WO2016037883A1

WO2016037883A1 - Illumination device and method for assembling the illumination device

Info

Publication number: WO2016037883A1
Application number: PCT/EP2015/069845
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jun Liu; Shijun Nie
Original assignee: Osram Gmbh
Priority date: 2014-09-10
Filing date: 2015-08-31
Publication date: 2016-03-17
Also published as: CN105465660B; CN105465660A

Abstract

The present invention relates to an illumination device (100) and a method for assembling the illumination device (100). The illumination device (100) comprises a lamp shade (1) and a light engine (2) arranged and received in the lamp shade (1), and a driver (3) configured to drive the light engine (2), wherein the illumination device (100) further comprises an adapter (4) connected between the light engine (2) and the driver (3), and wherein the adapter (4) comprises a carrier (41) to which the light engine (2) and the driver (3) are connected, respectively, and the driver (3) is detachably and mechanically connected onto the carrier (41) so as to form an electrical connection between the driver (3) and the light engine (2).

Description

Illumination Device and Method for Assembling the Illumination Device Technical Field

The present invention relates to an illumination device, especially an LED illumination device, and a method for assembling the illumination device.

Background Art

In order to achieve the optical processing to light from a light engine and maintain the mechanical strength of an illumination device receiving the light engine, a lamp shade made from a PC (polycarbonate) material is usually arranged on the illumination device. This lamp shade is configured as a lamp tube in for example a tube-shaped illumination device, and all of the light engine and other electronic devices and heat dissipation means can be received in the lamp tube. In the common tube-shaped illumination devices, an aluminium-made heat dissipation device is used for carrying a light engine, and the heat dissipation device and the light engine are arranged in a lamp tube made from PC, wherein the aluminium-made heat dissipation device not only can achieve the heat dissipation for the light engine but also can serve as a frame so as to enhance the mechanical strength of the illumination device. Besides, in another illumination device, a full-PC lamp tube is used to achieve the optical function of for instance scattering light and to enhance the mechanical strength of the illumination device. The lamp tube made from the PC material can achieve the function of scattering light, that is, viewed from the outside of the illumination device, this lamp tube can enable the light from the light engine after exiting to become soft and uniform with the illumination effect more suitable to the human eye. However, the lamp tube made from the PC material is intended to deform due to the thermal expansion effect under the effect of high temperature when the illumination device operates, that is, both size and volume of the lamp tube will be changed, and the PC lamp tube even will be bent after a long period of time, which has extremely adverse effects on its normal functions as both an optical element and a mechanical fastener. Besides, in order to achieve the electrical connection between multiple electrical parts, such as electrical connection between the light engine and the driver, the flexible wire is often used in the illumination device to connect electrically these electrical parts. Taking the factors such as thermal expansion into consideration, the light engine in the illumination device will become longer as the temperature rises. In this situation, the above-mentioned flexible wire can be adapted to the change of the electrical parts in size and volume due to its own flexibility so as to avoid bad contact of electrical connection between the electrical parts or peel-off of the wire caused by the thermal expansion. However, in the manner of forming the internal electrical connection of the illumination device using the flexible wire, both ends of the flexible wire should be fixedly connected to different electrical parts such that the electrical connection between two electrical parts can be completely formed, while this is unfavorable for the automatic assembling or automatic manufacture of the illumination device.

Summary of the Invention

In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides a novel illumination device and a method for assembling this illumination device. The illumination device according to the present invention has a compact structure, and the electrical connection between respective parts will not be affected by the thermal expansion occurring to the internal parts of the illumination device. Besides, for the illumination device according to the present invention, complete automatic assembling of the illumination device with the existing illumination parts can be advantageously carried out, and the manufacture efficiency of the illumination device is effectively improved.

One of the objects of the present invention is accomplished via such an illumination device that comprises a lamp shade and a light engine arranged and received in the lamp shade, and a driver configured to drive the light engine, wherein the illumination device further comprises an adapter connected between the light engine and the driver, and wherein the adapter comprises a carrier to which the light engine and the driver are connected, respectively, and the driver is detachably and mechanically connected onto the carrier so as to form an electrical connection between the driver and the light engine.

