ANGLED EMITTER CHANNEL LETTER LIGHTING

• US 20110209368A1
• Filed: 01/20/2011
• Published: 09/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sloan Company Incorporated (Sloan)
• Original Assignee: Sloan Company Incorporated (Sloan)
• Inventors: Farrie, Drew, Meyer, Aaron, Quaal, Bruce
• Granted Patent: US 9,080,745 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 40/550
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 4/20 with light sources held by or within elongate supports
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 4/28 rigid, e.g. LED bars
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 15/01 Housings, e.g. material or assembling of housing parts F21V15/02 takes precedence housings forming signs or letters G09F13/04
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 19/001 the light sources being semiconductors devices, e.g. LEDs
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 19/003 Fastening of light source holders, e.g. of circuit boards or substrates holding light sources
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 21/0808 Adhesive means
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 23/005 the substrate is supporting also the light source
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 29/508 of electrical circuits
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 29/71 using a combination of separate elements interconnected by heat-conducting means, e.g. with heat pipes or thermally conductive bars between separate heat-sink elements
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 31/04 Provision of filling media
• CPC Class Codes: F21Y 2107/70 on flexible or deformable supports or substrates, e.g. for changing the light source into a desired form
• CPC Class Codes: F21Y 2115/10 Light-emitting diodes [LED]
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 13/0404 the light source being enclosed in a box forming the character of the sign
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 13/22 electroluminescent electroluminescent light sources per se H05B33/00
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 2013/222 with LEDs
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/0278 Rigid circuit boards or rigid supports of circuit boards locally made bendable, e.g. by removal or replacement of material
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/05 Insulated conductive substrates, e.g. insulated metal substrate
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/189 characterised by the use of a flexible or folded printed circuit H05K3/326 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2201/046 Planar parts of folded PCBs making an angle relative to each other assembling printed circuits perpendicularly to each other H05K3/366
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2201/09081 Tongue or tail integrated in planar structure, e.g. obtained by cutting from the planar structure
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2201/10106 : Light emitting diode [LED]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49165 : by forming conductive walled aperture in base
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49993 : Filling of opening

Abstract

The present embodiments provide channel letter lighting devices and/or systems. A lighting system, comprising a plurality of electrically connected lighting units, comprising conductors to provide an electrical signal to each of the units. Each of the lighting units comprise a housing, a printed circuit board (PCB) mounted within the housing and having a plurality of tabs and a plurality light emitting elements on the tabs. The tabs are angled in relation of the remainder of the PCB or housing. The electrical signal applied to the light emitting elements causes them to emit light substantially away from said housing. The lighting system further comprises a sealant within the housing filling cavities around the light emitting elements and the cavity around said PCB and a mounting mechanism for mounting the unit to a structure.

Claims

1. A lighting system, comprising:

a plurality of electrically connected lighting units, comprising conductors to provide an electrical signal to each of said units, each of which comprises;

a housing;

a printed circuit board (PCB) mounted within said housing and having a plurality of tabs, a plurality light emitting elements on said tabs, said tabs angled in relation of the remainder of the PCB, the electrical signal applied to said light emitting elements causing them to emit light substantially away from said housing,;

further comprising a material within said housing surrounding said light emitting elements and said PCB, wherein said material adheres to said housing and said PCB and said material does not substantially cover said light emitting elements; and

a mounting mechanism for mounting said unit to a structure.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one said PCB in said lighting system comprises a metal core PCB arranged to conduct heat away from said light emitting elements.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said PCB in said lighting system comprises alternating layers of polyimide film and copper.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein said PCB further comprises vias arranged in proximity to said light emitting elements for heat dissipation.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said PCB is capable of conducting and dissipating heat from said light emitting elements.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of said light emitting elements comprises a light emitting diode.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of said light emitting elements comprises a high luminous flux light emitting diode emitting white light.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein each of said units further comprises a constant current device, each of which accepts said electrical signal and provides substantially the same current to the light emitting elements on its respective one of said units.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein said conductors comprise two conductors, each of said units electrically connected to said conductors.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein said units electrically connect to said conductors by soldering.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein said units electrically connect to said conductors by IDC connectors.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein said housing only partially encloses each of said units.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein said housing comprises a top portion and an inner housing plate.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein said inner housing plate protrudes out of said top portion forcing said tabs to be angled in relation to said PCB.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein said material completes the enclosure of said units not completed by said housing, filling the cavities around said light emitting elements and the cavity around said PCB.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein said tabs and said light emitting elements are arranged such that light output from each of said light emitting elements over said lighting units is at least partially overlapping.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein said light emitting elements do not all face the same directions.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein said light emitting elements and said tabs are angled 1 degree to 89 degrees in relation to the remainder of the PCB.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein said light emitting elements and said tabs are angled 60 degrees to 75 degrees in relation to the remainder of the PCB.

