Petersen

Appellant sued for infringement of claims 2, 3, 4, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21 and 22 of patent number 1,628,062, issued to Neis P. Petersen on May 10, 1927. The District Court concluded, after trial, that the patent should be narrowly construed, in view of the prior art, and that so construed it was not infringed. The complaint was accordingly dismissed with prejudice, and this appeal follows.

The patent in suit is for a coin slot vending machine for packages of cigarettes or similar articles, so constructed that the machine, although having only one coin mechanism, may simultaneously contain articles of varying prices and dispense for the proper price whichever article the customer selects. Prior to Petersen’s patent there were in use multiple-mechanism machines, in which each type of article was vended by means of a separate coin mechanism, operated by coins of the required value: in effect, separate machines in a single housing. The advantage of Petersen’s device over these is that it avoids the bulk and expense of duplicating coin mechanisms, and especially the rather elaborate devices used to detect and reject spurious coins.

Petersen’s machine, as described in his specifications,…