New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-07
HOW PERLMAN
WON HIS FIGHT
Story of the Battle IA
Settle Demountable
Rim Patent

vention, /. H. Perlman is one ~.
story is much more cheerful. p. /,
the inventor Of the demountaSl. :.
for automobile.
Years ago, when he first went =.
toring with his weather. fr,rs,
tires were weak point. The ns,..
ing enthusiast expected 70 80,
many weary hours every week co..
ing them on the road, a difficult ~
dirty job.
One day in 1900 Perlman vas IA.
ing near Cornwall, ". T., in re-
imported Rochet-Schneider, VIII Il.
friend, John II. Duffy, the psDer n.
chant. The roads were IN bad ss,,.
Time and again 10 was hop on, A.
srend half an hour in the gutter ca
batting tire trouble.
The climax came just as threats.l..
storm clouds began 20 gather In ~.
west. "Bangi" went a tire again. o.,
the tourists leaped end set % va,
with a will, hoping TO reach sb,l..
before the storm broke.
Perlman was blowing I'D u,,
while Duffy tinkered a few feet ava,
As Perlman pumped his brain ~,
working Suddenly tho solution Of d.
whole thing flashed through his bn,
An extra AID easily attached rim. ~,
tire inflated, carried on the car n,
just such emergencies!
With contemplation OF his mr.
idea. Perlman stopped pumping. 3,
stood with a rapt expression On N,
face. Duffy looked up. and for ,so
nearly lost mis- temper.
"Whst in the name OF Hannibal A,
you doing?" he yelled.
Thinking" replied Perlman, still n
his dream.
"Stop thinking-snd pump"
His guest did start pumping, h,.L
did not stop thinking. It /. well %,
the comfort Of the autoist that he Ii!
not.
Back again in New York, he sougt, t,
machine shop, where he spent Eeen
and months, often laboring fsr irr
the night, seeking to put his dream in,
concrete shape. Finally. the now We
known combination of the wedge Az
screw, with an air space between n,
fixed and the demountable rim, va
evolved.
Like all great inventions II loos:
simple when it was completed Ba. d,
fore the right combination was reac.s
hundreds of other combinations IA.
been tried and thousands Of e1psfs
ments had ended in failure.
But Perlman's principal troubles ven
still ahead Of him. lie filed his fm
application for a patent May q, lM
and followed this with a more complsa
application June %, o. the same ytr
The Commissioners Of Patents lon
over his application and Informed BIZ
his claims were too broad 10 be J.
lowed. Perlman dug into his potic
for money to pay the costs and tookr
appeal to the United States Cirt.i
Court of Appeals of the District o. {,
lumba. which found in his favor II
sweeping basic patent was then issaH
On the face of il his hardships Tn
over. But not actually. The co.
proceedings had meant both time r
an end Of secrecy for the irFr'g
Several persons had copied his ss1a
snd applied for patents, Of coUrR q,
later dates than Per.man.
A much poorer man than VIE, -
started his experiments, Perlms1 ,T
found the market being flooded
his own invention by factories 'H-
which he received not one cent Of De-
enue. Singing out a firm which s.
making 10000 rims a day, Psrirr
started suit in the United States D.
trict Court for Southern New YoIi
This contest took Per.msns r
penny and what he could borrow. =
inventor himself did much Of the g,'i
of preparing the splendid e2hl5a
which made the case famous ars-i
patent lawyers.
Perlman showed graphically w
eleven fundamental classes Of rri
and with nine other drawings he %
dicated the evolution Of the denesit
able rim 50 that a child could u'tt'
stand. The defence was equally s;i,R
and brought forward no less thar "
cases Of other alleged rim inyeni'l
which. it asserted, yitiated Perlniii
claims.
Lawyers OF the defence laughed
the idea that Perlman could have col,
structed his invention with the toe
he produced In court as the orgii
humble implements. They said ',sH
tools were too soft to do the work in
tools had lain laround Perlmans 70
chine shop thirteen years, and "a'
were in bad shape.
But here Perlman scored a spHA.
ular victory Sudge Hunt sdlosfh
court across the street 20 the anr
ment Of the Woolworth Building "
highest skyscrapcr In the world .
there Perlman, before the eyes =
judge, counsel and spectators. VoiAl.
without nervousness once ne Don
with which he had spent so many d,,,
and weeks were IN his hands, Won d.
case.
He turned out the exact bits Of nes
in dispute. and Judge Hunt MEASURE
them himself and pronounced them D.
nutely accurate. ~
With this decision in his fayor, re-
man still had 20 fight an appe.s. % h
United States Circuit Court OF APE
More delays and more expense. ! -.
ly. last February. came his h9I5 ~
umph, In the decision Of Judge =
combe, with Judges Coke and A0s'
concurring. ,..,g
Important interests banded iog'.
and offered him Sl000.OO0 eas5 ~
S750.000 more a year for e1e'.ls
rights to his invention. A rev M
later he deposited a check for 49,
600. indorsed. "Perlman Rim CoIP..,
tion. l.. ~. Por'man, Pres ~ wa
underwriters payment FOR ine =,
OF the company organized 10 H'A
Perlman rim. ..t'
lie has built two factories. o. "a
Jackson, Mich. and the other a. 49,
n. Y, the latter one OF his ooi- \. I
home towns. lie divides hs NV
tween these factories and his NeSL .ItI
Office. The factories have res'. -'. I
production Of 100000 sets Oh II..i'4s
year. and with the plans no" -
enormous output viii soon pc sN~
Thermostat in Cooling Sys''D
The Pathfinder l2-cylindcr se'eJI,..,l
sengcr touring roadster e..-'i,..