Lighting fixtures are used in various contexts and situations to provide light so that people can work and play when there is no natural light available, such as after sunset or in rooms having no windows or access to natural light. In some environments, such as aboard aircraft and water vessels, for example, the weight of every component and device carried by the aircraft or vessel may be important to the functioning or efficacy of the aircraft or vessel. Moreover, the construction of such vessels and the components or equipment thereon may be strictly governed by certain industry or organizational codes or standards, which may dictate that certain requirements be met by the vessel as a whole and/or the individual components installed thereon.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide lighting fixtures that are versatile and can be used in various scenarios, while also meeting certain requirements, for example regarding watertightness or weight.
Embodiments of the invention described herein provide a light emitting diode (LED) lighting fixture that is assembled solely using adhesive or other non-mechanical fastening techniques and is thus lightweight and watertight.
A lighting fixture according to embodiments of the invention is thus provided that comprises a support plate, a housing, a circuit board, and a lens. The support plate comprises a first surface and a second surface, and the housing is attached to the first surface of the support plate and is configured to receive a power supply. The circuit board is configured to support a plurality of light emitting diodes, and the circuit board is attached to the second surface of the support plate. The lens is attached to the second surface of the support plate, such that the circuit board and the light emitting diodes supported thereby are disposed between the support plate and the lens. The attachment of each of the housing and the lens to the support plate is accomplished without the use of mechanical fastening, and the attachment of each of the housing and the lens to the support plate provides a watertight lighting fixture. The attachment may, in some cases, be accomplished using adhesive. In some cases, the attachment of the circuit board to the support plate may also be accomplished without the use of mechanical fastening, such as by using adhesive.
In some embodiments, the lighting fixture may further include at least one mounting bracket attached to the support plate, where the at least one mounting bracket is configured to secure the lighting fixture in an operational position, and where attachment of the mounting bracket to the support plate is accomplished without the use of mechanical fastening. In other embodiments, the support plate may define at least one mounting hole, and each mounting hole may be configured to receive a fastener for flush-mounting the lighting fixture to a ceiling.
The support plate may, in some cases, comprise an access opening configured to allow passage of electrical wiring from the power supply to the circuit board. The access opening may be a first access opening, and the support plate may further comprise a second access opening configured to allow passage of the electrical wiring from the power supply to a second lighting fixture, such that the power supply is enabled to provide power to multiple lighting fixtures in series. The power supply may be attached to the first surface of the support plate via adhesive.
The lighting fixture may also include two end caps configured to receive respective ends of the lens. Each end cap may be attached to the second surface of the support plate via adhesive and may be attached to the respective end of the lens via ultrasonic welding, epoxy, or adhesive.
The housing may, in some cases, comprise a U-shaped body and two end plates. Each end plate may be attached to a respective end of the U-shaped body to form an enclosure of the housing, and each end plate may be attached to the respective end of the U-shaped body via adhesive.
In other embodiments, a method of manufacturing a lighting fixture is provided, where the method includes attaching a housing to a first surface of a support plate. The housing may be configured to receive a power supply. Additionally, a plurality of light emitting diodes may be connected to a circuit board, and the circuit board may be attached to a second surface of the support plate. A lens may be attached to the second surface of the support plate, such that the circuit board and the light emitting diodes supported thereby are disposed between the support plate and the lens. The attachment of each of the housing and the lens to the support plate is accomplished without the use of mechanical fastening, and the attachment of each of the housing and the lens to the support plate provides a watertight lighting fixture.
In some cases, the power supply may be attached to the first surface of the support plate prior to attaching the housing to the support plate. Additionally or alternatively, attaching the housing, the circuit board, and the lens to the support plate may comprise applying adhesive strips to adhere each of the housing, the circuit board, and the lens to the support plate.
In some embodiments, at least one mounting bracket may be attached to the support plate, where the at least one mounting bracket is configured to secure the lighting fixture in an operational position, and where attachment of the mounting bracket to the support plate is accomplished without the use of mechanical fastening. In other embodiments, at least one mounting hole may be created in the support plate, where the mounting hole is configured to receive a fastener for flush-mounting the lighting fixture to a ceiling.
In some cases, an access opening may be created in the support plate, where the access opening is configured to allow passage of electrical wiring from the power supply to the circuit board. The access opening may be a first access opening, and the method may further comprise creating a second access opening in the support plate to allow passage of the electrical wiring from the power supply to a second lighting fixture, such that the power supply is enabled to provide power to multiple lighting fixtures. Additionally or alternatively, an end cap may be attached to each end of the lens via ultrasonic welding, epoxy, or adhesive.
