NATIONAL CASH
BOSTON CASH INDICATOR
&;
R.OO.
481
NATIONAL CASH REGISTER Co. 'D. BOSTON CASH INDICATOR CO. et al. SAME
&
RECORDER
v.
RECORDER CO.
(O£rCWU Oourt, D. Massachusetts. March 28,1891.)
1..:pJ.TENT!! .FOR
Letters patent No. 271,868,issued January 80, 1883, to James Ritty and John Birch, for.an improvement in cash registers, was .intended to remedy previous dethey became worn or with dust,permitted two tablets. vices, which, indicating the amouJ;lt of the purchase, to be in view of the customer at the same time. This object was accomplished by means of a pivoted-supporting wing and connecting mechanism, whereby the support wbich holds up the tablet rods· is pressed 80 far away from the shoulders of the rod that they are sure to fall by force of gravity. Held that) as cash registers were old at. the date of the patt)nt, it must . be con11ne4 to the s;,>6cl11c mechanism, or its equivalent, which makes up the combi. nation covered by it, and that it was not infringed by another cash register which aocomplishes the same result by means of a sliJiing-bar, with projections, which reaches acrossiinfront of the rpWB of the tablets, and is arranged upon a guideframe in which the rods slide up and down. Letters patent No. 253,506, was issued February 14, 1882, to Michael Campbell, for a combination of' a cash register With a drawer; the connecting mechanism bt)ing a somewhat complicate4 system of toggle joints in combination with a sliding bar. Held that, as both cash registers and spring drawers were old, the patent would not be construed to cover all forms of connecting devices known at the time, and that it was not infringed by another cash-registering apparatus combined with a .spring drawer, which does not employ any of the connecting devices described in Campbell's patent. .
INVBNTIONS-INFRINGEMENT-CA.8H REGISTER.
9"BAMil:-oOMBINED CASH REGISTER AND SPRING DRAWER.
InEquity.
LYsander HilJ" WUliam A. Macleod, and Edward W. Rector, for com· plainant.
Frederick P. Fish and William K. Richardson, for defendants. CoLT, J. These two cases were tried together. The first suit is brought for infringement of letters patent No. 271,363, dated January 30, 1883, granted to Jamesltitty arid John ·Birch for certain. new and useful improvements in cash registers: The specifiCation states: . "Our invention relates to an impr()vement in cash registers and indicators designed for the use ofstol'e.keepers and others as a means of accurately registering the total cash receipts for any given period of time,-as a day, forin· stance,-and for indicating to theeustomers that the amount paid has been registered, by disclosing to their view such amounts upon figured tablets. The arrangement of the parts and opemtion of the· machine are such that no tab· letean be exhibited without its value being counted upon the registering mechanism,and whenever any tablet is disclosed it remains so until the machine is operated to disclose a second tablet. The novelty of our invention consists in the construction, combinations, and arrangements of the various parts, as will be herewith· set forth and specifically claimed. ... ... If< "In the lower portion of the frame, and extending horizontally across it, is a rod or shaft, D, supported by and aiding to connect the sides, B, of the frame. Upon this shaft are hUllg:a series Of ,parallel keys, E. ... If< ... Each key has upon its ftont end, which extends through and projects froD:. an opening in the front of the caseorftame,a button,c,having marked upon it a figur<9 to cor· v.45F.no.7-31
482
.w.
