LED apparatus and method for accurate lens alignment
First Claim
1. An LED apparatus including:
- a mounting board supporting at least one LED device thereon, the mounting board having a mating feature which is one of a protrusion and a complementary hollow;
a lens-aligning member having front and back surfaces with at least one lens member being on the front surface, the at least one lens member corresponding to the at least one LED device, and the back surface having an alignment feature which is the other of the protrusion and the complementary hollow in mating engagement with the mating feature of the mounting board, the lens-aligning member being between the mounting board and the lens member,whereby the lens member is aligned over the LED device thereby establishing a light path therebetween.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An LED apparatus of the type including (a) a mounting board having an LED-supporting surface with an LED device thereon and (b) a lens member over the LED device establishing a light path therebetween. The inventive LED apparatus includes a lens-aligning member having front and back surfaces and defining an aperture receiving the LED device therethrough such that the LED device protrudes beyond the front surface. The lens member includes a lens portion and a flange thereabout, the flange being attached to the front surface of the lens-aligning member such that the lens portion substantially surrounds the protruding LED device. The lens-aligning member has a first mating feature which is positioned and arranged for mating engagement with a second mating feature of the mounting board, thereby accurately aligning the lens member over the LED device by accurately aligning the lens-alignment member with the mounting board. Other aspects of the invention is a method for LED-apparatus assembly and a method for manufacturing custom high-efficiency LED lensing for LED-array modules.
-
Citations
28 Claims
-
1. An LED apparatus including:
-
a mounting board supporting at least one LED device thereon, the mounting board having a mating feature which is one of a protrusion and a complementary hollow; a lens-aligning member having front and back surfaces with at least one lens member being on the front surface, the at least one lens member corresponding to the at least one LED device, and the back surface having an alignment feature which is the other of the protrusion and the complementary hollow in mating engagement with the mating feature of the mounting board, the lens-aligning member being between the mounting board and the lens member, whereby the lens member is aligned over the LED device thereby establishing a light path therebetween. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
the at least one lens member includes a plurality of lens members each establishing a light path with a respective one of the LED devices; the lens-aligning member defining a plurality of apertures each for a respective one of the LED devices; and each lens member being attached to the front surface of the lens-aligning member with the lens portion substantially surrounding the respective one of the LED devices.
-
-
13. The LED apparatus of claim 12 wherein:
-
at least a subset of the lens members includes lens members configured such that each of them refracts light emitted by its respective LED device in a predominantly off-axis direction; and the lens members of such subset are arranged on the lens-aligning member to refract light in a common off-axis direction.
-
-
14. The LED apparatus of claim 12 wherein:
-
at least a subset of the lens members includes lens members configured such that each of them refracts light emitted by its respective LED device in a predominantly off-axis direction; and the lens members of such subset are arranged on the lens-aligning member such that at least two are oriented to refract the light in substantially different off-axis directions.
-
-
15. A method for assembly of an LED-apparatus, the method comprising the steps of:
-
providing a mating feature on a mounting board which has at least one LED device thereon, the mating feature being one of the protrusion and a complementary hollow; providing a lens-aligning member having front and back surfaces, the back surface having an alignment feature being the other of the protrusion and a complementary hollow positioned and arranged for engagement with the mating feature of the mounting board; providing at least one lens member on the front surface of the lens-aligning member, the at least one lens member corresponding to the at least one LED device; aligning the lens-aligning member with the mounting board by placing the lens-aligning member between the lens member and the mounting board such that the alignment and mating features engage one another, thereby aligning the lens member over the LED device and establishing a light path therebetween; and securing the lens-aligning member with respect to the mounting board. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
-
-
25. A method for assembling custom LED-array modules of the type including a plurality of separate lens members each configured for a specific type of light distribution, and a plurality of LED devices spaced from one another on a mounting board, the method comprising the steps of:
-
providing a mating feature on the mounting board, the mating feature being one of the protrusion and a complementary hollow; providing a lens-support member having front and back surfaces, the back surface having an alignment feature, being the other of the protrusion and a complementary hollow, the alignment and mating features being positioned and arranged for engagement with one another; determining a desired light distribution of the LED-array module; selecting specific type(s) of the lens members to achieve the desired light distribution; positioning the selected lens members on the front surface of the lens-support member; verifying the type and orientation of each lens member; attaching each lens-member to the front surface of the lens-support member; aligning the lens-support member with the mounting board through engagement of the alignment and mating features by placing the lens-support member between the lens member and the mounting board such that each lens member substantially surrounds LED device; and securing the lens-support member with the lens members attached thereto with respect to the mounting board, thereby achieving alignment of each lens member over a respective one of the LED devices while accommodating different desired light-distribution patterns. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28)
whereby eliminating the need for the robot at the multiple locations.
-
Specification