Embodiments of the Rail Lighting System described herein generally relate to a Light Emitting Diode (LED) tape light carrier system. The Rail Lighting System is designed to securely and permanently retain an LED tape light while installed in a vertical or downward facing arrangement.
LED strip lights, also known as LED tape, tape lights, or ribbon lights, are generally linear flexible circuit boards having surface mounted devices (SMD) in the form of multiple LEDs and their supporting circuitry arranged along a length of narrow flexible strip or band. LED strip lights often come with an adhesive backing. Originally, LED strip lights were used solely in accent lighting, backlighting, task lighting, and decorative lighting applications. With the increased luminous efficacy of higher power LEDs, LED strip lights are now used in applications such as high brightness task lighting, and as replacements for fluorescent and halogen lighting fixtures. LED tape light is widely available in the lighting industry and is both cost effective and easy to install. LED tape light is very versatile and can be cut to the correct length with ease and without requiring additional tools. LED tape light is available in indoor versions, weatherproof and waterproof versions, and color changing versions, and comes in variable widths normally between eight and fifteen millimeters. Securing LED tape light is usually achieved using an adhesive backing with a cover that is removed, whereupon the product is adhered to the end use item.
One problem that is sometimes encountered with known LED tape lighting installations is that the adhesive backing may not adhere fully to the mounting surface. When the LED tape light is installed in a vertical or downward facing arrangement, the adhesive may be insufficient to hold the LED tape light in place, either immediately, or over a period of time as the adhesive medium slowly separates from the mounting surface. Even if this does not happen within a short time, over longer periods of time adhesives can dry out and lose their effectiveness, so that the LED tape light may still come loose from its mounting surface.
The present inventor's own patent, U.S. Pat. No. 10,845,034, dealt with this problem by fully encapsulating the LED tape light in a transparent or semi-translucent flexible holding carrier. However, this design requires that the holding carrier be sufficiently deformable that the slot within the holding carrier can be opened far enough to insert the tape light into it. Moreover, it requires that the transparent or semi-translucent flexible holding carrier then be supported by an extrusion or other supporting structure. This previous design, therefore, required multiple steps involving the manipulation, deforming, and or stressing of the tape light and its holding carrier, as well as the additional step of affixing the holding carrier to the extrusion or other supporting structure. Often, the extrusion or other supporting structure by design had to significantly restrict the spread of light emanating from the tape light.
Accordingly, there is an unmet need for a rail lighting system that will securely and permanently retain an LED tape light while installed in a vertical or downward facing arrangement, while requiring a minimum of assembly steps, and a minimum of manipulation, deforming, and or stressing of the tape light during assembly and use.
Embodiments of the Rail Lighting System described herein relate to a tape light carrier system that securely and permanently retains an LED tape light while installed in a vertical or downward facing arrangement. The Rail Lighting System includes an elongate structure which may, for non-limiting example, be an aluminum extrusion to which one or two strips of LED tape light are affixed. While the elongate structure is herein illustrated as an aluminum extrusion, for non-limiting example 6061 T6 aluminum, it is contemplated that the elongate structure may be an extrusion of other material such as other metals, polymers, ceramics, composites, and etcetera. Moreover, the elongate structure may be fashioned using other techniques such as molding or casting, for non-limiting example. The elongate structure may for non-limiting example be clear anodized.
The elongate structure includes a tape light receiving recess along its length in the direction of illumination. An LED tape light is affixed by way of adhesive along the bottom of the tape light receiving recess, so that the LEDs face the outward opening along the length of the tape light receiving recess. While LED tape light is discussed herein as the lighting source to be affixed within the elongate structure of the Rail Lighting System, it is contemplated that other flexible linear light sources adapted to be affixed using adhesive such as adhesive backing may be used. In each side of the tape light receiving recess, there are two slots. The inner set of slots are used to retain an inner covering lens, and the outer set of slots are used to retain an outer covering lens. The upper corners of the outer slots may be provided with a 45° chamfer. The inner covering lens is shaped in such a way that it acts as a barrier and holds the LED tape light in position along the bottom of the tape light receiving recess. In at least one embodiment, the inner covering lens is specifically shaped so that, upon installation, it forms an arc, thereby resiliently compressing the LED tape light into position along the bottom of the tape light receiving recess. The outer covering lens gives the Rail Lighting System its outer form, and may be curved or flat in shape, for non-limiting example. The outer covering lens may further be fully transparent or semi-opaque, thereby acting as a diffuser. While both of the inner covering lens and the outer covering lens are shown as formed from transparent or semi-opaque sheet, either of the inner covering lens and the outer covering lens, or both, may be formed using other methods and/or may have cross-sections of varying thickness.