The illumination device according to the present invention has a small number of parts and a simple assembling structure, and due to the particular arrangement of the adapter for the electrical connection between the light engine and the driver, the illumination device has a structure adapted to complete automatic assembling. For the sake of automatic assembling to form the electrical connection between the driver and the light engine, this adapter is particularly arranged so that the driver can be mounted to the adapter by means of automatic assembling and the adapter is mounted onto the light engine by means of automatic assembling, thereby forming the electrical connection between the driver and the light engine in a situation that the adapter is adapted to the thermal expansion of the driver or the light engine. In this way, there is no need to connect the driver and the light engine via a flexible wire manually or semi-automatically in order to be adapted to the thermal expansion of the parts. This provides effective full-automatic assembling of the illumination device and greatly improves the manufacture efficiency of the illumination device. According to a preferable example of the present invention, the adapter further comprises a connector, through which the driver is connected onto the carrier in plugging manner so as to form an electrical connection between the driver and the carrier. The driver mounted with the connector can be automatically installed to the carrier of the adapter by an automatically, without connecting wires manually or semi-automatically.

It is further provided according to the present invention that the light engine is connected onto a first surface of carrier, and the driver is connected onto a second surface of the carrier opposite to the first surface. Consequently, one face of the light engine is connected with the first surface of the carrier, and the other face can be completely against the surface of the lamp shade for connection, and on this basis, the driver can be mounted on the other surface of the carrier, i.e., the second surface. This connection manner can make effective use of the limited receiving space within the lamp shade.

Preferably, the connector is made from rigid material. The rigid connector facilitates assembling the driver automatically onto the carrier of the adapter, thereby realizing automatic assembling of the driver onto the light engine with the help of the adapter. Besides, this configuration also can prevent, to the maximum degree, interfaces of the light engine and the driver against the influence of the thermal expansion.

Advantageously for an example of the present invention, plugging hole is arranged on the driver and the carrier, respectively, and two opposite ends of the connector are arranged with pins corresponding to plugging hole of the driver and plugging hole of the carrier, respectively. This configuration is favorable for realizing installation of the driver onto the adapter by an assembler so as to achieve the mechanical and electrical connection therebetween. Preferably, the carrier is arranged on the light engine in a surface mounting manner. In cases where the carrier is shaped as a flat strip, the surface of the carrier can better match the surface of the light engine so as to form good electrical contact therebetween and provide stable mechanical connection therebetween. Preferably, the light engine is arranged on an inner wall of the lamp shade in a adhesion manner. This provides a manner of assembling the light engine in a simple manner at a low cost. The light engine is thereby fixed in the lamp shade, specifically fixed on the inner wall of the lamp shade.

Preferably, the carrier is configured as a PCB board. The carrier is especially a double-face PCB board, that is, it is possible to achieve the mechanical and electrical connection on two opposite surfaces of the PCB board, such that the light engine can be connected onto the first surface of the carrier to form the mechanical connection and the electrical connection therebetween, and the driver is connected onto the second surface of the carrier to form the mechanical connection and the electrical connection therebetween, thus forming the mechanical connection and the electrical connection between the driver and the light engine with the help of the carrier therebetween.

Preferably, the lamp shade is configured as a lamp tube. The tube-shaped lamp shade has a round cross section, and the light engine and the driver both can be received in the lamp tube. Besides, the lamp tube further can achieve uniform lighting at continuous angles in virtue of its arc-shaped light exit surface.

Preferably, the lamp shade is made from glass material. The glass material has a higher mechanical strength than general PC plastic materials, but low thermal expansion performance. The glass-made lamp tube can stably support the light engine and the driver arranged in the lamp tube, and also can maintain its shape and size at high temperatures. Therefore, the illumination device according to the present invention may not need additional PC-made lamp tube or metal-made frame or heat sink serving as a frame. Besides, a coating can be disposed on the glass material so achieve the optical processing such as light mixing. The other object of the present invention is accomplished via a method for assembling the illumination device as described above, comprising: a) connecting the light engine onto the carrier in a surface mounting manner so as to form an electrical connection between the light engine and the carrier; b) fixedly connecting the light engine in the lamp shade such that the lamp shade at least partially receives the carrier and the light engine; and c) detachably and mechanically connecting the driver onto the carrier so as to form an electrical connection between the driver and the carrier. According to the assembling method of the present invention, in the situation that the flexible wire is not used, the adapter is used to achieve the full-automatic assembling of the illumination device in order to be adapted to different electrical interfaces of the driver and the light engine, and the mechanical and electrical connection between the driver and the light engine of the illumination device is achieved. According to the method proposed in the present invention, the step a) includes connecting the light engine onto a first surface of the carrier.

