Home/U.S. Circuit Court for the Northern District of Illnois/Moline Plow Co. v. Parlin

Moline Plow Co. v. Parlin

84 F. 349, 1897 U.S. App. LEXIS 2966
CourtU.S. Circuit Court for the Northern District of Illnois
DecidedDecember 13, 1897
StatusPublished

This text of 84 F. 349 (Moline Plow Co. v. Parlin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering U.S. Circuit Court for the Northern District of Illnois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moline Plow Co. v. Parlin, 84 F. 349, 1897 U.S. App. LEXIS 2966 (circtndil 1897).

Opinion

GROSSOUP, District Judge.

The hill is to restrain infringement of letters patent No. 326,449, to Levi J. Odell, dated September 15, 1885, for an improvement in check-rower attachments for corn planters. The patentee, Odell, had previously (June 16, 1885) taken out a patent for a complete corn planter. The patent under consideration refers to this previous patent, but does not, in my judgment, limit itself to being an improvement upon planters constructed under such previous patent. The patent under consideration is distinctly a check-rower attachment, and was unquestionably designed to he used in connection with any corn planter to which it could he adapted. The invention is described in the letters patent as follows:

“In the accompanying drawing [immediately following this description], Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same; one of the seed tubes of the com planter being partly broken away, so as to disclose the interior construction. A represents one of my improved corn planters, having the hoppers, B, the seed tubes, c, and mechanism for feeding seeds from the hoppers into the seed tubes; but as such mechanism may be of any preferred eons ¡ruction, and forms no part of tbis invention, it is not necessary to fully describe it here. To the outer sides of the hoppers are bolted bracket arms, a, which extend laterally out beyond, and in rear of, the supporting wheels; and to the outer ends of these arms are bolted bracket heads, b, which extend in the direction of the line of draft. To the front end of each of these heads is bolted a bracket, c, having a substantially vertical guard finger, d; and to these brackets are journaled grooved pulleys, e, which are supported in nearly a horizontal position. To the rear end of each of the heads, b, are also secured brackets, f, in which are journaled horizontal grooved wheels or rollers, g. Levers, h, are fulcrumed to the outside of the heads, b, near the centers thereof. The upper ends of these levers [350]*350are bifurcated, to leave arms or fingers, i, that diverge at their upper ends; and the lower ends of said levers extend' below the heads, b, for a suitable distance. Coiled, retractile springs, k, are secured on the under sides of the heads, b, near the rear ends thereof; and the free ends of these springs are connected to the lower portions of the levers, h, so as to keep said levers normally in the position shown in the solid lines in the Fig. 2. In blocks, 1, which are bolted or form with the rear sides of the seed spouts, is journaled a rock shaft, m, which extends transversely across the rear side of the corn plant» r, and has its outer ends bent upwardly, as at n, so as to form arms therefor. Short arms, o, project rearwardly from the rock shaft, in the line with the centers of the seed tubes, and are connected by rods, p, with seed valves, r, that are fulcrumed in the seed tubes, and have their short ends projecting rearwardly therefrom. These valves, when in the initial position shown in solid lines in Fig. 2, close the seed tubes, and collect the seeds that are dropped into the seed tubes by the seeding mechanism from the hoppers. A knotted cord or wire, such as is commonly used for check-row corn planters of this class, is -stretched across the field, and passes on the sheaves, or grooved wheels, and between the fingers of the lever, on one side of the corn planter, and, as the planter is drawn along, the knots in the cord or wire successively catch in front of the fingers of the lever, and move the lever to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, which opens the valves, r, in the seed tubes, by reason of being connected to said valves, as before described, and causes the seeds collected by the valves to drop to the furrow. As the knot in the cord or wire passes beyond the lever, the springs return the lever to its natural position, and close the valves, to be again operated by the succeeding knot, and so on. The knots being equidistant from each other in the wire, it follows that the corn will be planted in the hills at regular intervals. On the return row the wire operates the lever on the opposite side of the planter.”

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Bluebook (online)
84 F. 349, 1897 U.S. App. LEXIS 2966, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moline-plow-co-v-parlin-circtndil-1897.