Joyce v. Chillicothe Foundry

Citations

• 127 U.S. 557
• 8 S. Ct. 1311
• 32 L. Ed. 171
• 1888 U.S. LEXIS 2018

Syllabus

<p>Claim 1 of letters patent No. 154,989, granted to Jacob O. Joyce, September 15, 1874, for an improvement in lifting-jacks, namely, “ A pawl for lever-jack with two or more teeth, and adapted to move in inclined slots, grooves, or guides ■ formed in the frame, substantially as described,” must be construed as limited to a pawl which acts wholly by gravity, and not at all by a spring, to press it against the teeth of the ratchet-bar.</p> <p>Such claim is not infringed by a jack in which a spring is used to press the pawl against the teeth of the ratchet-bar, and in which there are no slots, guides or grooves formed in the frame, to guide the pawl.</p>