Patent Application
20150330584
This application claims priority to Italian Patent Application Serial No. T02014A000380, which was filed May 13, 2014, and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Various embodiments may relate to lighting devices.
Various embodiments may be applied, for example, to lighting devices which employ, as light radiation sources, solid-state radiation sources such as LED sources.
An ever-growing interest is being brought to lighting devices built as modules having solid-state light radiation sources, e.g. LEDs, which offer the possibility to modify the shape of the module, thanks to a general flexibility.
In various implementations, such a module is adapted to be mounted on a carrier (e.g. a mounting surface) by a bi-adhesive tape or through clips.
In various implementation, the bi-adhesive tape may be directly provided on the back of the module. This solution may involve various drawbacks, such as:
If clips are being used, it may be impossible to fix the flexible module throughout its length. Moreover, the clips may remain visible, with an aesthetically displeasing effect.
Various embodiments aim at overcoming the previously outlined drawbacks.
In various embodiments, said object may be achieved thanks to a lighting device having the features specifically set forth in the claims that follow.
Various embodiments may also refer to a corresponding mounting housing, as well as to a corresponding mounting kit and to a corresponding method.
Various embodiments may advantageously offer one or more of the following possibilities:
In the drawings, like reference characters generally refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead generally being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. In the following description, various embodiments of the invention are described with reference to the following drawings, in which:
In the following description, numerous specific details are given to provide a thorough understanding of various exemplary embodiments. One or more embodiments may be practiced without one or more specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the embodiments. Reference throughout this specification to “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the possible appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
The headings provided herein are for convenience only and do not interpret the scope or meaning of the embodiments.
In the Figures, reference 10 denotes on the whole a lighting device adapted, in one or more embodiments, to be implemented as a so-called “flex” module which employs electrically powered light radiation sources, e.g. solid-state light radiation sources such as LED sources.
Device 10 may therefore be a strip-like member of indefinite length, e.g. a strip-like module wound onto a spool, which may be cut to length according to the user's needs. A device of this kind can therefore have general features of flexibility, hence the name of “flex” module.
In various embodiments, device 10 may include other two strip-like members, denoted by 12 and 14 respectively.
Member 12 is a strip-like carrier member with a first face 12a and a second face 12b; member 12 is adapted to have, for example, a structure resembling a PCB (Printed Circuit Board), possibly with a layered structure, e.g. with a metal base layer, a plurality of solid-state light radiation sources 16 (e.g. LEDs) being mounted on the first face 12a.
The second member 14 is again a strip-like profiled member, that may have properties of flexibility.
In various embodiments, the profiled member 14 may be made of a material such as silicone, e.g. by extrusion.
As will be appreciated from
In various embodiments, member 14 may include a central channel-like portion 140, with a bottom wall 140a and two side walls 140b.
As can be seen in
In various embodiments, above member 12 there may be provided a potting mass 18 (for example a transparent silicone material) which seals the channel-like profile of portion 140 by enclosing member 12 within. Such member (which constitutes the actual lighting source) may therefore be provided with sealing properties towards the outer environment, e.g. with IP protection features.
In various embodiments, the pi-shaped profile of profiled member 14 may include two side extensions 142, which extend sidewise from central portion 140 (being substantially coplanar with bottom wall 140a), thus providing lateral fixing formations which may be used in order to mount device 10 according to a method which will be better detailed in the following.
In various embodiments, as exemplified in the Figures, side extensions 142 may extend continuously throughout the length of profile member 14.
In various embodiments, however, extensions 142 may include interruptions and/or extend only on a part of the length of profiled member 14.
It will be appreciated, moreover, that while being adapted to be mounted on mounting surface S according to criteria better detailed in the following, lighting device 10 may still be mounted in a traditional way, e.g. by using adhesive tapes or clips.
In various embodiments, a lighting device such as device 10 may be mounted on a mounting surface S, e.g. a wall (or a ceiling, as schematically exemplified in
In various embodiments, housing 20 may consist of another basically strip-like profiled member (which in one or more embodiments may constitute a substantially rigid body).
In various embodiments, housing 20 may include a longitudinal cavity (22) extending throughout the length of member 20, being adapted to receive device 10 therein, e.g. thanks to a profile having on the whole a C-shaped cross section.
To this end, as can be seen for example in
In various embodiments there may be present two sidewise, e.g. symmetrically, extending grooves 242, on the sides of bottom surface 240 in the length direction of housing 20. As exemplified in
In various embodiments, lighting module (flexible LED module) 10 may be inserted from the front end into housing 20, by placing the sidewise extensions 142 so as to correspond with grooves 242, and by sliding device 10 and housing 20 one relatively to the other.
This relative sliding movement may be performed without the need to press or bend module 10, which prevents all risks of damage e.g. of light radiation sources 16 and of the associated electric circuit arranged on carrier 12, while ensuring a reliable fixation of device 10 within housing 20.
In various embodiments, housing 20 may be implemented as a rigid body, e.g. by resorting to a plastic metal material.
In various embodiments, housing 20 may be obtained by extrusion as well, which lowers the cost of its production.
In various embodiments, the extruded material may be aluminium, which can be easily anodized.
These diverse options offer the possibility to achieve an aesthetically pleasing effect, e.g. with the possibility to customize the final product according to the application requirements and the user's taste.
As in the case of lighting device 10, housing 20 may be produced as a member of indefinite length (e.g. as a bar) which may be cut to length according to the application requirements.
In order to fix housing 20 to mounting surface S one can resort to different solutions, e.g. a fixation through screws, e.g. by including through holes for screws (not shown in the drawings) in bottom wall 240 of housing 20. Housing 20 may be fixed to surface S in various ways, e.g. by coupling it with clips or other snap-fit methods.
In various embodiments, housing 20 is moreover adapted to the mounting of accessories, for example a diffuser screen mounted on the front face, so as to obtain a diffusion effect of the light emitted by sources 16.
In various embodiments, first of all housing 20 is fixed to mounting surface S, and then it receives lighting device 10 therein, for example through sliding. This mounting method, moreover, enables to replace a device 10 with a device with different features. For example, it becomes possible to replace lighting device 10 with a device carrying radiation sources 16 with different colour characteristics, different radiation patterns, a different spacing of sources 16 on carrier 20, etc.
While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to specific embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. The scope of the invention is thus indicated by the appended claims and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| TO2014A000380 | May 2014 | IT | national |