respond with the value intended to be indicated and registered whenever that "'''' * , ' : ; 1(' ... "Resting upon the flattened ends 'Rf ,. t,he are vertical metal rods, F , one for each key,-which pass and have' vertical play through perforations in metal guide-bars, G, extending across and supported by the sides, B. '" '" '" The upper portion. ofeaeh 'rod, just above the upper bar, G, is bent to form a knuckle or shoulder, d, upon its rear side, which has beveled or inclined operating-faces,fpr a tp be "Suitably secured to the top of each rod is a tablet, H, of thin flat metal, and upon the face of tablet number corresponding with the number over whose tablet, rests. ,* * '" . "Now;"it is an important featur,e.ofour machine that after a key has been operllted>a:nd its tablet Jexposed tbviewsuch tabMshall remain IIp and ex8n,other key is oper\litM. whereupon the flrstfalls back out of VieW8\ld the"second remuins exposed. and so on, thus always keeping in view thEdablet of the key last operated. To effect this result wepi vot, by means oi trunnions 01' a shaft exteii(}ing between the sides, B, a forwardly-inpivoti!dat its atf. and resting at its upper edge against the rear sides of theupper.portions of the rods, F., This wing extends (}f rods, and is free to Its v.1v?tal aXi.s,f. It is yieldmgly held agamst the rods by, any sprlng, Ii. shown for .tbat purpose in Fig. 2, secured of the wing and to the side, B, of the fl'ame.,. Just on tbe inner sides of the frames; B, and pivoted upon the shaft, D. are fiat arms; J, extendingu)lward and rearward, and downward and ft>rWard of th¢ir pivotal pQ\nts. The front ends of thl1Jse extend into the opening made for the key:s in the frOl,ltof the .case, A,and are cOnnected by a bar, K. extending entirely across this opening, and resting up against the under sides of all the keys. Of conrse, when anyone of the keys is depressed, the bar, K, is likewise carried down, and the upper portions of the arms, J, are vibrated forward, as seen in Fig. 2, where the dotted lines represent the normal arms and one bank of and the unbroken lines show the key depressed, carrying down the bar; K, and drawing forward the arms, , To retum the bar,J" when the key x;eleased, and to assIst tlie key itself to retu'rn; anisuitahle spring may bee'1'nployed. We have shown one, g, Fig. 2, connected at one end to one of the arms, J, and at its other end to the side,Qf frame, B ·. Pi voted ;at 11" upon the riKbt-halld side frame, B. Fig. I, is a. bllll-cra)l1,{tripping-arm,;L, with,tbe rear end ing against the upper portion oftha frunt side of the wing, I. Its vibration is limited by two pins or'detents, i, as Shown, and upon tbesame pivot, h, is hung a follower, j, 'whoselowerend extends below the elbow of the' bellc:rank.and, whose rear edge rests against a shoulder; k, upon the bell-crank. The lower end of this follower has a: beveled engaging-nose; 1, against which the upper end of a m, pi.voted:at or near its middle. as at 0, totheside, B, rests. :.The lower end: of tbistrigger is connected to the upper end of the arm, J"on ,that side of the machine ,by alink,p. The opposite arm, J. Figs. 2and3, is connected by ,a,siimilar link. gi' to similar tripping mechanism, r, 8, t, fQr operating the hammer" fA,of ,shall or gong,M, Vi hicb is secured in ,any suitable manner to the sille, B,of, tbe,frame. N ow operation oltMs much of· the machine is as follow;s': When'anykey is: pressed down its ,rod and tablet ,are raised.and the, elbow. do oHherod, in l'isingl,:aida inpressi:ngback the Wing, Ij but 'to aid the elbow the arm, J, :onthe, tig,bt, which,as ·before··ex:plained. is drawn forward "whenev,61:'Ill: key is presseddmparts m0uiol\ ,to ,the linli,p, and Whose uppllr e.\1d, acting on the nose,·l, of the j, pre$Ses,it; back, and wi.th it.thebell.-eranki. L, whhJ:h is thus forced agai\lst the it ba¢k.; Now,tbeparts aresd'Rrxanged that 'when the the:elbow, d, is justabo\'ethe top edge of·:thecwing, the key has
