Winans v. New York & E. R. Co.

30 F. Cas. 269

This text of 30 F. Cas. 269 (Winans v. New York & E. R. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Northern New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Winans v. New York & E. R. Co., 30 F. Cas. 269 (circtndny 1856).

Opinion

HALL, District Judge

(charging jury). I am very happy to inform you that there is a prospect of this case being very speedily disposed of. These are the rulings, gentlemen, which the court has determined to make, in delivering to you the charge which is to guide-you in determining your verdict.

1st. The patent itself is prima facie evidence of the novelty and utility of the invention patented. The issuing of the patent is-also prima facie evidence that the specification, when delivered, was accompanied with drawings and written references thereto, as then required by statute. So also the patent, and the certified copy of the record thereof, in December, 1854. and the certified copy of the drawings deposited by the pat-entee in the patent office on the 19th Novein-[270]*270ber, 1838, with the references thereon, are, under the provisions of the act of congress, of July 4, 1836 [5 Stat. 117], prima facie evidence of the particulars of the invention patented.

2d. It can hardly be necessary to occupy the time of the jury upon the question of utility, for the reason that, if the jury find the plaintiff's patent to be valid, and that the defendants have infringed, they will, it is believed, have no difficulty in reaching the conclusion that the invention claimed by the plaintiff was put in use by the defendants, because such use was known to be advantageous. On the question of novelty, I shall presently give other instructions.

3. It is necessary that you should understand what the plaintiff claims as his invention; that is, what is covered by the terms of the claim contained in his specification. The plaintiff, by his specification, does not claim to be the first inventor of the first railroad car or carriage, run upon eight wheels; nor does he claim to be the discoverer of the different effects produced by the near and by the remote position of the wheels of an ordinary four-wheeled car. He admits by his specification that the different effects produced by these different positions of the wheels in a four-wheeled ear were known, and he also admits that the knowledge that placing the axles of such wheels comparatively near together, enabled the car to pass curves of short radius with the least friction, but at the same time rendered it less suited to the attainment of the steadiness of motion desired; together with the knowledge that the remote position of such wheels gave greater steadiness of motion to the car, and greater relief from the lateral and vertical vibrations, and the frequent shocks and concussions caused by minute obstructions and irregularities on the track, had caused the adoption, in the modes of construction then in use, of a compromise in regard to the distance between the fore and hind wheels of the four-wheeled car; which compromise, he says, was then most commonly made, between the evils resulting from a considerable separation and a near approach of the wheels of the four-wheeled car. He then says that by the modes of construction then in use, one of these advantages of positions of wheels must be sacrificed to the other, by which, and by the statement in regard to the usual compromise, he is understood to mean that no mode of construction then in public use would allow the full advantages of both these positions of the wheels (the near and the remote) to be attained at the same time; and that in practice, a part of the advantages resulting from each position was (by the compromise in regard to the distance between the wheels, adopted in the modes of construction then in use) necessarily sacrificed, in order to obtain part of the advantages of the other position. He afterward, in stating the object of his invention, informs us that he seeks to attain that object by the before-mentioned desideratum of combining the advantages of the near and distant coupling of the axles, and other means, to be therein-after described. He then describes the means by which this desideratum is to be obtained; the construction of two bearing-carriages, each with four wheels; the two wheels upon each side of these carriages to be placed very near each other, there being no necessity that the space between the flanges should be greater than is necessary to prevent their contact; the placing upon these bearing-carriages of a bolster of proper length, extending across between the two pairs of wheels; the placing on the top of this lower bolster of another of equal strength, and connecting the two together by a center-pin or bolt, passing down through them, and thus allowing them to swivel and turn upon each other, in the manner of the front bolster of a common road-wagon; the placing of the body of a passenger or other car, of double the ordinary length of those used upon four wheels, so as to rest its whole weight upon the two upper bolsters of the two bearing-carriages, at, near, or beyond the ends of the car body, so that such weight shall be borne substantially upon the central portion of the bolsters, being also the central portion of the bearing-carriages. His disclaimer, which follows, is in this language:

“I do not claim as .my invention the running of cars or carriages upon eight wheels, this having been previously done; not, however, in the manner or for the purposes herein described, but merely with a view of distributing the weight carried, mdre evenly upon a rail, or other road, and for objects distinct in character from those which I have had in view, as hereinbefore set forth; nor have the wheels, when thus increased in number, been so arranged and connected with each other, either by design or accident, as to accomplish this purpose.”

This disclaimer excludes from his subsequent claim no mode of arranging and connecting the eight wheels, which constitute the two bearing-carriages, with an eight-wheeled railroad car, except those modes where the use of eight wheels was adopted merely with the view of distributing the weight carried more evenly upon a rail, or other road, and for objects distinct in character from those of enabling a car with a comparatively long body to turn curves with facility and safety, and with less friction. His Subsequent claim furnishes a further limit of the invention claimed, and this claim embraces, by its specific language and express terms, the manner of arranging and connecting the eight wheels, which constitute the two bearing-carriages, with a railroad car before described in the plaintiff’s specification, by the means set forth, or any others which are analogous and dependent [271]*271on the same principles; and it embraces nothing more. Therefore, according to the import and true construction of the plaintiff’s patent and specification, he claims to be the .first inventor of “a new and useful improvement in the construction of cars and carriages intended to travel upon railroads”— which improvement consists in the manner of arranging and connecting the eight wheels, which constitute the two bearing-carriages, with a railroad car, the object of which is to make such an adjustment of the wheels, axles, and bearings of the car, as shall enable a car with a comparatively long body to pass curves with greater facility and safety, and less friction; and as shall at the same time cause the body of the car to pursue a more smooth, even, direct, and safe course over the curvatures and irregularities, and over the straight parts of the road.

4.

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Bluebook (online)
30 F. Cas. 269, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/winans-v-new-york-e-r-co-circtndny-1856.