Creagmile

Appellees, John C. Creagmile, grantee of Letters Patent No. 1,840,766, and Bear Manufacturing Company, exclusive licensee thereunder to make, use and sell devices and machinery embodying the invention of the Letters Patent, sued in the district court appellants, John Bean Manufacturing Company and Food Machinery Corporation, for infringement of claims 1, 2, and 3 of the Creagmile patent. From the interlocutory judgment of the district court holding the patent valid as to the claims in question and appellants guilty of infringement, appellants take this appeal.

The claims of the patent in suit relate to a device for testing the alignment of cooperative dirigible wheels, more particularly in practice to the front wheels of an automobile. The front wheels of an automobile are set in special alignment to give steerability, minimize the strain on the king pins which connect the spindles, upon which the front wheels are mounted, pivot-ally to the front axle, and reduce tire slippage. These results are accomplished by aligning the wheels with (1) a tilt outward from a vertical line so that the tops of the respective wheels are .a greater distance apart than the-bottoms; (2) a tilt…