165 F. 208 | U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Eastern Pennsylvania | 1908
This suit is brought upon letters patent No. 668,921, dated February 26, 1901, issued to Isadore Eiberman to protect certain improvements in a combined cigar-rolling table and wrapper-cutter. The art relates to a table upon which cigars may be rolled and wrapped, and also to the necessary mechanism for cutting; the wrappers and for adjusting the table to. the needs of the subsequent process of rolling and wrapping. To cut the wrappers, an
The specification — after stating that “the object of my device is to afford improved means for cutting the wrapper of the cigar and maintaining it flat upon the table while the cigar is being formed and rolled" —goes on to declare that the invention (so far as now material) is concerned with a device for raising and lowering the knife:
“Sly invention comprises improved menus for raisins the knife above Ibe surface of the surrounding table during the net of cutting the wrapper, and then lowering the same flush with the table to afford a smooth surface for rolling and shaping the cigar.”
The operation of the device is then described as follows, the numerals referring to the drawings that accompany the application:
“Upon the exhaust-box 1, which is connected by flexible tube 2 with means for exhausting air, 1 mount the continuous knife 4, which is adapted to project through the surface of the forming and wrapping table i>, which is apertured to tit closely about said knife. Inclosed within the edges of the knife is the perforated member 6, which lies flush with the upper edges of said knife and is supported on the resilient supports 7. so that, said member 6 may be depressed when the roller 8 passes over the leaf resting thereon to permit, the knife-edges to cut the leaf. The exhaust-box 1 is vertically movable in the casing 9, and adapted to be raised and lowered by the movement Of the cam 10, which is operated by the pedal 31 — that is, it is raised to cause the knife to project slightly above the table 5 when a leaf is to bo cut, and is lowered to bring the knife exactly flush with rhe table when the cigar is to be rolled and wrapped thereon.”
“(1) In a cigar-machine the combination of a forming and wrapping table, an endless knife adapted to project through said table and also to lie flush therewith, and vertically-movable air-exhaust and knife-supporting means, substantially as described.
“(2) In a cigar-machine the combination of a forming and wrapping table, an endless knife adapted to project through said table and also to lie flush therewith, means for vertically moving the knife and air-exhaust means connected therewith, substantially as described.
“(3) In a cigar-machine the combination of a forming and wrapping table, an endless knife adapted to project through said table and also lie flush therewith, and a vertically-movable exhaust-box supporting said knife, substantially as described.”
“(5) In a cigar-machine the combination of a forming and wrapping table, an endless knife adapted to project through said table and also to be flush therewith, a vertically-movable exhaust-box supporting said knife, and a perforated plate fitting within the knife, its upper surface flush with the upper edge of the knife and resting upon resilient supports to permit of a slight depression under pressure, substantially as described.”
■ The only matter in dispute is the defendants’ infringement. In a former action before this court between the same parties — No. 8 of October -sessions, 1906- — the patent was adjudged to be valid, and a fruitful subject of controversy was thus removed from the present litigation. The prior art, however, is still of value in helping to determine the scope of the patent, and, indeed, it must be examined in order that the court may know precisely what the patentee invented and how far he is entitled to protection. As I have already stated, everything about his patent was old except the vertical motion of the exhaust-box, and this was only of significance because the knife was attached to the box and partook of its motion. What the patent covers, therefore, is a combination of old elements with a single new feature, and the invention is not infringed by combining the same old elements with a differing new feature, unless the differing feature merely changes the position of certain parts of the patented device without affecting the principle or mode of operation. Where an improvement is narrow in its character, the inventor is ordinarily confined to his specific device and receives little aid from the doctrine of equivalents. If he depends upon a single limited feature (as is the case here), the doctrine will not ordinarily be applied so as to cover a device in which that feature does not appear. These rules are well known, and in my opinion they require the court to decide that the defendants’ machine does not infringe. It is conceded that their device' does not have a vertically moving exhaust-box supporting the knife, but embodies mechanism that moves the table up or down relatively to the knife; and complainants are therefore obliged to invoke the doctrine of equivalents, and to argue that (since motion must always be relative) it makes no dif
A decree may be entered dismissing the bill with costs.