rumen v. curse. 41
Fnnnon v. Gamma and others.
(Circuit Oourt, S. D. New York. September 15, 1885.) l
Pnnnrs ron INVENTIONS—INVENTION—li00F' ron Bomn. Vnuurs. , p _ ,
Patent No. 244,224, issued to Hamline Q. French, July 12, 1881, for an ini-
proved roof for vaults for burial purposes, held void for want of invention. ’
In Equity.     »°
L. B. Bunnell and George H. Fletcher, for plaintiff. ‘
· Rastus S. Ransom and Philip J. O’ReilZy, for defendant. - · i ‘
SHIPMAN, J. This is a bill in equity, founded upon the infringe-=
ment of letters patent N0. 244-,224, issued to Hamline Q. French,
July 12, 1881, for an improved roof for vaults for burial purposes:
The patentee, in his specihcation, described this roof as fo11ows{:‘·_’ I _
" The object of my invention is to obtain a building without_vertic-al joints,
andheld together and locked at the roof. so that bythe locking, and the,
weight of the roof, the structure shall be made as enduring as the material of ,
which it is built. My improved roof consists of the front and rear gable-..
stones, the roof-stones, which are continuous from one gable-stone to the other ,
at each side, and held to the gable-stones by mortise and tenon or equivalent
connections, and the cap-stone, which is formed with a rabbetjto lap upon
the roof-stones, and rests upon the gables, by which construction the stones’
forming the complete roof are securely locked, and without possibility of dis-
. location without being raised bodily upward." _ . .  
The gables are each a single stone of a length sufficient to connect
the roof-stones, and with tenons upon_ each of their upper surfaces. 2
The claims are:
"(1) A roof for vaults and similar structures, consisting of the continuous =
roof-stones, B, B, gable-stones, A, connecting and locked to the roof-stones,
and the cap-stone, O, lapping upon the roof-stones, substantially as shown »
and described. _.
"(2) In roofs for vaults and similar structures, the combinationlof con-`
tinuous roof-stones, B, B, and gable-stones, A, A, connected and locked by‘
mortise and tenons, or equivalent devices, substantially as shown and de-
scribed." - .
The difficulty in vault stone roofs which was to be remedied was
the exposed or open seams between the stones into which water can‘
enter and become frozen, and thus, by the action of frost, the,stones’
are separated. Freedom from vertical joints, and the locking of roof-
stones and cap-stone to the gable-stones are the features of the im-
provement.
Without the aid of testimony in regard to the state of the art, I
should be strongly inclined to say, upon the face of the patent, that
it did not contain a patentable invention. By the invention described
in the second claim, the difficulty is remedied by connecting, in the
ordinary way, to gable-stones, made of one piece, roof-stones which
are long enough to extend from one gable-stone to the other, and pro-
tecting the seams by rebates, if more than one roof-stone upon one