Patent Application
20070297183
The single FIGURE is a cross-sectional, elevational view of an embodiment of the invention.
For a better understanding of the present invention, together with other and further objects, advantages and capabilities thereof, reference is made to the following disclosure and appended claims taken in conjunction with the above-described drawings.
Referring now to the drawing with greater particularity, there is shown an LED lamp 10 that comprises a housing 12 having a heat conductive body 14 arrayed about a longitudinal axis 16 with a tubular projection 18 extending therefrom coaxial with the longitudinal axis 16, the tubular projection 18 having a distal end 20 attached to the heat conductive body 14 and a proximal end 22 opposite thereto. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the body 12 is formed of a cast metal or metal alloy such as copper, aluminum or zinc or a heat conductive plastic.
A motor 24 is positioned within the cavity of the tubular projection 18 and has a tubular, vaned or rotary cage type fan blade 26 operatively connected thereto. The fan motor 24 can be of any suitable type, such as the vibrator motor used in cell phones. These motors are very small, inexpensive and readily available.
A plurality of LED components 28 are attached to an outside surface 30 of the tubular projection 18 at the proximal end 22 thereof. These LEDs can be of any convenient type, such as OSRAM Optosemicondutors Dragons© available from Osram Corporation, or Lumileds Luxeons© available from Philips Corporation.
An air inlet 32 is formed at the proximal end 22 of the tubular projection 18 and a plurality of air outlets 34 are spaced about the tubular projection 18, intermediate the proximal and distal ends of the tubular projection 18.
A base 36 is operatively attached to the housing 12 for attachment to a power supply. The type of base employed will be determined, of course, by the end use of the lamp, but can be of the type known as an S8 base for use in automotive applications, or an Edison type screw base or bayonet base, as the case may be.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention the heat conductive body 14 is substantially conical and, thus, the tubular projection 18 projects from the apex of the cone.
A plurality of heat radiating fins 38 project from the heat conductive body and stand in the flow of air as that flow emanates from the air outlets 34.
The housing 12 can be employed as a heat sink with virtually any electronic device that generates heat during its operation since the included fan and motor greatly reduce the size and complexity of such devices.
While there have been shown and described what are present considered to be the preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made herein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
