Turbocare Div. Of Demag Delaval v. General Elec.
| Decision Date | 09 August 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV.A. 95-30069-MAP.,CIV.A. 95-30069-MAP. |
| Parties | TURBOCARE DIVISION OF DEMAG DELAVAL TURBOMACHINERY CORP., Plaintiff, v. GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts |
Catriona Collins, Cohen, Pontani, Lieberman & Pavane, New York City, Michael J. Coyne, Bacon & Wilson, Springfield, MA, Francis J. Murphy, Lieberman & Nowak, New York City, for Plaintiff.
Christopher J. Renk, Allegretti & Witcoff, Thomas K. Pratt, Banner & Allegretti, Ltd., Mark T. Banner, Esq., Banner & Witcoff, Ltd., Chicago, IL, John P. Iwanicki, Banner & Allegretti, Ltd., Boston, MA, for Defendant.
C. Brian McDonald, Bulkley, Richardson & Gelinas, Springfield, MA, for Movant.
MEMORANDUM REGARDING DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT OF NON-INFRINGEMENT AND INVALIDITY (Docket No. 226)
The plaintiff, Turbocare Division of Demag Delaval Turbomachinery Corp. ("plaintiff"), has brought suit against General Electric Co. ("defendant"), for the alleged infringement of U.S. Patent No. 4,436,311 ("the '311 patent"), which is directed to a shaft sealing system for fluid turbines. Defendant has moved for summary judgment of noninfringment and invalidity. The motion will be denied. Disputed issues of material fact prevent the court from concluding, as a matter of law, that defendant has not infringed the '311 patent under the doctrine of equivalents, or that claims 1, 5, 6, and 7 of the '311 patent are invalid.
Summary judgment is proper when "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c). A "genuine" issue is one that reasonably could be resolved in favor of either party, and a "material" fact is one that affects the outcome of the suit under governing law. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248-250, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). "[T]he district court must view `the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, drawing all reasonable inferences in that party's favor.'" Bienkowski v. Northeastern University, 285 F.3d 138, 140 (1st Cir.2002), quoting Barbour v. Dynamics Research Corp., 63 F.3d 32, 36 (1st Cir. 1995).
The Federal Circuit has made it clear that "a district court properly may grant summary judgment on obviousness or anticipation only when the underlying factual inquiries present no lingering genuine issues." Beckson Marine, Inc. v. NFM, Inc., 292 F.3d 718, 723 (Fed.Cir.2002) (citations omitted). Similarly, "[i]nfringement ... is a question of fact that a court is not to resolve on summary judgment unless no genuine factual issue remains." Id. at 722. "On summary judgment, the question is not the `weight' of the evidence, but instead the presence of a genuine issue of material fact concerning infringement." Contessa Food Products, Inc. v. Conagra, Inc., 282 F.3d 1370, 1376 (Fed.Cir.2002).
The facts in this case have been set forth at length in two related opinions by this court, see TurboCare Div. of Demag Delaval v. General Elec., 938 F.Supp. 83 (D.Mass.1996), and Turbocare Div. of Demag Delaval v. General Elec., 45 F.Supp.2d 110 (D.Mass.1999), and one opinion by the Federal Circuit. TurboCare Div. of Demag Delaval v. General Elec., 264 F.3d 1111 (Fed.Cir.2001). The following summary of the facts and procedural background is tailored to the '311 patent and the issues currently before the court. Additional descriptions of the surrounding issues in the case may be found in the above cited decisions.
The '311 patent allegedly solved a problem that had confounded manufacturers of steam turbines since at least 1927: the problem of the turbine shaft rubbing against and damaging the shaft seal. (Docket 231 at 4). In 1927, a GE employee wrote the following in a patent application:
In connection with the operation of elastic fluid turbines, it is known that when a turbine is operating at full load, it runs more smoothly and is less likely to vibrate than when running at light load. This is because a turbine when running at full load is evenly heated and is subjected to little if any temperature and pressure changes. On the other hand, when a turbine is running at light load or is being started up, it may be subjected to changes in temperature and pressure of considerable magnitude and at such times is much more likely to operate unevenly or to vibrate.
