The present invention relates to a light bulb and more particularly related a LED light bulb.
In recent years, LED chips as illumination source used in indoor illumination field are developed rapidly. People continuously discover LED lamps that are easily manufactured and have stability. A traditional LED lamp structure mainly includes five parts of a bulb head, a driver, a radiator, a LED aluminum substrate and a bulb housing, where the LED aluminum substrate and the driver are of a separate style, and the driver and the LED light source are connected via melding. For example, the China invention patent, issued and published on Aug. 15, 2013 with patent No. 201320502252.5, disclosed a type of LED lamp structure piece. The LED lamp structure piece includes a lamp housing, a radiator, a LED light source plate, and a lamp cap, where the radiator includes a radiator base, cooling fin, and a hollow tube, the hollow tube is located below the radiator base and connected to the radiator base, and the hollow tube has a inside space for containing LED driver source.
Because the driver source is contained in the sleeve tube in the center of the radiator, when the driver source is connected with the LED source plate, electrical wires need to be go through the center of the radiator and fixed to the LED aluminum substrate via melding, which is complicated on assembling and causes high manufacturing cost.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, a light bulb apparatus is provided. The light bulb has a plurality of LED modules, a substrate, a driver circuit board, a plastic piece, a radiator and a lamp cap.
The LED module may contain one or more than one LED chips packaged as a unit. The LED refers to Light Emitted Diode, which has various related technology to convert electricity to light.
The LED modules are mounted on the substrate. The substrate may be implemented as a plate that has aluminum material for better heat dissipation. Please be noted that containing aluminum material does not mean the substrate needs to be a complete aluminum plate, which may also refer to any material containing aluminum or aluminum alloy mixed with other material.
The substrate has a first connection end and a second connection end. The first connection end and the second connection end are electrically connected to the LED modules, which mean that when the LED modules are supplied with electricity to provide light, the first connection end and the second connection end are electrically connected to the LED modules as conducting path for the LED modules.
The driver circuit board is used for converting outside electricity, e.g. with 220V or 110V, to a driving current with a suitable voltage and characteristic to drive the LED modules to emit light. Wireless controller for providing additional IoT (Internet of Things) function like Bluetooth control interface may also be disposed on the driver circuit board.
The plastic piece has a guiding groove for inserting the driver circuit board. In other words, when assembling the light bulb, the driver circuit board is inserted into the guiding groove of the plastic piece to make sure the driver circuit is located at corrected position to further connect to other components.
The radiator, which may be used for heat dissipation, has a top plate and a side wall. The substrate is fixed on the top plate, and the side wall is connected to the plastic piece. The top plate has a through hole.
The lamp cap has a first electrode and a second electrode. The first electrode is insulated from the second electrode. The driver circuit board is connected to the first electrode and the second electrode, e.g. with welded metal line or metal clip. The driver circuit board has two pins to pass through the through hole of the radiator to plug in two elastic strips of the second connection end. The second connection end is disposed on the backside of the substrate.
In some embodiments, the substrate is a metal disk with an insulation layer for installing a plug component with the second connection end at the back side of the substrate and with the first connection end at the front side of the substrate. In other words, the plug may be used for forwarding electricity from the back side of the substrate to the front side of the substrate, i.e. the driving current from the driver circuit board to the LED modules.
In some embodiments, there is certain heat dissipation gel applied between the substrate and the radiator. The LED modules and the driver circuit board are two major heat sources in the light bulb apparatus. The heat dissipation gel may be used to carry the heat generated by the LED modules to the radiator for better heat dissipation.
In some embodiments, the substrate and the radiator may be molded together with a molding machine. In other words, certain plastic with nice heat dissipation factor may be used to more closely fixing the connection between the substrate and the radiator.
In some embodiments, the side wall has an exterior surface directly contact with the inner surface of the plastic piece. In other words, such design helps carrying the heat on the radiator to the plastic piece, which may be used as the major outer housing of the light bulb.
In some embodiments, the radiator has a plurality of fins disposed between the side wall and the top plate. Such design increases heat dissipation efficiency by increasing more air contact area.
In addition, in some designs, the top plate may have an inner side wall. The plurality of fins have first fins ends connected to the inner side wall and have second fins ends connected to the side wall of the radiator. In such design, the top plate is connected to the side wall with the fins. There may even be fins holes connecting a top side and a bottom side of the radiator. With such fins holes, air may flow from the front side of the radiator to the backside or vice versa. When air is flown, heat dissipation usually has a better performance.
In some embodiment, the radiator is made of metal for performing heat dissipation. For example, copper or aluminum and their alloy are good option to make the radiator.
In some embodiments, the diameter of the top plate is smaller than 70% of the diameter of the side wall. In other words, in such design, the LED modules above the top plate are more closely to the center of the light bulb apparatus.