Having thus described the disclosure in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:
The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which some but not all embodiments of the inventions are shown. Indeed, these inventions may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to an electronics assembly, and more specifically a solid state lighting system, and the methods and devices used in that assembly to maintain structural integrity and meet certain requirements for specialized applications including use in military applications, such as in submarine environments. Embodiments of the invention, for example, include level particle ingress protection to a degree that renders the assembly watertight at a minimum water depth of 3 feet. As discussed in greater detail below, a number of structurally bonding adhesive strips, cut to various lengths and widths, are used to form a hermetic and structural bond between various components of the lighting fixture. Accordingly, the lighting fixture is put together strictly using non-mechanical fastening techniques, which, in addition to creating a watertight lighting fixture, also minimizes the weight of the lighting fixture.
For example, in conventional lighting fixtures, it is standard practice to use mechanical fasteners of some type to attach components of the lighting fixture, and in particular vertically aligned components, to each other to overcome the tendency of the components to separate due to gravitational forces over time. Use of mechanical fasteners, such as screws, bolts, nuts, rivets, pins, clamps, hooks, and other fasteners, however, increases the weight of the lighting fixture and, in some cases, increases the complexity of manufacture and/or assembly. For example, gaskets or other types of seals may need to be used in conventional lighting fixtures to provide the level of watertightness required for certain specialized applications.
In contrast, embodiments of the invention described herein uses adhesive (e.g., double-sided adhesive tape) that bonds with the separate components of the lighting fixture with sufficient force such that gravity will not affect the bond over the life of the product. In addition to maintaining the components joined to each other, the adhesive creates a watertight barrier where it is applied, thus serving a two-fold purpose.
In addition to the benefits mentioned above, embodiments of the lighting fixture described herein are configured to be scalable. For example, although
To facilitate scalability of the lighting fixture while also providing a watertight structure that uses a material-minimized horizontal frame, the electrical connections between the light engines and the power electronics in the power electronics housing are made according to embodiments of the present invention within an enclosure created between the housing, the support plate, and/or the lens. In this way, embodiments of the present invention create a unique light-weight and environmentally sealed luminaire.
Turning now to
The support plate 10 according to one embodiment is shown in
The various components of the lighting fixture 5 may be attached to the support plate 10 via the first or second surface 12, 14. For example, the housing 15, which may be a power electronics housing that is configured (e.g., sized and shaped) to receive a power supply (not shown), may be attached to the first surface 12 of the support plate 10, as shown in
The housing 15 is shown in
In this regard, the surface energy of the material may be an indication of how well an adhesive will adhere to it. The higher the surface energy, the more likely it is that an adhesive will function properly. As an example, polypropylene (PP) plastic generally has a very low surface energy. Therefore, to effectively adhere something to a PP plastic material, one must typically treat the surface of the material with chemicals or use a flame to increase its surface energy. In comparison, polycarbonate (PC) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) both deliver significantly higher surface energies, so painting or making something stick to materials made of PC or PMMA is significantly easier than it is with PP. When metal is used, the metal must often have primer applied to it to increase the surface energy so as to allow paints to adhere to the surface of the metal.
In some embodiments, each end plate 40, 45 may be attached to the respective end of the U-shaped body 30 using adhesive, such as via adhesive strips. For example, an adhesive sheet 44, 49 may be cut to correspond to each end plate 40, 45 and sandwiched between the end plates and the respective end of the U-shaped body 30 to form the enclosure of the housing 15, as shown in
In addition, adhesive may be used to attach the housing 15 to the first surface 12 of the support plate. For example, four strips 50, 52, 54, 56 may be applied between flanged edges 33, 35 of the U-shaped body 30 and the first surface 12 of the support plate 10, as well as between the flanged edges 43, 47 of the end plates 40, 45, respectively, and the first surface 12 of the support plate 10. In this regard, the adhesive strips or tape may be cut to the appropriate lengths and widths to provide a sufficient area of engagement between the components to be joined. Likewise, the flanged edges 33, 35, 43, 47 may be sized so as to provide an area of engagement that results in an adhesive force capable of holding the respective component to the first surface 12 of the support plate.
With reference to
Turning to
To provide an electrical connection between the power supply housed in the housing 15 and the LEDs 62 on the circuit board 60, an access opening 17 may be provided on the support plate 10 that is configured to allow passage of electrical wiring from the power supply to the circuit board, illustrated in
Although a single access opening 17 is shown in the depicted embodiment, in some embodiments the access opening 17 is a first access opening, and the support plate 10 may further comprise a second access opening, such as at the other end of the support plate, that is configured to allow passage of the electrical wiring from the power supply to a second lighting fixture, such that the power supply is enabled to provide power to multiple lighting fixtures. In this way, additional lighting fixtures (which may not have their own power supply), may be electrically connected to a single lighting fixture having a power supply that is sized large enough to provide sufficient power to operate the connected lighting fixtures. The second access opening may be disposed in a location on the support plate that underlying the housing (e.g., inside the housing profile) to preserve water tightness as described above. In cases in which the second access opening is outside the housing profile, a gasket and/or connector system of sufficient water tightness must be used to allow the wires to leave the housing, pass through the support plate, and be routed to the other lighting fixture(s) without providing a pathway for moisture to enter the system. Either way, in this scenario, the lighting fixtures would be aligned lengthwise, such that connections between adjacent lighting fixtures are made in series.
