JP2013229123A - Forced cooling-type led lighting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a forced cooling-type LED lighting device capable of preventing breaking of a cooling fan due to strong window outdoors, while suppressing its temperature rise by forced cooling of a light source unit.SOLUTION: In a forced cooling-type LED lighting device 1, a light source unit 3 having an LED 8 as a light source and a cooling fan 4 are housed in a housing 2 with an air intake port 5 and an exhaust port 6 formed, and the light source unit 3 is cooled by passing, through the light source unit 3, outside air sucked by the cooling fan 4 into the housing 2 from the intake port 5 and exhausting it from the exhaust port 6 to the outside of the housing 2. The exhaust port 6 which opens in the vicinity of the cooling fan 4 is constructed of a plurality of fan-shaped louvers 6a having the center of rotation of the cooling fan 4 as a center of the fans, and a shape and an opening direction of each louver 6a are configured so that air flowing in from the louver 6a may flow parallel to the blades 4a of the cooling fan 4.

Description

  The present invention relates to a forced-cooling type LED lighting device in which a light source unit and a cooling fan are housed in a housing.

  In recent years, lighting devices such as vehicular headlamps and outdoor lighting lamps, which use large-intensity lamps such as xenon lamps and sodium lamps as light sources, use LEDs (light-emitting diodes) with long life and low power consumption as light sources. As a result, there is a need for higher output for LED lighting devices using LEDs as light sources.

  By the way, currently popular xenon lamps have a large output of about 200 W to 2000 W, and the power input to the LED lighting device as a substitute for this tends to increase. Recently, the power input to one LED lighting device is increasing. The thing whose electric power exceeds 200W has been developed.

  Since the amount of heat generated by the LED light source unit increases as the power of the LED lighting device increases, the LED light source whose life and output change depending on the temperature can be stably driven at a lower temperature. Cooling structure is an important development issue.

  As a cooling structure of an LED lighting device, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses that a light source unit using an LED as a light source and a cooling fan are disposed in a housing at a predetermined distance to form a space portion therebetween, and air is sucked into the housing. An outlet and an exhaust port are formed in a direction perpendicular to the axis, and the cooling air sucked into the housing from the intake port by the cooling fan flows along the inner surface of the housing and passes through the space portion to pass through the housing from the exhaust port. A configuration for discharging to the outside has been proposed. According to this cooling structure, since the light source unit is forcibly air-cooled by the cooling air flowing through the space in the housing, the temperature rise of the light source unit can be suppressed.

JP 2010-251116 A

  However, in the cooling structure proposed in Patent Document 1, since the exhaust port of the housing is always open, particularly in an LED lighting device installed outdoors, the housing starts from the exhaust port when subjected to strong winds. Since the wind flows in and the wind directly hits the cooling fan located near the exhaust port in the housing, the rotation of the cooling fan exceeds the drive limit, or conversely, the cooling fan has a load in the reverse rotation direction. As a result, the cooling fan may be destroyed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its intended process is forced cooling that can prevent the cooling fan from being destroyed by strong outdoor winds while forcibly cooling the light source unit to suppress the temperature rise. It is providing a type LED lighting device.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, a light source unit having an LED as a light source and a cooling fan are accommodated in a housing in which an intake port and an exhaust port are formed, and the cooling fan separates the intake port from the intake port. In the forced cooling type LED lighting device that cools the light source unit by passing outside air sucked into the housing through the light source unit and exhausting it from the exhaust port to the outside of the housing, in the vicinity of the cooling fan The air intake port or the air exhaust port that is opened is composed of a plurality of fan-shaped louvers that are centered on the rotation center of the cooling fan, and the wind that flows from the louver is in the shape and opening direction of each louver. It is set so that it may flow along in parallel.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a water cooling unit including the cooling fan, a water cooling jacket, a radiator, and a circulation pump is provided.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the forced cooling LED lighting device installed outdoors receives a strong wind, it flows into the housing from the louver of the intake port or the exhaust port that opens near the cooling fan. Since the wind flows in parallel along the cooling fan blades, the effect of the wind on the cooling fan rotation is negligible, and the cooling fan rotation exceeds the drive limit or the cooling fan is subjected to a reverse rotation direction load. The cooling fan can be prevented from being broken by being hooked. And when the said forced cooling type LED illuminating device does not receive a strong wind, since external air flows normally in a housing with a cooling fan, a light source unit is forcedly air-cooled by this external air, and the temperature rise is suppressed.

