume, and the surplus which thus overflows at each delivery of the pump may be carried to supply a lamp or for any other desired purpose, or may simply pass back to the oil tank.'

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