Patent Application
20200229617
The present invention in general relates to display cases and in particular to enclosures for displaying artwork, historical documents, and artifacts that require controlled atmospheric and light exposure conditions.
Hypoxic microclimate storage technology has been widely used for many years in the food industry. As a basis of preservation, inert gas is used to displace air and moisture in packaging to extend the shelf lives of package contents. Gases such as noble gases, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide tend to inhibit oxidation, hydrolysis, and other chemical reactions, which degrade the enclosed products. The conservation field has embraced this microclimate technology to the preserve historical and archeological artifacts. Exemplary artifacts contained in reduced oxygen or anoxic microclimate storage technology are the founding documents of the United States in the National Archives, Washington, D.C.; and mummies in the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities in Cairo, Egypt.
Research on the use of micro climates with anoxic or hypoxic atmospheres started in the late 1980's at the Conservation Institute at the Getty Museum in California. The Getty research centered on the use of nitrogen, argon, and other inert gases in the conservation storage and display of artifacts. The Getty Museum published a paper on the subject in entitled 1998 Oxygen-Free Museum Cases (1998, Edited by Shin Maekawa).
Microfading is an accelerated method for assessing the vulnerability of individual museum objects to light-fading, including those for which the identity of the colorant is unknown. During the microfading process a small area typically about 0.3-0.4 mm2 on the surface of an object is faded to an imperceptible degree using a powerful but cold source of visible light and spectral change is tracked in real time using visible reflectance spectroscopy. The microfading process provides exposures equivalent to 5-10 years display at normal museum light levels that are achieved within a 10 minute test period and the results are routinely used to set exhibition and loan display conditions for a particular object based on its measured sensitivity to light. The microfading process is important for conservators, who are routinely asked to set “safe” display conditions for objects and yet the fading rate of even a known colorant typically varies significantly with a range of factors associated with its physical and chemical environment (e.g., mordants), origin, processing, manufacture, application, and past history. Many of these factors like mordants, prior fading, or the identity of the dye itself are either unknowable in principle, or too difficult and expensive to routinely determine.
Despite the advances in preservation technologies, enclosures for displaying precious art work and artifacts remain quite costly and cumbersome. Thus, there exists a need for low cost and less cumbersome microclimate display enclosure that is easy to set up, maintain, and monitor.
A controlled atmospheric enclosure is provided that includes a frame with an upper lip and a lower lip, a gasket, a back plate or pan, and a cover that rests under the upper lip of the frame. The back plate or pan is injection molded, thermoformed, or stamped, and is supported by the lower lip of the frame. The gasket is positioned between the cover and the back plate or pan and forms a press fit between the upper lip and lower lip that is airtight and forms a controlled atmospheric enclosed area for display of objects and artifacts.
The subject matter that is regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
The present invention has utility as an enclosure for displaying artwork, historical documents, or artifacts that require controlled atmospheric conditions. Embodiments of the invention provide for low cost and less cumbersome display enclosures compared to existing microclimate enclosures. Embodiments of the inventive enclosure are easy to set up, maintain, and monitor. In particular inventive embodiments, the enclosure has a microclimate hypoxic/anoxic framing enclosure that protects against, oxidation of its contents, pests, and microbial growth. Embodiments of the enclosure are suitable for: paintings, works on paper, ephemera, textiles, mineral specimens, archeological metallic artifacts, animal skins and other organic items, rubber and polymers, and items susceptible to insect damage, water staining and tide lines from uncontrolled internal humidity conditions.
In inventive embodiments of the display enclosure, a non-porous back pan may be made of low cost and lightweight materials illustratively including formed metal, coated sheet metal, ceramic, glass, optional powder painted surfaces, or multi-layer polymer with non-porous properties. In a particular inventive embodiment, an enclosure is formed of a sheet metal stamping. Alternative pans are formed by injection molding or thermoforming. Embodiments of the inventive enclosure may have a compression seal that utilizes a wedge action of the metal picture frame molding or other metal extrusion to compress the flange of the pan, gasket, and a cover that may be a glazing together for a gas-tight seal for up to twenty years before evaluation of contents. An inventive enclosure in some embodiments is configured with one or more valves that may be stainless steel metal valves—inlet and exhaust—with seals that provide a custom internal micro climate with custom gas mixtures and humidity levels that is also able to support positive pressure over ambient atmospheric pressure in the enclosure interior capable to reduce possible contamination or inward leakage of ambient air. In a specific inventive embodiment nitrogen, argon, and other inert gases are inputted into said atmospheric enclosed area via said one or more valves. Operatively nitrogen, argon and other inert gases used in the conservation storage and display of precious items may be inputted into the enclosure as specified by a qualified conservator for custom conditioning of the enclosure or for permanent storage. It is appreciated that different gas mixtures are readily employed for conditioning and storage of an article.
In specific inventive embodiments, a power/data cable may transition from an outer side surface of the frame to the atmospheric enclosed area for connection to a telemetry device and/or internal lighting.
In inventive embodiments of the enclosure, artifacts placed in the enclosure may be viewed clearly without distortion through a cover formed of a top sheet of glazing such as laminated glass water white glass—annealed or tempered, or other protective glass product such as or single strength coated glass. In some inventive embodiments, the glass further includes an anti-reflective coating with 98% or better UV filtering. In certain embodiments of the present invention, electrochromic glass may be used for variable control of light entering the enclosure. In specific inventive embodiments, the shading of the electrochromic glass may be controlled electronically via a user interface, or the shading may change automatically based on the lighting conditions incident to the cover of the enclosure.
The frame of the inventive enclosure may be configured in custom and ready-made sizes for two dimensional (2-D) or three dimensional (3-D) items, and may be surrounded with conventional picture frame moldings or other extrusion moldings. Within the enclosure area space may be provided for environmental materials for atmospheric controls illustratively including zeolites and activated carbon for contamination absorption, oxygen absorbers, silica gel (desicant-moisture absorbers), as well as test/indicator strips, data logging sensors, and an expandable bag for barometric control. In specific inventive embodiments, atmospheric control materials are kept out of the site of viewers by placing the control materials behind the protected object in a depressed compartment in the pan or back plate platform.
Referring now to the figures,
A method of testing and servicing an inventive enclosure is also described herein that involves the on display testing. Based on sensor data received from the telemetry device about the conditions within an inventive enclosure, damage to the enclosure is identified prior to catastrophic failure. When signals are sent to the computing device, an algorithm is used to create a warning that conditions within an enclosure are degrading. This warning can be in the form of an auditory alarm, or an electronic message that identifies the condition and identity of the enclosure, and in some instances a likley cause. A technician is dispatched to examine the compromised enclosure and accomplish field repairs if possible, else arrange for shipment to a refurbishment facility. Rather than leaving enclosures in place until a failure occurs, a program is also provided in which refurbished enclosures are rotated on a routine basis such as for example every year, 2 years, 3 years, or more years with incoming enclosures being subjected to at least one test of: leak testing, having gaskets repaired, corrosion testing, glass light transmissivity checked, sensor calibration, or a combination thereof.
Patent documents and publications mentioned in the specification are indicative of the levels of those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains. These documents and publications are incorporated herein by reference to the same extent as if each individual document or publication was specifically and individually incorporated herein by reference.
The foregoing description is illustrative of particular embodiments of the invention, but is not meant to be a limitation upon the practice thereof. The following claims, including all equivalents thereof, are intended to define the scope of the invention.
This application claims priority benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/793,921, filed Jan. 18, 2019, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62793921 | Jan 2019 | US |