20. The system of claim 1, comprising drive electronics for said light emitting elements on each of said unit'"'"'s PCB.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein said mounting mechanism in at least one of said units comprises double sided tape.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein said housing in at least one of said units comprises a mounting hole extending through said material and wherein said mounting mechanism comprises a screw to cooperate with said mounting hole.

23. The system of claim 1, wherein said housing in at least one of said units comprises a mounting hole extending through said material and a screw boss, and wherein said PCB comprises a PCB hole, said boss aligned with said mounting hole and said PCB hole and extending between said housing and said PCB.

24. The system of claim 1, wherein said housing in at least one of said units comprises a mounting hole, and wherein said PCB comprises a PCB hole, said mounting hole and said PCB hole aligned, and extending through said material.

25. A lighting unit, comprising:

a housing;

a printed circuit board (PCB) mounted within said housing and having a plurality of tabs and having a plurality of light emitting elements on said tabs, said tabs and light emitting elements angled in relation to the remainder of said PCB, an electrical signal applied to said light emitting elements causing them to emit light substantially away from said housing; and

a sealant within said housing, filling the cavity around said PCB and cavities around said light emitting elements.

26. The lighting unit of claim 25, wherein said PCB has a conductive core conducting heat from said light emitting elements.

27. The lighting unit of claim 25, further comprising a constant current device mounted on said PCB, accepting an electrical signal and providing a constant current to said light emitting elements.

28. The lighting unit of claim 25, further comprising a mounting mechanism for mounting said unit to a structure.

29. The lighting unit of claim 25, wherein said housing comprises a top portion and an inner housing plate.

30. The lighting unit of claim 29, wherein said inner housing plate protrudes from said top portion forcing said tab and said light emitting elements out of said top portion at an angle in relation to said top portion.

31. The lighting unit of claim 25, wherein each of said light emitting elements do not face the same direction.

32. The lighting unit of claim 25, wherein each of said tabs and each of said light emitting elements are angled 1-89 degrees in relation to said housing.

33. The lighting unit of claim 25, wherein each of said tabs and each of said light emitting elements are angled 60-75 degrees in relation to said housing.

34. The lighting unit of claim 25, wherein said tabs and said light emitting elements are arranged such that light output from each of said light emitting elements over said lighting units is at least partially overlapping.

35. The lighting unit of claim 25, wherein said light emitted by each of said light emitting elements directly over said lighting unit is of a lower intensity than light emitted by each of said light emitting elements at an angle in relation to said lighting unit.

36. The unit of claim 25, wherein said housing only partially encloses said unit.

37. The unit of claim 36, wherein said PCB is mounted to said housing with a space between most of said housing and the bottom and top surface of said PCB to allow said sealant to fill into the surrounding area around said PCB, enclosing said unit.

38. The unit of claim 25, further comprising drive electronics mounted to said PCB.

39. The unit of claim 25, wherein said sealant bonds to said housing and said PCB, strengthening connections between components therein.

40. The unit of claim 25, wherein said sealant is a thermoplastic hotmelt.

41. The unit of claim 25, wherein said PCB in said lighting unit comprises alternating layers of polyimide film and copper.

42. The unit of claim 41, wherein said PCB further comprises vias arranged in proximity to said light emitting elements for heat dissipation.

43. A channel letter lighting system, comprising:

a channel letter housing;

a translucent channel letter cover;

a plurality of electrically connected lighting units mounted to said channel letter housing;

conductors to provide an electrical signal to each of said units, wherein each of said units comprises;

a lighting unit housing;

a printed circuit board (PCB) mounted within said lighting unit housing and having a plurality of tabs and said tabs having a plurality of light emitting elements, said tabs and said plurality of light emitting elements angled in relation to the remainder of said PCB, said electrical signal applied to said light emitting elements, causing them to emit light substantially away from said housing; and

a sealant filling the surrounding area of said PCB within said housing, said sealant also filling all other cavities or voids within said housing without covering said light emitting elements.

44. The system of claim 43, wherein said PCB has a conductive core conducting heat from said light emitting elements.

45. The system of claim 43, wherein said PCB in said lighting system comprises alternating layers of polyimide film and copper.

46. The unit of claim 45, wherein said PCB further comprises vias arranged in proximity to said light emitting elements for heat dissipation.

47. The unit of claim 43, further comprising a space between most of bottom and top surface of said PCB and said lighting unit housing.

48. The system of claim 43, further comprising a constant current device mounted on said PCB, accepting an electrical signal and providing a constant current to said light emitting elements.

