A picture frame built from cut extruded profiles that seals and reduces oxygen
A frame system uses two cooperating extruded profile lengths cut to size, plus a cover sheet, backing sheet and a continuous spacer, fastened at the edges so the spacer is compressed and seals an interior volume around the artwork. The assembled frame includes either an oxygen reducer or a pressure equalizer so the internal atmosphere can be depleted or controlled; conservators and galleries are the intended users.
(57) What the patent covered
The core independent claim covers a method: cut two cooperating extruded profile lengths to size to form a frame, place a cover sheet and a backing sheet inside, insert a continuous spacer between cover and backing to form a border for mounting the art, and fasten the two profiles together at the frame edges with an adjustable fastener so the spacer is compressed between the sheets; the assembled frame includes an oxygen reducer (claim 1) or incorporates a pressure equalizer into the backing sheet (claim 11).
The distinctive part: Using cooperating extruded profile lengths with an adjustable fastener to compress a continuous spacer and create an evacuable sealed volume for artwork preservation.
Novelty 3/5. Extruded-profile frames and sealed display cases were known; this patent combines cut-to-size cooperating extrusions plus a continuous compressible spacer and edge fasteners specifically arranged to make an evacuable, resealable picture-frame-sized enclosure.
Making it
Cut extruded profile lengths to size (miter or butt cuts), cut cover/back sheets to fit, insert continuous spacer (pre-cut gasket strip), assemble profiles around sheets and tighten adjustable fasteners (bolts/screws) at corners or along edges; final steps add oxygen reducer cartridge or fit backing with pressure-equalizer port.
Materials: Aluminum or PVC extrusion (profiles), Glass or acrylic cover sheet, Cardboard, foamboard or rigid backing sheet, Closed-cell gasket or foam spacer
Manufacturability 4/5. Typical parts are extruded lengths, flat sheets and gasket strips; production needs profile extrusion tooling, sheet cutting, and basic assembly fixtures but no electronics, a few simple parts and hand assembly.
Is anyone buying?
We haven't run a demand check on this one yet. Shoppers would likely search for airtight picture frame, museum conservation frame, vacuum picture frame gasket; the links on the right open those searches.
Who buys it: museums, conservators, galleries, serious collectors
Before you make it
We didn't find any related continuation or divisional patents still in force, although that doesn't rule out design patents, trademarks or unrelated patents covering the same product.
Practical risks include a crowded market for frames, the need for good seals and reliable oxygen-control devices, and possible dependence on custom extrusion profiles which raises tooling cost.
Owners occasionally revive lapsed patents (about 1.5% are), and this page is a research lead rather than legal advice, so get a freedom-to-operate opinion before you manufacture anything.