Edison General Electric Co. v. Crouse-Hinds Electric Co.

146 F. 539, 1906 U.S. App. LEXIS 4863

This text of 146 F. 539 (Edison General Electric Co. v. Crouse-Hinds Electric Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Northern New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Edison General Electric Co. v. Crouse-Hinds Electric Co., 146 F. 539, 1906 U.S. App. LEXIS 4863 (circtndny 1906).

Opinion

RAY, District Judge.

The patent in question states in its specifications as follows:

“The present invention relates to sockets adapted to receive the bases Of electric lamps or other translating devices, and to connect their terminals with a suitable supply circuit. The main object of the invention is to pro[540]*540vide a- simple and. improved device of this character. -The invention consists primarily in-a socket having an insulating bods'-, with an extension on which the terminals aré mounted in the manner hereinafter set forth, and the invention consists also in the several combinations hereinafter described and claimed. In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a partial section of a socket,^,having a base adapted to stand on a table, or to be secured to a wall or similar support; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the socket, with the inclosing shell removed; Fig. 8 is a plan view of the base, with the shell and the terminals removed; Fig. 4 is a view of a detail to be described; and Fig. 5 is a partial section of a socket, having a different outline, and adapted to be supported on a bracket or pipe, in a manner common in electric lighting systems. The socket to be described can be adapted for use in various situations and systems, but it will be described herein as adapted to stand on a table, and as adapted to be secured to a bracket or pipe, and to receive a lamp having terminals of the Edison type. In constructing the socket, I form an insulating base, 1, of rubber, porcelain, or other insulating material, having at the center an integral extension, 2, considerably 'smaller than the main part of the body, and when the socket is to be used as a stand or wall socket a circumferential rib or flange, 3. The extension, 2, is preferably provided on its outer face or end with a depression or ledge, 4, on which an inwardly bent flange, 5, on the bottom of the ring terminal, C, rests, and said terminal is securely held in place by a U-shaped clamping piece. 7, which is adapted to rest on said flange, and to surround the central raised portion, 8, of the insulating extension. Screws 9 are passed through the base from the rear and into the clamping piece, to cause the same to° clamp and hold the sleeve terminal. The piece, 7, is provided with an arm, 10, in which fits a binding screw, 11, by means of which one of the circuit wires, 12, can be secured to the sleeve terminal of the socket. At the center of the raised portion, 8, is preferably formed a depression, 13, of less depth than the depression around the outer edge, and in which the second socket terminal, 14, is adapted to rest, this terminal being secured in place by a screw passed through the insulating base from the rear. A single fastening screw is sufficient, since the terminal is prevented from turning by wall of insulating material around it. Said terminal is bent at right angles, and has a binding screw, 15, by means of which the outgoing wire, 16, of the circuit may be connected thereto. The under surface of the base is preferably provided with grooves, 17, through which the wires may pass to the holes, 18, through which the wires extend to the terminals; 19 are screw-holes, by means of which the socket base may be secured to any desired support; 20 is a sheet metal shell, which rests on the base just inside of the flange. 3; and 21 is a screw-threaded insulating ring surrounding the sleeve terminal, and fitting within- the neck of said shell. This arrangement of parts not only gives an ornamental appearance to the socket, but braces and protects the sleeve terminal. By mounting the terminals, as described, it will be clear that they are fully insulated from each other,, being separated on the face of the supporting body by a wall of insulating material, and the binding screws being on opposite sides of the extension, 2, and are very easily placed and secured in position. The particular outline of the central extension is not important, neither is It essential in all cases that depressions for the terminals of the socket should be formed in the end of -the support in the manner described. In Fig. 5, the insulating base is much smaller than in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, but is larger than the extension, and is supported in a sheet metal shell, having a neck,- 22, adapted to screw onto a bracket or pipe. The shell extends from the circumference of the body, and is therefore separated by a considerable distance from the extension and terminals supported thereon. The extension, 2, is formed in substantially the same manner as above described. This figure shows the inwardly turned flange, 5, on the sleeve terminal, with the clamping piece, 7, resting on the same; this view being taken from the opposite side of a socket to that shown in Fig. 1. This view also shows more clearly than the other views the manner in which the terminals are separated by the insulating material of the extension 2.”

[541]*541The claims in issue (5, 6, and 7) read as follows:

“(t>) Tlie combination in a socket of an insulating base or body, a'Sleeve terminal baying an inwardly bent flange or projection resting on a part of said insulating body, a clamping piece adapted to fit over said flange, and a screw or similar device passing through the insulating body and clamping piece, and means for securing the circuit terminal to said clamping piece, and through it to the sleeve terminal, substantially as described.
“(C) The combination of the insulating standard having a ledge around a central U-shaped portion, a sleeve terminal having a flange resting on said ledge, and a U-shaped clamping piece on said flange, substantially as described.
“(7) The combination in a socket of an insulating body, a sleeve terminal provided with an inwardly extending flange, a central terminal, and a curved clamping piece on said flange around the centra], terminal, substantially as described.”

It will be noted that the patent calls attention to two forms in which the invention may be employed to advantage. The one comprises a structure in which the insulating foundation is provided with an extension upon which the metallic parts are secured, while the other comprises a structure in which the insulating foundation has no such extension, but the metallic parts are mounted thereon directly. The first four claims of this patent refer to the .form first mentionfed, where the insulating foundation is provided with an extension upon which the metallic parts are secured, while the three claims in issue are based upon the second form mentioned, in which this extension is dispensed with, and the metallic parts are mounted directly upon the insulating body. The patent also describes and illustrates the invention as applied to a no-key socket, ordinarily adapted to co-act with a chandelier or its equivalent, and to a receptacle usually adapted to be attached to the wall. Therefore, the sockets and receptacles mentioned in the patent are essentially the same, the difference being chiefly in the shape or design of the insulating foundation. The complainant contends that the description in the patent refers to two important features, which, apart from the metallic parts, distinguish this structure broadly from the structures theretofore employed. The complainant contends that the first of these features concerns the use of an insulating baile or body or standard, by which is meant insulating material of abundant mass as distinguished from the insulating material of disk form, which characterized the single disk and the double disk sockets of the prior stages in the evolution of the art.

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Bluebook (online)
146 F. 539, 1906 U.S. App. LEXIS 4863, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/edison-general-electric-co-v-crouse-hinds-electric-co-circtndny-1906.