WO2013171278A1

WO2013171278A1 - Lens array and illuminating device comprising the lens array

Info

Publication number: WO2013171278A1
Application number: PCT/EP2013/060085
Authority: WO
Inventors: Tingming LIU; Aiai Li; Peng Chen; Zhijun OU
Original assignee: Osram Gmbh
Priority date: 2012-05-16
Filing date: 2013-05-15
Publication date: 2013-11-21
Also published as: CN103423700A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a lens array (100), characterized by comprising a first lens unit (10) and a second lens unit (20), wherein the first lens unit (10) comprises a first substrate (11) and at least one first lens body (12) arranged on the first substrate (11), and the second lens unit (20) comprises a second substrate (21) and at least one second lens body (22) arranged on the second substrate (21), and wherein the first substrate (11) and the second substrate (21) are removably nested together. In addition, the present invention further relates to an illuminating device comprising such lens array.

Description

Lens Array and Illuminating Device Comprising the Lens Array Technical Field

The present invention relates to a lens array and an illumi^¬ nating device comprising the lens array.

Background Art

Lenses are widely used in current illuminating devices. A lens is usually covered by or mounted on a light source, e.g. especially on a large-power light source LED, so as to im^¬ prove the illuminating effect and to realize good light dis^¬ tribution. Light from the light source can be softly and uni^¬ formly emitted by using a plurality of lenses, especially a lens array, in indoor illuminating devices such as in depart^¬ ment stores, homes or offices; in an indoor illuminating de^¬ vice used in, for instance, street lamps, the uniformity of the light distribution also can be improved and the optical efficiency of the illuminating device can be enhanced. In the current illuminating devices such as MR 16, AR 111 and PAR illuminating devices, different requirements are put for^¬ ward on the number of the light sources. Thus, for the sake of one-to-one correspondence in numbers of the light sources and the lenses, different lens arrays should be molded batch- edly or targetedly for light sources in different numbers, and these lens arrays are formed by lenses in different num^¬ bers, respectively. For instance, for an MR16 illuminating device in need of three groups of light sources, the lens ar^¬ ray covering over the light sources has three cup-shaped lens bodies circumferentially uniformly distributed. Such lens can be called "3-in-l" lens array. And there is also common "11- in-1" lens array similar to such lens array. During a manu^¬ facturing process, different nonuniversal molds should be provided for these lens arrays, as a result, the manufactur- ing cost of the illuminating device is greatly increased.

Moreover, the manufacturing tolerance may be increased as the molds used are not uniform.

Summary of the Invention

Therefore, one object of the present invention lies in pro- viding a lens array that is easily manufactured and has a low cost and strong universality. Users might adjust the number of lens bodies in the lens array according to application re^¬ quirements and combine the lens bodies in the aspect of structure to improve the freedom degree of configuration of the lens array.

The lens array in accordance with the present invention com^¬ prises a first lens unit and a second lens unit, wherein the first lens unit comprises a first substrate and at least one first lens body arranged on the first substrate, and the sec- ond lens unit comprises a second substrate and at least one second lens body arranged on the second substrate, and wherein the first substrate and the second substrate are re^¬ movably nested together.

The concept of the present invention lies in, changing the conventional lens array design of integrally manufacturing a lens array of lens bodies from a plurality of independent lens bodies through an injection molding process, forming an entirety by assembling two or more groups of lens units with different sizes in a combination manner so as to form a novel lens array meeting illumination requirements. Specifically, a first lens unit is taken as a main body or a core of the lens array, a corresponding second lens unit is nested around the first lens unit to increase the number of the lens bodies and to adjust the light distribution effect of the lens array. The nested first and second lens units further can be used integrally as a new group of first lens unit, around which a second group of lens unit can be nested continuously. A plu^¬ rality of groups of lens units, in such nesting manner layer by layer, can be unlimitedly combined into a joint lens ar- ray. The lens units can be arbitrarily combined in such nest^¬ ing manner, and different forms of lens arrays, e.g. 3-in- one, 11-in-one lens arrays, can be formed by choosing lens units of lens bodies in different numbers. Such arbitrarily combined lens arrays can be widely adapted to various illumi- nating devices and has strong universality. Compared with the molds of the all-in-one lens unit in the prior art, the mold of the substrate is merely manufactured at a low cost, which further reduces the manufacturing consumption of the lens units. And compared with the molds of the all-in-one lens ar- ray in the prior art, the mold of the present invention is manufactured more easily because, as mentioned above, the lens array has a very high requirement on preciseness of the mold, which causes it quite hard to manufacture region of the mold of the lens unit for the lens body. In addition, as the lens array can be assembled and removed, when part of the lens bodies is damaged, only corresponding lens unit needs to be replaced, which greatly reduces the maintenance cost of the lens array.

In accordance with one preferred solution of the present in- vention, the first substrate has a first adjoining part, the second substrate has a second adjoining part defining a hol^¬ low region, and the first substrate is arranged in the hollow region and the first adjoining part and the second adjoining part are removably connected. The size of the hollow region is corresponding to that of the first substrate so that the first adjoining part can be engaged with fitted shapes.

