Patent Grant
7445357
This disclosure relates generally to a lamp having an arm with a head assembly including a plurality of lights. The lamp includes structures and methods for dissipating heat from the head assembly. The lamp also includes controls and methods for operating the lamp to control the light intensity and temperature emitted by the lamp.
By way of background, a variety of lamps have been designed which include a base, body and arm. Some form of light or illumination device is provided generally on a distal end of the arm. One of the problems that occurs with such lighting structures is that heat from the lights tends to accumulate making the distal end of the arm hot. Heating the arm may be undesirable to touch and may have a negative effect on the life of the lights. It would be preferable to provide a lamp which dissipates heat and prevents the accumulation of heat energy in at least the head assembly of the arm.
Additionally, a variety of lights have been developed which use solid state lighting technology such as light emitting diodes (LED) as the light source. Generally there has been little development on the control of the LED lights in order to control the “temperature” of the light emitted by the lamp. The temperature is related to the frequency of the light or the place the light falls on the spectrum. Light shifted towards infrared range of the spectrum is considering to be “warm” and light shifted towards the ultraviolet range of the spectrum is considered to be “cool”. It would be desirable to provide an LED light which provides control of the light temperature and the intensity of the chosen light temperature emitted by the lamp.
The present disclosure will be described hereafter with reference to the attached drawings which are given as a non-limiting example only, in which:
The exemplification in the disclosure illustrates embodiments that are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure in any manner. Additional features of the present disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the disclosure as presently perceived.
While the present disclosure may be susceptible to embodiment in different forms, there is shown in the drawings, and herein will be described in detail, embodiments with the understanding that the present description is to be considered an exemplification of the principles of the disclosure and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the details of construction and the arrangements of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings.
With reference to
A head assembly 50 is provided on a distal end 52 of the arm 36. The head assembly 50 includes lights for producing illumination and structures which dissipate heat from the lights as will be described in greater detail herein. The head assembly 50 includes a handle 54 for moving the arm 36 without touching the lights or the arm.
With reference to
When the arm 36 is extended from the body 34 the twisted portions 60, 64 result in the plain assembly 50 being oriented generally perpendicular to a corresponding plane of the body portion 34. The twisted portions 60, 64 generally result in a twist of the plane of the body 34 perpendicular to itself resulting in a generally 90° twist in the plane. The twist also allows the lamp (see
A power line or cable 68 extends from the base 32 along a central portion of the body 34 upwardly to the joint 42. The cable 68 then extends along a central portion of the arm 36 to provide power to the head assembly 50. The cable 68 may be sandwiched between two layers comprising the body, each layer of the body having a corresponding channel formed therein to provide a cavity through which the cable 68 passes. Alternatively, a channel 70 is formed in one side of a single portion of material comprising the body 34 and the arm 36 with the cable 68 positioned in the channel 70 and being retained in the channel by adhesive, interference fit or other means.
With reference to
The various embodiments (30a, 30b, 30c) allow the head assembly 50 and the disclosed structures and methods to be utilized in a variety of different settings. The head assembly 50 of the present disclosure facilitates configuration in the variety of orientations to provide adjustable direction of the light emitted by the lamp. In all of the alternate embodiments, the twisted portions 60,64 may be provided. In this regard, the alternate embodiments of the lamp include a second joint 42a, 42b, 42c.
Turning now to the structure and function of the head assembly 50, reference is made to all of the Figures with additional emphasis placed on the exploded perspective view of the head assembly 50 in
With further reference to the figures, in particular
The lenses 116 of the cover 94 each can be optically configured to focus, diffuse or otherwise control the light as well as to be generally optically transparent. The control of the lenses allow each lamp to be configured for a specific application. For example, if the lamp is to be used with a variety of detailed small components the individual lenses 116 can be configured to focus the light in a desired orientation. If the light is being configured for use in reading or other task oriented activities, the individual lenses 116 can be configured to provide a more diffused or, perhaps, more generally optically transparent configuration. With the foregoing in mind, it is anticipated that the lens assembly 94 can be configured at any desired arrangement to achieve a desired purpose with the lights 106.
The configuration of the head assembly 50 and the various components used therewith (88, 90, 92, 94) allow for efficient manufacturing as well as other benefits. In this regard, the lamp 30 is assembled with the head assembly 50 being assembled with the use of one or more fasteners 108. For example, a single fastener 108 can be applied through the first side 100 and extending through the second side 102. The same fastener 108 can extend through the heat sink 90, printed circuit board 92, heat sink 88 and lens assembly 94 holding all the structures in a layered alignment. Additionally, alternate forms of fasteners 108 may be used such as snap fit, press fit or other devices. It is envisioned that a variety of fastening configurations may be developed based on the fundamental teaches of this disclosure and such additional embodiment are fully within the scope of the present disclosure and claims appended hereto.
In use, the lamp 30 of the present disclosure provides illumination and dissipation of heat from the lamp. The structures and methods of eliminating heat from the lamp provide a variety of benefits and all benefits associated with this lamp configuration are included in the present application and within the scope of the appended claims.
