Dixie-Vortex Co. v. Paper Container Mfg. Co.

43 F. Supp. 518, 52 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 563, 1942 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3237
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedFebruary 17, 1942
DocketCiv. A. No. 354
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 43 F. Supp. 518 (Dixie-Vortex Co. v. Paper Container Mfg. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dixie-Vortex Co. v. Paper Container Mfg. Co., 43 F. Supp. 518, 52 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 563, 1942 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3237 (N.D. Ill. 1942).

Opinion

BARNES, District Judge

This case involves questions of the alleged infringement and the validity of Holman Patent No. 1,594,517, Barbieri Patent No. 1,610,192, Smith & Bild Patent No. 2,203,510, and Amberg Patent No. 2,203,513.

The Holman Patent No. 1,594,617 discloses and claims a paper cup forming machine. The Smith & Bild Patent No. 2,203,510 discloses and claims an improved method of making and improvements in a machine for making paper cups. Amberg Patent No. 2,203,513 discloses and claims improvements in the method and machine disclosed in Smith & Bild No. 2,203,510.

The parties have stipulated that the defendant’s accused machines are like the machines disclosed in the Hulseman patent application, Serial No. 224,560, except for a few differences stated in the stipulation. There is no controversy between the parties as to either the structure or the operation of defendant’s accused machines.

The principal apparent difference between defendant’s accused machines and the disclosures of the Holman, Smith & Bild and Amberg patents is that the patents disclose two (one cup forming, one cup pressing) cones of substantially equal size which revolve in opposite directions on fixed axes, while the accused machines use two (one cup forming, one cup pressing) cones of unequal size, one of which is stationary (the defendant prefers to call this cone a backing plate but that does not alter its character) and the other of which both revolves on its axis and rolls upon the surface of the stationary cone. The defendant’s machines have a third revolving and rolling cone but it only makes a multiple machine (thereby increasing the output to which the defendant refers as avoiding infringement) without changing the mechanical principles involved.

The court has spoken of the principal apparent difference between the defendant’s accused machines and the disclosures of the three patents. The difference is only apparent. The accused machines and the machines of the patents both have two cones which make line contact with each other. Since the cones disclosed in the patents both revolve on fixed axes, the paper blanks are pulled in between them and turn about a point as they are being formed into cups. Since one of the cones in the accused machines is stationary and the other revolves on its axis and rolls upon the surface of the stationary cone, the paper blanks do not turn about a point as they are being formed into cups but, on the contrary, lie motionless on the larger cone until they are rolled on the other. In the disclosures of the patents, the blanks move. In the accused machines, one of the cones moves.

Defendant says “Defendant’s machine is as different from the machines in the Holman patent (and from the machine of the Smith & Bild and Amberg patents as well) as a rolling pin and bread board are different from a clothes wringer.” That statement is unquestionably true. But when one remembers that in the three patents one of the revolving cones is a mandrel around which the blank is wound to form a paper cup and the other revolving cone is a platen which makes line contact with the mandrel and presses two portions of the blank against each other, so as to make them adhere to each other, while in [520]*520the accused machines the revolving and moving cone is a mandrel around which the blank is wound to form a paper cup and the other stationary cone is a platen which makes line contact with the mandrel and presses the two portions of the blank against each other so as to make them adhere to each other, it is apparent that there is no difference in the principles involved. In this case the rolling pin and the bread board are equivalent to the clothes wringer. The apparent difference does not avoid infringement. Sanitary Refrigerator Co. v. Winters, 280 U.S. 30, 50 S.Ct. 9, 74 L.Ed. 147; Tondeur v. Stewart, C. C., 28 F. 561; Westinghouse Machine Co. v. Press Pub. Co., C. C., 127 F. 822; Wachs v. Balsam, 2 Cir., 38 F.2d 50; Freeman v. Altvater, 8 Cir., 66 F.2d 506.

Claims 1 and 2 of the Holman patent, Claims 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 20, 23 and 24 of the Smith & Bild patent and Claims 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 20, 40 and 41 of Amberg patent are in suit. The court is of the opinion that they all are infringed except Claims 5 and 7 of the Smith & Bild patent. Claim 5 of Smith & Bild contains an element as follows: “rotating each blank about a point substantially in its leading edge while rolling the same to conical form 'and simultaneously trimming circularly the edges of the blank forming the base of said conical shell.” And Claim 7 of Smith & Bild contains an element as follows: “successively rolling up each blank to form a cone by turning it about a point substantially in its leading portions while rolling up the blank from its leading edge circularly toward one of the side edges, and securing the side edge on the leading edge.” Because the accused machines have a cone which not only revolves on its axis but rolls on the stationary cone, the paper blank, when placed therein, remains motionless and does not either rotate “about a point substantially in its leading edge”, or turn “about a point substantially in its leading portions.” Accordingly, Claims 5 and 7 are not infringed. ,

On the question of validity of the Holman patent, the defendant contends that the Potts patent No. 1,495,039 shows everything that Holman shows. The Potts machine was for making conical paper cups from paraffin coated paper blanks, while the Holman patent discloses a machine for making conical paper cups from uncoated paper glue bearing blanks. The undisputed evidence shows that cups made from these different blanks require radically different treatment, particularly after they leave the forming cone. A cup made from an uncoated glued blank would spring apart after leaving the forming cone of the Potts machine while it retains its form after leaving the forming cone of the Holman machine. The difference is that between failure and success, and the disclosures of Holman provide for success while those of Potts do not.

The defendant says that Barbieri patent No. 1,547,777 shows operation upon a glued blank and provides means for applying a predetermined amount of glue to the blank. The plaintiff answers, and the court thinks correctly, that the Holman patent was a modification of and an improvement upon the machine shown in Barbieri and that it was the Holman invention which made the machine of the Barbieri patent an operative and highly successful machine, because of the manner in which Holman made provision for taking care of the cups after they were discharged from the forming mandrel. Holman makes no claim to the glue applying mechanism. The thing which Holman did to machines of the Barbieri and Potts type • was to provide a structure which would quickly nest the cups after they were discharged from the forming mandrel and which would keep the cups nested and in proper shape until the glue had set. That structure included the pusher mechanism to push the nested cups into the chute and keep the cups from rebounding when they were discharged into the chute. The pusher mechanism was actuated directly from the feeding mechanism which gave perfect synchronization, and resulted in the provision of a new and novel combination defined in the Holman claims in suit.

The defendant refers to Munson patent 448,158, but the mechanism disclosed by Munson

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

de Graffenried v. United States
25 Cl. Ct. 209 (Court of Claims, 1992)
Dixie Cup Co. v. Paper Container Mfg. Co.
169 F.2d 645 (Seventh Circuit, 1948)
Dixie-Vortex Co. v. Paper Container Mfg. Co.
130 F.2d 569 (Seventh Circuit, 1942)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
43 F. Supp. 518, 52 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 563, 1942 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3237, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dixie-vortex-co-v-paper-container-mfg-co-ilnd-1942.