In accordance with one preferred solution of the present in- vention, the first adjoining part comprises a first pressing part formed in an outer edge area of the first substrate, and the second adjoining part comprises a second bearing part formed in an inner edge area of the second substrate. When the first lens unit and the second lens unit are engaged, a pressure is applied on the first lens unit towards the second lens unit, at which time, the first lens unit applies a pres^¬ sure, through the first pressing part in the outer edge re^¬ gion thereof, on the second bearing part of the second lens unit in the inner edge region, as a result, the second lens unit is also applied with a pressure by the first lens unit so as to, for instance, simultaneously fix the two together or to fix the same on other positions.

In accordance with another preferred solution of the present invention, the first pressing part is formed on one side of the first substrate, the second bearing part is formed on the other side of the second substrate facing to the one side. When the first lens unit and the second lens unit are en^¬ gaged, the first substrate and the second substrate have com^¬ mon upper surface and common lower surface, wherein the upper surface can be used as light emergent surface of the lens ar^¬ ray, and the lower surface can be used for arranging respec^¬ tive lens bodies. The first pressing part, starting from the outer edge area of the first substrate, extends from the lower surface to the upper surface, such that an area of the lower surface of the first substrate is less than that of the upper surface thereof. On the contrary, the second bearing part, starting from the inner edge area of the second sub- _n

5

strate, extends from the lower surface to the upper surface such that an area of the upper surface of the second sub^¬ strate is less than that of the lower surface thereof. In the cross section, the first pressing part and the second bearing part can have a linear or curved trend.

In accordance with another preferred solution of the present invention, the first substrate comprises, on the one side, a bottom surface for arranging the first lens bodies, and a first surface recessed with respect to the bottom surface so as to form the first pressing part, and the second substrate comprises, on the other side, a top surface and a second sur^¬ face, recessed with respect to the top surface, so as to form the second bearing part. Accordingly, the first pressing part in the cross section can have a curved trend. The second bearing part also correspondingly has a curved trend matching the shape of the first pressing part.

In accordance with one preferred solution of the present in^¬ vention, the first pressing part and the second bearing part each have a stepped profile matching each other. In order to increase an acting surface of force between the first and the second lens units, a contact area between the first pressing part and the second bearing part can be increased, therefore, two contact surfaces can be particularly configured to have stepped profiles, respectively. In accordance with one preferred solution of the present in^¬ vention, the stepped profile of the first pressing part com^¬ prises a pressing surface parallel to the bottom surface and a vertical surface connecting the bottom surface and the pressing surface, and the stepped profile of the second bear- ing part comprises a bearing surface parallel to the top sur^¬ face and a vertical surface connecting the top surface and the bearing surface. As a result, a pressure on the first lens unit can be assured to be applied vertically on the sec^¬ ond lens unit so that the first and the second lens units are closely pressed against each other in a vertical direction. In accordance with one preferred solution of the present in^¬ vention, the second substrate further comprises a third pressing part formed on the one side of the second substrate where the second lens bodies are arranged. The third pressing part has a structure similar to that of the first pressing part of the first lens unit, for further assembling with other lens units nesting the second lens unit therein.

In accordance with one preferred solution of the present in^¬ vention, the lens array further comprises a third lens unit that has a third bearing part and a fourth pressing part cor- respond to the second bearing part and the third pressing part, respectively. Since the third lens unit has inner edge and outer edge configured corresponding to the second lens unit, the second lens unit can be removably nested in the third lens unit to form an expandable structure. In accordance with one preferred solution of the present in^¬ vention, the first substrate comprises a first stop mechanism formed in the outer edge area of the first substrate and the second substrate comprises a second stop mechanism formed in the inner edge area of the second substrate. As a result, the first and the second lens units can be assured to be fixed at position circumferentially, which is favorable for obtaining fixed light distribution effect.

In accordance with one preferred solution of the present in^¬ vention, the first stop mechanism is a plurality of

hooks/grooves formed on the first pressing part and the sec- ond stop mechanism is a plurality of grooves/hooks formed on the second bearing part. The first and the second stop mecha^¬ nisms also can be configured as other suitable mechanical fixed mechanism, e.g. projections and corresponding clamping parts.

In accordance with one preferred solution of the present in^¬ vention, at least one fixing part extending parallel to an optical axis of respective first lens body is formed on the bottom surface. By means of the fixing part, a pressure per- pendicular to the first substrate can be applied on the first lens bodies, so that the first lens bodies, and further the second lens bodies nested therewith, are fixed, for instance, in the illuminating device or on the light sources.

In accordance with one preferred solution of the present in- vention, the first lens bodies and the first substrate are made in one piece, and the second lens bodies and the second substrate are made in one piece. In this situation, the lens bodies and substrates thereof are made from the same mate^¬ rial, which greatly simplifies the manufacturing process of the lens units.

In accordance with another preferred solution of the present invention, the first substrate and the second substrate are opened with a plurality of mounting holes, respectively, into which the first lens bodies and the second lens bodies are mounted, respectively. In this situation, different materials can be chosen to manufacture the lens bodies and the sub^¬ strates, respectively, and the freedom degree of material se^¬ lection is improved. In addition, the lens array in accordance with the present invention has good consistency. In accordance with one preferred solution of the present in- vention, the first substrate is configured to be circular, the first lens bodies are uniformly distributed on the first substrate; and the second substrate is configured to be a circular ring, and the second lens bodies are uniformly dis- tributed on the second substrate. The lens array thus formed is uniformly symmetrical, and particularly suited to widely used MR16, AR111 and PAR illuminating devices.

