44 » » FEDERAL REPORTER,. °
‘ The patentee, in his original specification, stated the nature of his
. invention as follows: y
" This invention relates to that class of time-keepers in which a fixed an-
nular rack or internally toothed wheel is employed to aid a spring barrel in
rotating the train of wheels. The nature of said invention consists, partly,
in the combination of a fixed internally toothed circular rack and a concen-
tric going barrel or plate with a mainspring. a transmitting wheel rotating
with said barrel, and a fixed clock movement. -It also consists in arranging
the operating parts of the time-piece on a fixed plate, and attaching the same
to the back of the clock-case by means of tongues which extend out from said
plate through perforations in the back of said case. It also consists in pro- ~
’ viding said tongues with broad shoulders, which cause said plate to stand out
from the back of the clock—case, so as to leave space for the mainspring be-
tween them. It also consists in the combination of a mainspring having a
perforated end with a lateral finger extending from the broad part of one of
said tongues, whereby said mainspring is firmly held at its fixed end, yet eas-
ily detached. It also consists in the combination, with a fixed plate, which
confines the mainspring and supports the movement of a rotating plate ar-
ranged in front of said fixed plate, and provided with a hub which extends
through said fixed plate and is connected to the winding end of the main-
spring. It also consists in adapting to and combining with the hub thus con-
·structed akey having ascrew-threaded winding part for engaging with said
hub, and a recessed part for engaging with the prismatic end of the cen-
ter shaft. It also consists in constructing the annular rack or internally
toothed wheel with an annular recess for receiving the pillar plate and
thereby economizing space. It also consists in constructing the pillar plate
and pillars in one piece, and attaching said pillars to the front plate by twist-
ing them. It also consists in substituting an automatic winding dog, operat-
‘ ing like an escapement verge, for the click and spring ordinarily used. It
also consists in constructing the case with an openingat the bottom, and
adapting thekey and the adjusting nut of the pendulum ball to one an-
other, so that the adjustment of the said ball may be effected conveniently
from the outsideof the case. It also consists in providing said hall with a
spring which will force it down into place, and witlra guido which will pre-
vent it from turning?
l » The 12 claims of the original patent were connned to these de-
tails thus enumerated in the specification. ,
’ In March,`1880, the Parker & Whipple Company entered into acon-
tract with the Yale Clock Company to manufacture the Hotchkiss clock,
at a stipulated price per clock, the licensees furnishing the dies and
tools for such manufacture. About 50,000 clocks were made by the
defendants and delivered to the licensees between June 17 and De-
·cembcr 27, 1880. During this period the defendant Frederick A.
Lane, superintendent of the Yale Clock Company, made the infringing
clock. It did not contain a single patented feature of the Hotchkiss
clock, but in respect to every other leading feature the parts of the
two clocks are interchangeable. The Lane clock was immediately
patented, was put upon the market, and is being manufactured by
the Yale Clock Company. `
An examination of the Hotchkiss patent showed that the vital
parts of the invention were notalluded to in the specification or
in the claims. Perhaps the fact that the clock had three wheels,