the ground of his laches or estoppel; and so this ground of support must be considered in determining what is the true basis of that decree.

The court hence concluded that it, the decree, did not adjudge title to the Hellmans but adjudged them a "defensive right and nothing more," and, explaining the right, the court said that it—

does not extend to any whisky not mixed or blended so as to be of the same general type as that to which defendants (Hellmans) had been making or to trade or territory in which they were not selling when the bill was filed.

We are not able to assent. The court admitted that the language in the body of the opinion of the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit is consistent with the interpretation petitioners put upon it, that is

that the trade-mark, in its general, prima facie, affirmative aspect, belonged to the Hellmans prior appropriation,

but the court added that the last paragraph of the opinion indicated

that the two judges (only two sitting) did not unite in putting the decision on that ground.

We think this was an oversight. The opinion was that of the court, though delivered by one judge, and the conclusion was the conclusion of the court and necessarily had to be, else there would have been no decision or decree. And it was thoroughgoing. It is manifest from the excerpts we have made from the opinion that the judgment of the court was not limited as to time or territory; nor did the pleadings so limit it. The complainant in that case (respondent here) alleged that it was the sole and exclusive owner of the trade-mark and had used it from 1835 to the present time, being virtually the successor of the first producer of the product.

Defendants (petitioners) contested the claim and asserted a right in themselves based on prior adoption and continuous use, and that right was adjudged to them.

Decree of the circuit court of appeals reversed and that of the district court affirmed.

[Supreme Court of the United States.]

GRINNELL WASHING MACHINE COMPANY v. E. E. JOHNSON COMPANY.

Decided June 10, 1918.

254 O. G., 225; 247 U. S., 426.

1. PATENTABILITY-GEARING FOR WASHING-MACHINES.

The Phillips patent, No. 950,402, for a gearing device especially adapted to the operation by power of washing-machines and wringers, by means of which the washing parts and the wringer may, when desired, be operated

at the same time by the same power-shaft, Held void as merely an aggregation of old elements.

2. SAME-EXTENSIVE SALE OF THE MECHANISM.

Where the assemblage of the old elements and their operation in the manner indicated may save time and the mechanism may meet with a readier sale than other similar devices, Held that these things may result from mechanical skill and commercial enterprise and do not necessarily involve invention.

3. SAME AGGREGATION.

Where an inventor by an aggragation of elements has produced a more convenient and economical mechanism than others who preceded him, Held that superiority does not make an aggregation patentable.

ON WRIT of certiorari to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Mr. Chas. C. Linthicum, Mr. Melville Church, Mr. Ralph Orwig, and Mr. A. C. Lyon for the petitioner.

Mr. Taylor E. Brown and Mr. Clarence E. Mehlhope for the respondent.

Mr. Justice DAY delivered the opinion of the Court.

This suit was brought by the Grinnell Washing Machine Company against the E. E. Johnson Company for infringement of Letters Patent No. 950,402 granted to W. F. Phillips February 22, 1910. The patentee states the object of the invention to be

to provide a gearing device of simple, durable, and inexpensive construction, especially designed for use in operating washing machines and wringers, by means of power supplied by an electric motor or other source of power.

The patent has been several times in litigation. In the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa it was held valid and infringed. (209 Fed. Rep., 621.) It was again sued upon in the same district court, and upon appeal to the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit a decree holding the patent valid and infringed was sustained. (222 Fed. Rep., 512.) In the case at bar the patent was sustained in the District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, where it was held valid and infringed, and a decree entered accordingly. From this decree an appeal was taken to the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and that court reversed the decree below, and held the patent invalid. (231 Fed. Rep., 988.) A writ of certiorari brings the last-named case here.

The gearing device, which is the subject-matter of the Phillips patent, will sufficiently appear, reference being had to the annexed drawing and description.

While the invention is for a gearing device, the washing-machine to which it is said to be especially designed, is what is known as the "dolly type." As the drawing shows, in that type of machine there is a tub (10) on which is hinged a cover (11). Journaled in the cover is a vertical shaft (45), known as the dolly-shaft. Mounted to slide up and down this shaft is the dolly, which consists of a block of wood with pins projecting downward, so that when the cover is down, the pins extend into the clothes in the water in the tub. In operation the dolly-shaft, and with it the dolly, is swung back and forth from one-half to three-fourths of a turn. A wringer is mounted on the side of the tub, and this wringer consists of two rolls which rotate toward each other and carry the clothes into another tub which

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contains rinse-water. The clothes may be carried by the wringerrolls in either direction. The power commonly use is a small electric motor. This motor (23) is fastened on the bottom of the tub and the armature-shaft of the motor is secured to a small pulley (22) connected by a belt (21) with a balance-wheel (20) journaled on a stubshaft supported from the bracket (13). This large pulley-wheel or belt-wheel has secured on the hub a small spur gear-pinion (17) which meshes with a large spur gear-wheel (16) which is secured on the outer end of the horizontal power-shaft (15) which is journaled in two bearings (14) projecting upward from the bracket or bearing. When the motor is running the train of gearing keeps the powershaft (15) running always in the same direction at an average slower rate of speed than the armature-shaft of the motor. The power-shaft swings and rotates the vertical dolly-shaft back and forth. A spur gear-pinion (40), is secured on the shaft (15), which meshes with the larger spur gear-wheel (44) secured on the shaft 84150°-19-26