In accordance with one preferred solution of the present in^¬ vention, the number of the first lens bodies is less than that of the second lens bodies. Therefore, the first lens bodies are arranged in center of the lens array, and the sec^¬ ond lens bodies of a large number are arranged uniformly around the first lens bodies in the center.

Preferably, the first substrate and the second substrate have the same thickness. Thus, the lens array can be mounted flatly in the illuminating device, for instance.

In accordance with one preferred solution of the present in^¬ vention, the first substrate and the second substrate are nested such that the first substrate and the second substrate are located in the same plane. The first substrate is ar^¬ ranged with a plurality of the first lens bodies at one side, and the second substrate is arranged with a plurality of the second lens bodies at same side as the one side. Thus, an as^¬ sembly of the first and second lens units can be assured to have a common substrate, as a result, a new "first lens unit" can be formed to be assembled again with another second lens unit in the nesting manner.

In addition, the present invention further relates to an illuminating device, comprising a plurality of light sources, characterized by further comprising the lens array mentioned above, wherein the first lens bodies and the second lens bod^¬ ies in the lens array cover corresponding light sources, re^¬ spectively. Such illuminating device has a low manufacturing cost and good light distribution effect. Brief Description of the Drawings

The accompanying drawings constitute a part of the present Description and are used to provide further understanding of the present invention. Such accompanying drawings illustrate the embodiments of the present invention and are used to de- scribe the principles of the present invention together with the Description. In the accompanying drawings the same compo^¬ nents are represented by the same reference numbers. As shown in the drawings :

Fig. 1 is a 3D exploded view of a first embodiment of a lens array in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a 3D exploded sectional view of a first lens unit as shown in Fig. 1 ;

Fig. 3 is a 3D exploded sectional view of a second lens unit as shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 shows a substrate of the lens array of a second em^¬ bodiment according to the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Embodiments

In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. In this regard, direc- tional terminology, such as "top", "bottom", "inner",

"outer", is used in reference to the orientation of the fig^¬ ures being described. Because components of embodiments of the present invention can be positioned in a number of dif- ferent orientations, the directional terminology is used for purposes of illustration and is in no way limiting. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural or logical changes may made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The following detailed description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims.

It is to be understood that the features of the various exem^¬ plary embodiments described herein may be combined with each other, unless specifically noted otherwise

Fig. 1 is a 3D exploded view of a first embodiment of a lens array in accordance with the present invention. In the pre^¬ sent embodiment, the lens array 100 is formed by nesting a circular first lens unit 10 and an annular second lens unit 20. The first lens unit 10 comprises a first substrate 11 and three first lens bodies 12 uniformly distributed on the first substrate 11, and the second lens unit 20 comprises a second substrate 21 and eight lens bodies 22 uniformly distributed on the second substrate 21. The first lens unit 10 is remova- bly mounted together with the second lens unit 20 to further form a new "first lens unit" for further assembling with other lens units configured to be similar to the second lens unit 20. Different lens arrays 100 having different sizes or light distribution effects can be formed by assembling a plu- rality of lens units in a nesting manner layer by layer, for meeting requirements of different illuminating devices. Thus, such lens array 100 has a high freedom degree of configura- tion, moreover, when one lens unit thereof is damaged, it can be flexibly and easily replaced without the need of replacing the whole lens array. Besides, universal molds can be used to manufacture the lens units, thus reducing the manufacturing cost of the whole lens array 100 and rendering consistency thereof .

In order to enable the lens array 100 formed by nesting the first lens unit 10 and the second lens unit 20 to have a flat light emergent surface, the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 21 preferably can be located on the same horizontal plane, i.e. in the present embodiment, the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 21 preferably have the same thick^¬ ness. That is to say, upper surfaces of the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 21 jointly form an upper surface of the lens array 100, lower surfaces of the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 21 jointly form a bottom surface of the lens array 100, wherein the first lens bodies 12 and the second lens bodies 22 are fixed on sides A as the lower surfaces. The number of the first lens bodies 12 is less than that of the second lens bodies 22.

As shown in Fig. 1, the first substrate 11 has a first ad^¬ joining part 13 located on outer circumferential edge, the second substrate 21 has a second adjoining part 23 located on inner circumferential edge, and the second adjoining part 23 defines a hollow region R for accommodating the first substrate 11. In a nested state, a vertical pressure towards the second substrate 21 can be applied on the first substrate 11 so as to make the first lens unit 100 press against the sec^¬ ond lens unit 20 in a direction along which the pressure is applied. Three fixing parts 19, extending parallel to an op^¬ tical axis of respective first lens body 12, are arranged on the one side A of the first substrate 11. By means of the fixing parts 19, the first lens unit 10 can be pressed against the second lens unit 20 and they are fixed as an in^¬ tegral lens array 100 on a preset mounting position, for in^¬ stance, in an illuminating device. Moreover, in order to assure the first lens unit 10 and the second lens unit 20 to be fixed at positions circumferen- tially with respect to each other, the two are locked par^¬ ticularly by a first stop mechanism 18 formed in the outer edge area of the first substrate 11 and a second stop mecha- nism 29 formed in the inner edge area of the second substrate 21. In the present embodiment, the first stop mechanism 18 is hooks and the second stop mechanism 29 is grooves.

