New York Exhaust Ventilator Co. v. American Institute

28 F. 722, 24 Blatchf. 124, 1886 U.S. App. LEXIS 2344

This text of 28 F. 722 (New York Exhaust Ventilator Co. v. American Institute) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Southern New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
New York Exhaust Ventilator Co. v. American Institute, 28 F. 722, 24 Blatchf. 124, 1886 U.S. App. LEXIS 2344 (circtsdny 1886).

Opinion

Blatchford, J.

The plaintiff is a New Jersey corporation, and each of the defeodants is a New York corporation. The allegations of the bill are, in substance, these: The plaintiff is engaged in making and selling ventilator wheels known as the “Blackman Wheel.” The American Institute, in 1884, publicly offered “a medal of superiority and a medal of excellence for such ventilating apparatus as should, under certain tests and conditions, be proven, on trial, to produce the best results, and excel in certain respects.” Thereupon the plaintiff entered into a contract with the American Institute that a competitive test should take place between the “Blackman Wheel,” as made by the plaintiff, and another ventilating fan, known as the “Wing Disk Fan,” as made by the Simonds Manufacturing Company; that in December, 1884, the American Institute sent to the plaintiff a statement of the conditions on which the competitive test should take place, the same, as signed by the president of the plaintiff, being as follows:

“I hereby agree to the following as the conditions for the competitive test of exhaust fans to be made by direction of the American Institute: Fans 4 ft. inyliametertobe used. One test to be made with 30 ft. of suction pipe, of same diameter as fan. With Blackman fan, the 30 ft. to be in addition to the enlarged chamber. One test with 30 ft. of discharge pipe, without any suction pipe, and without enlarged chamber on Blackman. These tests to be repeated with cloth stretched across the pipe. The power required to operate the fans is to be measured by a dynamometer; the quantity of air [723]*723moved, by an anemometer; and the pressure or vacuum produced, by a water-gauge. The dynamometer and other instruments, and the power, to bo supplied by the American institute. The cost of pipe and incidental expenses to be shared equally by the competitors. The tests to be made by and under the direction of the judges appointed by the American "institute. The competitors to have the right to be present to witness any or all of the tests. The competitors to be furnished with a copy of the record of the tests.”

—That the plaintiff accepted said conditions subject to a proposition made in writing to the American Instituto, that a certain modification be made in said conditions, said, writing being as follows, as signed by tbe president of the plaintiff:

“To the Judges — Uhntlkjien: We freely accept your conditions of test, with the exception to your ruling that the Blackman wheel shall draw through 80 ft. of pipe in addition to the enlarged chamber. This enlarged chamber is about, fifteen (15) per cent, of the entire length (30 ft.) of pipe our competing fan is required to draw through. If the Wing fan is asked to draw through 50 ft. of pipe, why should the Blackman wheel be required to draw through about fifteen per cent, greater length of pipe? We think, to place the Wing1 fan and the Blackman wheel upon the same level in this test, both should draw through the same length of pipe measured from the wheel. We desire no advantage whatever, and do not feel that we can consent to give this advantage without expressing our objections.
“As we understand the conditions of this tost in general terms, it is that each party can erect their wheel or fan so far as to get the best result through 130 ft. of pipe. If wo are correct, we claim that each party should draw and force through 30 ft. of ¡upe, — no more or less. With this explanation of the disadvantage we are under if required to lengthen the pipe, we accept the conditions, rather than delay the test.”

That said modification ivas accepted by the American Institute; that the Simonds Manufacturing Company subscribed duplicates of the writings, and became a party to the contract; that the conditions in the writings were those on which tbe plaintiff was induced to submit the Blackman wheel in competition for the prize with the Wing disk fan; that the test was conducted under the direction of the agents of the American Institute; that from the trials of the two apparatuses it appeared, as concerned all matters in issue under said conditions, and to be determined in said test,-under said contract, that the trials resulted in favor of the Blackman wheel, and demonstrated its superior utility and merit as compared with the Wing disk fan, all of which facts w*ere admitted by and known to each of the defendants; that the plaintiff, under said contract, became entitled to a favorable judgment from the judges, the agents of the American Institute, and to receive a medal of superiority for the Blackman wheel; that the agents of the American Institute, with the aid, knowledge, and collusion of the Simonds Manufacturing Company, wrongfully, willfully, fraudulently, and with the intent to deprive the plaintiff of the award of superiority, and without its consent, disregarded the conditions of said contract and writings, and, upon issues and matters not contemplated or authorized by the terms of said contract and writings, and in defiance of the rights of the plaintiff, and to its irreparable injury* [724]*724unjustly and wrongfully, in furtherance of said plan or conspiracy, and with wicked intent, rendered a report to the American Institute which denied the right of the plaintiff to the highest award, and declared that the Wing disk fan was entitled to the highest award, and recommended that the American Institute award a medal of superiority to it, said report being as follows:

“To the Board of Trustees of the American Institute — Gentlemen: For the purpose of ascertaining the capacity and efficiency of the ventilating fan exhibited by the Few York Exhaust Ventilator Company, and known as “Blackman’s Ventilator 'Wheel,” and of the ventilating fan exhibited by the Simonds Manufacturing Company, and known as the “Wing Disk Fan,” competitive tests were made in the machinery hall of the Institute building, The fans were placed, in turn, at the end of a pipe four feet in diameter, and thirty feet long, through which they drew or forced air as required. Tests were made at different rates of speed, and under the conditions of drawing or forcing through the open pipe, or through a disk inserted in the pipe, and made of a material known as cheese-cloth. The obstruction offered by the cheesecloth was intended to represent, in a measure, the resistance encountered by the air when passing through such substances as wool, malt, etc., for drying purposes. A small 7x7 engine furnished the power, which was transmitted to the fan by means of belts, — one counter-shaft intervening between the engine and fan-shafts. The speed of the engine was regulated by a governor. Indicator cards were taken as often as practicable during a test, and the average of these was taken as the power for that particular test.
“ The velocity of the air passing through the pipe was measured by an anemometer. Its readings were taken at seven fixed points across the mouth of the pipe, one in the center and three on each side; the opposite pairs being at the same distance from the center. The anemometer recorded during one minute at each point. For the purpose of calculating the volume of air, the pipe was considered as divided into rings, bounded by imaginary circles drawn midway between these points. The mean of the readings in each ring, taken as the velocity for that ring, gave the volume of air passing through it. Both fans áre constructed on the principle of the screw propeller, moving air in lines parallel to the axes of the fans.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

New York Exhaust Ventilator Co. v. American Institute
24 F. 561 (U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Southern New York, 1885)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
28 F. 722, 24 Blatchf. 124, 1886 U.S. App. LEXIS 2344, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/new-york-exhaust-ventilator-co-v-american-institute-circtsdny-1886.