34 F.2d 1012 | C.C.P.A. | 1929
delivered the opinion of the court:
The appellant made application for a patent on a claimed new and useful improvement in devices for artificial illumination intended to be used in art galleries for the proper illumination and display of paintings and other works of art. The specifications describe a series of illuminating units permanently arranged upon the ceiling of an art gallery, equidistant from each other and from the margin of said ceiling. Each illuminating unit is concealed from the observer in the gallery and consists of a ordinary electric light lamp surrounded by a light collecting reflector which is mounted on the lamp base, and all of which are mounted in the rear end of a conical casing. Covering the front end of the casing is a prismatic lens with a series of concentric circular ridges. In operation, the rays of light from the lamp are partly thrown directly, partly reflected' by the reflector, upon and through the prismatic lens, by which they are transmitted in line substantially parallel to the axis of the lens. These rays of light are so directed as to fall upon the object to be illuminated, upon the near side wall. The rays from the source of illumination transmitted along the axis of the lens are directed to fall upon the picture or other object to be illuminated at a point about two-thirds of the distance from the top to the bottom thereof. Thus, while the bottom of the illuminated object receives the more concentrated rays of light, the upper part of the picture, being nearer to the source of light, will be equally illuminated, and the whole picture or other object, will receive an equally distributed illumination. It is claimed, in the argument that this is the great desideratum in the illumination of works of art in galleries, and that the appellant’s device is a new and valuable improvement on all methods or devices heretofore known. The claims were each rejected by the acting examiner and by the Board of Appeals. The references relied upon were United States patents to Merritt, 733670; Allom, 961196; Taepke, 1000129; and Schlacks, 1241031. A German patent to Siemens and a French patent to Bataille were also cited and relied upon.
We are unable to see, after an examination of these references, why the appellant is not entitled to the patent he claims. It is true that the references show that prior to appellant’s application the various elements going to make up appellant’s device were each well known. It is true also that a somewhat similar result might be obtained, at least, by Taepke’s patent. But even though there be nothing novel in the elements combined, if applicant here has, by a combination of known elements, accomplished a new and useful result, he is entitled to his patent. Seymour v. Osborne, 11 Wall. 516-542; In re Cranmer, 52 App. D. C. 257. That he has done so we can not doubt. By a combination of a lens and a reflector he transmits parallel rays of light obliquely upon the object illuminated, thus accomplishing a result which is generally admitted to be useful and quite desirable.
Nor are we able to see that any of the cited references accomplish exactly the same result. Therefore, with the purpose of giving to the applicant the benefit of a liberal construction of his claim, we conclude that appellant’s claims numbered 1, 2, 3, 7, and 8 should have been allowed. Merrill v. Yeomans, 94 U. S. 568; In re Parr, 58 App.
The decision of the Board of Appeals is reversed as to claims 1, 2, 3, 7, and 8 and is affirmed as to claims 4, 5, 6, and 9.