In one embodiment not shown, other suitable stop mechanisms also can be used to replace the hook/groove mechanisms. Fig. 2 is a 3D exploded sectional view of a first lens unit as shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a 3D exploded sectional view of a second lens unit as shown in Fig. 1. In reference to Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, it can be seen that the first adjoining part 13 comprises a first pressing part 14 formed in the outer edge area of the first substrate 11, and the second ad^¬ joining part 23 correspondingly comprises a second bearing part 24 formed in the inner edge area of the second substrate 21.

The first pressing part 14 and the second bearing part 24 each have a stepped profile matching each other. In Fig. 2, the first pressing part 14 is formed on the one side A of the first substrate 11. The stepped profile of the first pressing part 14 comprises a pressing surface 16 parallel to the bot^¬ tom surface 15 and a vertical surface 17 connecting the bot- torn surface 15 and the pressing surface 16, wherein the pressing surface 16 and the vertical surface 17 connected therewith form a surface recessed with respect to the bottom surface 15. In Fig. 3, the second bearing part 24 is formed on the other side B of the second substrate 21 as the upper surface, and the stepped profile of the second bearing part 24 completely matches various contact surfaces of the stepped profile as shown in Fig. 2, i.e. the stepped profile of the second bearing part 24 comprises a bearing surface 26 paral^¬ lel to the top surface 25 and a vertical surface 27 connect- ing the top surface 25 and the bearing surface 26, wherein the bearing surface 26 and the vertical surface 27 connected therewith form a surface recessed with respect to the top surface 25.

Besides, it can be seen from Fig. 3 that the second substrate 21 further comprises a third pressing part 28 having a pro^¬ file similar to that of the first pressing part 14. The sec^¬ ond lens unit 20, through the third pressing part formed on an edge of the bottom surface thereof, can be assembled with other similar lens units in a nesting manner. A third stop mechanism 30 is correspondingly formed on the third pressing part 28.

In the present embodiment, the first lens bodies 12 and the first substrate 11 are made in one piece, and the second lens bodies 22 and the second substrate 21 are made in one piece. Fig. 4 shows a substrate of the lens array of a second em^¬ bodiment according to the present invention. The first sub^¬ strate 11 and the second substrate 21 are opened with a plu^¬ rality of mounting holes C, respectively, the first lens bod^¬ ies 12 and the second lens bodies 22 (not shown) are made by the same mold and mounted in the mounting holes C, respec^¬ tively. Such lens array 100 has good consistency. In this situation, different materials also can be chosen to manufac^¬ ture the lens bodies and the substrates, improving the free^¬ dom degree of material selection.

In embodiments not shown, a third lens unit can nest therein the lens array 100 formed by assembling the first and the second lens units 10, 20 to form a new lens array with a big^¬ ger area.

In the lens array in accordance with the present invention, numbers of the lens bodies on respective lens units are not limited to the numbers as shown in the figures, for instance, the first lens unit 10 can have only one first lens body 12. In addition, the interval between the lens bodies also can be modified according to practical application situations but is not limited to the circumferentially uniform distribution as shown in the figures.

In addition, while a particular feature or aspect of an embodiment of the invention may have been disclosed with re^¬ spect to only one of several implementations, such feature or aspect may be combined with one or more other features or as- pects of the other implementations for any given or particu^¬ lar application. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms "include", "have", "with", or other variants thereof are used in either the detailed description or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term "comprise".

The above is merely preferred embodiments of the present in^¬ vention but not to limit the present invention. For the per^¬ son skilled in the art, the present invention may have vari^¬ ous alterations and changes. Any alterations, equivalent sub- stitutions, improvements, within the spirit and principle of the present invention, should be covered in the protection scope of the present invention.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a lens array and an illumi- nating device comprising the lens array.

Background Art

Lenses are widely used in current illuminating devices. A lens is usually covered by or mounted on a light source, e.g. especially on a large-power light source LED, so as to im- prove the illuminating effect and to realize good light dis^¬ tribution. Light from the light source can be softly and uni^¬ formly emitted by using a plurality of lenses, especially a lens array, in indoor illuminating devices such as in depart^¬ ment stores, homes or offices; in an indoor illuminating de- vice used in, for instance, street lamps, the uniformity of the light distribution also can be improved and the optical efficiency of the illuminating device can be enhanced.

In the current illuminating devices such as MR 16, AR 111 and PAR illuminating devices, different requirements are put for- ward on the number of the light sources. Thus, for the sake of one-to-one correspondence in numbers of the light sources and the lenses, different lens arrays should be molded batch- edly or targetedly for light sources in different numbers, and these lens arrays are formed by lenses in different num- bers, respectively. For instance, for an MR16 illuminating device in need of three groups of light sources, the lens ar^¬ ray covering over the light sources has three cup-shaped lens bodies circumferentially uniformly distributed. Such lens can be called "3-in-l" lens array. And there is also common "11- in-1" lens array similar to such lens array. During a manu^¬ facturing process, different nonuniversal molds should be provided for these lens arrays, as a result, the manufactur^¬ ing cost of the illuminating device is greatly increased. Moreover, the manufacturing tolerance may be increased as the molds used are not uniform.

Summary of the Invention

Therefore, one object of the present invention lies in pro^¬ viding a lens array that is easily manufactured and has a low cost and strong universality. Users might adjust the number of lens bodies in the lens array according to application re^¬ quirements and combine the lens bodies in the aspect of structure to improve the freedom degree of configuration of the lens array. The lens array in accordance with the present invention com^¬ prises a first lens unit and a second lens unit, wherein the first lens unit comprises a first substrate and at least one first lens body arranged on the first substrate, and the sec^¬ ond lens unit comprises a second substrate and at least one second lens body arranged on the second substrate, and wherein the first substrate and the second substrate are re^¬ movably nested together.

