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ried directly below the right nose guard. Further pressure upon the left lens produces an axial movement of the left pivot, effecting a change in the direction of the movement of the left lens from vertical to horizontal, and toward the right lens, and causing the left nose guard to be carried beyond and to the right of the right nose guard. Continued pressure upon the left lens brings into action for the first time the resilience of the metal spring, causing the left lens to move over the right one until its motion is arrested by engagement with a sprig or catch and the folding movement is completed.

It thus appears that it is the pivotally connected bridge spring with its three clearance motions, that makes possible the free passage of nose guards in the movement of folding. Such a spring is old, very old. The patentees neither invented it nor discovered its function in folding eyeglasses. What the patentees did, and all that they did, was to so locate the offset nose guards upon the lens frames and to so shape them that, in the normal movements of lens frames connected by a pivotal bridge spring, one nose guard would clear the other, and upon completion of the movements, the two would nest. The idea of doing this did not originate with the patentees. It was suggested by the demand of the trade for offset instead of straight nose guards on Oxford glasses. That demand the patentees immediately met. To make such a substitution permitting such a result required nothing more than a little patience and some skill. It meant that the mechanic should select from the great variety of nose guards of the art, two of an appropriate design, alter their shape, if necessary, and by experiment find for them a proper location on the lens frames, so that upon being folded, the projecting guards would pass one another. The tripartite movement of the pivotally connected bridge spring made the accomplishment of this task obvious, the mechanical performance of which did not call for the exercise of invention and involved nothing more than mechanical skill. If the conception of the patentees amounted to an advance in the art, it was such as would spontaneously occur to a skilled mechanic or operator in the ordinary progress of manufacture, and does not merit the reward of a patent monopoly, which under the policy of the law is awarded exclusively to those who make some substantial discovery or invention which adds to human knowledge and makes a step in advance in the useful arts. Atlantic Works v. Brady, 107 U. S. 192, 199, 2 Sup. Ct. 225, 27 L. Ed. 438. We find no error in the decree of the District Court in adjudging invalid, for want of invention, all of the claims of the patent in suit.

The decree below is affirmed.

(231 Fed. 980)

LOCOMOBILE CO. OF AMERICA v. PARKIN.*

(Circuit Court of Appeals, Third Circuit. January 31, 1916. On Petition for Reargument, April 14, 1916.)

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The Parkin patents. No. 9CS,597, for a carbureter, and No. 1,082.762, for an improvement thereon, held void for lack of invention, in view of the prior art.

Appeal from the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; Oliver B. Dickinson, Judge.

Suit in equity by Joseph W. Parkin against the Locomobile Company of America. Decree for complainant, and defendant appeals. Reversed.

For opinion below, see 226 Fed. 800.

Fraley & Paul, of Philadelphia, Pa. (Emery, Booth, Janney, & Varney, Frederick L. Emery and Edward G. Curtis, all of Boston, Mass., of counsel), for appellant.

Synnestvedt, Bradley, Lechner & Fowkes, of Philadelphia, Pa. (Paul Synnestvedt and Harvey L. Lechner, both of Pittsburgh, Pa., of counsel), for appellee.

Before BUFFINGTON, MCPHERSON, and WOOLLEY, Circuit Judges.

BUFFINGTON, Circuit Judge. In the court below Joseph W. Parkin, the grantee of patent No. 968,597, dated August 20, 1910, for a carbureter, and of No. 1,082,762, issued to him December 30, 1913, also for a carbureter, filed a bill and charged the Locomobile Company of America with infringement thereof. On final hearing the court, in an opinion reported at 226 Fed. 800, held infringement was sustained. On entry of decree, the Locomobile Company took this appeal.

The motive power of an automobile is an engine actuated by an explosive mixture of air and gasoline drawn into, compressed, and ignited in a cylinder. A carbureter regulates the proportions of air and gasoline constituting such mixture. These proportions vary under changing operative conditions. In the carbureter is a mixing chamber, with both air and gasoline inlets. The gasoline enters the chamber through the small inlet nozzle, and is kept substantially at the level of the nozzle by a float valve. As the engine operates, it causes a suction which draws air through the air inlet and past the gasoline nozzle. This passing air raises the gasoline from the nozzle into the mixing chamber in the same way a throat or nasal atomizer sprays liquid when its bulb is pressed. This mixture is rich in gasoline, and is suitable.

For other cases see same topic & KEY-NUMBER in all Key-Numbered Digests & Indexes Rehearing denied.

for starting an engine. But, when the engine is at high sustained speed. and its parts heated, less gasoline is needed, for it has been found that, after the engine has been started with the gasoline-rich mixture, higher speed and less deposit of carbon result from an air-rich, gasolinelean mixture. In other words, under sustained speed conditions it is desirable to reduce gasoline and increase air in the mixture. To provide this additional air, a carbureter has an auxiliary intake provided with a spring-controlled, normally closed valve. As the engine gets under way, this valve opens under the increased suction caused by the rapidly reciprocating pistons, more air is drawn into the mixture, and its gasoline richness is reduced. As the engine speeds up, the air valve opens wider, owing to the valve-controlling springs being so proportioned and adjusted that the valve automatically maintains a proper feeding capacity, due to the balance between engine suction and spring resistance. But not only does the speed of the engine call for change in the mixture, but varying atmospheric conditions as wellcold or damp weather requiring gasoline richness, while warm or dry weather calls for air richness. These and various other conditions, such as different types of engine and their valves, create varying conditions which necessitate varying mixtures.

