Invalidity dossier
US 496977
Injector
Added 9/23/2026, 8:24:58 PM
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Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
Patent Overview: US 496,977 — "Injector"
Title: Injector
Patent number: US 496,977 A
Inventor: Ernst Körting, of Hanover, Germany (a subject of the Emperor of Germany)
Assignee: Louis Schütte, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Application filed: December 21, 1892 (Serial No. 455,893; Model)
Granted/Publication date: May 9, 1893
Prior art date: 1893-05-09; legal status listed as Expired – Lifetime (anticipated expiration 1910-05-09)
Foreign counterparts noted: France, September 29, 1892, No. 224,634; Belgium, September 30, 1892, No. 101,586
Classification: F04F 5/46 (jet-pump nozzle arrangements), F04F 5/468 (nozzles with provisions for priming)
Purpose. The invention "relates to injectors" and aims to "provide certain improvements in the construction thereof whereby the efficiency of the apparatus is increased."
Plain-language scope. The injector has a steam supply connection (A), a water supply connection (B), and a combining tube (C) formed with a split (C′); openings (C²) lead from the combining tube into an overflow chamber (D). A central steam nozzle (J) extends to the split and receives steam directly from the supply. An annular steam nozzle (K) surrounds nozzle J, terminates behind it and behind the split, and preferably receives steam through small holes (L) in the wall of nozzle J—these holes act as a strainer, preventing foreign matter from choking the small annular opening. A movable valve (M) can close any desired number of holes (L) to regulate the annular nozzle's steam supply; a valve (M²) at its rear seats against M³ to cut off steam to nozzle J.
The four claims cover: (1) the split combining tube plus central and annular nozzles, with a chamber about the split opening to atmosphere; (2) adding an outwardly opening check valve governing that chamber's atmosphere connection; (3) the annular nozzle fed from the central nozzle through small wall holes; and (4) the combination adding the regulating valve over those holes.
What the excerpt does not establish. It provides no details on Figures 1–3 beyond the schematic description, no dimensions, materials, operating pressures, or performance test data. It also does not establish prosecution history, claim interpretation, or the content or dates of any references beyond those listed.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US496977](/patent/US496977)/en
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:41:26 PM
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Litigation summary
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PTAB challenges
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Assignment history
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Prior art
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Obviousness
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Extensions
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Derivative works
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