With reference now to
In this regard, two end caps 72, 74 may be provided that are configured to receive the respective ends of the lens 70. The end caps 72, 74 may, for example, be attached to the respective ends of the lens 70 via epoxy, adhesive, or ultrasonic welding. The lens 70 and/or end caps 72, 74 may be attached to the second surface 14 of the support plate 10 via adhesive, such as via adhesive strips. For example, two adhesive strips 76, 78 may be used to attach flanged lateral edges 71 of the lens 70 to the second surface 14 of the support plate 10, and two adhesive strips 77, 79 may be used to attach engaging edges 75, 73 of the end caps 74, 72, respectively, to the support plate. In the depicted embodiment, for example, the adhesive strips 77, 79 may be configured (e.g., sized and shaped) to adhere both the engaging edges 75, 73 of the end caps 74, 72 as well as a portion of the flanged lateral edge 71 near the respective ends of the lens 70 to the support plate 10 to achieve the assembled configuration shown in
To facilitate installation of the lighting fixture 5 to a surface, such as a wall or ceiling, at least one mounting bracket 25 may be provided, which is attached to the support plate 10, as shown in
In the exploded view of
In the depicted embodiment, the second extension 84 is also configured to have two legs 84a, 84b. Each leg 84a, 84b of the second extension 84 may define an opening 88, which may be configured to receive a fastener therethrough, such as a nail, screw, bolt, etc. The opening 88 may, in some cases, be oblong in shape, such as to form a slot, thereby providing additional tolerance in the positioning of the fastener through the opening to attach to an appropriate location on the structure (e.g., ceiling or wall) to which the lighting fixture is being mounted. Although the second extension 84 is configured to have two legs 84a, 84b in the embodiment shown in
According to the embodiments described above, a lighting fixture may be manufactured in which several of the components, and in some cases all of the components, that make up the lighting fixture are held together without the use of mechanical fasteners. Rather, in embodiments described above, pieces of adhesive tape that are cut to have various sizes and shapes according to the size and shape of the components to be adhered to each other may be used to secure the components in an assembled configuration. In some cases, for example, a high-strength double-sided bonding tape such as 3M™ VHB™ tape may be used. As noted above, the sizing and positioning of the tape between certain components may not only eliminate or reduce the need for conventional mechanical fasteners for those components, but also may also eliminate the need to use a separate gasket or seal between those components. In this regard, the adhesive itself may form the seal, and the resulting lighting fixture may be categorized as an IP (Ingress Protection) 67-rated luminaire, which is dust tight (level 6) and is liquid tight (level 7) up to submersion in 1 meter of water. In addition, adhesive may be used in certain locations that is able to withstand operating temperatures of approximately −40° C.-+70° C. and, in some cases, may facilitate the dispersion of heat from components such as the circuit board and LEDS by acting as a thermal interface and conduit, thereby maximizing the operating life of the lighting fixture.
In some embodiments, a method of manufacturing a lighting fixture is thus provided, in which a housing (e.g., a housing configured to receive a power supply, such as a power electronics housing) is attached to a first surface of a support plate, as described above. A plurality of LEDs may be connected to a circuit board, and the circuit board may be attached to a second surface of the support plate. A lens may be attached to the second surface of the support plate, such that the circuit board and the LEDs supported thereby are disposed between the support plate and the lens. In addition, at least one mounting bracket may be attached to the support plate, where the at least one mounting bracket is configured to secure the lighting fixture in an operational position. The attachment of each of the housing, the lens, and the mounting bracket to the support plate can be accomplished without the use of mechanical fasteners, as described above, and the attachment of each of the housing and the lens to the support plate may provide a watertight fixture. As described above, for example, the housing, the circuit board, the lens, and the at least one mounting bracket may be attached to the support plate by applying adhesive strips to adhere each of the housing, the circuit board, the lens, and the at least one mounting bracket to the support plate.
In some cases, the power supply may be attached to the first surface of the support plate prior to attaching the housing to the support plate. Moreover, in some embodiments, an access opening may be created in the support plate, where the access opening is configured to allow passage of electrical wiring from the power supply to the circuit board. In some cases, the access opening may, for example, be a first access opening, and a second access opening may be created in the support plate to allow passage of electrical wiring from the power supply to a second lighting fixture, such that the power supply is enabled to provide power to multiple lighting fixtures. In addition, in some embodiments, an end cap may be attached to each end of the lens via ultrasonic welding, epoxy, or adhesive.
Embodiments of the lighting fixture 5 described above with reference to
In other embodiments, such as shown in
Embodiments of the lighting fixture 100 of
Furthermore, although the embodiment of
Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which these inventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. For example, although only certain components and configurations (e.g., arrangements of circuit boards/lenses) are shown in the figures and described above, it is understood that additional components may be included for enhancing the functionality and/or improving the performance of the lighting fixture. In the embodiment illustrated in
Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.