Patent Application
20210131647
This application claims priority from and incorporates by reference German patent application DE 10 2019 129 638.2, filed on Nov. 4, 2019.
The invention relates to a lamp component, in particular a cover for a light source like e.g. optics configured to be fixed at a reaction bearing, in particular a support plate, support profile, or cooling element including a fastening element configured to attach the lamp component at the reaction bearing.
Generic lamp components, in particular configured as a cover for a light source configured as a light permeable synthetic material cover that influences an optical light distribution, generally designated as optics are known e.g., from WO2014/184422A1.
Typically synthetic materials like polycarbonate or polymethylmethacrylate are being used for covers of this type. Both synthetic materials can be produced to be transparent and light permeable and are very well suited to produce optical elements in the respective cover using an injection molding process. Using these optical elements it is possible to orient light that is radiated from a light source. This is required in particular for LED light sources.
Both synthetic materials, however, differ with respect to their elastic properties. Polycarbonate is a rather elastic material. Polymethylmethacrylate, however, is rather brittle therefore polycarbonate tends to go through a spring elastic deformation when put under load, whereas Polymethylmethacrylate rather tends to crack under pressure.
The properties of both synthetic materials are a reason that generic lamp components are attached at corresponding reaction bearings in lamp fabrication with separate fasteners like screws or interlocking pins in a separate fabrication step. This way it is assured that the covers are sufficiently fixed at the reaction bearing and that there are no fractures or deformations that lead to a disengagement of the lamp component from the reaction bearing.
The separate attachment step is disadvantageous from a fabrication point of view since a torque that impacts the lamp component has to be maintained within particular tolerances when using separate fasteners like screws or locking pins. Otherwise, the lamp component can be damaged during assembly. Measuring and limiting this torque is complex, in particular when fabrication is automated.
Thus, it is an object of the invention to provide alternative attachment devices for generic lamp components, in particular covers for light sources, thus in particular optically effective covers that simplify fabrication and that are in particular compatible with material properties of the two synthetic materials described supra.
The object is achieved by a lamp component, in particular a cover for a light source like e.g. optics configured to be fixed at a reaction bearing, in particular a support plate, support profile or cooling element, the lamp component including an attachment element configured to attach the lamp component at the reaction bearing, wherein the attachment element is an interlocking element, wherein the interlocking element forms an interlocking arm, wherein the interlocking arm extends from the lamp component in an insertion direction and includes a free end that is in front in the insertion direction and a connected end that is connected to the lamp component, wherein the interlocking element includes a first wedge shaped interlocking hook, wherein a first wedge tip of the first wedge shaped interlocking hook is oriented in a direction towards the free end of the interlocking element, wherein a back surface that is oriented away from the first wedge tip and proximal to the lamp component functions as a support surface and forms an undercut of the first interlocking hook, wherein a side surface of the first interlocking hook is oriented at an angle to the insertion direction, wherein the first interlocking hook is supported in the interlocking element in a spring elastic and pivotable manner, and wherein the pivot axis of the first interlocking hook is arranged distal from the lamp component and proximal to the free end of the interlocking element.
First of all the invention uses interlocking elements configured as interlocking hooks to fix the lamp components, in particular optical light source covers for light sources which are in particular circuit boards with one or plural LEDs applied there to and configured as light sources. This substantially simplifies assembly since placement onto the reaction bearing and attachment at the action bearing is performed in one fabrication step.
It is a particular feature of interlocking elements, in particular of interlocking hooks arranged at the interlocking arm that the interlocking elements engage a suitable retaining contour, in particular a cutout in order to provide attachment at the reaction bearing and wherein the interlocking element performs an escapement movement about the support contour for this purpose. Thus, the interlocking element has to be elastically deformable in order to hook into the support contour. Therefore the interlocking arm typically deforms about an axis and performs a pivot movement about this axis.
