Opinion of the Court. Similar marks of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures. The nature of my said invention consists in a peculiar construction of cock, which is opened by the motion of the seat of the water-closet, and allows but little water to run into the pan of the closet until the weight is removed from the seat, when the cock gradually closing of itself, allows the water to run for a limited and regulated time, sufficient to wash out the basin. In the drawing, a is the trunk on the upper Fig:3. end of the soil-pipe b, fitted with the pan r, on the shaft or spindle q, and c is the basin setting on to the trunk a. These parts, thus far, are to be of any usual or desired character; dis a pipe supplying water from any suitable head, and said pipe is attached to the coupling 1, that screws on to the body e of the cock, and ƒ is a pipe and coupling passing water (when admitted as hereafter detailed) to the basin c, where it is to be fitted with the deflector, as usual. The cock e, that supplies water to the basin, is constructed with a stem h, passing nearly or quite air-tight through the leather washer 4, beneath the cap n, and the lower end of said stem h is formed with a valve g, and with 9. Opinion of the Court. a cylindrical part 3, fitting water-tight, or nearly so; the opening of the washer 2, between the coupling 1 of the pipe d and cock e, and the sides of this cylinder 3, are formed with notches, or a groove x. It will now be seen, that, if the stem h be pressed down by the weight of the person acting on the seat u, rod v, and lever p, or by any other suitable means, the valve will be forced away from the washer 2, and allow a dash of water to pass through the notch a sufficient to fill up the parts of the cock, and then that the cylinder 3, descending and filling the opening in the washer 2, will prevent, or nearly so, the passage of any more water into the closet; i is a spring around the stem h, which acts in aid of the pressure of the water on the valve g, to close the same, as soon as the force which opened the said valve is removed, but, if this alone was used, the concussion would be so great as to tend to break the parts, besides which sufficient water would not be supplied to the watercloset to cleanse the same. I, therefore, make use of the following means, which cause said valve g to close slowly and in a regulated amount of time, thereby allowing the desired quantity of water to dash past the washer 2, at the time the notches or openings are moving past the same. The upper part of the cock e, is formed as a cylinder k, in which is a disk l, attached to the stem h, and a cup-leather m, above the same; n is a cap of the cylinder k, which is formed with a short tube 8, passing up through a hollow projection 0, from the side of the trunk a, and secured thereto by a nut 6. At the time the valve g is pressed down, as before stated, the water dashes momentarily on to the cock and fills the same, passing the cupleather m, and filling the cylinder k, and, upon the pressure on the stem / being removed, the cup-leather expands by the slight rise of the stem, and would retain the valve g open were the cylinder water-tight, and, therefore the closing of said valve. will be regulated according to the extent of leakage provided in said chamber k, and for this purpose the leakage at the washer 4, around the stem h, may in some cases be sufficient; but I propose to use a screw 9, entered through the cap n, with a head next the washer 4, and a part of one side of the screw filed away, so as to adjust the amount of leakage and regulate k Opinion of the Court. the time during which the water will run into the closet. I am also aware that a given amount of water leakage has been used to prevent a sudden motion in cocks, balances, meters, and a variety of other instruments; therefore, I do not claim the same, but I am not aware that a cup-leather has ever before been so fitted and applied with a valve as to allow the water to pass the said cup-leather freely in the chamber in which it moves, and then act, when the power is relieved from the valve, upon the water in said chamber and gradually allow the valve to close." The third claim of the Carr reissue is as follows: "Third. I claim, in a valve for water-closets, a cup-leather for controlling the motion of said valve in closing gradually, substantially as specified, said cup-leather moving freely in one direction, and closing against the containing cylinder in the other direction, and the leakage of water in said cylinder allowing the movement of said cup-leather, as set forth." In the Carr apparatus, the valve is combined with a containing cylinder and a cup-leather, in such manner that the valve is caused to close slowly, because the action of the cup-leather as a tight packing prevents the passage of water while the valve is closing, and the valve can open rapidly, because, as it opens, the cup-leather does not act as a packing, but permits the passage of water outside of it. In the containing cylinder there is a piston which has on it centrally a cup-leather, and is provided with a small aperture, which permits the gradual escape of water from it.. When the cylinder is filled with water, the