  According to the second aspect of the invention, the light source unit in the housing is forcibly water-cooled by the water cooling unit in addition to the forced air cooling by the cooling fan. It can be suppressed.

It is a perspective view of the forced cooling type LED lighting apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the forced cooling type LED illuminating device which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a disassembled perspective view of the forced cooling type LED lighting apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a typical longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the flow of the external air at the time of the normal time of the forced-cooling type LED lighting apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a typical longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the flow of external air when the forced cooling type LED lighting apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention receives a strong wind. It is a perspective view of the forced cooling type LED lighting apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the forced cooling type LED lighting apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a disassembled perspective view of the forced cooling type LED lighting apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a basic block diagram of the water cooling unit of the forced cooling type LED lighting apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<Embodiment 1>
1 is a perspective view of a forced cooling LED lighting device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the forced cooling LED lighting device, and FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the forced cooling LED lighting device. The forced cooling LED lighting device 1 according to the present embodiment is configured by incorporating a light source unit 3 and a cooling fan 4 inside a rectangular box-shaped housing 2. In the following description, the upper and lower sides of the forced cooling LED lighting device 1 are in the state shown in FIG. 1, and the forced cooling LED lighting device 1 is not necessarily installed in the state shown in FIG. Absent.

  The housing 2 is made of a resin such as PC or a metal such as aluminum. As shown in FIG. 1, air intakes 5 each made up of a plurality of slit-like louvers 5 a that are long in the lateral direction are provided on the peripheral surface thereof. On the upper surface that is formed and is perpendicular to the intake port 5, that is, the end surface in the direction opposite to the light emission direction from the light source unit 3 (downward in FIG. 1) (upward in FIG. 1), An exhaust port 6 comprising a plurality of fan-shaped louvers 6 a centering on the rotation center of the cooling fan 4 is formed.

  Here, FIG. 4 shows the flow of outside air during normal operation (when no strong wind is received) of the forced cooling LED lighting device 1, and FIG. 5 shows the outside air when the forced cooling LED lighting device 1 receives strong wind. The flow and the direction of each louver 6a of the exhaust port 6 formed in the housing 2 are shown in FIG. 5 when the forced cooling LED lighting device 1 receives strong wind. As indicated by the arrows, the wind flowing from the louver 6a into the housing 2 in the direction opposite to the exhaust direction is set to flow in parallel along the blades 4a of the cooling fan 4.

  The lower surface of the housing 2 has an opening, and the light source unit 3 is fitted and fixed in the opening. Note that the heat generated in the light source unit 3 can be efficiently dissipated through the housing 2 by fixing the housing 2 in close contact with the light source unit 3 or by configuring the housing 2 with a metal or high thermal conductive resin. it can.

  The light source unit 3 includes a rectangular metal substrate 9 on which an LED 8 (see FIG. 2) as a light source is mounted, a rectangular plate-like base 10 to which the metal substrate 9 is attached, a metal heat sink 11 for heat dissipation, A transparent resin inner lens 12 that optically controls light emitted from the LED 8 and a rectangular plate-shaped transparent resin outer lens 13 that is fitted into the lower surface opening of the housing 2 are configured. In FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, cables and connectors necessary for power supply are not shown.

  By the way, in the present embodiment, 25 LEDs 8 are mounted on a single metal substrate 9 in a 5 × 5 matrix, but the number of LEDs 8 to be mounted is arbitrary. Moreover, the metal substrate 9 does not need to be one, and a plurality of divided metal substrates can be used if necessary. Furthermore, the heat sink 11 for heat dissipation may be configured integrally with the base 10.