According to the method proposed in the present invention, the step c) includes connecting the driver onto a second surface of the carrier opposite to the first surface. 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 describe the principles of the present invention together with the Description. In the accompanying drawings the same components are represented by the same reference numbers. As shown in the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows an exploded schematic diagram of an illumination device according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 shows a schematic diagram of connection of a carrier of an adapter and a light engine according to the present invention; and

Fig. 3 shows a schematic diagram that the connected carrier and light engine are arranged in a lamp shade according to the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Embodiments

Fig. 1 shows an exploded schematic diagram of an illumination device 100 according to the present invention. The illumination device 100 according to the present invention comprises a lamp shade 1 , a light engine 2 which can be arranged in the lamp shade 1 , a driver 3, and an adapted 4 connected between the driver 3 and the light engine 2. Besides, the illumination device 100 further comprises an end cap C through which the driver 3 can be connected with an external power supply, and after the end cap C is installed to one end of the lamp shade 1 , all the parts such as the light engine 2, the driver 3, and the adapter 4 are received in a receiving cavity defined by the end cap C and the lamp shade 1 . The lamp shade 1 is preferably configured as a lamp tube shaped as a tube with a smooth and continuous light exit surface. In order to connect and fix the light engine 2 on an inner wall of the lamp tube 1 , an adhesive paste G is disposed between the light engine 2 and the lamp tube 1 , wherein a side face of the light engine 2 arranged with a light source faces away from the adhesive paste G. By doing so, the light engine 2 can be arranged in the lamp tube 1 preferably in a sticking manner.

The light engine and the driver generally have different electrical interfaces, and the flexible live wire is often used to connect the contact solder joints of the two parts, and the live wire is manually or semi-automatically soldered on the electrical contacts of respective parts. However, in an example of the present invention, the adapter 4 provides a manner for connecting the light engine 2 and the driver 3 indirectly. The adapter 4 comprises a carrier 41 and a connector 42. The driver 3 and the light engine 2 can be connected onto the carrier, respectively, wherein preferably and specifically, the light engine 2 can be connected to a first surface S1 the carrier 41 from the right side as shown in the figure, and the driver 3 can be connected to a second surface S2 of the carrier 41 from the left side as shown in the figure, wherein the light engine 2 and the driver 3 partially overlap the carrier 41 , respectively.

A person skilled in the art should know that the first surface S1 and the second surface S2 as described in the example of the present invention exist relative to each other, that is, the light engine 2 and the driver 3 are connected to different surfaces of the carrier 41 .

The driver 3 is connected to the carrier 41 via the particularly arranged connector 42, but not via the flexible live wire, so as to form the mechanical connection and the electrical connection between the driver 3 and the carrier 41 . Pins 421 are arranged at both ends of the connector 42, respectively. By inserting the pins 421 in plugging hole O (specifically as shown in Fig. 2) of the driver 3 and plugging hole O of the carrier 41 , the connector 42 can have one end connected with the driver 3 and the other end connected with the carrier 41 . All of these connection processes can be automatically completed by means an automatic assembler. Fig. 2 shows a schematic diagram of connection of the carrier 41 of the adapter 4 and the light engine 2 according to the present invention. The carrier 41 is mounted on the light engine 2 through the surface mount technology. A plurality of LED chips 21 are arranged on the light engine 2 as light sources. In other words, according to an example of the present invention, the carrier 4 of the adapter 2 is connected onto the surface of the light engine 2 on the same side as the LED chips 21 are. In this way, the surface of the light engine 2 without the arrangement of the LED chips can be completely against the inner wall of the lamp shade 1 . The driver 3 can be connected onto the other surface of the carrier 41 , i.e., the second surface S2. For cooperative connection with the pins 421 of the connector 42 on the driver 3, at least one plugging holes O is arranged at one end of the carrier 41 , thereby, the driver 3 is arranged on the second surface S2 of the carrier 41 opposite to the first surface S1 arranged with the light engine 2.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic diagram that the connected carrier 21 and light engine 2 are arranged in the lamp shade 1 according to the present invention. After the carrier 41 is connected with the light engine 2, the light engine 2 with the carrier 41 can be fixed onto the inner wall of the lamp shade 1 by sticking. The end of the carrier 41 having the plugging holes O can protrude from an opening at one end of the lamp shade 1 , that is, the carrier 41 can be partially received in the lamp shade 1 . In cases where one end of the carrier 41 is exposed from the lamp shade 1 , such arrangement facilitates connection of the driver 3 to the carrier 41 by means of an automatic assembler.

