General Machinery Corp. v. Clearing Mach. Corp.

104 F.2d 553, 41 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 595, 1939 U.S. App. LEXIS 4180
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedMay 20, 1939
DocketNo. 6759
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 104 F.2d 553 (General Machinery Corp. v. Clearing Mach. Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
General Machinery Corp. v. Clearing Mach. Corp., 104 F.2d 553, 41 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 595, 1939 U.S. App. LEXIS 4180 (7th Cir. 1939).

Opinion

TREANOR, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff-appellant filed a bill in equity alleging infringement of original patent No. 1,768,503 issued to one Byerlein, for a drawing press, said patent now being owned by plaintiff. During the pendency of the suit the original patent was reissued, and thereupon, plaintiff filed a supplemental bill of complaint based upon the reissue patent No. 20,042. The bill prayed injunctive relief, accounting of profits, and damages. Issue was joined on the supplemental bill, and the reissue patent is the subject of the present litigation. The issues raised by the pleadings and evidence presented three questions to the District Court:

1. Did the reissue patent disclose” invention over the prior art?

2. Did the accused machine of defendant infringe on plaintiff’s machine?

3. Did plaintiff exercise good faith with the Patent Office in the proceedings for securing the reissue patent?

The District Court held, with the defendant on the first question, and, on the basis of such holding, plaintiff’s bill .was dismissed for want of equity. The second and third questions were disposed of adversely to defendant. The conclusions of law were (1) that the patent claims herein involved were anticipated, or involved no invention over the prior art; (2) that defendant’s accused machine embodies the features of construction set forth in the plaintiff’s claims, and (3) that the proceedings in connection with the reissue did not violate 35 U.S.C.A. § 64.

The patent claims of plaintiff which are now involved are" Nos. 13, 17, 20, 21, and 24-32 inclusive. It is agreed by both parties that claims 24 and 261 are illustrative of all the claims in suit and these are the claims chiefly relied upon. The letters patent recited that “This invention relates to presses and particularly to that type of press used in drawing metal.” Plaintiff’s machine has been used extensively in the manufacture of automobile bodies. It is of great size and when operating on a steel sheet having a thickness of approximately %5 inch it is capable of pressing a quarter panel or side of an automobile body in one pressing operation which requires about 10 or 11 seconds. The letters patent, however, are not limited’to machines of large size, nor do they relate to any particular branch of the metal pressing industry. The patent relates solely to a machine for pressing metal.

[555]*555The nature and functioning of plaintiff’s machine, alleged to have been infringed, is summarized by plaintiff as follows: “The Byerlein patent in suit discloses a drawing press for completing in one cycle of operations a double drawing operation upon large metal stampings such as, for instance, the sides of automobile bodies * * * in which there are at least two downwardly moving slides, one of them a drawing member, each having toggle links connected to it so as to obtain a dwell at its lowest position. The second die slide being slideably mounted with (in) the first and the two having a conjoint dwell. Also in connection with these two an upwardly moving die slide which performs a reverse operation upon the stamping during the period of conjoint dwell of the downwardly moving slides, there of course being suitable power connections, suitable framework, a suitable bed in the machine and suitable connections from the source of power.”

The downwardly moving slide, which is first actuated, moves downward to a clamping position and dwells, and clamps the metal blank which is to be drawn; the second slide moves downward, within the first, to a drawing or pressing position and likewise dwells; then a third slide moves upward to a drawing position and upon completion of this third movement all the slides are released and brought back to their original positions. The degree and speed of swing of the toggle link device determine the period of dwell of the first and second slides. The third upwardly moving slide operates during the period of conjoint dwell of the first and second slides and completes the drawing operation. It operates by means of a crank mechanism.

Dies are attached to the slides but these do not enter into the litigation as no patent claims relate to dies.

As stated above, the period of conjoint dwell is effectuated by toggle links. The toggle linkage which connects with the driving power, and controls the outer slide, is independent of that which connects with and controls the inner slide, but the timing relation is fixed. Each toggle link is pivotally connected at its center and operates spherically or in a rocking motion.

When the connecting arm of the toggle link extends straight it exerts its maximum pressure downward; as the toggle continues its motion it will “break” the straight line downward, and as the angle of “break” from the perpendicular increases by the spherical motion the pressure downward will be removed. While the pressure is being exerted downward by proximity to a straight line, the period of dwell exists. The period of dwell of the inner slide will be less than that of the outer slide and, as stated above, the degree and speed of swing determine the period of dwell.

In our opinion the disclosures of plaintiff’s patent do not constitute invention over the prior art. No one previous patent or machine employed all of the mechanical features which are disclosed by the patent in suit; but unless the assembling of the features of the prior art of metal pressing, or drawing, machines, so as to make them usable in pressing or drawing metal blanks for automobile bodies constituted invention, plaintiff’s patent is invalid.

Although highly involved, the essential features of plaintiff’s patent are not new— the movement of one die slide in a direction counter to other die slides and the toggle link device to cause a conjoint dwell of two or more die slides to obtain two or more drawings in one continuous operation. They were well known in the prior art and were used for the same general purpose that plaintiff seeks to use them — the pressing of metal into a desired shape by one operation; and a dwell by toggle linkage was employed by the prior art to such end. Examples of triple-action presses, such as plaintiff’s, are found in Butters and Morgan of the prior art. Butters, No. 353,439, disclosed a machine for pressing metal wherein one plunger operated a die downward and dwelt, a second plunger operated within the first and pressed a second die downward and dwelt, and during the conjoint dwell a third plunger operated a third die upward to make a reverse draw. No toggle linkage was employed; a separate reciprocating movement was imparted by means of “eccentrics.” Defendant defines “eccentric” as a cam while plaintiff interprets it as a variant of a crank. This difference, however, is not relevant to the purpose of our present reference to Butters. Butters is referred to in order to show that a triple-' action press with a reverse draw for pressing metal preceded plaintiff’s patent. The particular mechanism for operating used by plaintiff was not preceded by Butters.

[556]*556Morgan, No. 298,224, disclosed a machine for pressing metal which was also of the triple-action type with a reverse draw. In this patent a slide or plunger moves upward to press a metal blank into engagement with a fixed upper die. A second slide moves upward outside the first and presses the edge of the metal around the “periphery” of the first die, thus forming a flange. Both slides then .dwell and during such conjoint dwell a third slide moves downward to make a drawing operation in the middle of the metal.

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Bluebook (online)
104 F.2d 553, 41 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 595, 1939 U.S. App. LEXIS 4180, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/general-machinery-corp-v-clearing-mach-corp-ca7-1939.