  The metal substrate 9 is fixed to the base 10 with screws through the heat conductive sheet 14. The base 10 is in close contact with the heat receiving surface of the heat sink 11 via a rectangular heat conductive sheet 15. The heat conductive sheets 14 and 15 are made of silicon or the like having high electrical insulation and high thermal conductivity.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the cooling fan 4 is arranged at a location near the exhaust port 6 above the heat sink 11 in the housing 2.

  Next, the operation of the forced cooling LED lighting device 1 configured as described above will be described.

  When the forced cooling type LED lighting device 1 is activated and power is supplied to the light source unit 3 and the cooling fan 4, a plurality (25 in this embodiment) of the light source unit 3 emits light 8, and the light is After being optically controlled by passing through the inner lens 12 and the outer lens 13, the lower part is illuminated by being irradiated downward in FIG. At this time, the lighting control of the light source unit 3 is performed by an external power supply unit (not shown).

  By the way, while the forced cooling LED lighting device 1 is being driven, the LED 8 of the light source unit 3 generates heat, and the light source unit 3 is overheated and the temperature rises as it is, but in this embodiment, the cooling fan 4 The light source unit 3 is forcibly air-cooled by the outside air introduced into the housing 2, and the temperature rise is suppressed.

  That is, when the forced cooling LED lighting device 1 is installed outdoors, the cooling fan 4 causes the outside air to be indicated by an arrow in FIG. 4 during normal times when the forced cooling LED lighting device 1 does not receive strong wind. The outside air is introduced into the housing 2 from the intake port 5, and the outside air cools the light source unit 3 in the process of flowing upward in the housing 2 toward the exhaust port 6. At this time, the heat from the light source unit 3 is conducted to the heat sink 11, and the heat from the heat sink 11 is promoted by the outside air passing through the heat sink 11. The temperature rise is suppressed to a certain value or less.

  Then, the outside air whose temperature has risen due to the cooling of the light source unit 3 passes through the exhaust port 6 and is discharged out of the housing 2 as shown by the arrows in FIG. As a result, the light source unit 3 is forcibly air-cooled and the temperature rise is suppressed.

  However, when the forced cooling LED lighting device 1 installed outdoors receives a strong wind, the wind flows from the exhaust port 6 of the housing 2 in the direction opposite to the exhaust direction as indicated by an arrow in FIG. However, since the shape and opening direction of each louver 6a of the exhaust port 6 is set as described above, the wind flowing from the louver 6a into the housing 2 in the direction opposite to the exhaust direction is a cooling fan. It flows in parallel along the four blades 4a. For this reason, the influence of the backflow of air in the housing 2 on the rotation of the cooling fan 4 is minor, and the rotation of the cooling fan 4 exceeds the drive limit or a load in the reverse rotation direction is applied to the cooling fan 4. This prevents the cooling fan 4 from being destroyed.

  As described above, according to the forced cooling type LED lighting apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the light source unit 3 is forcibly cooled by the outside air to suppress the temperature rise, and the cooling fan 4 is destroyed by strong outdoor wind. The effect that it can prevent is acquired.

  In the present embodiment, the wind that flows into the housing 2 from the louver 6a in the direction opposite to the exhaust direction from the louver 6a in the shape and opening direction of each louver 6a of the exhaust port 6 of the housing 2 is applied to the blades 4a of the cooling fan 4. However, when the cooling fan 4 is arranged in the vicinity of the intake port 5, the shape and the opening direction of each louver 5a of the intake port 5 are set in the same manner as described above. The effect is obtained.

<Embodiment 2>
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  6 is a perspective view of the forced cooling LED lighting device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention, FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of the forced cooling LED lighting device, and FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the forced cooling LED lighting device. FIG. 9 is a basic configuration diagram of a water cooling unit of the forced cooling LED lighting device.

  The forced cooling LED lighting device 1 ′ according to the present embodiment is obtained by adding a water cooling unit 19 to the forced cooling LED lighting device 1 according to the first embodiment, and the other configuration is the first embodiment. 6 to 9, the same elements as those shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and hereinafter, The description will not be repeated.

