Goodman v. Super Mold Corp.

103 F.2d 474, 41 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 188, 1939 U.S. App. LEXIS 3592
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedMarch 23, 1939
DocketNo. 8851
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 103 F.2d 474 (Goodman v. Super Mold Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Goodman v. Super Mold Corp., 103 F.2d 474, 41 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 188, 1939 U.S. App. LEXIS 3592 (9th Cir. 1939).

Opinions

WILBUR, Circuit Judge.

This is an appeal from an interlocutory decree of the District Court in a suit for patent infringement holding claims 1, 12 and 13 of patent No. 1,662,035, granted March 6, 1928 to Frank L. Smith and others, claim 4 of patent No. 1,710,804, granted April 30, 1929 to the same patentees, and claims 1 and 2 of patent No. 1,-760,944, granted June 3, 1930 to E. A. Glynn, valid and infringed by appellant.

The claims of the patents alleged to be infringed are combination claims for fire retreading molds for use in the retreading of worn automobile tires. In the process of retreading a tire, the remaining portion of the old 'tread is first cleaned off, the surface roughened, and then a strip of uncured rubber tapered off on the edges, called a “camel back”, is cemented on the tread area of the tire. The tire is then placed in a tire retreading mold and heat and pressure are applied to vulcanize the camel back. This process requires a tire mold containing a matrix with the pattern necessary to give a nonskid surface, and some method of forcing the tire into the matrix under pressure, and for retaining the tread in place until vulcanized by the application of heat. The method employed by the appellee described in each of its patents involved the use of a watch case type mold about the size of the unworn tire against which it was desired to force the uncured rubber tread after cementing it to the worn tire.

Patent No. 1,662,035.

In the device disclosed by patent No. 1,-662,035 a resilient pad is placed in the tire in the place usually occupied by the inner tube and the tire is mounted upon a rim. The application of pressure to both sides of the tire forces the uncured rubber tread tightly against the tire mold.

Appellee claims that the means for the compression of the tire designed to operate independently of the mold after the tire has been placed therein constitute the essence of the invention. It was this feature of the combination that was relied upon by the patentees in their amended application for patent No. 1,662,035. The patentees applied for 18 claims. Upon re[476]*476jection of claims 1, 2, 3, 5, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17 and 18 of the patent as originally applied for, the applicants pointed out to the examiner the arrangement of the structure whereby the sidewalls of the tire are pressed together to force the tread portion against the inner surface of the mold. This element of the invention was claimed to be novel and not disclosed in the prior art cited. The rejected claims were amended and reconsideration and' allowance were requested. The patent was finally allowed with 13 claims.

Figs. 1, 2 and 3, below, are patent drawings of the mold disclosed in patent No. 1,662,035.

[477]*477The mold as shown in Fig. 1, a plan view, has two matching parts connected at one side with hinges. The hinged parts of the mold contain chambers to allow for the circulation of steam for vulcanizing the tire. The tire is adapted to fit against the inner surface of the mold. The tire is mounted on an ordinary type tire rim which in turn is secured in the mold upon a mounting rim. The rings designed to press against the sides of the tire are mounted concentrically with and adjacent to the sides of the tires. These rings are pressed toward each other and against the side of the tire by means of levers operated by screws. In operation of the apparatus the resilient pad is placed in the tire and the tire is mounted on an ordinary tire rim. It is then mounted upon the mounting rim of the mold and the two sections of the mold are clamped together. The sides of the tire are then pressed inward by the rings. The application of pressure to the sides operates to decrease the volume of the space occupied by the resilient material, thus increasing the pressure against the tread. This pressure is further increased by reason of the toggle joint effect of the exertion of pressure against the relatively stiff sides of the tire.

Patent No. 1,710,804.

Patent No. 1,710,804 discloses a tire retreading mold similar in design to the combination shown in patent No. 1,662,035. Figs. 4 and 5, below, are patent drawings of the device.

Within the mold of the structure disclosed by this patent is fitted a matrix to form the new tread surface of the tire. As in patent No. 1,662,035, this structure is provided with concentric rings which are designed to press against each side of the tire between the rim of the tire and the mold section “causing the tread to be expanded into firm contact with the interior of the matrix around the entire mold”. The rings in this device are pressed toward each other against the sides of the tire not by levers, as in patent No. 1,662,035, but by “yokes” (see Figs. 4 and 5 above) which are hinged on one of the rings and extend through the rim of the tire to a point opposite the hinge. Threaded rods are threaded through one end of the yoke. By turning the rods the rings are forced together, which serves to “compress the sides of the tire casing inwardly against a partially inflated inner tube 32 within the tire, this compressing of the tire causing the tread to be expanded into firm contact with the interior of the matrix around the entire mold.” In comparing patents Nos. 1,710,804 and 1,662,035, appellee’s witness Doble testified: “The only substantial difference between 1710 and 1662 [patents Nos. 1,662,035 and 1,710,804] in so far as the pressure rings and means for compressing those rings toward each other, between the two patents, is the substitution of the element 29 and its various parts [the yokes] for the elements 26, 27 and 32 [the levers and its parts] and such incidental parts as there are there.”

[478]*478The retreading apparatus described in patent No. 1,760,944 is shown below in Fig. 6.

This patent purports to be an improvement over patents Nos. 1,662,035 and 1,710,-804. It relates particularly to the means for actuating the side pressure rings. Concerning these prior patents, the patentee states:

“In the structure of the previous patent [No. 1,662,035] as well as in that of their later patent No. 1,710,804 dated April 30, 1929, the rings were moved inwardly against the tire by a number of independently actuated elements. This was unobjectionable [objectionable] and unsatisfactory in that it took considerable time to manipulate all these different elements and it was hard to insure that the inward movement of the rings would be the same at all points engaged by the actuating elements, and which equal movement is of course necessary to prevent the rings from becom-' ing moved askew or out of parallel with each other.
“The principal aim of this invention therefore is to provide an actuating means for the rings so connected thereto that the rotation of a single member causes both rings to be moved simultaneously and without the possibility of the rings moving out of parallel alinement with each other at any time, thus lessening the time needed to operate the structure and insuring more accurate results.”

The same type of mold is utilized as is disclosed in the prior patents referred to. The rings, designed to press against the sides of the tire between the tread and the rim, are actuated by means of “spider arms” which converge to a central hub. A shaft projects through the hub of both spider arms. One end of the shaft is threaded and attached thereon is a hand wheel. The other end of the shaft has a pin fashioned to engage the hub and prevent turning of the shaft.

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103 F.2d 474, 41 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 188, 1939 U.S. App. LEXIS 3592, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/goodman-v-super-mold-corp-ca9-1939.