The Rail Lighting System elongate structure may further include internal strain relief radii between the bottom of the tape light receiving recess and the sides of the tape light receiving recess. A bottom T-slot may extend along the length of the side of the elongate structure opposite from the tape light receiving recess, being the bottom of the elongate structure, and may be compatible with standard mounting hardware such as T-nuts or T-bolts for non-limiting example. Outer corner chamfers may be arranged between the bottom of the elongate structure and the sides of the elongate structure. Outer cylindrical slots may be arranged along the length of the outer corner chamfers. Barn door brackets may be inserted into the outer cylindrical slots and may be used to attach a “barn door.” The barn door is, for non-limiting example, a flat piece of light blocking material that is used to control the extent of lateral illumination provided by the Rail Lighting System.
By having the outer cylindrical slots arranged along the length of the outer corner chamfers and inwards from the planes defined by the sides of the elongate structure, the barn door brackets may be configured so that the barn door(s) can be pivoted from about 90° outward from the sides of the elongate structure to completely flush to the sides of the elongate structure. This allows for a range of lateral illumination from about 180° of lateral illumination to a narrow strip of vertical illumination only. Moreover, it also allows the barn door to rotate out into more open positions while still having its edge closest to the point of rotation still remain below the edge of the elongate structure, thereby blocking light from projecting rearward.
For non-limiting example, the elongate structure may be about 1.33 inches wide by about 0.98 inches tall. The tape light receiving recess may be about 1.15 wide, and the outer and inner slots may be about 0.06 inches deep with rounded corners (except for the 45° chamfer mentioned previously). The strain relief radii may be about 0.05 in radius, while the outer cylindrical slots may be about 0.09 in radius. The bottom T-slot may be 0.32 wide at its opening, 0.59 wide at its widest, and 0.24 deep. If made of aluminum, the elongate structure may weigh 0.37 pounds per 12 inches of length.
For non-limiting example, an advantage of the Rail Lighting System is that it allows the use of adhesive backed LED tape light within a rigid linear elongate structure installed in a vertical or downward facing arrangement, without the risk that the LED tape light will pull away from its mounting surface. For another non-limiting example, an advantage of the Rail Lighting System is that its elongate structure may be formed using inexpensive extrusion tooling. For another non-limiting example, an advantage of the Rail Lighting System is that it requires a minimum of assembly steps, and a minimum of manipulation, deforming, and or stressing of the tape light during assembly and use. For another non-limiting example, an advantage of the Rail Lighting System is that it allows for the use of a barn door light blocking arrangement.
According to one embodiment of the Rail Lighting System, a tape light carrier system includes an elongate structure having a tape light receiving recess along its length. An inner set of slots and an outer set of slots are arranged on the inner sides of the tape light receiving recess. An inner covering lens is engaged with the inner set of slots. An outer covering lens is engaged with the outer set of slots. A flexible linear light source is affixed to the bottom of the tape light receiving recess using an adhesive. The inner covering lens is arranged as a barrier and holds the flexible linear light source in position along the bottom of the tape light receiving recess.
According to another embodiment of the Rail Lighting System, a method of illumination includes several steps. The first step is providing an elongate structure with a tape light receiving recess along its length. The second step is arranging an inner set of slots and an outer set of slots on inner sides of the tape light receiving recess. The third step is affixing a flexible linear light source to a bottom of the tape light receiving recess using an adhesive. The fourth step is engaging an inner covering lens with the inner set of slots, wherein the inner covering lens is arranged as a barrier and holds the flexible linear light source in position along the bottom of the tape light receiving recess. The fifth step is engaging an outer covering lens with the outer set of slots.
The above-mentioned and other features of embodiments of the present Rail Lighting System, and the manner of their working, will become more apparent and will be better understood by reference to the following description of embodiments of the Rail Lighting System taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Corresponding reference numbers indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The exemplifications set out herein illustrate embodiments of the Rail Lighting System, and such exemplifications are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the claims in any manner.
The following detailed description and appended drawing describe and illustrate various exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description and drawings serve to enable one skilled in the art to make and use the invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention in any manner. In respect of any methods disclosed and illustrated, the steps presented are exemplary in nature, and thus, the order of the steps is not necessary or critical.
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While the Rail Lighting System has been described with respect to at least one embodiment, the Rail Lighting System can be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure, as demonstrated previously. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the Rail Lighting System using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which the disclosure pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims.
The present application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/483,825 entitled “RAIL LIGHTING SYSTEM” which is incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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63483825 | Feb 2023 | US |