The above is merely preferred embodiments of the present invention but not to limit the present invention. For the person skilled in the art, the present invention may have various alterations and changes. Any alterations, equivalent substitutions, improvements, within the spirit and principle of the present invention, should be covered in the protection scope of the present invention. List of reference signs

1 lamp shade/lamp tube

2 light engine

3 driver

4 adapter

100 illumination device

21 LED chip

41 carrier

42 connector

421 pin

O plugging hole c end cap

G adhesive paste

S1 first surface

S2 second surface

Claims

What is claimed is:

1 . An illumination device (100), comprising a lamp shade (1 ) and a light engine (2) arranged and received in the lamp shade (1 ), and a driver (3) configured to drive the light engine (2), characterized in that the illumination device (100) further comprises an adapter (4) connected between the light engine (2) and the driver (3), wherein the adapter (4) comprises a carrier (41 ) to which the light engine (2) and the driver (3) are connected, respectively, and the driver (3) is detachably and mechanically connected onto the carrier (41 ) so as to form an electrical connection between the driver (3) and the light engine (2).

2. The illumination device (100) according to claim 1 , characterized in that the adapter (4) further comprises a connector (42), through which the driver (3) is connected onto the carrier (41 ) in plugging manner so as to form an electrical connection between the driver (3) and the carrier (41 ).

3. The illumination device (100) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the light engine (2) is connected onto a first surface (S1 ) of carrier (41 ), and the driver (3) is connected onto a second surface (S2) of the carrier (41 ) opposite to the first surface (S1 ).

4. The illumination device (100) according to claim 2, characterized in that the connector (41 ) is made from rigid material.

5. The illumination device (100) according to claim 2, characterized in that plugging hole (O) is arranged on the driver (3) and the carrier (41 ), respectively, and two opposite ends of the connector (42) are arranged with pins (421 ) corresponding to plugging hole (O) of the driver (3) and plugging hole (O) of the carrier (41 ), respectively.

6. The illumination device (100) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the carrier (41 ) is arranged on the light engine (2) in a surface mounting manner.

7. The illumination device (100) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the light engine (2) is arranged on an inner wall of the lamp shade (1 ) in an adhesion manner.

8. The illumination device (100) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the carrier (41 ) is configured as a PCB board.

9. The illumination device (100) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the lamp shade (1 ) is configured as a lamp tube.

10. The illumination device (100) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the lamp shade (1 ) is made from glass material.

1 1 . A method for assembling the illumination device (100) according to any one of claims 1 -10, comprising: a) connecting the light engine (2) onto the carrier (41 ) in a surface mounting manner so as to form an electrical connection between the light engine (2) and the carrier (41 ); b) fixedly connecting the light engine (2) in the lamp shade (1 ) such that the lamp shade (1 ) at least partially receives the carrier (41 ) and the light engine (2); and c) detachably and mechanically connecting the driver (3) onto the carrier (41 ) so as to form an electrical connection between the driver (3) and the carrier (41 ).

12. The method according to claim 1 1 , characterized in that step a) includes connecting the light engine (2) onto a first surface (S1 ) of the carrier (41 ).

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that step c) includes connecting the driver (3) onto a second surface (S2) of the carrier (41 ) opposite to the first surface (S1 ).