Invalidity dossier
US 126729
Improvement in excavators
Added 9/24/2026, 1:35:44 AM
Active provider: DeepSeek · deepseek-flash
Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
Patent Overview: US 126,729
Title: Improvement in Excavators
Patentee: Edward B. Meatyard, of Chicago, Illinois
Patent Number: 126,729
Granted/Published: May 14, 1872
Prior Art Date: 1872-05-14
Legal Status (as listed): Expired – Lifetime
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US126729](/patent/US126729)/en
Purpose
The patent describes apparatus for sinking caissons or hollow columns by using pressurized water or air to excavate soil. The stated general object is to accomplish this "in an effective, convenient, and inexpensive manner, and without the danger to human life usually attending other modes of sinking structures of this kind."
Plain-language scope (as recited in the excerpted description)
The specification describes several combinations:
- A feed-pipe (F), receiving-chamber (G), supply-pipes (h), sectional chambers (N), and jet-tubes — conducting water or air under pressure from a force-pump so it impinges on the earth or creates an excavating current.
- A nut (P), shaft (p), sliding sleeve (T), connecting-rods (a'), and jet-tubes (O) — directing the stream from the caisson walls toward its center.
- An adjustable bell-shaped mouth-piece (Q) with the discharge-tube (R) — gathering the strongest current and conducting it out.
Supporting elements include the caisson A, columns C and D, cap E forming chamber D', an accelerating-chamber G', a siphon tube S, safety-valves g and g', a revolving fan for exhausting the discharge-tube, and a trap-door (E") for air-lock access. The caisson may be any shape, with any number of sectional chambers and jet-tubes.
What the excerpt does not establish
The supplied text does not identify an assignee, does not state claims separately from the description, and does not establish ownership transfers, litigation, validity, or prior art. The excerpt is partial; omitted text may contain additional matter.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:31:18 PM
Cases on file (0)
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Litigation summary
Past and pending lawsuits — plaintiffs, defendants, jurisdictions, outcomes, and notable rulings.
Proceedings on file (0)
All PTAB activity →AIA trial proceedings (IPR / PGR / CBM) filed at the USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board against this patent. Sourced from the USPTO Open Data Portal and refreshed every six hours; each proceeding number deep-links to the PTAB E2E docket.
No PTAB proceedings on file. This patent has not been challenged via IPR, PGR, or CBM. The absence is itself a signal — well-asserted patents eventually attract IPRs. The LLM analysis below may surface filings the ODP feed hasn’t indexed yet.
PTAB challenges
AIA trial proceedings at the USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board — IPR, PGR, and CBM. Petitioners, judge panels, claim-level invalidation outcomes from Final Written Decisions, and Federal Circuit appeals. The single most important defensive datapoint after litigation history.
Assignment history
Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.
Prior art
Earlier patents, publications, and products that may anticipate or render the claims unpatentable.
Obviousness
Combinations of prior art that suggest the claimed invention would have been obvious under 35 U.S.C. § 103.
Extensions
Patent term adjustments, term extensions, continuations, divisionals, family members, and expiration dates.
Derivative works
Defensive disclosure: derivative variations of each claim designed to render future incremental improvements obvious or non-novel.