Henry Billings Brown

“ The effect of the decision now rendered, it seems to me, is, therefore, to put the patentee in a position where, without invention on his part, and without the possession by him of lawful letters patent, he is allowed to exact tribute from the steel and iron-making industry, whenever those engaged in such industry desire to increase their plants or to more conveniently and satisfactorily conduct their operations so as to keep pace with the natural evolution of modern industrial development. ”

“ The advantages of the large storage receptacle was thus stated in the specification of one of the patents:
"The metal is usually tapped from a blast furnace once in every six hours, and the quantity thus cast is many times in excess of the charge of a converter. . . . The charge of a converter is from one to five tons, and in the case of a blast furnace usually runs from ten to fifty tons. . . . The time between charges of the converter is usually twenty minutes and upward, and the metal from the furnace must be kept in condition to be tapped from time to time into the converter as needed." ”

“ A quantity of molten iron should be kept in the cupola or in a large ladle, so as to give the different brands of iron a chance to mix. In most all the foundries at Wheeling, West Virginia, the cupolas are never stopped from the time the blast is put on until the bottom is dropped. A large ladle is set on trestles in front of the cupola, in such a manner that the iron can run into it from the cupola and be poured out into the smaller ladles at the same time. The iron is all run out of the cupola as fast as it is melted, and is mixed in a large ladle. I think this is a good way of mixing iron. ”

“ The conflict which my mind perceives between the facts admitted upon the face of the opinion and its conclusion is expressly pointed out by the opinion itself, where it is said: 'If the contents of the mixer used by the defendant were allowed habitually to become empty in carrying out its process there would be no infringement.' That is, if in the use of its reservoir the defendant did not habitually retain a residuum there would be no infringement. ”

“ On the contrary, the true purport of the patent was this, and this only: The selection of separate portions of molten metal, pouring the same into a reservoir, mixing such aggregated portions of molten metal thoroughly until it, the commingled metal, became uniform, so that the equalized metal might be used, not alone in the making of steel in a converter, but in any other process of making steel, in a foundry, or in any other mode where a uniform product was desired. ”

“ For, of course, as there cannot be abrupt variations in the constituent elements of a molten metal which is uniform, it must follow that a process of reservoiring which in the continuous operation of a plant will obtain a uniform metal must necessarily exclude abrupt variations in the quality of the metal. ”

“ So far as revolution in the art is concerned by the alleged enormous saving rendered possible by the use of the Jones method, it is not perceived how such a statement is compatible with the unquestioned proof in the record that, although the complainants at their Edgar Thomson works erected several of the Jones mixers about the time of the grant of the Jones patent, they did not introduce them into their other works until more than seven years afterwards. ”

“ After the evidence for the defendant was all in and several witnesses had been examined in rebuttal, the complainant, on March 30, 1897, stated 'that at the hearing of the cause he will urge infringement of the second claim only of the patent in suit.' At the close of all the evidence the complainant filed what is termed a 'petition for disclaimer,' praying that the court would receive in evidence a certified copy of a disclaimer of portions of the specifications, which on that day had been sent to the Patent Office for filing. ”

“ In 1885, a few years prior to the grant of the Jones patent, two United States patents were issued to James P. Witherow (1) for apparatus for the manufacture of iron and steel; and (2) steel-plant appliance, which patent showed a blast furnace, an intermediate storage vessel of large size, and a converter. In brief, the purpose of the Witherow reservoir apparatus was to receive and store the molten metal for the purpose of preventing the detention incident to the necessity of discharging the contents of the blast furnaces when there is no converter ready to receive it. ”

“ Although the method attributed to the Jones patent was well known to the art at the time that patent was issued, and hence it was intrinsically wanting in patentable novelty, nevertheless such method must be held to have embodied invention because the well-known practice was carried out by individuals in a varying and irregular manner. ”

“ It is preferable in every way, as blast-furnace men well understand, to tap a full hearth. At the same time improvements in working the furnace are gradually developing. More care is taken as to the selection of ores, the size of ore and limestone, the distribution of materials in the furnace, the temperature of the blast, and all elements of uniformity. ”

“ The consequence of this tendency of the silicon and sulphur to segregate or form pockets in the crude metal is that the product of the refining process in the converters or otherwise in like manner lacks uniformity in these elements, and therefore often causes great inconvenience and loss, making it impossible to manufacture all the articles of a single order of homogeneous composition. ”

“ But if the storage of a large quantity of iron in a reverberatory furnace or other reservoir should prove successful, then a few blast furnaces making even an irregular product, and, if necessary, working in connection with cupolas, would largely economize the Bessemer manufacture. ”

“ Snelus is about trying the experiment of placing a twenty-ton ladle on a hydraulic lift at the 'A' pit, so arranged as to store, mix, and pour, say, three six-ton to seven-ton blast-furnace taps, or to mix blast furnace and cupola metal. No doubt this body of metal will 'live' if the ladle is thickly lined and well covered. ”

“ In the British patent to Deighton of 1873 the purpose of the inventor, among others, was declared in the specifications to be to keep a steel-works plant or apparatus in nearly uninterrupted work, thus very considerably increasing the production of such plant. ”

“ But until this large-scale mixing is developed it should not appear that the use of our comparatively irregular blast-furnace and part cupola metal can result in any substantial saving.
'But the mixing problem is not such a difficult one. A small amount of flame spread over a large surface of metal should certainly keep it hot for a long time, seeing that the metal will keep hot in a ladle exposed to air for an hour or more. ”

“ But by taking it from the three cupolas, all melting the same charges of iron, and collecting them in a molten state, the inequalities of melting were all overcome and a uniform product produced.'
2. The Wheeling Foundry Practice: Kirk on Founding of Metals, 1875, thus described a foundry practice (italics not in original) : 'In melting iron I should recommend melting it hot, and as fast as possible. ”

“ The first proposition, it is submitted, is absolutely in conflict with the express and uncontroverted proof in the record, as manifested by the references which I have already made. Let me recur to the practices under consideration to show that this is the case. Take the Whitney practice as testified to by Whitney. ”

“ A witness thus testified respecting the extent of use in this country of the receiving ladle as follows:
'Early American steel works, commencing with Troy in 1864, Pennsylvania in 1867, Cleveland in 1868, Cambria and Union in 1871, North Chicago in 1872, Joliet and Bethlehem in 1873, Edgar Thomson and Lackawanna in 1875, and Vulcan in 1876, used receiving ladles, two in number, holding about two heats each, with the exception of Bethlehem, which used a single ladle on a car to mix taps from four cupolas, and Vulcan, which used three receiving ladles, holding two heats each. ”

“ Holley's supervision, that gentleman said (London Engineering, vol. 23, 1877) :
'The cupola ladles ff facilitate the distribution of metal to the vessels. They form reservoirs which make the smelting department and the converting department independent of each other, within limits. This advantage was not appreciated fully until the large productions of the last few years were attempted. ”

“ It was stated that the receiving vessel 'is placed low enough to give fall for the molten metal to flow from the blast furnaces to this receiver m, which forms a receptacle for mixing the molten metal from two or more of the smelting furnaces. From the receiver m the mixed molten metal is tapped and flows down the swivel through n into the converter a. ”