Graham & Norton Co. v. Elevator Supplies Co.
Graham & Norton Co. v. Elevator Supplies Co.
Opinion of the Court
While suit was brought on three patents, the Bassett patent is the only one before us. This patent relates to signal systems for elevators. It is of the type where the passenger, on entering the car, announces his destination to the operator, who then presses the appropriate button of an annunciator on the ear. When the ear approaches the floor announced, a signal is automatically displayed in the ear, reminding the operator that he is expected to stop at that floor. At the end of the run in either direction, the signal mechanism is reset. There is a button-set mechanism for each floor, in combination with a ear controlled circuit completing apparatus, which causes the display of the signals at the proper points. A feature of the operation is that any number of the button-set mechanisms are operable together, so as to register in advance the number of stop signals to be displayed. A two-brake circuit controls the signal lamp. For the signal lamp to flash, it is necessary that both brakes in the circuit be closed. One brake is closed by the push button; the other is closed by the brushes carried by the “traveler,” which carries any desired number of bridging contacts, to bridge any number of normally open circuits with the travel of the ear. There are thus two essentials in a “pre-registering” system, namely, the closing of the first brush in the circuit by means of a push button, and the closing of the second brake of the circuit at the “commutator,” by the approach of the car to the signalled floor. In addition to these, there is provided means for restoring the button controlled switches, after they have served their purpose of flashing the signal to the operator. The conducting brush or traveler is so placed as to travel across the segment conducting the current, and is connected electrically to the switch controlled by the push button. The defendant’s apparatus is a “pre-registering” system. It has a car operator’s flash, and push buttons mounted in the car. A two-brake circuit is provided for each floor, with the operator’s flash signal connected to each of the circuits during the car’s progress, by means of the “selector.” The operation of the push button energizes a magnet, which closes the first
The judgment is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- GRAHAM & NORTON CO. v. ELEVATOR SUPPLIES CO., Inc.
- Status
- Published