NATIONAL CASH REG:rB'tEl1tdCkV; BOSTON dAsH INDICATOR
.t
R. 00.
483-
cOlnpleted its downward:stfoke, the',frtlntbar.N. of the" tJJ.einose. l. of tlte beIl·crank. 80 that case. the trigger. m.ha", the latter swings way,juld ng,ql; the, forward under the' elbow, d,sqthatthe upon.theupper edge, as seen, at bI, Figs. 1 and 2, and tnere remains, thus the talilet and rod oUhe, operated key elevaiett' "NoW', 'upon releasing' the key it falls backward to its \ normal position by gravity, and is aided by the spring, g, Fig. 2, which returns the'baf. k, and arms, J. The follower,}. beibg free to swing forward without. movipg the bell-crank, ,the tr\gger,m. to, flip it up ,and pass under its' nqse.to its normal position.. ,operation the opposite arm, J · Fig., 2; haS in like manner actuated the hammer of the which Is sounded everr time a key is depressed farthllst only then, and thus gi ves notice' to the custalllerthatthe machine has be'E'n prOpt'rly operated. Wheneverthe same 'keyis/successively o})E:l'ilted. Us tblfarm th'etHulet remain up and exposed to view; but when a different key lis operated thetablet.of,the previousOlltlis an4,falls back ,&01;1, t1le tablet ,of the operated key remains up and The first clnim·is in Mntl'oversyinthis suit, which is as follows: "In a registering and' ilidiCllting machine, the c6m):>inatlon, with a serles of indicating tablets operated by seerles aUeys, of a series of rods, each provided with a detent or shoulder, and cal1ryingone of the Moresaid tablets,and; & supporting-wing nurohanism, wile,reby upon op{'rating any one of the ke>,s, the Wing is so moved as to pE'rmit the passage tile rod, and whereby upon the release the key the wing engages witb and holds up the tablet-rod and tablet, SUbstantially as described.." , -' . .!;
The. object of a cash register is twofold:-Mr8t, to register at the close of the day the total amount of sales; and, second, to indicate the amount of each, sale upon the tablet, which is raised into the view of the customerby the pressure upon the key. 'At the date of the Ritty and Birch invention it is that cash registers were old. A serieR of keys, rods j and indicating tablets are to be found in the prior English Pattin patent of May 28, 1877, and in the Campbell patent of February 14, 1882. In these machines ,we find an indicating mechanism which in its general features is the same' as that 1;1£ the patent in suit. 'fhe most, therefore, that Ritty and, Birch can claim, in view: of the prior state of the art, is an improvement upon the Pottin and Campbell registers, and that improvement consisted in devices whereby it was made certain that the preceding tablet would fall when another tablet came into view. In previous, devices it was found that if the shoulders upon the rods became worn, or the. machine became clogged with dust, you.could not always rely upon the falling Of the. 'precedingtablet when the'key was pressed and another tablet raised,and' that consequently two tablets, might be in sight of tb.ecustomerat the same time. The object of the Ritty and Birch patent was to remedy this defect. ' ;This was done by means of the wing and connectinginechanism, wherebytha holds the tablet rods up is pressed, so far awayfrom theshoulaers. of the rods that they aresU:J'e:to .faUby the force of gravity. His contended that aU Ritty andBi.rcll are entitled to under their patent is the specificmoohanism, or its EjQlliv;a.lentl 1;),y.whichthis improvement was accomplished, and the only question in thIS case is whether the court should give such
484
REPORTER,
vol. 45.
