Racine Confectioners' Machinery Co. v. Metro Chocolate Co.

297 F. 635, 1924 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1744
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedApril 16, 1924
StatusPublished

This text of 297 F. 635 (Racine Confectioners' Machinery Co. v. Metro Chocolate Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Racine Confectioners' Machinery Co. v. Metro Chocolate Co., 297 F. 635, 1924 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1744 (E.D.N.Y. 1924).

Opinion

CAMPBEEE, District Judge.

This is a suit in equity, brought by the plaintiff to restrain the alleged infringement by the defendant of patent No. 971,097, issued by the United States Patent Office to Frank H. Woolf, assignor to Racine Engine & Machinery Company, dated September 27, 1910, and for an accounting and for damages.

The defendant has interposed the twofold answer of invalidity and noninfringement.

On December 27, 1917, the corporate name of the plaintiff was duly changed from Racine Engine & Machinery Company to Racine Confectioners’ Machinery Company.

The plaintiff bases this suit on claims 1, 2, 4, and 12 of said patent, which read as follows:

“1. The combination in a candy machine of a suitable frame, molding rolls mounted in said frame, one of said rolls being'provided with mold cavities and a groove for each of said mold cavities, means for delivering sticks one by one into said grooves, means for advancing said rolls with a step by step movement, and means adapted to thrust the sticks into the material contained within the mold cavities.
“2. The combination in a candy machine of a suitable frame, molding rolls mounted in said frame, one >of said rolls being provided with mold cavities and a groove for each of said mold cavities, means for delivering sticks one by one into said grooves, means for advancing said rolls with a step by step-movement, and means for thrusting the sticks into the material contained within the mold cavities, the mechanism being timed so that the rolls are at rest when the stick-thrusting mechanism is operative.”
“4. The combination in a candy machine of a suitable frame, molding rolls mounted thereon, gears connected to said rolls whereby they are caused to move synchronously, a ratchet wheel connected to one of said rolls, a movable arm provided with a .pawl adapted to engage said ratchet wheel, means for moving said arm forward and back to engage said pawl with said ratchet, wheel and to disengage it therefrom to give the rolls alternate periods of movement and rest, one of said rolls being provided with grooves, means fox-delivering sticks into the grooves, a plunger adapted to move the sticks severally endwise, and means for operating said plunger timed to operate during the at rest periods of the rolls.”
“12. A roll for candy machines provided with mold cavities and grooves, said grooves being disposed longitudinally of said rolls, one being provided for each mold cavity and each groove opening into its respective mold cavity, so that a stick lying in a groove may be pushed endwise into the corresponding mold cavity.”

The patent, in suit is for a machine for the manufacture of so-called lollypops or all day suckers, which are pieces of candy on the end of a stick.

[637]*637Prior to the invention of the patent in suit lollypops were made by hand, and plaintiff contends that the patent in suit is a pioneer invention. Defendant denies plaintiff’s contention.

The defendant offered in evidence the following patents to show the prior state of the art, all of which were issued by the United States Patent Office. The patents so offered are not1 confined to candy-making machines, because the patentee says (lines 29 to 43, page 1, of the patent in suit) :

“It is to be understood that my invention is not limited to a machine intended to work or operate upon candy material alone, as machines constructed according to my invention are adapted for use with, any class of material where the object is to combine tablets of material with sticks; and it is to be understood that the words ‘tablet’ and ‘sticks’ as used throughout this specification and in the claims, are not limited to any specific form of tablet or sticks, and the word ‘sticks’ or ‘stick’ is used generally to include any form of skewer, pin, etc., whether constructed of wood or metal.”

No. 850,780, granted to William Poppendieck, dated April 16, 1907, for a machine for enveloping a metal core in a plastic body, discloses a hopper which contains the pins which I consider the equivalents for sticks. These pins are- fed by gravity to a drum having a longitudinal groove to receive one stick at a time. The drum revolves, and, when the proper point is reached, the pin is forced by a plunger operated by a lever into the plastic mass being molded or formed. The insertion of the pin into the plastic mass in this patent seems mechanically to be accomplished by the same means as are used to insert the stick into the plastic mass in the patent in suit.

No. 512,061, granted to Frank Schafer, dated January 2, 1894, for machine for coiling or winding match splints, discloses a hopper in which are splints, a roll with longitudinal grooves in which splints received from the hopper are carried to some other part of the machine for a further operation.

No. 593,067, granted to "William A. Gowen, dated November 2, 1897, for skewer machine, discloses a hopper in which are placed sticks which are fed down by gravity into the space between the connecting rods on the conveyor which carries them to some other part of the machine to be sharpened.

No. 110,630, granted to P. Cauhape, dated January 3, 1871, for improvement in pill machines, discloses a mold in two parts, either hinged together or not, each having part of the cavity from which a groove extends to one side so that when the two parts of the mold are closed together a pin may be thrust into the pill for removing and holding it and also a bar with the pin or needle for inserting into the cavity and taking the pill therefrom.

No. 9,455, granted to E. A. Pond, dated December 7, 1852, for improvement in pill-making machines, discloses two cylinders having a number of recesses in their peripheries and at corresponding distances apart in each cylinder, the cylinders being placed parallel with each other, their peripheries nearly touching, the recesses of the one registering with the other. The pill mass is fed in, and being pressed into the recesses, is formed into pills.

[638]*638No. 407,233, granted to Carrick P. Oldham, dated July 16, 1889, for machine for stamping and molding soap, discloses a circular die plate with molding cups on its upper face, in each of which cakes of soap roughly approximating the size and shape of the finished cakes while in a plastic condition and yet sufficiently hard to retain their shape are placed, and a plunger with a die, which is forced down and into the cup so as to firmly compress the cakes of soap and give them the requisite density, solidity, shape, and ‘size.

No. 365,450, granted to Walter E. Coleman, dated January 25; 1887, for manufacture of candies, toy confections, etc., discloses a process in which the plastic mass is fed from a hopper into molds on an endless belt, and as the belt travels the plastic material is carried under a roller to compress the material into the mold cavities.

No. 725,065, granted to Paul R. Eranke, dated April 14, 1903, for machine for making pralines, which is described in the patent (page 1, lines 26-77) as follows:

“In the present form of the invention the clipping device is shown applied . to a core-molding machine in which the sugar almond or nut paste is contained in a receptacle a, the opening a' in the bottom of which is closed by a rotary disk 5, the periphery of the latter being furnished with recesses d

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Bluebook (online)
297 F. 635, 1924 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1744, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/racine-confectioners-machinery-co-v-metro-chocolate-co-nyed-1924.