The interlocking element according to the invention is provided with an interlocking hook wherein a pivot axis of the interlocking hook is arranged distal from the lamp component. Therefore the interlocking hook performs a pivot movement on a circular path and away from the lamp component when engaging the interlocking contour of the reaction bearing, wherein the center of a circular path coincides with the wedge tip. This particular position of the pivot axis of the first interlocking hook facilitates to adapt dimensions of the interlocking element to the tough and elastic polycarbonate and to the brittle polymethylmethacrylate. Thus, the position of the pivot axis of the first interlocking hook is an essential feature in order to fix optically effective covers made from the two synthetic materials recited supra at a reaction bearing using interlocking hooks, thus in a simple manner.
A lamp component is particularly advantageous that is characterized in that the interlocking arm includes a recess that is configured annular and closed by a bar on a side that is distal from the lamp component, wherein the first interlocking hook is arranged within the recess and connected to the bar, in particular when the pivot axis of the first interlocking hook is arranged in the portion of the attachment of the first interlocking hook at the bar, wherein the bar forms in particular the pivot axis of the first interlocking hook.
Supporting the interlocking hook in the recess described supra and connecting it to the interlocking arm facilitates an optimal tension distribution in the synthetic material when the interlocking arm is lifted over in order to engage the support contour of the reaction bearing.
When the interlocking arm is pivotable in a spring elastic manner about a pivot axis that is proximal to the lamp component the pivot movement that is required for lifting over the support contour can be distributed into two different material portions of the interlocking element, so that the tension is divided into two pivot or bending portions. This is another design feature that is configured to prevent permanent deformations through exceeding a reset elasticity of the rather tough elastic polycarbonate in order to prevent fractures caused by excessive tensions when using polymethylmethacrylate.
It is furthermore provided that the interlocking element includes a second interlocking hook, wherein a wedge tip of the second interlocking hook is also oriented in a direction towards the free end of the interlocking element, wherein a back surface that is oriented away from the wedge tip and that is proximal to the lamp component is also used as a support surface and forms an undercut of the second interlocking hook, wherein at least one side surface of the second interlocking hook is also oriented at an angle relative to the insertion direction, wherein the angle is oriented opposite to the angle of the first interlocking hook, so that the second interlocking hook is oriented opposite to the first interlocking hook, wherein the second interlocking hook is also supported spring elastic at the interlocking element, wherein the pivot axis of the second interlocking hook is arranged proximal to the lamp component and distal from the free end of the interlocking element. Thus, the pivot axis is distal from the wedge tip and proximal to the support surface, in particular between the support surface of the second interlocking hook and the lamp component.
Providing the second interlocking hook at the interlocking element facilitates adapting the same cover to different support contours of two reaction bearings that have at least different support contours. Thus, the same cover can be used for the reaction bearing in the first configuration and also for the reaction bearing in the second configuration.
Furthermore the second interlocking hook is arranged at an arm of the interlocking element outside of the recess.
In an advantageous embodiment the bar is part of the free end of the interlocking arm, in particular when the bar forms the wedge tip of the second interlocking hook and in particular also of the first interlocking hook.
When a pivot movement of the first and the second interlocking hook is counteracting when fixing the lamp component in the reaction bearing it is assured that the bending or pivot tension that is created during the lift over movement that is required for engaging the support contour is also dividable when two interlocking hooks are provided.
Furthermore the lamp component forms centering contours proximal to the interlocking element wherein the centering contours cooperate with a centering contour of the reaction bearing in order to arrange the lamp component in a correct position on the reaction bearing.
The support contours facilitate to fix the light source to be covered, thus in particular the circuit board that is provided with LEDs on the reaction bearing when applying and fixing the cover so that a separate attachment of the circuit board is not required.
Alternatively it is conceivable that the circuit board that is fixed at the reaction bearing before applying the cover to the reaction bearing receives additional contact pressure onto the reaction bearing from support structures of the lamp component. In particular when the circuit boards have larger dimensions even contact pressure over an entire circuit board surface is assured at the reaction bearing. Since the reaction bearing typically is a cooling element heat dissipation from the circuit board to the cooling element is optimized.