The concept of the present invention lies in, changing the conventional lens array design of integrally manufacturing a lens array of lens bodies from a plurality of independent lens bodies through an injection molding process, forming an entirety by assembling two or more groups of lens units with different sizes in a combination manner so as to form a novel lens array meeting illumination requirements. Specifically, a first lens unit is taken as a main body or a core of the lens array, a corresponding second lens unit is nested around the first lens unit to increase the number of the lens bodies and to adjust the light distribution effect of the lens array. The nested first and second lens units further can be used integrally as a new group of first lens unit, around which a second group of lens unit can be nested continuously. A plu^¬ rality of groups of lens units, in such nesting manner layer by layer, can be unlimitedly combined into a joint lens ar^¬ ray. The lens units can be arbitrarily combined in such nest- ing manner, and different forms of lens arrays, e.g. 3-in- one, 11-in-one lens arrays, can be formed by choosing lens units of lens bodies in different numbers. Such arbitrarily combined lens arrays can be widely adapted to various illumi^¬ nating devices and has strong universality. Compared with the molds of the all-in-one lens unit in the prior art, the mold of the substrate is merely manufactured at a low cost, which further reduces the manufacturing consumption of the lens units. And compared with the molds of the all-in-one lens ar^¬ ray in the prior art, the mold of the present invention is manufactured more easily because, as mentioned above, the lens array has a very high requirement on preciseness of the mold, which causes it quite hard to manufacture region of the mold of the lens unit for the lens body. In addition, as the lens array can be assembled and removed, when part of the lens bodies is damaged, only corresponding lens unit needs to be replaced, which greatly reduces the maintenance cost of the lens array.

In accordance with one preferred solution of the present in^¬ vention, the first substrate has a first adjoining part, the second substrate has a second adjoining part defining a hol^¬ low region, and the first substrate is arranged in the hollow region and the first adjoining part and the second adjoining part are removably connected. The size of the hollow region is corresponding to that of the first substrate so that the first adjoining part can be engaged with fitted shapes.

In accordance with one preferred solution of the present in^¬ vention, the first adjoining part comprises a first pressing part formed in an outer edge area of the first substrate, and the second adjoining part comprises a second bearing part formed in an inner edge area of the second substrate. When the first lens unit and the second lens unit are engaged, a pressure is applied on the first lens unit towards the second lens unit, at which time, the first lens unit applies a pres^¬ sure, through the first pressing part in the outer edge re^¬ gion thereof, on the second bearing part of the second lens unit in the inner edge region, as a result, the second lens unit is also applied with a pressure by the first lens unit so as to, for instance, simultaneously fix the two together or to fix the same on other positions.

In accordance with another preferred solution of the present invention, the first pressing part is formed on one side of the first substrate, the second bearing part is formed on the other side of the second substrate facing to the one side. When the first lens unit and the second lens unit are en^¬ gaged, the first substrate and the second substrate have com^¬ mon upper surface and common lower surface, wherein the upper surface can be used as light emergent surface of the lens ar- ray, and the lower surface can be used for arranging respec^¬ tive lens bodies. The first pressing part, starting from the outer edge area of the first substrate, extends from the lower surface to the upper surface, such that an area of the lower surface of the first substrate is less than that of the upper surface thereof. On the contrary, the second bearing part, starting from the inner edge area of the second sub^¬ strate, extends from the lower surface to the upper surface such that an area of the upper surface of the second sub^¬ strate is less than that of the lower surface thereof. In the cross section, the first pressing part and the second bearing part can have a linear or curved trend. In accordance with another preferred solution of the present invention, the first substrate comprises, on the one side, a bottom surface for arranging the first lens bodies, and a first surface recessed with respect to the bottom surface so as to form the first pressing part, and the second substrate comprises, on the other side, a top surface and a second sur^¬ face, recessed with respect to the top surface, so as to form the second bearing part. Accordingly, the first pressing part in the cross section can have a curved trend. The second bearing part also correspondingly has a curved trend matching the shape of the first pressing part.

In accordance with one preferred solution of the present in^¬ vention, the first pressing part and the second bearing part each have a stepped profile matching each other. In order to increase an acting surface of force between the first and the second lens units, a contact area between the first pressing part and the second bearing part can be increased, therefore, two contact surfaces can be particularly configured to have stepped profiles, respectively.

In accordance with one preferred solution of the present in- vention, the stepped profile of the first pressing part com^¬ prises a pressing surface parallel to the bottom surface and a vertical surface connecting the bottom surface and the pressing surface, and the stepped profile of the second bear^¬ ing part comprises a bearing surface parallel to the top sur- face and a vertical surface connecting the top surface and the bearing surface. As a result, a pressure on the first lens unit can be assured to be applied vertically on the sec^¬ ond lens unit so that the first and the second lens units are closely pressed against each other in a vertical direction.

In accordance with one preferred solution of the present in- vention, the second substrate further comprises a third pressing part formed on the one side of the second substrate where the second lens bodies are arranged. The third pressing part has a structure similar to that of the first pressing part of the first lens unit, for further assembling with other lens units nesting the second lens unit therein.