The lamp is assembled by assembling the body 34 to the base by means of a joint 38 which provides at least one degree of movement between the body 34 and base 32. It should be noted that a variety of joints 38 may be used in this configuration to provide additional degrees of movement and all connections are included within the present application. The arm 36 is attached at the second joint 42 to the body 34 to provide pivotable movement 48 of the arm relative to the body 34. It should be noted that while at least two joints 38, 42 have been identified, a lamp configuration with no joints and the head assembly 50 may be included in this disclosure. In other words, the head assembly 50 may be attached to a lamp structure other than that illustrated and described and still achieved the desirable benefits of the structures and functions of the head assembly 50. All such embodiments are intended to be included in this disclosure and the appended claims.
The cable extends from the base 32 along the body 34 and arm 36. A power cord 119 is attached to the base 32 to provide electricity to the base 32 and the components associated with the lamp 30. The arm 36 and body 34 include corresponding twisted portions 64, 60 which facilitate the nested or folded positioning of the arm 36 against the body 34. The orientation of the arm and body 36, 34 facilitates this nested positioning of these components and the orientation of the head assembly when the arm 36 is extended away from the body 34.
The head assembly 50 is configured with several layers of components, namely the first heat sink 88, second heat sink 90, printed circuit board 92 positioned between the heat sinks, and the cover 94 positioned over the first heat sink. The cable 68 connects to the printed circuit board 92 to provide power to the lights 106 carried on the printed circuit board 92. Convex dimples 110 are provided on the first heat sink 88 to house the lights 106 with the opening 112 extending through a generally central portion of the convex dimples 110. Concave dimples 82 are provided on the second side 102 of the arm 36 and passages 84 are formed through the dimples 82. The cable 68 is retained under a stub end 120 on the first heat sink 88 to retain the cable 68 relative to the printed circuit board 92 and heat sinks 88, 90.
With reference to the figures, heat transfer can occur as a result of ambient atmosphere contacting the convex dimples 110 of the first heat sink. Air flowing against these convex dimples carries away heat, which might be transferred directly from the light 106 to the first heat sink 88. Additionally, heat transferred from the lights 106 and the circuit board 92 may be transferred to the second heat sink 90. The second heat sink 90 spreads the heat over the entire heat sink mass and transfers the heat energy to the mass of the head portion 80 as well as through the openings of the passages 84. In this regard, the heat sink helps to create a convection flow through the head assembly 50 without the need for additional fans or other mechanisms for moving air. Spaces between the first heat sink 88 and the second side 102 as well as between the cover 94 and the heat sink 88 allow air to flow over the printed circuit board 92 upwardly toward the heat sink 90 and through the passages 84. This natural heat flow is created by convection currents induced by the heat sink 90.
While it has been noted that some heat transfer may occur to the head portion 90 of the arm 36, the configuration of the heat sinks 88, 90 and passages and openings 112, 84 reduces the heat transfer to the head portion 80. This may be beneficial so as to reduce the temperature of the head portion 80. As an additional matter, the handle or grip 54 provided on the cover 94 allows a user to grip a structure to move the orientation of the arm 36 without having to touch the head portion 80. This may be beneficial if the temperature of the head portion 80 is undesirable. However, due to the heat transfer mechanisms provided in the present disclosure, the temperature of the head assembly may be reduced sufficiently so as to allow user to touch the head portion 80 when adjusting the arm 36.
The lights 106 are generally solid state lighting technology, such as LED lights. The LED lights are of the type such as those which are produced by Nichia Electronics. For example, Nichia NCCL 023 cool LED may be used for the “cool” LEDs and Nichia NCCW023 may be used for the “warm” LEDs. These components can be directly attached to the printed circuit board 92 and provided as a sub-assembly for assembly with the arm 36.
The lights 106 can be arranged in particular groupings or patterns to provide improved light emission and control. For example, with reference to
With reference to
The on and off control switch 136 merely allows the user to turn the power on and off. The on and off switch 136 can be provided on the base 32 or may be provided on the power cord 119. As disclosed, the capacitive control allows the lamp 30 to be turned on and off merely by touching the control 136.
The temperature control 140 and intensity control 138 provide similar functions but provide different results. The intensity control 138 relates to the light output from the lights 106. Intensity control 138 either can be in the form of controlling the energy to the light to increase or decrease the level of light output or by other techniques such as pulsing control. The pulsing control essentially turns the light on and off more frequently or less frequently. By reducing the percentage of on-time, the light is perceived to be dimmed or less intense.
The temperature control 140 uses similar techniques but uses the techniques to independently control warm and cool LEDs. On the present lamp, both controls 138, 140 can be provided to control the temperature of the light and to control the overall intensity of the selected light temperature. The user can control the temperature of the light using the light temperature control (See
With reference to
The configuration of the groups of LEDs, warm and cool, allow for a thorough and efficient mixing of the light emitted by the respective LEDs providing a pleasing result. The warm LEDs 126, 128 are grouped centrally with the cool LEDs 122, 124 grouped peripherally. This grouping may provide a slightly more warm light temperature in the central region of the light pattern emitted by the diodes and a slightly cooler light around the periphery. This may be pleasing and useful for activities such as reading and writing using the lamp in a task lighting configuration. Cool light provides additional illumination while the central warm LED groupings provide a warmer light temperature in the central focal region of the work area under the light.
While this disclosure has been described as having an exemplary embodiment, this application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations using its general principles. It is envisioned that those skilled in the art may devise various modifications and equivalents without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as recited in the following claims. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within the known or customary practice within the art to which it pertains.
This patent application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/746,837 filed May 9, 2006. The disclosures set forth in the referenced provisional application is incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, including all information as originally submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
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