Mast. Foos & Co. v. Iowa Windmill & Pump Co.
Opinion of the Court
The bill charges an infringement by the defendant of the first, second, third, and fourth claims of a patent reissued to Roscoe Bean, under date of March 25, 1879, and numbered 8,681, the original patent being No. 175,588, and dated April 4, 1876; also, of the first and third claims of patent No. 339,445, issued to Samuel W. Martin, under date of April 6, 1886, and of the first claim of patent No. 259,394, issued to William B. Hooker, under date of June 13, 1882, — it being averred that the complainants are the owners, by proper conveyances, from the pat-entees of the rights secured by the named patents, all of which are for improvements in the mode of constructing pumps.
The first' defense pleaded to the Bean reissued patent No. 8,631 is the invalidity or illegality of the reissue upon the ground that the reissue broadens the terms of the original patent in a material matter, and as it was not applied for until nearly three years after the issuance of the original, and as the latter patent was not inoperative or invalid by' reason of a defective or insufficient specification or by reason of the patentee claiming as his own invention or discovery more than he had a right to claim as new, and as there are no special circumstances disclosed excusing the delay in applying for the reissue, it múst be held that the purpose of the reissue was to broaden the claim, and, consequently, the reissue must be held, pro tanto, to be invalid. As already stated, the original patent to Roscoe Bean was issued April 4,1876, and it has therefore expired by limitation, although not until after this suit was brought, the bill herein having been filed in 1891. No case involving the validity of the reissue has been brought to trial, and hence the question is res nova. It will probably aid in the presentation of the questions involved to set forth in parallel columns the material portions of the specifications in the original and reissued patents, together with a copy of the drawing attached to both patents.
The nature of my invention consists in the construction and novel arrangement of a pump stock, connected with the cylinder by two tubes, one forming an air chamber and the other the discharge pipe, said tubes’opening into the cylinder directly. opposite each other, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth.
A represents an ordinary, pump or pump stock as used above ground. B is the pump cylinder, connected to the pump, A, by means of two tubes, O and D. The lower ends of these tubes are screwed into pieces, a, a, between which the cylinder, B, is placed, and the parts there firmly bolted together. The pieces or elbows, a, a, open into the cylinder on opposite sides thereof, and in the same horizontal plane. The tube, - C, is closed at its upper end, and forms, not only a support for the pump, but also the air chamber. This air chamber, being in the form of a tube, has a direct action on the water, and also has greater power for forcing water as well as to give it a more steady action. The pipe, D, extends up along the pump stock, A, and forms the discharge pipe as well as the second support for the pump' cylinder. By this mode of connecting the pump stock and cylinder, .a substantial support is formed for the cylinder, and it is very simple and. readily put together. By these means, also, the cylinder is placed down in the well below the freezing point; and in cisterns or where the cylinder is submerged it will not fill up with water, and at the same time fcon-nects and supports the cylinder, however deep the well may be.
By having two holes in the cylinder, one for discharge and one for air chamber, it gives a place for the air chamber to have a direct action on the water while in use, giving it an even, steady stream, and a direct discharge for the water, independent of the air chamber.
Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by letters patent, is:
1. The combination of the pump stock, A, and cylinder. B, with the pipe, 0, forming the air chamber, as well as the supporter between the pump and cylinder, substantially as herein set forth.
2. The combination of the pump stock, A, and cylinder, B, with the tubular air chamber, 0, and discharge pipe, D, forming connection between the pump and cylinder, substantially as herein set forth.
3. The cylinder, B, having the air chamber and discharge pipe opening into
In testimony that I claim the foregoing, I have hereunto set my hand this 15th day of July, 1875.
Itoseoe Bean.
Witnesses:
AVm. A, Skinkle.
Monroe Alleman.
The nature of my invention relates to force pumps; and it consists in a tubular air chamber attached to the' pump stock or platform flange, and connecting to and opening into the cylinder or chamber, and forming also a support for the same.
My invention further consists in a supporting tubular air chamber and discharge pipe attached to the pump stock or flange plate, and connecting with and opening into a cylinder or chamber: also, in the combination of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth and pointed out in the claims.
