American Diamond Rock Boring Co. v. Sullivan Mach. Co.

1 F. Cas. 641, 14 Blatchf. 119, 2 Ban. & A. 522, 1877 U.S. App. LEXIS 1591
CourtU.S. Circuit Court for the District of Southern New York
DecidedJanuary 29, 1877
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 1 F. Cas. 641 (American Diamond Rock Boring Co. v. Sullivan Mach. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Southern New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
American Diamond Rock Boring Co. v. Sullivan Mach. Co., 1 F. Cas. 641, 14 Blatchf. 119, 2 Ban. & A. 522, 1877 U.S. App. LEXIS 1591 (circtsdny 1877).

Opinion

SHIPMAN, District Judge.

This'is a motion for a preliminary injunction to restrain the defendants from the infringement of reissued letters patent No. 3,690, [Patent No. -39,235,] issued to Asahel J. Severance, as assignee of Rudolph Lesehot, and dated October 26th, 1869, for an “improved rock ■drill.” The original patent was issued to Rudolph Lesehot, and dated July 14th, 1863. "The plaintiffs became the owners of said reissued patent on June 4th, 1875. The American Diamond Drill Company, the assignor of the present plaintiffs, brought in this court, in the year 1872, their bill in equity against the Sullivan Machine Company, one of the present defendants, for an injunction against an infringement of this patent, and, after a full hearing upon proofs, a decree directing an injunction was entered in April, 1875. The injunction was duly served upon said ■company. As no opinion was filed in that case, it becomes necessary to state briefly the facts which were found by the court in regard to the patent, the invention and the infringement, in order to a proper understanding of the questions which are at issue upon the present motion.

The invention and tool of Lesehot are described in the reissued patent as follows: “This invention consists of a boring tool composed of a series of diamond edges, attached to an annular or tubular stock or crown, of steel or other metal, to which a •rotary and a direct forward motion are given, and which is thereby caused to cut or bore an annular groove or hole, leaving a central core or kernel, which is easily detached by the subsequent operation of a gad or wedge. It also consists in the combination with the described boring tool, of a tubular boring bar or drill rod, whereby motion is imparted to the boring head, and through which a stream of water is forced, as hereinafter set forth. * * * A is the annular or tubular socket or crown, of steel or other metal; a, a1, a2, are edged cutters, composed of diamonds fitted and set firmly into suitable notches or mortices in the face of the crown or stock A These diamonds are such as, from their color, are leaqt valuable for jewelry. They are respectively so arranged in the crown or stock A, that the cutting edges of some project in a forward direction from the face or front end of the said crown or stock, as Illustrated by a, a, while the edges of others project outwardly from the outward periphery thereof, as illustrated by a1, a1, and the edges of others project inwardly from the inner periphery, as illustrated by a2, a2. This crown or stock is secured by a bayonet fastening, or other means, to a tubular boring bar, of any suitable length, whose outer diameter is not greater than that of the said crown or stock, and whose inner diameter is not less than that of the said crown or stock, and this bar is arranged to form part of a machine of suitable construction, or otherwise furnished with suitable mechanical appliances, according to the nature of the work to be performed, by which it has imparted to it both a rotary and a direct forward or feeding motion, whereby it is caused to cut or bore an annular groove or hole in the rock or other hard body upon which it is employed. The operation of the tool will be greatly assisted by the injection of a stream of water through the tubular boring bar and crown or stock, for the purpose of washing out and carrying away the detritus which is produced, and which would otherwise choke up the annular opening and impede the action of the tool.” The second and third claims of the reissued patent, which are, perhaps, the only claims which it is important now to consider, are: “2. The row of cutting edges a1, when attached to a revolving boring head, so as to project beyond the circumference thereof, for the purposes specified. 3. In combination with a revolving and progressing boring head, having cutting points projecting beyond the periphery thereof, a hollow central drill rod, through which the water is forced or passed.”

The device of the defendants, which was [642]*642in controversy in the case of the American Diamond Drill Company, was a boring tool, consisting of a hollow boring head, convex upon its surface, having two holes extending from the cavity on the inside to the outside surface. The convex surface is armed with diamonds, which project from the surface, and a portion of which diamonds project outwards from the periphery. The only difference between the two devices is, that Le-schot’s drill abrades only a portion of the rock, the annular boring head acting upon the rock in such a manner as to enable an annular groove to be formed in the stone by the rotary and progressive motion of the boring head, and to leave a core within the groove. This core was subsequently removed by wedges. The defendants’ tool abraded the entire surface of the rock through which it passed. Each instrument was provided with diamonds, the cutting edges of which extended outside of the periphery of the boring head, so that a larger hole was formed than the diameter of the boring head, and each was attached to a hollow bar, through which water was passed to wash out the detritus, the water being injected through the tubular boring bar and the boring head, and escaping, in the Leschot tool, through the annular boring head, and, in the defendants’ device, through the two holes upon the convex surface of the boring head.

From an inspection of the defendants’ drill and the reissued patent, it was obvious that the terms of the second and third claims of the patent were infringed. The defendants’ drill was an exact imitation of the plain.tiffs’ device, with the exception, that, in place of the annular boring head, was substituted a convex boring head, with two holes in its surface. The annular head was partially plugged, so that the entire surface of the rock could be abraded. It may have been, and, perhaps, was, an inprovement upon Le-schot’s tool, but an improvement which required little, if any, invention. It contained the principle of Leschot’s invention, which was the effecting a clearance, by diamond points projecting beyond the periphery of a revolving and progressing boring head, so that the drill should not be clogged by the detritus, and the combination of the cutting mechanism with the hollow drill rod, into and through which, and through the orifice in the boring head, water could be injected, for the purpose of washing out the detritus. The distinctive features of the invention, as detailed in substance by the plaintiffs’ expert, were, in combination, 1st. The boring head, adapted to being revolved and progressed or moved forward; 2d. Cutting points of diamonds, projecting beyond the periphery of the said boring head, so that they will cut a hole of larger diameter than the boring head, and so as to give a clearance; 3. A hollow drill rod or boring bar, adapted to connecting the boring head with mechanism for causing it to revolve and progress, and also adapted, by reason of its tubular form, to permitting the injection of a stream of water through the orifice in the boring head, for the purpose of washing out and carrying away the detritus which is produced by the abrasion of the stone by the diamond points. These distinctive features were all found in the defendants’ drill.

An earnest attempt was made to avoid the effect of the infringement, by the claim that the reissued patent' is for an invention different in kind and character from the one which was claimed in the original patent. It is not different from the one which was described in that patent.

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Bluebook (online)
1 F. Cas. 641, 14 Blatchf. 119, 2 Ban. & A. 522, 1877 U.S. App. LEXIS 1591, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/american-diamond-rock-boring-co-v-sullivan-mach-co-circtsdny-1877.