In accordance with one preferred solution of the present in^¬ vention, the lens array further comprises a third lens unit that has a third bearing part and a fourth pressing part cor^¬ respond to the second bearing part and the third pressing part, respectively. Since the third lens unit has inner edge and outer edge configured corresponding to the second lens unit, the second lens unit can be removably nested in the third lens unit to form an expandable structure.

In accordance with one preferred solution of the present in- vention, the first substrate comprises a first stop mechanism formed in the outer edge area of the first substrate and the second substrate comprises a second stop mechanism formed in the inner edge area of the second substrate. As a result, the first and the second lens units can be assured to be fixed at position circumferentially, which is favorable for obtaining fixed light distribution effect.

hooks/grooves formed on the first pressing part and the sec- ond stop mechanism is a plurality of grooves/hooks formed on the second bearing part. The first and the second stop mecha^¬ nisms also can be configured as other suitable mechanical fixed mechanism, e.g. projections and corresponding clamping parts . In accordance with one preferred solution of the present in^¬ vention, at least one fixing part extending parallel to an optical axis of respective first lens body is formed on the bottom surface. By means of the fixing part, a pressure per^¬ pendicular to the first substrate can be applied on the first lens bodies, so that the first lens bodies, and further the second lens bodies nested therewith, are fixed, for instance, in the illuminating device or on the light sources.

In accordance with one preferred solution of the present in^¬ vention, the first lens bodies and the first substrate are made in one piece, and the second lens bodies and the second substrate are made in one piece. In this situation, the lens bodies and substrates thereof are made from the same mate^¬ rial, which greatly simplifies the manufacturing process of the lens units. In accordance with another preferred solution of the present invention, the first substrate and the second substrate are opened with a plurality of mounting holes, respectively, into which the first lens bodies and the second lens bodies are mounted, respectively. In this situation, different materials can be chosen to manufacture the lens bodies and the sub^¬ strates, respectively, and the freedom degree of material se^¬ lection is improved. In addition, the lens array in accordance with the present invention has good consistency.

In accordance with one preferred solution of the present in- vention, the first substrate is configured to be circular, the first lens bodies are uniformly distributed on the first substrate; and the second substrate is configured to be a circular ring, and the second lens bodies are uniformly dis^¬ tributed on the second substrate. The lens array thus formed is uniformly symmetrical, and particularly suited to widely used MR16, AR111 and PAR illuminating devices.

In accordance with one preferred solution of the present in^¬ vention, the first substrate and the second substrate are nested such that the first substrate and the second substrate are located in the same plane. The first substrate is ar- ranged with a plurality of the first lens bodies at one side, and the second substrate is arranged with a plurality of the second lens bodies at same side as the one side. Thus, an as^¬ sembly of the first and second lens units can be assured to have a common substrate, as a result, a new "first lens unit" can be formed to be assembled again with another second lens unit in the nesting manner.

In addition, the present invention further relates to an illuminating device, comprising a plurality of light sources, characterized by further comprising the lens array mentioned above, wherein the first lens bodies and the second lens bod- ies in the lens array cover corresponding light sources, re^¬ spectively. Such illuminating device has a low manufacturing cost and good light distribution effect.

Brief Description of the Drawings The accompanying drawings constitute a part of the present Description and are used to provide further understanding of the present invention. Such accompanying drawings illustrate the embodiments of the present invention and are used to de^¬ scribe the principles of the present invention together with the Description. In the accompanying drawings the same compo^¬ nents are represented by the same reference numbers. As shown in the drawings :

Fig. 1 is a 3D exploded view of a first embodiment of a lens array in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is a 3D exploded sectional view of a first lens unit as shown in Fig. 1 ;

Fig. 3 is a 3D exploded sectional view of a second lens unit as shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 shows a substrate of the lens array of a second em- bodiment according to the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Embodiments

In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. In this regard, direc^¬ tional terminology, such as "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", is used in reference to the orientation of the fig^¬ ures being described. Because components of embodiments of the present invention can be positioned in a number of dif^¬ ferent orientations, the directional terminology is used for purposes of illustration and is in no way limiting. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural or logical changes may made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The following detailed description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims.

It is to be understood that the features of the various exem^¬ plary embodiments described herein may be combined with each other, unless specifically noted otherwise Fig. 1 is a 3D exploded view of a first embodiment of a lens array in accordance with the present invention. In the pre^¬ sent embodiment, the lens array 100 is formed by nesting a circular first lens unit 10 and an annular second lens unit 20. The first lens unit 10 comprises a first substrate 11 and three first lens bodies 12 uniformly distributed on the first substrate 11, and the second lens unit 20 comprises a second substrate 21 and eight lens bodies 22 uniformly distributed on the second substrate 21. The first lens unit 10 is remova^¬ bly mounted together with the second lens unit 20 to further form a new "first lens unit" for further assembling with other lens units configured to be similar to the second lens unit 20. Different lens arrays 100 having different sizes or light distribution effects can be formed by assembling a plu^¬ rality of lens units in a nesting manner layer by layer, for meeting requirements of different illuminating devices. Thus, such lens array 100 has a high freedom degree of configura^¬ tion, moreover, when one lens unit thereof is damaged, it can be flexibly and easily replaced without the need of replacing the whole lens array. Besides, universal molds can be used to manufacture the lens units, thus reducing the manufacturing cost of the whole lens array 100 and rendering consistency thereof.