A represents an ordinary pump stock connected to the platform flange or flange plate, A'. B is the pump cylinder, connected to the pump stock. A, or flange, A', by means of two tubes, 0 and D. The lower ends of these tubes connect with the cylinder. B, and open into the same, or into a chamber, a, interposed in any suitable manner, the object being simply to form a connection between said cylinder and the tubos.
The tube, C, is closed at its upper end, and forms, not only a support for the pump, but also the air chamber. This air chamber, being in the form of - a tube, has a direct action on the water, and has also greater power for forcing water, as well as to give it a more steady action.
The pipe, D, extends a suitable distance above the flange, A', and forms the discharge pipe as well as the second support for the pump cylinder.
By this mode of connecting the pump stock or flange with the cylinder or chamber a substantial support is formed, which is very simple and readily put together. By these means, also, the cylinder may be placed down in the well below the freezing point; and in cisterns or where the cylinder is submerged it will not fill up with water, and at the same time connects and supports the cylinder’, however deep the well may be.
By having two openings, one for the discharge and one for the air chamber, it gives a place for the air to have a direct action on the water while in use, giving it an even, steady stream, and a direct discharge for the water, independent of the air- chamber.
Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by letters patent, is:
1. A supporting tubular air chamber attached to pump stock or platform flange, connecting to and opening into a cylinder or chamber.
2. A supporting tubular air chamber and discharge pipe attached to pump stock or flange plate, connecting to and opening into a cylinder or chamber.
3. In a pump, a tubular air chamber, forming a suppoi’t for the lower part of the pump, and connecting the same with the upper part, substantially as herein set forth.
5. The cylinder, B, having the air chamber and discharge pipe opening into the same on opposite sides, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.
In testimony that I claim the foregoing, I have hereunto set my hand this 21st day of February, 1879.
Itoseoe Bean.
Witnesses:
John Bean,
T. W. Tolchard.
Thus we find that in the original application it is expressly declared that the nature of (he inven Hon consists in the construction and novel arrangement of the pump stock, the cylinder or pump proper, the air chamber, and discharge pipe. The first and second claims in the patent cover the combination of the pump stock, the cylinder, the tubular air chamber, and the discharge pipe, and it clearly appears in the specification that the patented combination expressly provided for the immediaie connection of the tubes forming the air chamber and the discharge pipe with the cylinder, being connected therewith through elbows opening into opposite sides thereof and in the same horizontal plane. In the testimony of -Tames W. Lee, an expert witness called by the complainants, is found the following exposition of the merits of the Bean patent:
“In this patent, the pump stock is located as usual, and so is the spout and other parts pertinent to the pump; the pump barrel is located as far down as is desired; the discharge pipe leads up from the barrel to the spout, and is attached to the pump stock, and forms a water way and also a support for the barrel, but the piston rod does not pass through the discharge pipe at all, but passes up entirely independent of the discharge pipe, the discharge pipe being Connected with the barrel to one side of the center, so as to not interfere with or be interfered with by the piston rod. There is no air chamber on the pump stock, as usual. A second pipe, closed at its top, is firmly connected to the pump stock, and goes down parallel with the discharge pipe, and connects with the barrel again at one side of the center of the barrel, so as to have nothing to do with the piston rod. This second pipe forms the air chamber, and it also forms one supporting leg extending from the pump stock to the barrel. It is not only an air chamber, but it is a good one and properly placed. It is long, as long as the distance between stock and barrel, and that is the proper form for an air chamber, so that the water, acting in its lower end, acts like a piston in a cylinder pressing upward on the elastic air within it. And it is properly located, for its lower end is in communication with the pump, right where the shocking force of the ‘water ram’ originates. Tu the old construction, it was put way up on top of a column of water, and the distance between the barrel and the air chamber always equaled the distance between the barrel and the stock. In the Bean patent, the distance between the barrel and the,air chamber is zero. It will, therefore, be readily understood that in the Bean construction the pump barrel finds a support in the air chamber; that it finds an additional support in the discharge pipe; that the tubular air chamber, by its peculiar disposition, is peculiarly efficient as an air chamber, independent of its office as a support: for the barrel; and that the discharge pipe and air chamber connect with the pump barrel at opposite sides, leaving the central or piston rod point unobstructed.”