  Also in the forced cooling LED lighting device 1 ′ according to the present embodiment, the shape and opening direction of each louver 6a of the exhaust port 6 formed on the upper surface of the housing 2 is opposite to the exhaust direction from the louver 6a. The air flowing into the housing 2 is set to flow in parallel along the blades 4 a of the cooling fan 4. In addition to the light source unit 3 and the cooling fan 4, a water cooling unit 19 is incorporated in the housing 2. Yes.

  The water cooling unit 19 includes a water cooling jacket 20 that is a heat exchange device, a radiator 21 that cools the cooling water that has received heat in the water cooling jacket 20 and has increased in temperature by heat exchange with outside air (cooling air), and the radiator. The cooling fan 4 that supplies the outside air 21, the circulation pump 22 that circulates the cooling water in the closed loop circulation path, and the reserve tank 23 that stores the cooling water are provided. The cooling fan 4 is opposed to the radiator 21. It is arrange | positioned in the vicinity of the exhaust port 6 above.

  The water-cooling jacket 20 is formed in a hollow rectangular plate shape, and is disposed horizontally at the lower part in the housing 2 as shown in FIG. A cooling water passage is formed inside the water cooling jacket 20, and the cooling water cooled by heat exchange with the outside air in the radiator 21 is disposed on one end of the water cooling jacket 20 as shown in FIG. 7. And an outlet pipe 25 that discharges cooling water that has received heat in the water-cooling jacket 20 and has risen in temperature.

  Thus, the light source unit 3 is arranged on the lower surface side of the water cooling jacket 20, and the base 10 of the light source unit 3 is in close contact with the lower surface of the water cooling jacket 20 via the rectangular heat conductive sheet 15. In addition, the antifreezing liquid which mixes propylene glycol with water is used for cooling water.

  On the other hand, the radiator 21 and the cooling fan 4 are disposed in the vicinity of the upper exhaust port 6 that is separated from the water cooling jacket 20 in the housing 2 by a predetermined distance. The circulation pump 22 and the reserve tank 23 are disposed between the water cooling jacket 20 and the radiator 21 in the vertical direction. Specifically, a gate-shaped chassis 26 is erected on the water cooling jacket 20, and a circulation pump 22 and a reserve tank 23 are disposed on the chassis 26.

  By the way, as shown in FIG. 7, a pipe (rubber hose) 27 rising upward from the outlet pipe 25 of the water cooling jacket 20 is connected to an inlet pipe 28 of the radiator 21, and a pipe (rubber hose) extending from the outlet pipe 29 of the radiator 21. ) 30 extends downward and is bent at a substantially right angle to be connected to the suction side of the circulation pump 22. A pipe (rubber hose) 31 shown in FIG. 9 extending from the discharge side of the circulation pump 22 is connected to the inlet side of the reserve tank 23, and a pipe (rubber hose) 32 extending from the outlet side of the reserve tank 23 (see FIG. 9). ) Is connected to the inlet pipe 24 of the water cooling jacket 20 as shown in FIGS. As described above, the water cooling jacket 20, the radiator 21, the circulation pump 22, and the reserve tank 23 are connected by the pipes (rubber hoses) 27 and 30 to 32 to form a circulation path that forms a closed loop. Circulation provides the required cooling action.

  Thus, when the forced cooling type LED lighting device 1 ′ configured as described above is activated and power is supplied to the light source unit 3 and the water cooling unit 19, a plurality of light source units 3 (25 in this embodiment) are provided. LED 8 emits light, and the light passes through the inner lens 12 and the outer lens 13 and is optically controlled, and then irradiated downward to illuminate the lower part. At this time, the lighting control of the light source unit 3 is performed by an external power supply unit (not shown).

  By the way, during the driving of the forced cooling type LED lighting device 1 ′, the LED 8 of the light source unit 3 generates heat, and the light source unit 3 is overheated as it is and its temperature rises. However, in this embodiment, the cooling fan 4 Thus, the light source unit 3 is forcibly air-cooled by the outside air introduced into the housing 2, and the light source unit 3 is forcibly water-cooled by the water cooling jacket 20. Hereinafter, forced cooling of the light source unit 3 by the water cooling unit 19 will be described.