In order to enable the lens array 100 formed by nesting the first lens unit 10 and the second lens unit 20 to have a flat light emergent surface, the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 21 preferably can be located on the same horizontal plane, i.e. in the present embodiment, the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 21 preferably have the same thick^¬ ness. That is to say, upper surfaces of the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 21 jointly form an upper surface of the lens array 100, lower surfaces of the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 21 jointly form a bottom surface of the lens array 100, wherein the first lens bodies 12 and the second lens bodies 22 are fixed on sides A as the lower surfaces. The number of the first lens bodies 12 is less than that of the second lens bodies 22. As shown in Fig. 1, the first substrate 11 has a first ad^¬ joining part 13 located on outer circumferential edge, the second substrate 21 has a second adjoining part 23 located on inner circumferential edge, and the second adjoining part 23 defines a hollow region R for accommodating the first sub- strate 11. In a nested state, a vertical pressure towards the second substrate 21 can be applied on the first substrate 11 so as to make the first lens unit 100 press against the sec^¬ ond lens unit 20 in a direction along which the pressure is applied. Three fixing parts 19, extending parallel to an op- tical axis of respective first lens body 12, are arranged on the one side A of the first substrate 11. By means of the fixing parts 19, the first lens unit 10 can be pressed against the second lens unit 20 and they are fixed as an in^¬ tegral lens array 100 on a preset mounting position, for in^¬ stance, in an illuminating device.

Moreover, in order to assure the first lens unit 10 and the second lens unit 20 to be fixed at positions circumferen- tially with respect to each other, the two are locked par^¬ ticularly by a first stop mechanism 18 formed in the outer edge area of the first substrate 11 and a second stop mecha^¬ nism 29 formed in the inner edge area of the second substrate 21. In the present embodiment, the first stop mechanism 18 is hooks and the second stop mechanism 29 is grooves.

In one embodiment not shown, other suitable stop mechanisms also can be used to replace the hook/groove mechanisms.

Fig. 2 is a 3D exploded sectional view of a first lens unit as shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a 3D exploded sectional view of a second lens unit as shown in Fig. 1. In reference to Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, it can be seen that the first adjoining part 13 comprises a first pressing part 14 formed in the outer edge area of the first substrate 11, and the second ad- joining part 23 correspondingly comprises a second bearing part 24 formed in the inner edge area of the second substrate 21.

The first pressing part 14 and the second bearing part 24 each have a stepped profile matching each other. In Fig. 2, the first pressing part 14 is formed on the one side A of the first substrate 11. The stepped profile of the first pressing part 14 comprises a pressing surface 16 parallel to the bot^¬ tom surface 15 and a vertical surface 17 connecting the bot^¬ tom surface 15 and the pressing surface 16, wherein the pressing surface 16 and the vertical surface 17 connected therewith form a surface recessed with respect to the bottom surface 15. In Fig. 3, the second bearing part 24 is formed on the other side B of the second substrate 21 as the upper surface, and the stepped profile of the second bearing part 24 completely matches various contact surfaces of the stepped profile as shown in Fig. 2, i.e. the stepped profile of the second bearing part 24 comprises a bearing surface 26 paral^¬ lel to the top surface 25 and a vertical surface 27 connect^¬ ing the top surface 25 and the bearing surface 26, wherein the bearing surface 26 and the vertical surface 27 connected therewith form a surface recessed with respect to the top surface 25.

Besides, it can be seen from Fig. 3 that the second substrate 21 further comprises a third pressing part 28 having a pro- file similar to that of the first pressing part 14. The sec^¬ ond lens unit 20, through the third pressing part formed on an edge of the bottom surface thereof, can be assembled with other similar lens units in a nesting manner. A third stop mechanism 30 is correspondingly formed on the third pressing part 28.

In the present embodiment, the first lens bodies 12 and the first substrate 11 are made in one piece, and the second lens bodies 22 and the second substrate 21 are made in one piece.

Fig. 4 shows a substrate of the lens array of a second em- bodiment according to the present invention. The first sub^¬ strate 11 and the second substrate 21 are opened with a plu^¬ rality of mounting holes C, respectively, the first lens bod^¬ ies 12 and the second lens bodies 22 (not shown) are made by the same mold and mounted in the mounting holes C, respec- tively. Such lens array 100 has good consistency. In this situation, different materials also can be chosen to manufac- ture the lens bodies and the substrates, improving the free^¬ dom degree of material selection.

In the lens array in accordance with the present invention, numbers of the lens bodies on respective lens units are not limited to the numbers as shown in the figures, for instance, the first lens unit 10 can have only one first lens body 12. In addition, the interval between the lens bodies also can be modified according to practical application situations but is not limited to the circumferentially uniform distribution as shown in the figures. In addition, while a particular feature or aspect of an embodiment of the invention may have been disclosed with re^¬ spect to only one of several implementations, such feature or aspect may be combined with one or more other features or as^¬ pects of the other implementations for any given or particu- lar application. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms

"include", "have", "with", or other variants thereof are used in either the detailed description or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term "comprise" . The above is merely preferred embodiments of the present in^¬ vention but not to limit the present invention. For the per^¬ son skilled in the art, the present invention may have vari^¬ ous alterations and changes. Any alterations, equivalent sub^¬ stitutions, improvements, within the spirit and principle of the present invention, should be covered in the protectio- scope of the present invention.

