Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 4.djvu/441

 EOOT V. B. N. #ELCH MANDf'G CO. 427 �tion. The Bash upon the door of the clock case Was fastened by a catch to this flange. No objection ia made to the form of the disclaimer. The question simply'is whether there is anything in the specification of the patent, or outside of it, ■which shows that a material part of the invention consisted in the flanges upon the edges of the frame, as exhibited in the drawings, was an immaterial matter which did not par- take of the charaoter of invention. It must be remembered that the question is not whether the flanges perform a certain ofSce, or whether the drawings exhibit the office, but it is whether there was any invention in the means for the per- formance of such office. The second deflecting plate, in Dunbar v. Myers, 94 U. S. 187, performed an office; but the court was of opinion that the addition of such second plate involved no invention. The "close chamber" and the "freez- ing mixture," in Brown v. Piper, 91 U. S. 37, performed the office of preserving fish ; but the court was of opinion that the means used were an application of an old process to a new subjeet, without invention. �An inspection of both the re-issued and the surrendered patents, and of the rejeeted specification, shows that the flanges constituted no portion of the invention upon which the mind of the inventer rested as important. He says, in substance, that the back may be made plain, or may have a raised and then flattened edge. The dial may have the diameter of the back, or may be made of such diameter as to just fill in between the raised portion from the flat surface of the back. No patentable advantage is ascribed! 'to one shape over another, or to any shape ; and there is no suggestion of novelty in the method of attaching the clock dial to the case, or the sash to the frame. Furthermore, the backs of the painted dials, which were commonly used in wooden clocks at thp date of the invention, were made substantially like the back of the dial shown in the drawings; that is to say, their edges were raised and then flattened, so as to givç room for the hands inside the sunken portion of the dial, and so as to form a peripheral flange by which the back could be attached to the case. The patentee put a pàper dial, upôii' which the ����