Willie Rhynes v. Branick Manufacturing Corporation, an Applied Power Industry, Akron Weldcraft

GEE, Circuit Judge:

Appellant Rhynes’ Texas diversity action claims damages for personal injury suffered when a tire exploded inside a safety cage. That the assertedly defective cage was manufactured by a business predecessor of defendant, rather than by defendant, is not disputed on this appeal from the summary judgment that Rhynes suffered below. 1 Mr. Rhynes’ appeal proceeds instead on a theory of product liability known as the “product line” rule, which he urges we should adopt in this case.

The product line rule, as it is represented to us, may be epitomized as declaring that one who…