Timolat v. Franklin Boiler Works Co.

122 F. 69, 58 C.C.A. 405, 1903 U.S. App. LEXIS 4747
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedMarch 23, 1903
DocketNo. 124
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 122 F. 69 (Timolat v. Franklin Boiler Works Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Timolat v. Franklin Boiler Works Co., 122 F. 69, 58 C.C.A. 405, 1903 U.S. App. LEXIS 4747 (2d Cir. 1903).

Opinion

FACOMBE, Circuit Judge.

In'July, 1901, at final hearing upon pleadings and proofs, the Circuit Court, Southern District of New York, sustained the first three claims of the patent in the suit of Timolat v. Manning, 110 Fed. 206 (which was begun July, 1899), and found them to be infringed by the device then before the court. Subsequently, in November, 1901, suit was brought against another infringer- upon a different device, and a preliminary injunction was therein granted by the same judge who heard the Manning Case, no opinion being written. Appeal was taken in that case, but abandoned by defendant May 1, 1902. The present suit was begun the next month, and the order appealed from entered July 15, 1902.

The appellant contends that some laches of the complainant should require a denial of injunctive relief. Upon the above statement of facts this contention is plainly without merit. Defendant did not put its tool on the market until the spring or summer of 1899. Within a month or so thereafter complainants began litigation with infringers, and has continued to litigate ever since. They were under no obligation to sue every one at the same time. American Grapho[70]*70phone Co. v. National Gramophone Co. (C. C.) 90 Fed. 824; Edison Co. v. Mt. Morris Light Co. (C. C.) 57 Fed. 644.

The main reliance of appellant is on certain items of proof which were not before the court in the Manning Case, and it will greatly simplify the discussion of the questions raised upon this appeal if we confine our attention to the second claim only. By so doing, and thus modifying the order appealed from as to the other three claims, we are not to be taken as intimating any opinion as to whether or not the new evidence affects the validity or construction of those claims otherwise than to raise doubts which should preclude a decision upon affidavits alone. A sufficiently comprehensive order may be based on the second claim, and the others may be considered at final hearing.

Thé specification states that in the erection of nearly all metallic structures—such as vessels and bridges—many of the holes intended for the reception of bolts and rivets must be bored after the parts to be connected are placed in position. This has commonly been accomplished by the use of a suitable clamping device applied to the parts in which the hole was to be bored, and boring the same by the means of the ordinary ratchet-drill manipulated by the hand of the artisan, which is a very slow and fatiguing process. The specification proceeds:

“The object of my invention is, therefore, to furnish the workmen employed upon such metallic structures with a boring apparatus that shall be adapted to all the various positions in which it may be desired to bore holes in such structures, that may he readily detached from one place and applied In another, and that has for its motive power a rotary engine operated by steam or compressed air, said engine being attached to the same frame that carries the boring-spindle, and being removable from place to place with it; and the invention consists in the construction and combination of parts by which the engine is connected with the boring-shaft and by which it operates the same, as hereinafter fully set forth.”

Referring to the drawings, and to the fact that the inventor had already taken out a patent for a suitable engine, it is stated that “a rotary engine of somewhat different construction might be employed if it had the necessary requisites of being lightly constructed and of efficiency.” It is stated that the engine cylinder is provided at diametrically opposite points, with tubular connections receiving the pipe, through which steam or compressed air is brought to the engine by means of a flexible pipe connecting with a steam boiler or compressed air receiver, as either one or the other is used to propel the engine. A pipe attached to the connection, a', forms the exhaust through which the air or steam, after expending its energy upon the engine piston, escapes. The specification proceeds:

“Upon tbe under side of the cylinder is formed a projection, preferably integral therewith. This projection forms a sleeve or long journal-bearing, in which the boring-spindle, F, is carried. This spindle is provided at one end with a suitable socket to receive a drill or other boring tool, and has firmly secured to its opposite end the gear-wheel, c, which engages the pinions, c'. keyed upon the projecting end of the engine-shaft, e. As the wheel, e, is much larger than the pinion upon the engine-shaft, it follows that the revolutions of the latter will be greatly in excess of those of the boring-spindle, and that there will be a consequent increase of power in the latter, with a corresponding decrease of speed, thus enabling a very staall swiftly-running [71]*71engine to furnish all the power- needed for operating the drill, without increasing the weight of the machine to such an extent as to render it unwieldy.”

The evidence indicates that, if the boring-spindle were run at the high speed of the engine, it would be absolutely destructive of the drill point. A feed-screw and a sleeve-nut, which need not be more particularly described, are next referred to; also a cover for the gears, and wooden handles for the tubular connections. Examination of the patent indicates' that it covers a structure in which the engine cylinder and the bearing of the boring-spindle are integral with each other, in which, therefore, the motor (engine) which causes the rotation is necessarily transported from place to place with the boring-spindle, in which the entire device can be readily handled by the artisan, in which the gearing between the rotating shaft of the motor and the boring-spindle is so arranged -as to reduce speed and increase power. The combination of parts above described are all adapted to produce those results. The journal for the spindle, as shown in the drawings, is longitudinally parallel with the cylinder, and is described as “upon the under side of the cylinder,” but there is nothing to indicate that by occupying such a location rather than some other one any useful purpose would be subserved, so long, at least, as the journal is integral with the cylinder, and in such relation to it as to admit of the gearing described. So, too, the description reads, “This projection forms a sleeve or long journal-bearing,” but there is nothing to indicate that the mere length of the bearing is of any moment, provided only it be long enough efficiently to hold the boring-spindle.

The second claim is as follows:

“(2) In a portable boring-macbine, the combination of the boring-spindle, the rotary engine, with its cylinder, upon which is formed the journal-bearing for the boring-spindle, the gear connecting the boring-spindle and engine-shaft, and the feed-screw and sleeve-nut adapted to turn and force forward the boring tool, as set forth.”

In the suit of Timolat v. Manning there seems to have been a comprehensive inquiry into the state of the art; prior patents are referred to, including some for a portable drilling machine; and the conclusion reached that “none anticipates, and, combined, they do not materially limit, the claims in issue.” . The court found that:

“Moffet was the first to construct a successful portable power drill for heavy boring. His drill seems to meet all the demands of the situation. It is capable of boring holes from over two inches in diameter down to those of the smallest size.

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

Related

Armstrong v. Motorola, Inc.
230 F. Supp. 337 (N.D. Illinois, 1964)
Celite Corporation v. Dicalite Co.
96 F.2d 242 (Ninth Circuit, 1938)
Capewell Horse Nail Co. v. Green
188 F. 20 (Second Circuit, 1911)
Timolat v. Philadelphia Pneumatic Tool Co.
131 F. 257 (U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Southern New York, 1904)
Timolat v. Philadelphia Pneumatic Tool Co.
123 F. 899 (S.D. New York, 1903)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
122 F. 69, 58 C.C.A. 405, 1903 U.S. App. LEXIS 4747, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/timolat-v-franklin-boiler-works-co-ca2-1903.