Henry Billings Brown

“ The introduction of rollers in bookshelves is undoubtedly a convenient and valuable device for preventing the abrasion of large and heavy books which are obliged to be laid flat upon the shelves, especially when they are subjected to frequent handling; but the employment of roller shelves at the time Hoffman made his application for a patent (February 12, 1887) was by no means a novelty. ”

“ It was no novelty to place rollers at the front edges of the shelves, so as to project above and in front of the shelves, as this is shown in the Boone, Conant, and Adams patent, and in the defendant's metallic shelf, used prior to the Hoffman application. The employment of semicircular hand holes or recesses, for more readily grasping the books, is such a familiar device in upright partitions for holding books that scarcely any banking or record office is without them, and the court may properly take judicial notice of their use long prior to this patent. ”

“ When a book is to be placed in position, it is first rested upon the spring rollers, which by their elasticity assist in forcing the book upon the fixed rollers, when it is easily passed by such rollers to its proper place. The extension of the elastic rollers in front of the shelf would seem to prevent the use of doors in front of the shelves, and it is clear they do not support the books when in place. ”