&hroad .CQnstruction to the· first claim· of the patent as to' cover the defendants'device. I am of opinion that, in view of the prior state of the art, the Ritty and BirCh patent must betlonfined to the specific mechor its equivalerit,which go to makeup the combination covered by the first claim of the patent. The only; novel feature in that claim is the supporting wing with connecting mechanism, and the question therefore narrows itself down to the defendants in their machine use. these devices, or well·known equivalents thereof? Ido not find. in the defendants' register the wing and connecting me9hanism ,of the Ritty and Birch patent. " . of the Pottin and Campbell type. It has . Thl'l.defendants' what is common to all machines,-a series of keys pivoted upon a bar, and a series of tablets with numbers thereon. It haa also a registering! mechanism, but here it seems·to me the resemblance between the two machines ceases. It has no pivoted-supporting wing such as is shown. in the patent in suit, but instead thereof it has a sliding bar, with which reacp.es, across in front of the rows oftablets, and.is upon a guide-frame in which the rods slide upa,nddown. The tablet-rode are not bent aain the complainants' machine, nor do we find the same connecting devices, such as the flat arms, J, link, trigger and bentlever, L, with follower.· IIi. the construction of the conneCting mechanism, s0-called, the defendants uSEla platehurig by lugs on the same shaft upon which the keys are pivoted, extending abOve the whole bank of keys; Upon the left end of the plate is a pin which ,engages a bellcrank lever pivoted upon an arm set in the bottom of the machine. One end of this lever is operated·by the pin,and the other end has a cam upon it. which engages with another. cam upon an arm projecting downward from. the sliding bar. The bell-crank lever is pulled to the left at its lower end, bya spring. ; When any key is depressed, by means of the pin, which lifts the lower,end ofthetlever, the cam end of the lever slides down the cam connected with the sliding bar, and throws the bar to the left, thereby releasing any tablet which may have been raised. At the time, when the key is completely depressed the cam upon the lower end of the lever comes below the cam on the lower end oftheslid· ing bar, and the bar is immediately pulled back into its normal positjon by aapring, so that any tablet which is being raised will be held by the projection upon the sliding bar. Considering the scope of the Ritty and Birch patent, taken in connection with what existed prior to that invention, I cannot hold the defendants' plate and connecting devices to be the, equivalents of the wing with connecting mechanism described in the .Ritty and Birch patent. I must therefore decide that there is no infringement, and direct that the bill be dismissed. The second suit chargee,jnfringement ofletterspatents No. 253,506, granted February 14, 1882, to Michael Campbell, for. an improvement in cash-registering apparatus. Campbell's' improvement consisted in combining with a cash register a spring drawer. The specification says: "This invention relates to a cash-registering to be employed in cpnnection with a cash-drawer. ... III '" ',l ,
NATIONAL CASH REGISTER CO. t1. BOSTONCABH INDICATOR &: R. CO.
485
"The case, .i, which receives the working parts of the apparatus to be described, has a locked door, B,and a drawer, C; acted upon a drawer-opener, (shown in Fig. 2,) as a rod, a, surrounded by a spiral spring, aI, the spring being compressed when the drawer is closed, as in said figure, where it is held closed by the drawer-holder, (shown as a lever, D,) the inner end of which acts, up,on the interior of the inner end of the drawer, the outer end of the said lever being held up by aspring, a2, against a toggle lever, b, (shown in dotted lines, Fig. 4,) one limb of which is connected with the pawl-carrier, c, common to all the levers of the series of levers, d, e, f, while its other limb is joined 'with a fixed bar, c1 , of the apparatus at, c2, this latter bar serving as a support and gUide for the pawl-carrier. The toggle lever; b, is bent or thrown down where its two limbs are joined together, whenever the pawl-carrier, c, is moved in the direction of the arrow on it, Fig. 4, depressing the outer end of the drawer-holder, D, lifting its inner end frolQ the drawer, and permitting the spring, aI, to throw the drawer open, as in Fig. 1, ready to receive a deposit of cash, and at the same time a pawl. ca, ried by the pawl-carrier, c, engages one of the bars of the lantern-wheel, causing another bar of the said lantern-wheel to move the lever, c5, pivoted at c6, and held against the lantern-wheel by tlJespring, c7 , the said lever, c5, being connected at its rear end 'With an arm, ell. pivoted at 2, which arm,. cB, is in turn loosely connected with the end of the striker-lever, cP, pivoted at3, the striker, c10· on the said lever striking the gong, C12· each time the drawer is opened." The only claim in controversy is 'the third: "In a cash-registering apparatus. a seNesof keys to designate certain amounts, combined with the drawer, the drawer-holder. D, mediately conT nected with said keys, and the spring to throw the drawer open when released by the drawer-holder, substantially as described." , " The same question presents itself in this suit as in the first, namely, how broad a construction should the court give to the Campbell patent? The registering apparatus was old, the opening of a drawer by means of a spring wal:! old, but the oonnecting mechanism between a cash register and a spring drawer was new with Campbell. If the defendants' machine contains this connecting mechanism, or what may fairly be considered its equivalent, the complainants are entitled to a decree; but if the ,coo.:, necting mechanism, which is made an element of the claim sued upon, is radically different in the defendants' machine, I cannot say that a case of infringement has been made out. A comparison between thetYVQ machines in connection with the record' in the case shows that the defendants use a very different connecting mechanism, and one which does not embody the patented device, unless the patent be held to cover all forms of connecting devices known at the time, and I can find no warrant for giving the patent such a liberal construction. HenryE. Renwick, called as an expert on behalf of the complainants, says: "No,w, it is evident that there are no toggles or equivalents of toggles in this defendants' apparatus." ' I am aware that he goes on to state that these toggle levers make a part of claim 2 of the patent, and that therefore claim 3 should not be limited to the specific connecting devices described in the patent,orto their equivalents. He further says:
486
. tome, invie\y', of the an(t s.copeof the third claim. of patent, that if ,the court a. claim covers not !illluivalents but also sub!ltitutes for an. apparatus Which ill ol)e.element of the claim, then the defendants' contrivance embodies the set. forth in tllird of plaintitls i patent."
