Patent Application
20140085892
The present application claims priority from Italian application No.: TO2012A000841 filed on Sep. 27, 2012.
Various embodiments relate to the mounting of lighting modules. Various embodiments may relate to the mounting of solid state planar lighting modules, for example lighting modules using LED sources as light radiation sources.
In the field of solid state lighting (SSL) sources there is a growing tendency to devise modules, such as LED modules, with geometries such that they allow standardized mechanical interconnection, in order to simplify the installation of systems and the interchangeability of parts. For example, the positions of the LEDs and screw holes are currently undergoing standardization by Zhaga. The name “Zhaga” has been given to a collaborative consortium of companies in the lighting technology industry, set up with the aim of facilitating interchangeability of solid state lighting sources, such as LED sources, made by different manufacturers, in order to facilitate, for example, general lighting technology applications.
In various solutions, the characteristics of thermal coupling between the module and the mounting surface may be affected by the ways in which the lighting module (which may have a substrate formed by a structure similar to that of a printed circuit board (PCB), with a metal base for example) is fixed to the mounting surface (which may be a heat sink or a lighting system, for example). For example, the high thermal power densities generated by arrays (clusters) of LEDs may give rise to mechanical stresses in the substrate of the module; if the module is fixed to the mounting surface at certain isolated points only, substrate deformation phenomena may occur, such that the contact surface is reduced and the performance in terms of heat dissipation is adversely affected.
In order to overcome these drawbacks, it is possible to make use of rigid casings (which are rather bulky) and/or to add further holes for fixing the substrate, so as to improve the pressure distribution. Leaving aside any other consideration, the latter solution may be impracticable if the lighting system and/or the heat sink are already provided with mounting holes according to standardized solutions, thus making it necessary to create further fixing holes.
Various embodiments have the object of overcoming the aforementioned drawbacks.
Various embodiments may offer one or more of the following advantages:
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 disclosed embodiments.
In the following description, various embodiments described with reference to the following drawings, in which:
The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawing that show, by way of illustration, specific details and embodiments in which the disclosure may be practiced
The reference to “an embodiment” in this description is intended to indicate that a particular configuration, structure or characteristic described in relation to the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Therefore, phrases such as “in an embodiment”, which may be present in various parts of this description, do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, specific formations, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable way in one or more embodiments.
The references used herein are provided purely for convenience and therefore do not define the scope of protection or the extent of the embodiments.
The perspective view of
In the embodiment illustrated here, which is of the aforementioned type, the surface S comprises the flat top face of a heat sink HS having fins for heat dissipation on the side opposite the surface S.
The lighting modules 10 described here by way of example may be planar lighting modules, each comprising a substrate 10a made in a form similar to a printed circuit board (PCB) on which is arranged a solid state light radiation source composed, for example, of an array or cluster of LEDs 10b. The figures also show electric and/or electronic circuitry 10c mounted on the substrate 10b and intended to provide a power supply to the light radiation sources 10b and control of the latter if required.
Solid state planar lighting modules of this kind are known in the prior art. In various embodiments, the modules 10 may be made (in respect of their shape, dimensions, electrical, mechanical and thermal characteristics, and the like) in accordance with Zhaga standards.
As mentioned above, various embodiments are suitable for use in mounting any number of planar lighting modules 10 on a mounting surface S.
In various embodiments, the module 10 (and, more specifically, the substrate 10a thereof) may be of any shape: the rectangular shape shown in the drawings is only one example of various possible shapes.
Regardless of its shape, the module 10 may have two opposite sides in which are provided fixing apertures formed by indentations or incisions 100 opening toward the sides of the module 10.
In various embodiments, the indentations or incisions 100 may be U-shaped (or V-shaped, or more generally channel-shaped).
In various embodiments, the module or modules 10 can be fixed onto the mounting surface S by using stiffening bars 102 intended to be superimposed on the opposite sides of the module 10 and having lateral lobes 104 intended to engage the indentations 100.
In the lobes 104 there are provided holes 106 through which fixing members such as screws 108 can extend, these members being, for example, screwed into threaded holes provided in the surface S (not shown in the drawings) in order to retain the module or modules 10 on the surface S.
In various embodiments, the stiffening bars 102 (and the bars 102′ described below) may be made from polymers, for example polymers with a low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE).
For example, in various embodiments, a generally channel-shaped profile of the indentations or incisions 100 (for example, a U-shaped profile) may allow the stiffening bars 102 to be translated, at least slightly, toward the inside or outside of the module 10 (that is to say, moved transversely relative to the sides where the indentations 100 are provided), with the possibility of adjusting the positions of the holes 106 to make them coincide with threaded holes provided in the surface S for screwing in the screws 108.
In various embodiments (as can be seen more clearly, for example, in the cross-sectional views of
In various embodiments, the following elements may project from the core layer 1020 (and therefore from the plane X102):
Thus, as shown more clearly in the view of
In various embodiments, the “height” or “thickness” of the lobes 104, that is to say their dimension measured in a direction orthogonal to the general direction of extension of the bar 102 (and therefore in a direction orthogonal to the plane of the surface S and of the substrate 10a of the modules 10) may be chosen so as to be slightly smaller than the corresponding dimension of the incisions 100.
In other words, in various embodiments, the thickness of the substrate 10a of the modules 10 may be chosen in such a way that, when the modules 10 are applied against the surface S and the stiffening/fixing bars 102 are superimposed on them and held in position by fixing members such as the screws 108 (see, in particular,
In various embodiments, the size of this interval or gap may, for example, be 200 micrometers.
Thus it is possible to provide a uniform distribution of the pressure with which the lighting module 10 is pressed by the bars 102 against the surface S, which may, for example, be formed by a heat sink.
In various embodiments, it is also possible to adjust precisely the intensity of this pressure by adjusting the intensity of the action exerted by the fixing members (in the exemplary embodiment considered herein, this would be done by adjusting the degree of tightening of the screws 108).
In various embodiments, these may be bars having the various characteristics described above with reference to “single” bars 102, but with the presence of lobes 104 extending, for example in symmetrical positions, on opposite sides of the central body of the bar, thus making it possible to engage indentations or incisions 100 provided, in corresponding positions for example, that is to say facing each other, in modules 10 intended to be mounted in adjacent positions.
In order to implement the embodiments, the installer may be provided with equipment comprising a set of modules 10 of the type shown herein by way of example, combined with a set of stiffening bars made either in the “single” version indicated by 102 or in the “double” version indicated by 102′.
Two single bars 102 enable a single module 10 to be mounted by fixing (with screws 108 for example) to the mounting surface S with the stiffening bars 102 superimposed on the opposite sides of the lighting module 10, and therefore with the opposite sides of the lighting module 10 sandwiched between the stiffening bars 102 and the mounting surface S, with the stiffening bars 102 urging the lighting module 10 toward the mounting surface S.
Two single bars 102 can also be used to mount each module 10 in an array of adjacent modules 10 by the same procedures.
While the disclosed embodiments 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 disclosed embodiments as defined by the appended claims. The scope of the disclosed embodiments 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| TO2012A000841 | Sep 2012 | IT | national |