On behalf of complainants, it is contended that the indention covered by the original patent belongs to the class known as generic or primary patents, and should therefore be construed broadly and liberally, according to the rule laid down in Winans v. Denmead, 15 How. 330; Electric Co. v. LaRue, 139 U. S. 606, 11 Sup. Ct. 670; Sewing Mach. Co. v. Lancaster, 129 U. S. 263, 9 Sup. Ct. 299; and other cases based thereon. Any valid patent, no matter how narrow in scope, is nevertheless entitled to a fair construction, so as to give the inventor the benefit of all his invention that can reasonably be brought within the claims of the patent, but the rule contended for, under the authorities above cited, is properly applicable to those inventions winch originate new and useful results, and I do not deem the Bean patent to be included in this category, and yet the patent is nevertheless to he fairly construed; but, giving the language used in claims Nos. 1 and 2 all the latitude reasonably applicable thereto, I can reach no other conclusion than that these claims cover a combination of the pump stock and cylinder with a supporting tubular pipe acting as an air chamber, and a discharge pipe also actiug as a supporter to the cylinder, the mode of combination being to connect the lower ends of the tubes to the opposite sides of the cylinder and the upper portions to the pump stock or flange. The patent docs not seek to cover the invention of a tubular air-chamber per se. As already said, every element found in the combination, aside from the mere form or position of the parts, was old and well known at the daie of the filing of the application for the patent in question. Pump stocks and cylinders were old; air chambers were well known. Connections between the pump stock and cylinder had been in use since pumps were first made, and the use of a pipe as a connection between the stock and cylinder was old; as well as using a pipe, not only as a support or connection, but as a discharge pipe also, thus putting a connecting or supporting pipe to a double use. It seems to me, therefore, that the position of the several elements described in the first and second claims of this patent (inter into the combination, and in fact wholly, or at least largely, give it the usefulness relied on as supporting its patentable character.
It is said in the specifications that:
“By tfiis modo oí connecting the pump stock and cylinder, a substantial support is formed for the cylinder, and it is very simply and readily put together.”
The mode of connecting the stock and cylinder thus referred to is by means of two tubes, between the lower ends of which the cylinder is placed, and the parts are firinlv bolted together, and the upper portions are fastened to the pump stock. It is further said in the specification that:
“By having two lióles in the cylinder, one for discharge and one for air chamber, if gives a place for tile air chamber to have a direct action on the water while "in use, giving it an even, steady stream, and a direct discharge for the water, independent of the air chamber.”
Turning now to the reissue, it appears that the first and second .claims of the original patent are replaced by the first, second, third, and fourth claims of the reissue, wherein the invention is declared to be a supporting tubular air chamber, connected at the lower end with a cylinder or chamber. Practically, these claims cover any form wherein a supporting tubular air chamber is interposed between the pump stock and the pump cylinder, no matter how far separated it may be from the latter. The interpolation of the word ‘‘chamber” in the description and claims makes provision for entirely separating the ends of the air chamber and discharge pipe from the cylinder, and the reissue covers, therefore, pumps wherein the tubular air chamber and discharge pipe, instead of opening into the cylinder at opposite sides, open into a T, from which a single tube extends down to the cylinder. In pumps thus constructed would be found a tubular air chamber, opening into a chamber connected with the pump stock and aiding in supporting the structure, thus meeting the requirements of the first and third claims of the reissue, and by adding a discharge pipe the requirements of the second claim would be fulfilled. Pumps thus constructed would certainly show a wide departure from the combinations described in the first and second claims of the original patent. There would not be found therein the simple and substantial support for the cylinder formed by placing the same between the lower ends of the air chamber and the discharge pipe, and firmly bolting them together, as described in the original patent; the air chamber and discharge pipe would not open into the cylinder directly opposite each other. The cylinder would not have two holes therein, one for discharge and one for the air chamber, thus giving the air of the chamber direct action upon the water in the cylinder, as described in the original patent; nor would there be provided a direct discharge for the water, independent of the air chamber, because the pipe or tube extending from the T into which the air chamber and discharge pipe open would not afford a discharge pipe wholly independent of the air chamber, nor would the distance be
“The nature of my invention consists in the cons traction and novel arrangement of a pump stock, connected with tlie cylinder by two tubes, one forming an air chamber and the other the discharge pipe, said tubes opening into the cylinder directly opposite each other, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth.”