In some embodiments, the plastic piece has a supporting member for supporting the radiator. Specifically, certain lever, tube or structures with other shapes may be made extended from the main body of the plastic piece for supporting the radiator to keep the radiator more reliably.
In addition, the supporting member may further have an aligning plug to insert into an aligning hole of the radiator. In other words, the radiator may have certain holes to provide the aligning function. The supporting member has the aligning plug inserting into the aligning holes.
In some embodiments, the substrate is a circular disk. The LED components are disposed as a circular pattern with a diameter between 60% to 90% of the diameter of the circular disk of the substrate. In such design, the LED components are separated and arranged in the peripheral area of the substrate to get the light more focused.
In some embodiments, the plastic piece has a plurality of hook structures for hooking a bulb shell. With such design, the bulb shell where light is emitted through may be easily assembled to the plastic piece. Glue may also be used for enhancing reliability. Meanwhile, such design may be helpful for certain needs, e.g. changes or fixing components on the substrate.
In some embodiments, the bulb shell is a translucent plastic dome. The translucent dome ensures emitted light more softly and hides circuits on the substrate from the user to make a better appearance.
In some embodiments, the bulb apparatus may further have an optical reflector disposed above the substrate for guiding light emitted from the LED modules. Such optical reflector is designed for guiding the emitted light from the LED modules to designed paths. This makes customized light effect and increases visual effect of the bulb apparatus.
In some embodiments, the optical reflector may have a crown lens portion, a stand portion and a base portion. The base portion is placed on the substrate. The LED components are placed under the stand portion. The crown lens portion dispatches light with a crown pattern. In such design, emitted light from the LED modules enters the stand portion and moves into the crown portion to finally emitted in desired direction. With such design, the light bulb apparatus appears like a diamond when it is emitting light.
In some embodiments, the plastic piece has a cup portion and a support portion. The bottom of the support portion is connected to the lamp cap. The top of the cup portion is connected to the radiator. The diameter of the top of the cup portion is larger than the diameter of the support portion.
In some embodiments, the substrate may have a plurality of thin metal components respectively connecting the plurality of LED modules to form an interconnection among the plurality of LED modules. In other words, the LED modules are not connected with metal wires. Instead, think plate segments that may conduct electricity are used for connecting the LED modules in series or in parallel, or in other arrangement. Other electronic components may also be disposed on the substrate.
In some embodiments, the plurality of thin metal components are covered by a insulation surface with white color material. With such design, the electricity is protected under the insulation surface to make the light bulb apparatus more safe. The white color material helps reflects light to desired direction to increase light efficiency.
In some embodiments, there is a trench between the top and the side wall. This further increases rigid strength of the light bulb apparatus and also helps better perform heat dissipation.
The technical solution of the present invention is: a lamp cap electrical connection structure including a substrate, a plastic piece, and a lamp cap, in which the lamp cap includes a first electrode and a second electrode, the first electrode is insulated from the second electrode, the second electrode is fixed relative to the first electrode, the plastic piece is disposed above the first electrode, the substrate is fixed on the plastic piece, the substrate has electronic components and has a first connection end and a second connection end electrically connecting to the electronic components, the first electrode and the first connection end are electrically connected, the second electrode is a lever structure, the second connection end includes a connection part and a contact part, the connection part is electrically connected to the electronic components on the substrate, and the contact part is electrically connected to one end of the second electrode.
Compared with conventional art, the lamp cap electrical connection structure has electronic components and the LED light source disposed on the substrate at the same time and has the first connection end and the second connection end disposed on the substrate and electrically connected to the electronic components for the first electrode of the lamp cap being electrically connected to the first connection end, and for the second electrode of the lamp cap being electrically connected to the second connection end, so as to remove the need for disposing electrical wires for performing electrical connection and to perform electrical connection between the driver circuit and the lamp cap while fixing the substrate, and such design simplifies the structure, performs easy installation, has simple structures and is easy to be assembled automatically.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, a light bulb apparatus is provided. The light bulb has a plurality of LED modules, a substrate, a driver circuit board, a plastic piece, a radiator and a lamp cap.
The LED module may contain one or more than one LED chips packaged as a unit. The LED refers to Light Emitted Diode, which has various related technology to convert electricity to light.
The LED modules are mounted on the substrate. The substrate may be implemented as a plate that has aluminum material for better heat dissipation. Please be noted that containing aluminum material does not mean the substrate needs to be a complete aluminum plate, which may also refer to any material containing aluminum or aluminum alloy mixed with other material.
The substrate has a first connection end and a second connection end. The first connection end and the second connection end are electrically connected to the LED modules, which mean that when the LED modules are supplied with electricity to provide light, the first connection end and the second connection end are electrically connected to the LED modules as conducting path for the LED modules.