Turning to the art prior to the patents in suit, we take the Packard carbureter, shown in the accompanying figure, to show how this auxiliary air inlet apparatus was automatically regulated. In this figure 21 is the valve and 21a is its stem. Surrounding that stem is the lighttensioned exterior spring 25 which is seated at its lower end on the collar 26, which latter is adapted to slide on stem 21a.

The upper end of the spring nor

mally rests against stem cap 32,
and its fixed tension can be changed
by the nut on the head of the stem.

The low-tensioned spring 25 is ini- Fig. 3.
tially adjusted so as to properly con-
trol the valve when the engine is
started. When the machine is run-
ning at its lower speed, this spring
controls valve 21, and as speed is
gradually developed the increasing
cylinder suction draws the valve 21
down and puts more air in the mix-
ture. The valve thus dropping and
pulling down stem 21a through col-
lar 26, causes light-tension spring
25 to tighten, and as it tightens its
tension tends to pull up the valve.
It will thus be seen that the outer
or light-tensioned spring 25 can be
initially and pre-operatively shop-
adjusted by the stem nut, when such
pre-operative adjustment is desired,
146 C.C.A.-12

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and it will also be noted that during operative conditions, and when the engine is starting, idling, or running at lower speed, this lighttension spring, by the action of the engine, is automatically adjusted to such higher or lower tension as properly regulates the valve to pass the needed proportion of air. It will likewise be observed that the device also contains means for operatively adjusting the tension of this spring. This is done by inserting or withdrawing the wedgeshaped member 29a, whose mechanical operation, it will be observed, is precisely that caused by the movement of the valve, viz., if pushed in it lessens the distance between cap 32 and collar 26a, and tenses light-tension spring 25. It is the same thing that is done by valve 21, when it is drawn down by suction. It will thus be seen that the Packard wedge serves during the original starting, idling, and low speeding of the engine to adjust and regulate the light-tension spring 25, and that during those times that spring, in connection with suction, controls and regulates the movement of valve 21. We here call attention to this fact, viz., the complete, independent, operative control of light-tension spring 25 by the thinner end of the Packard wedge, as one of special significance with relation to the operation of Parkin's device.

Turning from this operative low speed period, when the light-tension spring dominates the valve, we pass on to an operative condition when the engine's speed increases. Nested within the light-tension spring 25 and encircling stem 21a, is the high-tension spring 31. This spring is normally under no pressure, and it only comes under pressure when the high speed of the engine draws down valve 21 and stem cap 32, so that cap 32 engages the upper end of spring 31. It will thus be seen its function is to dominate valve 21 when the engine is running at high speed. When such dominating function comes into play by the cap and spring top engaging, the tension of such hightension spring may be still further increased by the use of the thicker end of the Packard wedge. When that end of the wedge is used under such high speed conditions, it is apparent that the wedge effects a dual and conjoint adjustment of both light and heavy tension springs, instead of the single, independent, light-tension spring adjustment when the engine was running at low speed. But, even so, such increase of tension as the light spring is given must in the nature of things be of relatively small moment, since the like stem shortening to which both springs are subjected must necessarily impart more tension proportionately to the stronger than to the weaker spring. Be that as it may, it necessarily follows that, as the high-tension inner spring dominates the valve at high engine speed, and the low-tension spring's effect is negligible, it would seem that a wedge action, which further increases such dominating power in the high-tension spring, may for practical and operative purpose be regarded as effecting an actual independent adjustment of the low-tension spring under low speed operative conditions, and a practically independent adjustment of the high-tension spring under high speed operative conditions.

In this state of the art, Parkin devised the spring adjustment shown in the accompanying figures:

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When the machine is in use the outer or light-tension spring 28 and the inner or high-tension spring 26 of Parkin's device operate in precisely the same way as the same two springs in the Packard device, to automatically control the air valve. The outer or light-tension spring dominates during low speed, and the inner or high-tension dominates high speed operation. Thus the specification says:

"During the operation of the engine, the greater the speed thereof, the greater is the tendency of the piston to create a vacuum in the cylinder in drawing in the explosive charge, and therefore, in order to preserve as nearly as possible the proper proportion of mixture of vaporized oil and air, the two springs 26 and 28 are provided, which may be adjusted to vary the spring pressure acting upon the valve 20 to hold it against its seat. That is to say, if it be desired to run the engine at a slow speed, the arm 29 will be adjusted to the low part of the cam 30 to move the spring 26 out of engagement with the head 23, and the arm 29 will be adjusted upon the cam 32 to a position in which it will cause the spring 28 to exert the proper amount of pressure upon the valve 20 to produce the proper explosive mixture for the desired speed of the engine. When, however, it is desired to run the engine at high speed, the arm 29 is adjusted in respect to the cam 30 not only to bring the spring 26 into engagement with the head 23a but also to bring it into engagement with the head with sufficient pressure which, in conjunction with the pressure of the

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