Furthermore, one of the two interlocking hooks fixes the lamp component in the reaction bearing by reaching behind the reaction bearing, whereas the other interlocking hook is configured to perform an anchoring function in that it is configured to support the interlocking element at the reaction bearing against a disengagement movement.
Using this feature of the invention the two interlocking hooks are not only used to fix the same optics optionally at one of two different reaction bearings. Additionally a respective interlocking hook that is not used for attachment is used for stabilization and support of the interlocking connection and improves the fixing of the lamp component under loads that work towards a disengagement of the interlocking connection.
Furthermore the support surface of the first interlocking hook advantageously has a surface that includes steps, a surface that is cambered or inclined in order to be able to compensate tolerances in material thickness of the reaction bearing.
It is also provided that the pivot axis of the interlocking arm and the pivot axis of the second interlocking hook coincide.
The object is also achieved by a reaction bearing which is characterized in that the reaction bearing includes a pass-through contour for the interlocking element, wherein a width of the pass-through contour is less than a width of the interlocking element that is defined by the undercuts of the first and the second interlocking hook.
In an advantageous embodiment the reaction bearing forms a support contour that cooperates with an interlocking hook in order to fix the lamp component at the reaction bearing and wherein the reaction bearing forms a support contour that cooperates with another interlocking hook in order to block a disengagement movement of the interlocking element that disengages the lamp component from the reaction bearing.
The invention is now described based on an embodiment with references to figures, wherein:
The drawing figures show an arrangement of the lamp component according to the invention and the reaction bearing overall designated of the reference numeral 10. The lamp component according to the invention is designated with the reference numeral 11.
The lamp component 11 illustrated in
The light exit wall 12 includes optically effective elements 13 arranged at the bottom side and formed by the lamp component material itself. These are e.g. scatter or focal lenses including a receiving dish 14 that envelops a LED 15 of a LED circuit board illustrated in
Centering pins 18 position the circuit board 16 relative to the optical elements 13 so that correct light control by the optical elements 13 is assured.
Side walls 19 off the optically effective cover 11 include interlocking elements that are designated overall by reference numeral 20 and an interlocking arm 21 that includes a first interlocking hook 22 and a second interlocking hook 23.
The side walls 19 form centering contours 24 in the portion of the interlocking elements 20 that are directly adjacent to the interlocking arm 21. The centering contours engage the support contour of the reaction bearing so that the cover 11 is correctly positioned relative to the reaction bearing. Support bars 25 are arranged in the portion of the interlocking elements 20 wherein the support bars contact the reaction bearing and stabilize the cover 11 in a portion of the interlocking elements that engage the support contour of the reaction bearing.
The illustration of
The first back surface 27 or the first support surface 27 includes a compensation structure configured to compensate various material thicknesses of a reaction bearing. In the illustrated embodiment the back surface is configured with steps and tapers from the interlocking arm in a deflection direction of the first interlocking hook 22. Alternatively this compensation structure can include a downward slanted surface or a cambered surface.
The interlocking arm 21 furthermore includes a second interlocking hook 23 with a second wedge tip 30 which is oriented in a direction towards a free end of the interlocking arm 21 or forms the free end of the interlocking arm 21 in this embodiment. The second interlocking hook 23 forms a second rear surface 31 that is oriented away from the second wedge tip 30 wherein the second rear surface 31 is also oriented towards the cover 11. A second side surface 32 of the wedge shaped second interlocking hook 23 extends from the second wedge tip 30 to the second back surface 31 and is inclined relative to the insertion direction X or the longitudinal extension of the interlocking arm 21, thus also oriented at an angle relative to the insertion direction. The angle that is defined between the second side surface 32 and the insertion direction X, however, has the opposite prefix and the same size as the angle enclosed between the first side surface and the insertion direction X, thus the second interlocking hook 23 is deflected at an opposite direction relative to the interlocking arm 21. Put differently the deflections of the first interlocking hook 22 and the second interlocking hook 23 are opposite.