The driver circuit board is used for converting outside electricity, e.g. with 220V or 110V, to a driving current with a suitable voltage and characteristic to drive the LED modules to emit light. Wireless controller for providing additional IoT (Internet of Things) function like Bluetooth control interface may also be disposed on the driver circuit board.
The plastic piece has a guiding groove for inserting the driver circuit board. In other words, when assembling the light bulb, the driver circuit board is inserted into the guiding groove of the plastic piece to make sure the driver circuit is located at corrected position to further connect to other components.
The radiator, which may be used for heat dissipation, has a top plate and a side wall. The substrate is fixed on the top plate, and the side wall is connected to the plastic piece. The top plate has a through hole.
The lamp cap has a first electrode and a second electrode. The first electrode is insulated from the second electrode. The driver circuit board is connected to the first electrode and the second electrode, e.g. with welded metal line or metal clip. The driver circuit board has two pins to pass through the through hole of the radiator to plug in two elastic strips of the second connection end. The second connection end is disposed on the backside of the substrate.
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The bulb shell 802 is attached to a plastic piece 801. The plastic piece 801 further connected to a lamp cap with a first electrode 803 and a second electrode 804.
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In
In
The radiator 812 also has multiple fins 808 to increase touch area to air to better achieve heat dissipation. There are fins holes 809 between fins 808, which further improves heat dissipation efficiency. The fins 808 connect the top plate 811 and the side wall 807. The side wall 807 further engages with the interior surface of the plastic piece. In other words, heat from the LED modules 805 may be transmitted to the plastic piece 813 via the radiator 812.
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In some embodiments, the substrate is a metal disk with an insulation layer for installing a plug component with the second connection end at the back side of the substrate and with the first connection end at the front side of the substrate. In other words, the plug may be used for forwarding electricity from the back side of the substrate to the front side of the substrate, i.e. the driving current from the driver circuit board to the LED modules.
In some embodiments, there is certain heat dissipation gel applied between the substrate and the radiator. The LED modules and the driver circuit board are two major heat sources in the light bulb apparatus. The heat dissipation gel may be used to carry the heat generated by the LED modules to the radiator for better heat dissipation.
In some embodiments, the substrate and the radiator may be molded together with a molding machine. In other words, certain plastic with nice heat dissipation factor may be used to more closely fixing the connection between the substrate and the radiator.
In some embodiments, the side wall has an exterior surface directly contact with the inner surface of the plastic piece. In other words, such design helps carrying the heat on the radiator to the plastic piece, which may be used as the major outer housing of the light bulb.
In some embodiments, the radiator has a plurality of fins disposed between the side wall and the top plate. Such design increases heat dissipation efficiency by increasing more air contact area.
In addition, in some designs, the top plate may have an inner side wall. The plurality of fins have first fins ends connected to the inner side wall and have second fins ends connected to the side wall of the radiator. In such design, the top plate is connected to the side wall with the fins. There may even be fins holes connecting a top side and a bottom side of the radiator. With such fins holes, air may flow from the front side of the radiator to the backside or vice versa. When air is flown, heat dissipation usually has a better performance.
In some embodiment, the radiator is made of metal for performing heat dissipation. For example, copper or aluminum and their alloy are good option to make the radiator.
In some embodiments, the diameter of the top plate is smaller than 70% of the diameter of the side wall. In other words, in such design, the LED modules above the top plate are more closely to the center of the light bulb apparatus.
In some embodiments, the plastic piece has a supporting member for supporting the radiator. Specifically, certain lever, tube or structures with other shapes may be made extended from the main body of the plastic piece for supporting the radiator to keep the radiator more reliably.
In addition, the supporting member may further have an aligning plug to insert into an aligning hole of the radiator. In other words, the radiator may have certain holes to provide the aligning function. The supporting member has the aligning plug inserting into the aligning holes.
In some embodiments, the substrate is a circular disk. The LED components are disposed as a circular pattern with a diameter between 60% to 90% of the diameter of the circular disk of the substrate. In such design, the LED components are separated and arranged in the peripheral area of the substrate to get the light more focused.
In some embodiments, the plastic piece has a plurality of hook structures for hooking a bulb shell. With such design, the bulb shell where light is emitted through may be easily assembled to the plastic piece. Glue may also be used for enhancing reliability. Meanwhile, such design may be helpful for certain needs, e.g. changes or fixing components on the substrate.
In some embodiments, the bulb shell is a translucent plastic dome. The translucent dome ensures emitted light more softly and hides circuits on the substrate from the user to make a better appearance.
In some embodiments, the bulb apparatus may further have an optical reflector disposed above the substrate for guiding light emitted from the LED modules. Such optical reflector is designed for guiding the emitted light from the LED modules to designed paths. This makes customized light effect and increases visual effect of the bulb apparatus.
