Alma Motor Co. v. United States

134 F. Supp. 641, 133 Ct. Cl. 59, 107 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 92, 1955 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 75
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedOctober 4, 1955
DocketNo. 48560
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 134 F. Supp. 641 (Alma Motor Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alma Motor Co. v. United States, 134 F. Supp. 641, 133 Ct. Cl. 59, 107 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 92, 1955 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 75 (cc 1955).

Opinion

XjITtletoN, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

This is a suit for patent infringement. Plaintiff alleges that its patent No. 2,173,044 was infringed by the United States through its War and Navy Departments which caused to be manufactured, purchased, and used, numerous trucks and vehicles equipped with infringing transmission mechanisms during the years 1942 to 1946 inclusive. It is contended that these transmission mechanisms embodied inventions disclosed by claims 5 and 8 of plaintiff’s patent.

Plaintiff also seeks royalties alleged to have been withheld by virtue of a Eoyalty Adjustment Order. At pretrial it was stipulated that the questions of validity and infringement of the patent be first determined upon full proofs, argument of counsel, and findings of fact. The issue >of compensation and royalties withheld, if any, is deferred until the accounting phase of this proceeding.

Patent No. 2,173,044 was issued September 12, 1939, to plaintiff on an application filed February 23,1935, by Frank W. Buggies and Charles D. Smith and is entitled “Auxiliary Transmission Mechanism for Four-Wheel-Drive Automotive Vehicles.” Title to this patent is not in issue.

We will consider first the questions of the validity and infringement of claims 5 and 8 of the patent.

In general, the structure disclosed by the patent consists of •a supplemental two-speed gear system enclosed in a housing adapted to be mounted on the frame of the vehicle adjacent the rear of the conventional transmission. The system is constructed for the specific purpose of converting a light conventional truck, having a two-wheel rear axle drive, into a four-wheel drive truck. A second, object of the invention is to provide a gear system that will permit the driver to utilize the two-wheel drive on good roads, and also to make use of a four-wheel drive when the operating conditions are such that ■extra tractive effort is needed.

More specifically, the structure disclosed in the patent consists of a housing or casing in which is contained a series of four shafts, m, a power input shaft, a primary power output ■.shaft, a counter shaft, and a secondary power output shaft. A drawing of this structure is contained in finding 4 of the accompanying findings of fact. As shown in the drawing, [62]*62the input shaft has its inner end journaled in a bearing carried by the inner end of the primary output shaft which extends outwardly from the right-hand side of the casing. This output shaft is connected to the rear axle of the vehicle. The inner end of this output shaft has fixed thereto an enlarged portion, the exterior of which is provided with gear teeth, and the interior recessed surface of which is provided with internal teeth to function as the female member of a clutch.

The portion of the power input shaft located within the casing is provided with a series of splines upon which a slida-ble gear is mounted. This gear rotates at all times with the power input shaft because of the splined connection, and may be moved to any one of three positions along the shaft by means of a shiftable fork. When moved to the position on the extreme left it is in engagement with a gear which is fixed to and rotatable with the countershaft. If, however, the slidable gear is moved to the right it will become disengaged from the countershaft gear. This is the neutral position in which nothing rotates but the input shaft and gear. If the slidable gear is moved to the extreme right, its teeth will engage the internal clutch teeth fixed to the end of the primary power output shaft, thus connecting the primary power output shaft to the power input shaft and forming a direct drive.

The countershaft which is vertically below and parallel with the axially aligned power input and output shafts has fixed thereto and adjacent each end a gear. The gear at the right-hand end of the countershaft is at all times meshed with the gear immediately above, which, in turn, is fixed to the primary power output shaft. When the splined gear on the power input shaft is in the left-hand position the power input is applied to the left-hand, countershaft gear at a reduced speed ratio, dependent upon the relative diameter of these two gears. This power is in turn applied through the countershaft to the right-hand countershaft gear and thence to the primary power output shaft at a reduced ratio. A secondary power output shaft, which is also parallel to the other shafts, is mounted in a vertical plane below the other shafts. ■ This shaft carries at its right-hand end a rotatable [63]*63gear which is also in constant mesh with the right-hand countershaft gear and in addition is the same diameter as the gear fixed in the casing on the inner end of the primary output shaft. This permits driving both the primary and secondary output shafts at the same speed, the torque being simultaneously applied from diametrically opposite points on the periphery of the right-hand countershaft gear, which points are in the same plane in which all of the parallel shafts and their bearings are mounted.

The secondary output shaft, which is connected to a front-wheel drive, is provided with a spline and clutch for engagement with the rotatable gear thereon, so that the front-wheel drive may either be utilized or disconnected by the driver of the vehicle.

This structure thus provides a two-speed supplemental drive mechanism by means of which the conventional rear-wheel drive automotive vehicle may be converted into a four-wheel drive when desired.

The two claims in suit are as follows:

Claim 5:
A power transmission unit for automobiles comprising, as a unitary structure, a shell structure having journaled therein,
(a) a power receiving shaft connectible to the power delivery train of a motor,
(b) a power delivery shaft aligned with said power receiving shaft and connectible at its outer end with a shaft leading to rear traction wheels,
(o) an intermediate shaft and
(d) a second power delivery shaft connectible at one end with a shaft leading to front traction wheels,
a gear carried by shaft (d),
a gear carried by shaft (e) and meshing with said last mentioned gear,
a gear carried by shaft' (b) and meshing with the gear carried by shaft (c),
a second gear carried by shaft (o),
a clutch carried by shaft (&),
and a gear splined upon shaft (a) and meshable with the second gear on shaft (c) or clutchable with the clutch of shaft (b).
Claim 8 :
In a power transmitting mechanism,
(1) a gear casing,
[64]*64(2) a power input shaft journaled in said casing and projecting away from one face thereof,
(3) a primary power output shaft journaled in said casing and axially aligned with said power input shaft,
(3a) said primary power output shaft projecting beyond the opposite face of said casing and adapted to have power taken therefrom,

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Bluebook (online)
134 F. Supp. 641, 133 Ct. Cl. 59, 107 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 92, 1955 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 75, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alma-motor-co-v-united-states-cc-1955.