Home/Tenth Circuit/Stearns-Roger Mfg. Co. v. Greenawalt

Stearns-Roger Mfg. Co. v. Greenawalt

62 F.2d 1033, 16 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 191, 1933 U.S. App. LEXIS 3917
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 10, 1933
DocketNo. 661
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 62 F.2d 1033 (Stearns-Roger Mfg. Co. v. Greenawalt) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stearns-Roger Mfg. Co. v. Greenawalt, 62 F.2d 1033, 16 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 191, 1933 U.S. App. LEXIS 3917 (10th Cir. 1933).

Opinion

PHILLIPS, Circuit Judge.

This is a patent infringement suit-brought by Greenawalt against the StearnsRoger Manufacturing Company. Patent No. 1,374,500, hereinafter referred to as patent No. 500, was issued April 12, 1921, on an application filed October 30, 1915. Patent No. 1,374,446, hereinafter referred to as patent No. 446, was issued April 12, 1921,- on an- application filed October 16, 1918.

The; specification of each ' patent states that the invention has for its object the effective application of gases to liquids to accomplish certain results as, for example, the precipitation of metals from their solution by a gas, such as hydrogen sulfide, or in the flotation treatment of ores.

From a decree adjudging claims 9 and 10 of patent No. 446 and claims 10 and 11 of patent No. 500 valid and infringed, the Stearns-Roger Company has appealed.

The drawings in patent No. 500 are as follows:

The liquid or mineral pulp is placed in tank 1 and hood 2 is suspended in the tank by means of shaft 4 and is submerged in the liquid. Passages 3, described in the claims in suit as “attenuated passages,” extend from the interior to the exterior of the hood through the walls and top thereof. Shaft 4 is vertically mounted on bearings 5 and -is connected with the hood at its lower end and with pully 6 at its upper end. Sufficient power is applied to the shaft through pulley 6 to cause the shaft and suspended hood to rotate rapidly in the tank. Air is introduced into the hood by pressure through pipes 9 and 8. The rotation of the hood creates a vacuum which draws in the liquid from the tank. ’ The rapidly rotating hood mixes the-pulp and air and expels the mixture by centrifugal force through the small passages 3 into the liquid in the tank.

[1035]*1035Claims 10 and 11 of patent No. 500 may be analytically stated as follows:

10. In apparatus for treating liquids with gases,

(1) a tank adapted to contain the liquid,
(2) a rotary atomizer
(a) comprising a hollow body open at its lower end and
(b) having attenuated discharge passages through its walls,
(c) said hollow body being journaled in the tank and submerged in the liquid, and
(3) means for admitting a regulable quantity of gas under pressure to the hollow body.

11. In apparatus for treating liquids with gases,

(1) a tank adapted to contain the liquid,
(2) an atomizer
(a) comprising a hollow circular body submerged in the liquid and
(b) having attenuated discharge passages through the walls thereof,
(c) said hollow body having the lower portion of its interior in communication with tho tank, and
(3) means for introducing gas into the upper portion of the interior of said hollow body.

The drawings in patent No. 446 are as follows:

[1036]*1036The liquid or mineral pulp is placed in tank 1. A hollow shaft 2 is mounted in bearings 3. An atomizer 5 is suspended in .the tank by means of shaft 2 and is submerged in the liquid. There is communication between the interior of the tank and the interior of the atomizer by means of opening 9. Air is forced into the interior of the atomizer by means of impeller 4 and through hollow shaft 2. The rotation of the atomizer creates a vacuum in the interior thereof, and liquid from the tank and air through the hollow shaft are drawn into the hollow interior of the atomizer. Baffles 18 may be placed in the interior of the atomizer. The blades 8, Fig. 4, form openings between the interior and periphery of the atomizer. As the atomizer revolves, the interior edges of these blades and the edges of the baffles 18 impinge on the air and liquid revolving in the interior of the atomizer and cause a mixture thereof, and the rotation of the atomizer by centrifugal force ejects the mixture through the openings between the blades into the liquid in the tank.

The specification of patent No. 446 in part states:

“The gas passages, which extend from the interior to the exterior, or from the central portion of the atomizer toward its periphery, communicate with the hollow shaft; these gas passages may take the form of perforations as shown by 7, Figs. 4 and 5; of ducts of uniform cross section as shown by 17, Fig. 6, of ducts of variable cross sections as shown by 27, Fig. 7; or of both combined as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, where blades 8 are used in connection with the perforar tions 7. Blades 8 are arranged to assist in forcing the air, or, preferably, a mixture of air and liquid, toward the periphery, thus giving it a higher velocity impact in the liquid and. consequent greater atomization, 'with a high ‘rotary speed. The blades will also act to create a suction and assist the impeller in creating a flow of air through the shaft. The ■atomizer is preferably open to the liquid at the bottom, through the extension 9; in this way some of the liquid will be drawn into the atomizer, and, due to the blades 8, will be thoroughly mixed with the gas, and the mixture of gas and liquid expelled together through the gas passages 7 (or 17 and 27, Figs. 6 and 7, respectively).”

However, to effect an atomization of the pulp and air, there would have to be. a considerable number of such passages and they would have to be relatively small.

Claim 9 of patent No. 446 may be analytically stated as follows:

9. In apparatus for treating liquids with gases,

(1) a tank adapted to contain a liquid,
(2) a gas impregnator within the tank having a hollow interior in communication with the liquid in the tank,
(3) means for causing a flow of liquid in the tank into the interior of the impregnator,
(4) means for causing a flow of gas into the interior of the impregnator,
(5) means in the interior of the impregnator for mixing the liquid and the gas, and
(6) means for ejecting the mixture of gas and liquid into the surrounding liquid in the tank.

Claim 10 of patent No. 446 may be analytically stated as follows:

(1) a tank adapted to contain a liquid,
(2) a rotary atomizer having passages extending from its interior central portion toward its periphery suspended within the tank and submerged in the liquid,
(3) a liquid inlet to the interior of the atomizer communicating with the passages and with the liquid in the tank,
(4) a hollow shaft gas inlet communicating with the interior of the atomizer and with the atmosphere above the liquid,
(a) said liquid inlet and gas inlet being proportioned and arranged so as to
(a1) cause a flow of both gas and liquid into the interior of the rotary atomizer and

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Bluebook (online)
62 F.2d 1033, 16 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 191, 1933 U.S. App. LEXIS 3917, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stearns-roger-mfg-co-v-greenawalt-ca10-1933.