In some embodiments, the optical reflector may have a crown lens portion, a stand portion and a base portion. The base portion is placed on the substrate. The LED components are placed under the stand portion. The crown lens portion dispatches light with a crown pattern. In such design, emitted light from the LED modules enters the stand portion and moves into the crown portion to finally emitted in desired direction. With such design, the light bulb apparatus appears like a diamond when it is emitting light.
In some embodiments, the plastic piece has a cup portion and a support portion. The bottom of the support portion is connected to the lamp cap. The top of the cup portion is connected to the radiator. The diameter of the top of the cup portion is larger than the diameter of the support portion.
In some embodiments, the substrate may have a plurality of thin metal components respectively connecting the plurality of LED modules to form an interconnection among the plurality of LED modules. In other words, the LED modules are not connected with metal wires. Instead, think plate segments that may conduct electricity are used for connecting the LED modules in series or in parallel, or in other arrangement. Other electronic components may also be disposed on the substrate.
In some embodiments, the plurality of thin metal components are covered by a insulation surface with white color material. With such design, the electricity is protected under the insulation surface to make the light bulb apparatus more safely. The white color material helps reflects light to desired direction to increase light efficiency.
In some embodiments, there is a trench between the top and the side wall. This further increases rigid strength of the light bulb apparatus and also helps better perform heat dissipation.
Please refer to
The first electrode 61 may further include an insulation sleeve 64, the insulation sleeve 64 is fixed at the bottom of the first electrode 61, the insulation sleeve 64 has a containing hole (not shown) in its middle part, and the second electrode 62 is disposed in the containing hole. A supporting sleeve 63 is disposed around the containing hole in the middle part of the insulation sleeve 64, the inner wall of the supporting sleeve 63 corresponds to the second electrode 62, the outer wall of the second electrode 62 has a barb (not shown), and the barb is hooked to the inner wall of the supporting sleeve 63. The second connection end 22 is disposed at the back side of the substrate 20, the contact part 221 includes a pair of elastic strips 2211 opposing to each other, and one end of the second electrode 62 is plugged between the two elastic strips 2211 to perform electrical connection. The connection part 222 is a sheet structure, the connection part 222 and the contact part 221 are made with integral forming, the connection part 222 has a connection pin 2221, and the connection pin 2221 is fixed at the back side of the substrate 20.
Please refer to
During operation, the first connection end 21 of the substrate 20 is electrically connected to the top plate 81 of the radiator 80, and the first connection end 21 is able to electrically connect to the first electrode 61 because the side wall of the radiator 80 is electrically connected to the first electrode 61. The second connection end 22 disposed on the back side of the substrate 20 has two elastic strips 2211 disposed at its contact part 221 so that one end of the second electrode 62 with a lever structure is plugged between the two elastic strips 2211 so that the second connection end 22 is electrically connected to the second electrode 62. With such, the first connection end 21 and the second connection end 22 may supply electricity to the electronic components on the substrate 20 like LED light source 30 or the driver IC chip 40.
In summary, the lamp cap electrical connection structure 100 has both a driver IC chip 40 and LED light source 30 on its substrate 20 at the same time, and has the first connection end 21 and the second connection end 22 disposed on the substrate 20 and electrically connected to the electronic components on the substrate 20, so that the lamp cap has the first electrode 61 electrically connected to the first connection end 21 and the second electrode 62 electrically connected to the second connection end 22 to remove the need of disposing electrical wires for performing electrical connection and to perform electrical connection between the driver circuit and the lamp cap while fixing the substrate for simplifying structure and for having advantages of simple structure. In addition, the second connection end 22 is disposed at the back side of the substrate 20, not affecting the placement of the LED light source 30 on the front side of the substrate 20 so as to preserve larger space for light device design. The lamp cap 60 is not limited to screw head lamp, and may be other type of lamp cap like a socket lamp cap. It is only needed to change the second electrode 62 as a lever structure.
The present application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/632,823 filed on Jun. 26, 2017, which is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/432,009 filed on Feb. 14, 2017, which is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/113,837 filed on Jul. 24, 2016.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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5024904 | Curiel | Jun 1991 | A |
7025612 | Keilholz | Apr 2006 | B1 |
7284895 | Goto | Oct 2007 | B2 |
7306488 | Krijne | Dec 2007 | B2 |
8226440 | Mouchon | Jul 2012 | B2 |
20060187682 | Goto | Aug 2006 | A1 |
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20180066806 A1 | Mar 2018 | US |
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Parent | 15432009 | Feb 2017 | US |
Child | 15632873 | US | |
Parent | 15113837 | Jul 2016 | US |
Child | 15432009 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 15632873 | Jun 2017 | US |
Child | 15805503 | US |