The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1852-11-12

oil Congress, which require every Inventor W sNos
description of bis machine full aud exact a. 70
enable mechanic OF ordinary skiii, on examining
Il, TO consi ruct a similar machine
After finishing his description OF the various parts
of the M ach me- be puts forth what ne claims as new,
which is this The combination of the feed and
pressure rollers, Constructed and operating suhstan-
TALLY as ,scrbed with or more cutters or planes,
for living the proper form or dressing to the mould
ing when said combined plrts operate upon material
which has been sawed cut, nearly as may be
convenient into the general form Of the moulding to
be produced, herein described for the purpose OF
ecopomizpg the material, facilitating the opera
ton"
That is his claim-the combination of feed and
pressure rollers, constructed described. with tho
cutters or planes TO give proper form to the mould
pRs.
For this alleged discovery he obtained patent,
and pria facie he is entitled to recover; and this
throws the burthen the defendants to rebut that
inference, by showing that this combination is not
original one of this pateDtee. The claim, it will
be remembered, is for the combination of pressure
rollers and cutting Knives formed and operating as
described when made according to the description
This 10 the combination claimed as and appears
to be all that is claimed by the patentee.
The defendants insist, as main ground of their
defence to this action, that the plaintiff, the per-
son (Serel under whom the plaintiff claims was not
the original rst inventor of this combination,
of the machine described in his ressued patent.
And they allege that it is embraced-frst in Wood
worths patent; second, in the Sigler machne; and,
third III the Arson machine; all of which prior,
in point of time to the date of the invent on claimed
on the part of the plaintiff. Now, Woodworths
patent was issued in 1928, for planning machine,
which was the result of combination Of pressure
rollers, with rotating planes or cutters, according
to the description which Woodwork gave in his
specification. BY means of that combination,
Woodwork, as early as 1928, succeeded in making
machine of extraordinary practical utility, and
which mas been in operation successfully and salts.
| factoriy from that time down to the present. Wood
worth was the first person who conceived that PR
| tcular combinatlon-that is, pressure and feeding
rollers with rotating cutters, tho pressure rollers
keeping the board firmly in its bed, while the re-
volviDg cutters paned the board.
Many persons had attempted to make or con-
struct planning machine by the arrangement and
combination OF well known instruments or machine
~, previously, even as far back IS 1850 or 1890,
and from that time down until 1928 But until
Woodwork perfected his machine, no person ever
succeeded in making practical working planning
machine. he, therefore, is entitled to the credit
! and profit OF this discovery.
No fact is better settled in this country than thu
one have just stated in respect to Woodwork No
claim under patent has been more thoroughly and
laboIiousy examined by adverse claimants, before
courts Of justice, than Woodworths claim to this 1t
has been tried IN various Statee, and many months
have been consumed in the trials; and the fact is
now established beyond all question, that he was
the first person who by means OF this combination,
constructed successful working planning machine.
The first question, then, is whether the claim of
the plaintiff in this case, as assignee of Serres pa
tent is or is not substantially comprehenaed in the
invention of Woodwork
Woodwork, in his original specification, as early
his planning machine could be applied, among other
things stated that it could be applied to the plan
ing of mouldings. That was one Of them. It was.
OF course, use which he had anticipated and
turned in his mind He appears to have compre
hended and stated very clearly the various objects
and purposes to which his invention could be adapt
ed and applied in practical use. lie did not bring
out or describe the changes which might be neces-
ssry to give practical application to his invention,
as it related to planning moulding machine.
OF course, if the operator choose to plane mou'dngs,
4 - .nEL
must correspond with the form of the moulding to
be produced. That was mater which required
particular skill exercise Of invention for it must
have occurred to him that it would be necessary to
shape the edge of the knife plane to correspond
with the pattern of the moulding he desired to
make. In that way he could easily apply Wood
worth's combination to the purpose of planning
mouldiDgs, after having been informed by Wood
worth, that this one Of its uses If he desired
to make moulding a square or Dat piece of
board, or plank, be could, OF course, use the ord
nary ylipdrical pressure roller without difficulty;
but # he undertook to put moulding on an angu-
lar piece of wood he might perhaps, find some dif.
fcuy in using his cylindrical pressure roller It, no
ever would require nothing but practice to gst
this, ard man must, OF course, possess little in
tehgence (hardly the exercise ofinyentive facuites
to enable him to adapt his roller to the required
particular purpose go as to accomplish successfully
his object.
! Now, il can scarcely be denied but that the pre-
else combination detailed in Woodworth's patent,
and invented By him, is to be found ia Ssrrels pa
cutters, with pressure and feed rollers So far,
then, the two are identical. The idea incorporated
in SeTrelPs machine is the idea Wood worth stru,k
out ia 1928
If l understand the particular ground on which
the counsel for the plaintiff endeavors to take Ser
relt's machine on. of the invention Of Wood@orth,
II is that the form Of the pressure feed roller is diff
ferent from the ordinary form OF the pressure roller
IN Woodwofth's patent; first, that they are bsvled
concal rollers, TO be adapted TO the angular
shape of the material TO be planed into mouldngs;
"a Atsk, a. a I'll
as TO impirge more strongly on the wood, and
shaped a. to inpipge most strongly on the part to
be cut away by the cutters, and 50 formed and adj
jus'ed as described by Mr. Scrrell.
1t therefore comes down to this: n difference sim
ply IN the shape and conssru ,ton of the roller, and
in adjusting the TO the plank. l see
other ground upon which there can be any color for
taking this alleged improvement Of Scrrell out Of
the combination Of Wood worth.
Let us see how this js. As early SO 1882, CORFU
gated or serrated pressure roller was used on Wood
worth's mach me- testified TO by Mr.. Gibson. the
mere fact, therefore, Of serrated rollers being used
IN combination with rotary cutters, is not in
yentiop iIasmuch as IL was used long prior TO Ser
res patent. Il wGs to b. cure, cylindrical; but it
was itrated to bite and feed the board firmly
snd strongly to the rotary cutters In addition to
this fact, Mr.. Gibson slso tesies that he say, in
/ Rhode leland, about that time, Woodwork ma
chine constructed with bsyiled con,cal roller,
ior the purpose Of feeding and planning tive clap
boards ct a slime. This roller was in The form Of
double cone, which is but two beveiled rollers pat
. WRclLeI, ntue so Bs h1ept III 10 the form 10
which the beard was intended to be planned.
There is really nothing novel, therefore, in tho
fact, as regards che form Of the scrrsted or
bcvilled roller; for both med ssey after
Woodworth's machine brought into practical
operation IL ia not the form Of Inc roller, whether
fenated OF bevilled that determine whether tao
combination is, or is not. that of Woodwork.
Now. consider ,ble difficulty EXISTS, ALSO in
the claim Of Serrel set up by the counsel for the
plaintiff, in regard to the shape Of this roller II
understand his description, his claim is con incd
SIMPLY TO the bevilled or conical form of roller A
part OF bis specification reads follows:-3 g. are
two pain Of metal stand ards, carrying journal boxes
a. taking the journals Of shaft, s. which IL pro.
Iopged outside the machine to receive drum O.
with belt going to the power through pair OF
eonical drums by means Of which the speed is regu
lated and the shaf b carries between the standards