The first interlocking hook 22 is arranged in a spring elastic pivotable manner at the interlocking arm 21 or in particular at an annular bar 34 of the interlocking arm 21. The first interlocking hook 22 can be pivoted back in a direction towards the interlocking arm 21 by a sufficient force application, e.g. when lifted over a support contour of the reaction bearing.
The pivot axis is in the connection portion of the annular bar 34 and the first interlocking hook 22, thus in the portion of the wedge tip 26 of the first interlocking hook 22 or is formed by the annular bar 34 in an advantageous embodiment. In order to assure a corresponding bending elasticity of the interlocking element material the annular bar 34 includes a zone where the material is weakened and that is illustrated in
The second interlocking hook 23 that also includes a recess 33 or that is provided on both sides of the first interlocking hook 22 in a double configuration is also provided pivotable in a spring elastic manner in order to facilitate a lift over movement when engaging the support contour of the reaction bearing. A pivot axis of the second interlocking hook 23, however, is arranged in the connection portion of the interlocking arm 21 at the lamp component 11 or at its side wall 19 or corresponds to a pivot axis of the interlocking arm 21 which jointly preforms the lift over movement of the second interlocking hook 23 when engaging the support contour of a reaction bearing.
Thus, it becomes evident in view of
The first reaction bearing 40 forms grip bars 41 that are oriented approximately parallel to the circuit board or protrude parallel to the light exit wall wherein the grip bars protrude into a groove cavity 42 of a profile groove 43. The groove wall that is arranged opposite to the grip bar 41 is configured as a support wall 44. Thus overall the profile groove 43 with the grip bar 41, the groove cavity 42 and the support wall 44 form the support contour 45 for fixing the cover 11 on the first reaction bearing 40.
It is evident from the blown up detail B illustrated in
Also when fixing the lamp component 11 at the second reaction bearing 50 the non-used second interlocking hook 23 secures against disengagement. When tension forces or disengaging forces impact the lamp component 11 the interlocking element is reliably supported at the reaction bearing 50 by the first interlocking hook having a pivot axis that is distal from the lamp component. An imaginary disengagement movement of the cover 11 away from the reaction bearing 50 does not cause an inward pivoting of the first interlocking hook 22 but further outward pivoting and thus wedging due to the position of the pivot axis. Therefore this way the axis of the first interlocking element being positioned distal from the lamp component has a substantial advantage for securing the attachment. Increasing the disengagement forces upon the lamp component 11 would now lead to an inward pivoting of the second interlocking hook 23 or the interlocking arm 21 about a pivot axis that is proximal to the lamp component which causes the second interlocking hook 23 to contact the edge of the pass through opening 51 that is oriented away from the first interlocking hook 22. This way the interlocking hooks 22 and 23 stabilize each other when the lamp component 11 is fixed on the second reaction bearing 50 and thus reliably secure the cover 11 on the reaction bearing 50.
10 Arrangement of Lamp Component and Reaction Bearing
11 Lamp Component/Cover
12 Light Exit Wall
13 Optically Effective Elements
14 Receiving Dish
15 LED
16 LED Circuit Board
17 Support Mandrel
18 Centering Pin
19 Side Wall
20 Interlocking Element
21 Interlocking Arm
22 First Interlocking Hook
23 Second Interlocking Hook
24 Centering Contour
25 Support Bar
26 First Wedge Tip
27 First Back Surface
28 First Side Surface
30 Second Wedge Tip
31 Second Back Surface
32 Second Side Surface
33 Recess
34 Annular Bar
40 First Reaction Bearing
41 Grip Bar
42 Groove Cavity
43 Profile Groove
44 Support Wall
45 Support Contour
46 Pass-through Opening
50 Second Reaction Bearing
X Insertion Direction
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| DE102019129638.2 | Nov 2019 | DE | national |
