925 Findings of Fact THE PATENT IN SUIT 3. The patent in suit is entitled "Safety Device for Vehicle Passengers." This structure comprises a safety harness which the specification describes more particularly for the use of passengers in automobiles, although its use is not thus limited either by the specifications or the claims in suit. As described and shown in the drawings of the patent, which are reproduced herewith, the harness consists of a pair of shoulder straps extending up the front and over the shoulders of the wearer and having their rear ends anchored to the floor or to the body of the vehicle behind the seat. The front ends of these shoulder straps are each provided with a loop which slidably engages with a horizontal lap strap or belt. This belt extends over or across the thighs of the wearer and downwardly on each side of the seat to a snap hook engaging with an eye fastened to the floor of the vehicle. Each of the shoulder straps and the belt strap are adjustable as to length by means of an adjustable buckle connection so that they may be suitably tightened or adjusted to the body of the individual wearer. The specification places special emphasis upon fastening the straps to the body of the vehicle instead of to the seat. The specification states: Also, by having all straps fastened to the floor of the car with the reinforcing washers or plates beneath the floor as in Fig. 1 a strong effective anchoring means is provided which will not pull loose. This is of great practical importance inasmuch as all previous devices fastened to the back or top of the seat so that if the force of gravity tore the seat loose in case of an accident or impact in a collision the device would fail whereas in the present instance this would not happen since the fastening means is separate or independent of the seat attachment means. 4. The claims in suit are as follows: 4. In a safety device of the kind described for a seat for a vehicle, a pair of straps extending downwardly from the top of the seat-back at the front of the seatback, extending over the top of the seat-back and anchored at their rear ends to the body of the vehicle, and a pair of straps anchored to the floor of the vehicle near the bottom of the seat at the sides thereof and slidably engaging with the lower front ends of the first straps and connected therebetween. 5. In a safety device for a seat of a vehicle, a pair of straps extending downwardly from the top of the seatback in spaced relation at the front of the seat-back, ex 925 Findings of Fact tending over the top of the seat-back and anchored at their lower rear ends to the body of the vehicle in the rear of the seat-back, and a pair of straps anchored to the floor near the front of the seat, extending upwardly and inwardly and slidably connecting with the lower front ends of the first straps and adjustably connected between the latter. 5. It has been stipulated by the parties that the device defined by claims 4 and 5 of plaintiff's patent No. 2,365,625, here sued on, was not reduced to practice prior to the constructive reduction represented by the filing of the application upon which the patent issued, said filing date being December 22, 1941. FILE HISTORY 6. The file wrapper of the patent in suit (defendant's exhibit 1) shows that when the application was filed in the Patent Office the following claims (original claims 1 and 3) were typical of the scope of the invention desired by the plaintiff : 1. In a safety device of the kind described for a seat of a vehicle, a pair of straps extending downwardly, means for securing said straps relative to said seat, a cross strap mounted on said downwardly depending straps and adapted to extend across the front portion of a body seated in said seat. 3. In a safety device of the kind described for a seat of a vehicle, a pair of straps extending downwardly, means for securing said straps relative to said seat, an adjustable cross strap adjustably mounted on said downwardly depending straps and adapted to extend across the front portion of a body seated in said seat. In the first office action several prior art patents were cited by the Examiner, among them being United States patent to Tyler No. 1,368,466 issued February 15, 1921. The title of this patent was "Safety Device for Occupants of Vehicles." This patent discloses a pair of straps extending over the back of the seat and downwardly over the front edge of the seat. These straps are fastened at either end to the seat of the vehicle. A transverse strap extends between the downwardly extending straps to prevent forward tilting of the body of the seat occupant. Findings of Fact 126 C. Cls. For convenience, Fig. 1 of this patent is reproduced herewith. 7. In an amendment of August 21, 1942, the plaintiff through his attorney and referring to the shoulder straps, stated In the preferred form they are anchored to the floor, as shown in Fig. 5 or to the body of the vehicle as shown in Fig. 6. The vertical straps are made in two sections, which are adjustable in length and anchored to the floor while adjustable cross straps are disposed between the vertical straps. In the form shown in Fig. 1, the cross straps have loops 26 and 28 to receive the straps 17, but in the form shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the adjustable straps 17a are also made in two sections and have loops 35 receiving the adjustable cross strap which is in the form of an inverted U, and anchored at its extremities to the floor. The patents cited do not appear to show this structure. The present claims in suit, 4 and 5, as filed in the Patent Office by the plaintiff in an amendment of July 5, 1943, were phrased in substantially their present form which contains the limitation that the straps are anchored to the body of the vehicle and to the floor thereof. THE ALLEGED INFRINGING STRUCTURE 8. Within a period of six years preceding the filing of the petition in this case safety harnesses for airplanes have been 925 Findings of Fact manufactured and used for or by the defendant without the consent of the plaintiff. The structural details of such harnesses are shown in a set of drawings identified as follows: Drawing 51 H 3977 as plaintiff's exhibit II Safety harness shown in the drawings is further exemplified by a physical exhibit, in evidence as defendant's exhibit 34, this exhibit more particularly embodying the forms of belt structure shown in drawings, plaintiff's exhibits IV and VII. 9. The alleged infringing Government structure illustrated by defendant's exhibit 34 consists of two portions. The first is a shoulder harness consisting of two flat straps of webbing extending upwardly in front of the aviator, one strap extending over each shoulder. The rear ends of these straps are merged or stitched together into a single strap which extends down the back of the aviator's seat. The end of this single strap is provided with a metal fitting which is secured to some fixed portion of the seat. The seat is structurally secured in the airplane. The other portion of the Government structure consists of a lap belt, the outer ends of which are secured one on each of the opposite sides of the seat by bolts of the type shown in plaintiff's exhibit VII. The inner ends of each section of the lap belt are attached to a centrally located quick-release buckle. One part of this buckle consists of an elongated metal tongue. The other portion consists of a frictionally-held hook which engages with the metal tongue. This latter portion has a release lever which, when pulled upwardly, disengages the hook from the tongue and thereby releases the two portions of the seat belt from each other. Each end of the lap belt is provided with an adjustable fitting by means of which the lap belt can be lengthened or shortened to suitably conform to the body of the pilot. The shoulder straps are also provided with similar fittings to lengthen or shorten them for the same purpose. |