(43) journaled in bearings (42). The spur gear-wheel (44) carries an eccentric gear which is connected by a pitman (48) with a pin on the horizontal reciprocating rack-bar (47). This rack-bar is in mesh with a spur gear-pinion (46) secured on the top of the dolly-shaft so that the power-shaft being continuously rotated in one direction, the dolly-shaft (45) is swung back and forth in alternate directions. From the power-shaft (15) a train of gearing to the wringer-rolls has secured on it a small bevel-gear (15) which meshes with two miter-gears (26 and 27) mounted on a shaft (24) extending at right angles to the power-shaft. The shaft (24) has secured on it, so that it can slide back and forth on the shaft, but must always rotate with the shaft, a clutch-sleeve (30) which has on its ends clutchteeth shaped to be engaged with similar clutch-teeth on the inner ends of the hubs of the miter-gears (26 and 27). The clutch-sleeve is engaged with only one miter-gear at a time, and if it engages with one miter-gear, the wringer-rolls are rotated in one direction; if it engages with the other, the wringer-rolls are rotated in the opposite direction, so that the shifting of the clutch-sleeve reverses the direction of the rotation of the wringer-rolls. To do this shifting there is an operating-handle (34) which extends beneath the wringer to a position where it can be readily operated by the person doing the washing. The handle (34) is secured on the end of a rock-shaft (32) which has an upwardly-projecting arm (33) that fits into an annular groove (30), into the clutch-sleeve (39), so that as you swing the handle the clutch-sleeve is moved from one position to another. The connection between shaft (24) and shaft (39) on which the wringer-roll is secured, consists of a sprocket-pinion (36) secured on the outer end of the shaft (24) connected by a sprocket-chain (37) with a large sprocket-wheel (38) secured on the outer end of the shaft (39).

The method of operation is to place a batch of clothing in soapy water in the tub, and when the electric motor is started, the drivingshaft and the spur gear-pinion, secured thereon, are put into rotation. When the hinged cover of the machine is brought down it has the effect of causing the spur gear-wheel to go into mesh with the spur gear-pinion and to set the dolly-shaft and its head into reciprocating motion, thus scrubbing the clothes in the tub. When the cover of the washer is swung up, the gear of the dolly is automatically thrown out of gear with the pinion, the main driving shaft still continuously rotating. The operating-handle is shifted so as to cause the clutch-sleeve to engage with the hub of the bevel-pinion, thereby causing the bevel-pinion secured to the end of the main drive-shaft, to drive the shaft (24) and through the latter the sprocket-wheel (36), chain (37), the sprocket-wheel (38) and the shaft of the lower

wringer-roll, causing the wringer-rolls to rotate so that a garment placed between them will be carried outwardly. When the first batch of clothes has been washed, and passed through the wringer, a second batch of clothes is inserted in the soapy water in the washer, and the cover of the washer again swung down, thereby, in the manner described, putting the dolly into action again. While the second batch of clothes is being washed, the operator shifts the handle which controls the wringing mechanism, so as to reverse the motion of the wringer-rolls, so that the garments in the rinse-water tub may be passed back through the rolls of the wringer, and cast into a hamper. The second action of the wringer-rolls takes place simultaneously with the washing of the second batch of clothes.

The net result, it is contended, of the Phillips patent is that the washing and wringing are carried on simultaneously and the operations of the wringer-rolls are controlled by the handle described.

The claims alleged to be infringed are Nos. 5 to 8, inclusive. No. 6 was selected by the petitioner as typical in character, and is as follows:

6. A gearing device of the class described, comprising a support, a power shaft mounted on the support, means for imparting a continuous rotary motion to the power shaft, an upright shaft 45 mounted in the support, a driving device for the upright shaft operatively connected with the power shaft and capable of imparting an alternating rotary motion to the upright shaft, a horizontal shaft 39, a driving mechanism for the said shaft 39 connected with the power shaft and capable of imparting a rotary motion to the shaft 39, and a controlling means applied to the driving device for the shaft 39, for reversing the movement thereof and also for operatively disconnecting the shaft 39 from the driving shaft.

Confessedly all the elements of the Phillips patent are old. The merits of the combination, which it is contended, involve invention and validate the patent, are that this gearing device, applied and operated as specified, enables the washing of a part of the clothes to be performed at the same time that the wringing process is being applied to other clothes, thus, it is said, saving time in doing the washing, and, furthermore, by the operation of the control-handle the rolls may be reversed or instantly stopped as the needs, convenience, and safety of the operator may require. These things, the simultaneous washing and wringing, with the operation of the control-handle, for the purposes stated, embrace the advances alleged to have been accomplished upon the prior art. In this view it is unnecessary to particularize the prior patents disclosed in the art. The question is, does this bringing together of old elements accomplishing the purposes stated amount to that combination which is invention within the meaning of the patent law; or does the gearing device, thus applied and used, show only an aggregation of old elements performing well