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List of reference signs

10 first lens unit

11 first substrate

12 first lens body

13 first adjoining part

14 first pressing part

15 bottom surface

16 pressing surface

17 vertical surface 18 first stop mechanism

19 fixing part

20 second lens unit

21 second substrate

22 second lens body 23 second adjoining part

24 second bearing part

25 top surface

26 bearing surface ^ ,

27 vertical surface

28 third pressing part

29 second stop mechanism

30 third stop mechanism A one side

B the other side

C mounting hoe

R hollow region

100 lens array

Claims

1. A lens array (100), characterized by comprising a first lens unit (10) and a second lens unit (20), wherein the first lens unit (10) comprises a first substrate (11) and at least one first lens body (12) arranged on the first substrate (11), and the second lens unit (20) comprises a second sub^¬ strate (21) and at least one second lens body (22) arranged on the second substrate (21), and wherein the first substrate (11) and the second substrate (21) are removably nested to^¬ gether .

2. The lens array (100) according to Claim 1, characterized in that the first substrate (11) has a first adjoining part (13), the second substrate (21) has a second adjoining part (23) defining a hollow region (R) , and the first substrate (11) is arranged in the hollow region (R) and the first ad^¬ joining part (13) and the second adjoining part (23) are re^¬ movably connected.

3. The lens array (100) according to Claim 2, characterized in that the first adjoining part (13) comprises a first pressing part (14) formed in an outer edge area of the first substrate (11), and the second adjoining part (23) comprises a second bearing part (24) formed in an inner edge area of the second substrate (21).

4. The lens array (100) according to Claim 3, characterized in that the first pressing part (14) is formed on one side (A) of the first substrate (11), the second bearing part (24) is formed on the other side (B) of the second substrate (21) facing to the one side (A) .

5. The lens array (100) according to Claim 4, characterized in that the first substrate (11) comprises, on the one side (A), a bottom surface (15) for arranging the first lens bod^¬ ies (12), and a first surface, recessed with respect to the bottom surface (15), as the first pressing part (14), and the second substrate (12) comprises, on the other side (B) , a top surface (25) and a second surface, recessed with respect to the top surface (25), as the second bearing part (24) .

6. The lens array (100) according to Claim 5, characterized in that the first pressing part (14) and the second bearing part (24) each have a stepped profile matching each other.

7. The lens array (100) according to Claim 6, characterized in that the stepped profile of the first pressing part (14) comprises a pressing surface (16) parallel to the bottom sur^¬ face (15) and a vertical surface (17) connecting the bottom surface (15) and the pressing surface (16), and the stepped profile of the second bearing part (24) comprises a bearing surface (26) parallel to the top surface (25) and a vertical surface (27) connecting the top surface (25) and the bearing surface (26).

8. The lens array (100) according to Claim 3, characterized in that the second substrate (21) further comprises a third pressing part (28) formed on the one side (A) of the second substrate (21) where the second lens bodies (22) are ar^¬ ranged .

9. The lens array (100) according to Claim 8, characterized in that the lens array (100) further comprises a third lens unit that has a third bearing part and a fourth pressing part correspond to the second bearing part (24) and the third pressing part (28) , respectively.

10. The lens array (100) according to any one of Claims 1-9, characterized in that the first substrate (11) comprises a first stop mechanism (18) formed in the outer edge area of the first substrate (11) and the second substrate (21) com- prises a second stop mechanism (29) formed in the inner edge area of the second substrate (21) .

11. The lens array (100) according to Claim 10, characterized in that the first stop mechanism (18) is a plurality of hooks/grooves formed on the first pressing part (14) and the second stop mechanism (29) is a plurality of grooves/hooks formed on the second bearing part (24) .

12. The lens array (100) according to any one of Claims 1-9, characterized in that at least one fixing part (19) extending parallel to an optical axis of respective first lens body (12) is formed on the bottom surface (15) .

13. The lens array (100) according to any one of Claims 1-9, characterized in that the first lens bodies (12) and the first substrate (11) are made in one piece, and the second lens bodies (22) and the second substrate (21) are made in one piece.

14. The lens array (100) according to any one of Claims 1-9, characterized in that the first substrate (11) and the second substrate (21) are opened with a plurality of mounting holes (C) , respectively, into which the first lens bodies (11) and the second lens bodies (22) are mounted, respectively.

15. The lens array (100) according to any one of Claims 1-9, characterized in that the first substrate (11) is configured to be circular, the first lens bodies (12) are uniformly dis^¬ tributed on the first substrate (11); and the second sub- strate (21) is configured to be a circular ring, and the sec^¬ ond lens bodies (22) are uniformly distributed on the second substrate (21) .

16. The lens array (100) according to any one of Claims 1-9, characterized in that the number of the first lens bodies

(12) is less than that of the second lens bodies (22) .

17. The lens array (100) according to any one of Claims 1-9, characterized in that the first substrate (11) and the second substrate (21) are nested such that the first substrate (11) and the second substrate (21) are located in a same plane.

18. The lens array (100) according to any one of Claims 1-9, characterized in that the first substrate (11) is arranged with a plurality of the first lens bodies (12) at one side (A) , and the second substrate (21) is arranged with a plural- ity of the second lens bodies (22) at same side (A) as the one side (A) .

19. An illuminating device, comprising a plurality of light sources, characterized by further comprising the lens array (100) according to any of Claims 1-18, wherein the first lens bodies (12) and the second lens bodies (22) in the lens array (100) cover corresponding light sources, respectively.