MacColl v. Crompton Loom Works

95 F. 987, 37 C.C.A. 351, 1899 U.S. App. LEXIS 2496
CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedMay 31, 1899
DocketNo. 259
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 95 F. 987 (MacColl v. Crompton Loom Works) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
MacColl v. Crompton Loom Works, 95 F. 987, 37 C.C.A. 351, 1899 U.S. App. LEXIS 2496 (1st Cir. 1899).

Opinion

COLT, Circuit Judge.

This appeal was heard at the same time as the suit by this complainant against: the Knowles Loom Works. 95 Fed. 982. The Knowles Case limited the charge of infringement to the first claim of MacColl patent, No. 570,259. This suit is brought for infringement of the first and sixth claims of that patent, and claims 1 and 2 of the second MacColl patent, No. 570,260. Both patents were issued the same day, October 27,1896. The opinion handed down this day in the Knowies Case, construing the first claim of patent No. 570,259, and holding that the Knowles pattern chain did not infringe that claim, also applies to this case. The defendant’s chain is composed of links of different sizes, which govern the pattern. It has no adjustable pins. The action of the pattern projections is radial, and not longitudinal, as in the MacColl chain. This chain is more remote from the specific mechanism covered by the first claim of the MacColl patent than the Knowles device. In view of our opinion in the Knowles Case, further consideration of this claim is unnecessary.

Claim 6 of the first MacColl patent relates to a combination of mechanism by means of which one of the needle bars remains inoperative at any desired point in the pattern, whereby discontinuous patterns, such as spots in the cloth, may be made. The lappet pat[988]*988tern is made by the succession of transverse stitches. To interrupt the pattern, the rising and falling of the needle bar must be stopped. When this is done the needle simply carries along a thread above or below the face of the cloth according to the position of the needle bar, until the up and down motion is resumed. The claim is as follows:

“(6) In a lappet loom, the combination of a needle bar and pattern chain mechanism with intermediate engaging mechanism for causing the desired movement of the needles into the shed; the pattern chain mechanism being adapted to govern the longitudinal position of the needle bar, and control the operative connection of the needle bar with the engaging mechanism, whereby the said engaging mechanism may be caused to remain inoperative at any de-' sired point in the pattern, substantially as described.”

The question is raised as to the construction of this claim. The language is plain and unambiguous, and, in our opinion, its meaning is free from serious doubt. The claim is for a combination of devices “whereby the said engaging mechanism may be caused to remain inoperative at any desired point in the pattern.” The combination consists of a needle bar, which the specification shows is the rear needle bar; pattern chain mechanism, which means a pattern chain mechanism having a series of pins, t, upon the links of the pattern chain, which engage the crooked end of the rock shaft, as shown in the specification; intermediate engaging mechanism for causing the desired movement of the needles into the sheds, which refers to the lifting rod moved up and down by the cam, the rock shaft with its crooked end, and other mechanism described in the specification. The claim also says, “The pattern mechanism being adapted to govern the longitudinal position of the needle bar, and control the operative connection of the needle bar with the engaging mechanism.” This simply means that the pattern chain in this combination, in addition to having the pins, t, upon the links, which control the operative connection of the needle bar (which is the subject-matter of this claim), must also be adapted to govern the longitudinal position of the needle bar. It is apparent, however, upon reading the claim, and considering its subject-matter and operative parts, that the specific means described in the patent for governing the longitudinal position of the needle bar are not made an element of the claim, and that it covers any pattern-chain mechanism adapted to govern the longitudinal position of the needle bar. The “adjustable pattern screws or pins” which are made the subject-matter of claim 1 are independent of the means employed for accomplishing the result mentioned in claim 6. We hold that claim 1 forms no part of, and cannot be read into claim 6. In the MacColl mechanism the needle bars are lifted by a lifting rod, which is continuously moved up and down by a cam, and passes upward through a guiding slot in a plate. In this slot the rod can be moved to and from the needle bars by an arm attached to a rock shaft. This shaft has a crooked end, which engages a series of pins upon the links of the pattern chain. The lifting rod has a flat end, and can pass under one or both needle bars. This end is always held in engagement with the forward needle bar, which is therefore never removed from operation. When a pin on a link of the pattern chain [989]*989comes in contact with the crooked end of the rock shaft, the end of the lifting rod is carried backward under the rear needle bar, by which means it is lifted as well as the forward needle bar. When, however, a link with no pin upon it passes around under the crooked end of the rock shaft, the end of the lifting rod is removed by a spring from under the rear needle bar, and only the front needle bar is operated. In defendant’s loom the mechanism employed for keeping the needle bar out of operation is quite different. A lever is pivoted to the loom frame, and rests upon the pal tern chain, constructed of links of different heights. This lever is connected by a rod with an elbow lever, which it moves in and out under a stop. This stop is on the lifting rod which raises and depresses the needle bar. When the lay swings forward, the needle bar raises the needles out of the warp. When the lay swings backward, the lifting rod and needle bar are pulled down, but, if the elbow lever is pulled under the stop, the lifting rod cannot be pulled down, and the needles remain up. The pattern chain acts through the elbow lever to keep the needle bar out of operation. In defendant’s structure there is a “pattern-controlled stop, which holds the needle bars up at times when it is desired to stop their operation.” If MaeColl were the first to invent a device for keeping the needle bar out. of operation at any desired point in the pattern, his patent should receive a broad construction. but, if this feature in lappet looms was old. we think the difference between the means employed by the defendant and those employed by MaeColl to accomplish this purpose relieve the former from the charge of infringement. The prior art shows that many years ago the improvement was adopted of having the pattern chain which governed the longitudinal position of the needle bar so constructed that it would also take the needle bar out of operation, and that this was done by means of high and low surfaces on the links of the chain. This is shown in the Smith (English) patent of 1854. In comparing the specific mechanisms of Smith and MacColl, Mr. Livermore, defendant’s expert, fairly says:

“In belli coses there is a pattern chain which determines the position of the noodle bar at every operation (rise and fall) of the needles, and thereby determines the figure produced by the whip thread when the needles are operated. In both eases the same pattern chain carries a pa Item surface, which determines when the needle bars shall and when they shall not operate (rise and fall); and in both cases this latter pattern surface controls the operation of the needle bar through intermediate engaging mechanism which either connects the needle bar with a lifter that operates continuously and thus causes the needle bar to operate, or disconnects it from said lifter, and thus permits or causes it to cease'operating.”

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Related

MacColl v. Knowles Loom Works
95 F. 982 (First Circuit, 1899)

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Bluebook (online)
95 F. 987, 37 C.C.A. 351, 1899 U.S. App. LEXIS 2496, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/maccoll-v-crompton-loom-works-ca1-1899.