Patent Application
20110006679
1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to light sources and more particularly to an LED (light-emitting diode) bulb with an enlarged irradiation range by arranging its LED elements in three-dimension.
2. Description of Related Art
LED lamps have advantages including longer life, less power consumption (i.e., more energy-efficient), and no special ballasts being required. Thus, LED based light sources have gradually replace conventional incandescent lamps and fluorescent lamps as the dominant light sources in our daily life.
Also, LED lamps employing a plurality of LEDs are commercially available. However, the well known LED lamp suffers from a disadvantage. In detail, these LEDs are arranged in two-dimension, i.e., on a plate. Thus, light only directs toward one side of the plate. As a result, side light is relatively weak. Thus, a need for improvement exists.
Also, there have been numerous suggestions in prior patents for LED based light sources. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,042 discloses an LED lamp and U.S. Pat. No. 7,086,767 discloses an LED bulb
It is therefore one object of the invention to provide an LED bulb having an enlarged irradiation range by arranging its LED elements in three-dimension.
In one aspect of the invention the LED elements are arranged and shaped as an upwardly tapered tower, a tree, or a semi-sphere so as to diffuse light through the transparent bulb without being blocked.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
The base 10 is a well known device and is adapted to mount in an electrical socket. The base 10 comprises a bottom contact 11 as, for example, positive terminal, a metallic element 13 formed of copper, the metallic element 13 being used as, for example, negative terminal, and an insulator 12 formed between the contact 11 and the metallic element 13 for preventing them from electrically contacting each other.
The hollow housing 20 is adapted to mount on the base 10. Within the housing 20 there are provided an electrical circuit assembly 21 including well known elements such as a capacitor, a resistor, and diodes; two spaced conductors 22, 23 in which the conductor 22 interconnects the electrical circuit assembly 21 and the contact 11 and the conductor 23 interconnects the electrical circuit assembly 21 and the metallic element 13 respectively; and a circuit board 24 mounted on and electrically connected to the electrical circuit assembly 21.
The LED assembly 40 comprises a plurality of LED elements 41. The LED assembly 40 is mounted on the circuit board 24 so that the LED elements 41 can be electrically connected to the circuit board 24.
The bulb 30 can be made of one of a variety of materials. For example, the bulb 30 is made of glass as to be clear or is frosted to diffuse the light. The bulb 30 is mounted on a top edge of the housing 20 so as together with the housing 20 to receive the LED assembly 40, the electrical circuit assembly 21, and the circuit board 24.
The characteristic of the invention is that the LED elements 41 are arranged in three-dimension. For example, the LED elements 41 may be arranged and shaped as an upwardly tapered tower (as shown), a tree, or a semi-sphere so as to diffuse light through the glass bulb 30 without being blocked. That is, light is diffused to an enlarged range for irradiation.
While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.