valve is held to its seat by a spiral spring. When the valvestem is depressed, the valve opens rapidly, because the cupleather permits the water to pass freely outside of it. When the force which depressed the valve-stem is removed, the spring acts to shut the valve, but it shuts slowly, because the cupleather acts as a tight packing, being forced outward against the inner wall of the cylinder, by the pressure of the water. Therefore, the water escapes slowly from the cylinder through the small aperture, and the valve cannot move faster, in shutting, than it is allowed to move by the escape of the water through the small aperture. Opinion of the Court. The apparatus alleged to infringe the two patents is the same in all of the suits. It has a brass casting, and is thus described by the plaintiff's expert: "This brass casting of the defendants has at its lower part a cavity, whose walls partially bound the variable chamber. This cavity is a cup-shaped piece of brass, screwed to the bottom of the casting. A cylindrical brass plunger enters this cavity, and the upper end of it is formed into a valve. This brass plunger is packed to the top of the cavity by a cup-leather, which is secured between the upper part of the brass cup and an internal flange on the brass casting. The stem of the plunger and valve is surrounded by a coiled brass spring, which always tends to lift the plunger and shut the valve. The plunger has, also, a small nick or groove cut in its periphery, and extending from the top to the bottom of the plunger. When this contrivance is ready for operation, all parts of the cavity in the brass casting, including the variable chamber, are filled with water, and the valve is held on its seat by the spiral spring, the plunger then being in its highest position. When it is desired to open the valve, force is applied to depress the valve-stem; this force compresses the spring, depresses the plunger, and opens the valve quickly, owing to the fact that the water can escape rapidly from the variable chamber, such rapid escape being due to the operation of the cup-leather, which now ceases to hug the plunger and acts as a valve, permitting the water to escape freely from the variable chamber. When the force which was applied to depress the stem and open the valve is removed, then the spring strives to shut the valve and elevate the plunger, and, as soon as it commences to elevate the plunger, the pressure of water causes the cup-leather to hug the plunger tightly, so that it ceases to act as a valve, and becomes a tight packing. As soon as this occurs, water can only enter the chamber through the small groove in the periphery of the plunger, and the valve can shut no faster than this small flow of water permits it to shut." It is shown by the evidence that cup-leathers had been used in the central valves of the plungers of pumps, the cup-leather contracting on the down stroke and allowing the water to Opinion of the Court. pass by, and spreading out on the up stroke and raising the water; and that it was not new to employ a variable chamber to effect, by the gradual escape of water from it, the slow and gradual closing of a valve. In George Hulme's English patent, No. 8,971, of November, 1841, is shown a device for "keeping a valve open for any required length of time for the supply of water to the basins of water-closets generally." The specification says: "To regulate the length of time that the valve F may be kept open for the flow of water from the reservoir to the basin of the closet, after the pan or valve has closed, the barrel AA is furnished with the openings NN, communicating from the under to the upper side of the bucket D, and fitted with a cock O. Now, by turning the cock O in such a position that the water-way through the cock O will be diminished, more time will be required for the bucket to displace the contents of the barrel, and vice versa." The bucket D does not have a cup-leather, but has a central valve E to allow the water to pass. The defendants have substantially the Hulme construction, using a cup-leather centrally, instead of the Hulme central valve. A central valve being old, and a cup-leather being old, and a central valve and a cup leather combined being old, and a plunger with a central valve and a means of regulating the escape of the water from above it being old, and the device for the escape of the water, used by the defendants, being the same as in Hulme, it must be held that, for the purpose of securing the free passage of water in one direction and preventing its escape in the other direction otherwise than gradually, the defendants have used nothing which they did not have a right to use, and have not appropriated any patentable invention which Carr had a right to cover, as against the defendants' structure, by the third claim of his reissue. If Carr had made the defendants' form of structure when he made his own, he would not, in view of the state of the art, have made anything having patentable novelty in it; and, therefore, what he has claimed. in claim three of his reissue has no patentable feature which the defendants' form of structure infringes. The action of the cup-leather in Carr's structure and in the defendants', to admit |