Now, by well-settled rtlles, the Murt is to look at what the patentee the means by he acconiplishes the re'mIt, and another person does not infnngfJlnless he makes uSE) of the.same or equivalent":rnellps for accomplishirigthe same result.. I know ina certain class· of .cases the supreme court .have given a very Ii beral construction as towhat'constitQtes anequiva:lent, but I do not think that either of the patents involved in these sUlts cQmes within. that class of cases which deal"ri,thpioneer inventions.. ,The defendants.' machine does not employ. the connecting devices which were novel with Campbell. Over the bank. of keys a fiat.plate is by lugs upon the same shaft as the keys. , When any key is actuated, the hooked end of this plate lifts 0. bolt, which is engaged with a projection upon the drawer beneath, and when the bolt is liftedtbe drawer is thrown open by a spring behind it. When the dooris shut the bolt rises over the incline, Ilnd falls on Hs fotward holding the drawer closed. this simple contrivance does away with the somewhat complicated system of toggle levers in combination with a sliding bar, which is the connecting mechanism invented by'Campbell,' and found described in his patent. Holding that the defendant's' machine is not within the Campbell patent, I must direct that the bill be dismissed. Bills Uismissed.· .'
KELLY
et al. v, THE ToPSY.
(Pf8trict Oourt. D. South Carol.ina. February 16, 1891.) 1. ADMIlULTY-SE4MEN'S W'AGES-COSTS-PROCTOR'S FEES.
The fee of libelant's proctor a reference in a proceeding In admiralty, not beinl{ the 'fees enumerate!! In· Rev.. St. U. S. tit. HI,. c. 16, than which none others are allowed to be taxed as costs under Id. § 823, cannot be so taxed·
Where Inal1 admiraltypr9ceedingfor seanlen's wages against a foreign vessel a commissioner, in the absence of the the q.istrict, heard the testimony, and iS8ued'pro<les8 under Rev. St. U. S. §§ 4546,4547, and the libelant's proctor, beginning. to fear that the statute wasll,ot applicable, sent telegrams to the judge, asking him tOJs8ue or authorize w,arrant of whicbhe declined t9 do, such telegrams were for the convemence of the counsel, to. save traveling explinse5, and theD;loneypaid thereforoannot be taxed 85 costs,&S moneypropedy&wlnecessarily expElnded. B. Bllllli-COMllISsIONER'S COsis. for lIeamen's wages there were four seamen whose cause of complamt was the same, they should be joined as complainants, under Rev. St. U. S. § 4547, and the commissioner is entitled to charge for issuing, filing, and returning but One summons on the master, and for but one certifioate that adtnii'Mt:t procellsshould issue, though'in fact he issued four summonses and made .four certificates. . ' . . '" SAJoIE-DEPOSITlQNS.
.. SAME-TEx,EC'iaAMS.
Under Itilv;·St.U. e. t 4547;'authoriZing the issue of admiralty process in proceedings for seamen's wages on the certificate of a commissioner in the absence of the
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