(Docket 236, Exhibit G). As this early patent application describes, the vibration, or uneven running, that occurs when running a turbine at start-up or at light load can cause substantial damage to the shaft seal. The purpose of the shaft seal is to prevent steam leakage so that as much steam as possible is directed towards turning the rotor, and generating power. (Docket 238 at 2). When the teeth of the seal shaft become damaged by rubbing from the turbine shaft, an excessive clearance results between the shaft seal and the rotor. This affects the efficiency of the turbine because, put simply, too much clearance allows for too much steam leakage. Id. Unfortunately, the 1927 GE patent did not solve the problem of the turbine rotor rubbing against the shaft seal. Indeed, plaintiff claims, the problem went unsolved until the invention of the '311 patent. (Docket 231 at 4-5).
The '311 patent creator was Ronald Brandon ("Brandon"), who was a former GE employee. At first, Brandon attempted several unsuccessful solutions aimed at the problem of rubbing. However, he eventually,
thought of the idea of making the shaft seal movable so that it would move away from the rotor to a large clearance at start up and under low turbine loads, when damage by rubbing occurs, and to a small clearance position when the turbine reaches operating speeds, so that the efficiency of the turbine is maximized under normal operating conditions.
(Docket 238 at 3). The '311 patent arose out of this simple concept.
Brandon's preferred embodiment uses S-shaped compressed springs to apply a circumferential force which biases the seal ring segments towards the large clearance position. These springs maintain a large clearance position when the turbine is running at start-up, or during low load conditions, in order to save the seal rings from becoming damaged. (Docket 227, Exhibit 2).
When the turbine accelerates, the steam pressure on the seal ring segments increases. This pressure overcomes the bias of the springs towards the large clearance position, and the seal ring segments move radially inward towards the small clearance position. Thus, when the turbine is operating at a normal operating speed, the seal becomes fixed at the low clearance position. This shift reduces the amount of steam leakage during normal operating conditions and increases the passage of steam through the nozzle. Overall, efficiency is increased by saving the seal rings from damage at low load conditions, and minimizing steam leakage during normal operating conditions when the seal rings are not jeopardized. Id., Docket 238 at 3.
The '311 patent, in claim 1, claims:
In an elastic fluid turbine employing seals to minimize leakage between rotating and stationary components, an improvement in the seal arrangement utilizing the combination of:
a segmented seal ring supported by and at least partially contained in an annular groove formed in a stationary casing to permit motion of said seal ring between a large diameter position and a small diameter position corresponding respectively to large and small clearance of said seal ring with regard to the rotating shaft, said seal ring groove being partially defined by a pair of opposing, spaced apart shoulders on said casing which form an opening of said groove extending radially into the clearance area between said casing and said rotating shaft;
each segment of said seal ring including an inner arcuate portion hving [sic] seal teeth extending therefrom in the direction of and adjacent to said rotating shaft, a radially outwardly facing arcuate surface on said seal ring segment which is located opposite to a radially inward facing arcuate surface of said casing for limiting said large clearance position by contact between said opposing surfaces, an outer ring portion disposed within said seal ring groove for both axial and radial movement therein and having a pair of shoulders, extending axially in opposite directions for making radial contact respectively with said pair of spaced apart shoulders on said casing and thereby limiting said small clearance position, and a neck portion connected between said inner arcuate portion and said outer ring portion and extending between said casing shoulders, said neck portion having an axial thickness which is less than the distance between said opposing casing shoulders to thereby axially locate said seal ring segment against one of said casing shoulders and provide a contact pressure seal at the said neck portion which is subject to lower turbine fluid pressure; and
a radial positioning means comprising a compressed spring means biased against said ring segments to forcibly cause said segments to move to said large clearance position, while working fluid which is freely admitted to the annular space between said casing and said ring segments will urge said segments toward said small clearance position, whereby at low speed and small turbine loads the spring forces will predominate, while at high flows and high working fluid pressure the pressure forces will predominate.
(Docket 227, Exhibit 2 at 5-6; United States Patent 4,436,311).1 The '311 patent issued on March 13, 1984, and in August, 1984, Brandon was granted funds from the Department of Energy, which he used to optimize and develop his...
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