"Whereas in the reissue it is said:
“Tlie nature of my invention relates to force pumps, and it consists in a tubular air chamber"attached to the pump stock or platform flange, and connecting to and opening into the cylinder or chamber, and forming also a support for the same. My invention consists further in a supporting tubular air chamber and discharge pipe, attached to the pump stock or flange plate, and connecting with and opening into a cylinder or chamber; also, in tlie combination of tlie parts, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.”
,n the original application the invention claimed was the novel arrangement and combination of the parts, which consisted in having the tubes forming the air chamber and discharge pipe open directly into the cylinder at opposite points, and by firmly bolting the parts together, and then connecting the upper ends of the tubes to the pump stock, the double purpose of a,if or ding a steady support to the pump cylinder and of furnishing an efficient air chamber acting directly on the water in the cylinder was accomplished. In the reissue the main feature claimed is a supporting tubular air chamber. In the reissue the form of the combination of the i>arts is not of the essence of tlie claimed invention, but the purpose is to cover a supporting tubular air chamber, and thus to bring within the scope of the patent all pumps which include in their structure a tubular air chamber giving support to any of the parts, for, under the .first and secoud claims of the reissue, it is not requisite tha t the air chamber should be the support of the pump cylinder. These considera ¡ions make it apparent that the purpose of the reissue was to patent the conception of a supporting tubular air chamber, and to thus bring within the' patent forms of pumps which would not be within the terms of the combination covered by the original patent, and it must, therefore, be held that the reissue broadens the claims found in the original patent.
It may be urged, and strong support to the contention would be found in the evidence, that the reissue patent does not in fact cover more than Bean is justly entitled to lay claim to as an inventor. If the reissue had been promptly applied for on the ground that the original patent, through mistake or inadvertence, did not contain claims broad enough to protect the invention lo its full extent, it mig'ht be held valid. The difficulty lies, not only in the length of time which was allowed to elapse before the reissue was applied for, but in the failure to show that any mistake existed in (lie original
In a supplemental brief, filed by counsel for complainants since the oral agreement in the case was had, it is contended that the averments of the bill are sufficient to bring before the court the question of the' infringement of the fifth claim of the reissue, which corresponds to the third claim in the original patent. Before entering upon the hearing of the case, complainants asked leave to file an amendment to the bill, covering the fifth claim. The court stated that leave would be granted to file the amendment, but the defendants, if they desired it, would be granted time 'to meet by evidence and argument any new questions thus presented. Thereupon complainants withdrew the application for leave to amend, and it was expressly stated and understood that the case would proceed upon the theory that the bill charged only ah infringement of the four first-named claims of the reissue, and it would not be fair, either to the defendant or the court, to now insist that the fifth claim was in issue in the case.
The view reached upon the question of the validity of the four claims of the reissue, being adverse thereto, obviates all need for considering the othér defenses pleaded, although the same have been very fully and carefully presented and discussed by the counsel in the case. The conclusion is that so far as the bill is based upon the patent reissued to Roscoe Bean, under date of March 25, 1879, the same is dismissed upon the merits. As already stated, the bill charged an infringement of the first and third claims of patent No. 339,445,'issued to Samuel W. Martin, under date of April-6, 1886, and of the first claim of patent No. 259,394, issued to Wm. D. Hooker, under date of June 13, 1882. These patents are so closely related in their subject-matter that they can be considered together. The first claim of the Hooker patent covers a cap or discharge chamber, from the rim of which depends an outer supporting cylinder, connected with the bucket barrel, and containing an inner cylinder,
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.