  The cooling water circulated through the circulation path by the circulation pump 22 of the water cooling unit 19 receives heat generated by the light source unit 3 in the water cooling jacket 20 to cool the light source unit 3, and the cooling water whose temperature is increased by the heat reception is It is introduced into the radiator 21 through the pipe 27.

  On the other hand, when the cooling fan 4 is rotationally driven by a motor (not shown), the outside air is sucked from the side of the housing 2 as cooling air from the intake port 5 formed in the peripheral surface of the housing 2, and this outside air is supplied to the radiator. 21 is discharged from the exhaust port 6 to the outside of the housing 2. In the radiator 21, the heat of the cooling water is radiated to the outside by the outside air passing through the radiator 21 to cool the cooling water, and the cooling water whose temperature has decreased is sucked into the circulation pump 22 through the pipe 30. .

  The cooling water sucked into the circulation pump 22 is boosted and then sent out from the circulation pump 22 through the pipe 31 to the reserve tank 23, a part of which is stored in the reserve tank 23, and the remaining cooling water is reserved. The light source unit 3 is cooled by being introduced from the tank 23 through the pipe 32 to the water cooling jacket 20. Then, the above action (cooling cycle) is continuously repeated, and the light source unit 3 is forcibly cooled by the cooling water flowing through the water cooling jacket 20, and the temperature rise is suppressed to a certain value or less, and the housing 2 The forced air cooling is performed by the passing outside air, and the temperature rise is suppressed.

  Thus, also in the forced cooling LED lighting device 1 ′ according to the present embodiment, the shape and the opening direction of each louver 6 a of the exhaust port 6 formed on the upper surface of the housing 2 are the exhaust direction from the louver 6 a. Since the air flowing into the housing 2 in the opposite direction is set so as to flow in parallel along the blades 4a of the cooling fan 4, the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained. Then, since the light source unit 3 in the housing 2 is forcibly water-cooled by the water cooling unit 19 in addition to the forced air cooling by the cooling fan 4, the light source unit 3 is further effectively cooled and its temperature rise is suppressed. An effect is obtained.

  Also in the present embodiment, the wind flowing into the housing 2 from the louvers 6a in the shape and opening direction of each louver 6a of the exhaust port 6 of the housing 2 in the direction opposite to the exhaust direction is the blade 4a of the cooling fan 4. However, if the cooling fan 4 is arranged in the vicinity of the intake port 5, the shape and opening direction of each louver 5a of the intake port 5 can be set in the same manner as described above. Similar effects can be obtained.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,1 'Force cooling type | mold LED lighting apparatus 2 Housing 3 Light source unit 4 Cooling fan 4a Cooling fan blade 5 Inlet 5a Inlet louver 6 Exhaust 6a Exhaust louver 8 LED
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 9 Metal substrate 10 Base 11 Heat sink 12 Inner lens 13 Outer lens 14,15 Thermal conductive sheet 19 Water cooling unit 20 Water cooling jacket 21 Radiator 22 Circulation pump 23 Reserve tank 24 Inlet pipe 25 Outlet pipe 26 Chassis 27 Piping (rubber hose)
28 Inlet pipe 29 Outlet pipe 30-32 Piping (rubber hose)

Claims (2)

A light source unit having an LED as a light source and a cooling fan are accommodated in a housing in which an air inlet and an air outlet are formed. In the forced cooling type LED lighting device that cools the light source unit by discharging it from the exhaust port to the outside of the housing,
The intake port or the exhaust port that opens in the vicinity of the cooling fan is configured by a plurality of fan-shaped louvers centered on the rotation center of the cooling fan, and the shape and opening direction of each louver are Is set so as to flow in parallel along the blades of the cooling fan. The forced cooling LED lighting device according to claim 1, wherein a water cooling unit including the cooling fan, a water cooling jacket, a radiator, and a circulation pump is provided.

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