49. The system of claim 43, further comprising a mounting mechanism for mounting said unit to said channel letter structure.

50. The system of claim 43, wherein said housing comprises a top portion and an inner housing plate.

51. The lighting unit of claim 50, wherein said inner housing plate protrudes from said top portion forcing said tabs and said light emitting elements out of said top portion at an angle in relation to said top portion.

52. The system of claim 43, wherein each of said light emitting elements do not face the same direction.

53. The system of claim 43, wherein each of said tabs and each of said light emitting elements are angled 1-89 degrees in relation to said housing.

54. The system of claim 43, wherein each of said tabs and each of said light emitting elements are angled 60-75 degrees in relation to said housing.

55. The system of claim 43, wherein said tabs and said light emitting elements are arranged such that light output from each of said light emitting elements over said lighting units is at least partially overlapping.

56. The system of claim 43, wherein said light emitted by each of said light emitting elements directly over said lighting unit is of a lower intensity than light emitted by each of said light emitting elements at an angle in relation to said lighting unit.

57. The system of claim 43, wherein said light emitted from said light emitting elements is at a lower intensity in the direction which is the shortest distance from the light emitting unit to said translucent channel letter cover and said light emitted from said light emitting elements is at a higher intensity in the direction which is the longest distance to said translucent channel letter cover.

58. The system of claim 43, wherein at least one said PCB in said lighting units comprises a metal core PCB arranged to conduct heat away from said light emitting elements.

59. The system of claim 43, wherein at least one of said light emitting elements comprises light emitting diode.

60. The system of claim 43, wherein each of said units further comprises a constant current device, each of which provides substantially the same current to said light emitting elements on its respective one of said units.

61. The system of claim 43, comprising drive electronics for said light emitting elements on each of said unit'"'"'s PCB.

62. The system of claim 49, wherein said mounting mechanism in at least one of said units comprises double sided tape.

63. The system of claim 49, wherein said housing in at least one of said units comprises a hole, said PCB also comprising a hole, said hole extending through said sealant, and wherein said mounting mechanism comprises a screw to cooperate with said hole.

64. The system of claim 43, wherein said translucent cover disperses light from said lighting units giving that the appearance that said channel letter is illuminated by a continuous light source.

65. A method for fabricating a lighting unit, comprising:

providing a housing with an opening;

providing a printed circuit board (PCB) having a plurality of tabs and having a plurality of light emitting elements on said tabs;

mounting said PCB within said housing;

providing a shaped plate;

angling said tabs and light emitting elements angled in relation to the remainder of said PCB by inserting said shaped plate into said housing such that said shaped plate pushes at least a portion of said tabs and light emitting elements out of the opening of said housing; and

providing a sealant within said housing by filling the cavity around said PCB, shaped plate, and cavities around said light emitting elements.

66. The method of claim 65 wherein said tabs and light emitting elements are angled in relation to the remainder of said PCB such that said light emitting elements emit light at an angle in relation to said housing.

67. The method of claim 65 further comprising applying an electrical signal to said light emitting elements causing them to emit light substantially away from said housing

68. The method of claim 65 wherein said sealant does not substantially cover said light emitting elements.

69. The method of claim 65 wherein said PCB has a conductive core conducting heat from said light emitting elements.

70. The method of claim 65 further comprising:

providing a constant current device;

mounting said constant current device on said PCB; and

accepting an electrical signal and providing a constant current to said light emitting elements.

71. The method of claim 65 further comprising providing a mounting mechanism for mounting said unit to a structure.

72. The method of claim 65 wherein each of said light emitting elements do not face the same direction.

73. The method of claim 65 wherein each of said tabs and each of said light emitting elements are angled 1-89 degrees in relation to said housing.

74. The method of claim 65 wherein each of said tabs and each of said light emitting elements are angled 60-75 degrees in relation to said housing.

75. The method of claim 67 further comprising arranging said tabs and said light emitting elements such that light output from each of said light emitting elements over said lighting units is at least partially overlapping.

76. The method of claim 67 wherein said light emitted by each of said light emitting elements directly over said lighting unit is of a lower intensity than light emitted by each of said light emitting elements at an angle in relation to said lighting unit.

77. The method of claim 65 wherein said PCB is mouted such that there is a space between most of said housing and the bottom and top surface of said PCB to allow said sealant to fill into the surrounding area around said PCB, enclosing said unit.

78. The method of claim 65 further comprising mounting drive electronics to said PCB.

79. The method of claim 65 wherein said sealant bonds to said housing and said PCB, strengthening connections between components therein.

80. The method of claim 65 wherein said sealant is a thermoplastic hotmelt.

81. The method of claim 65 wherein said PCB in said lighting unit comprises alternating layers of polyimide film and copper.

82. The method of claim 65 further comprising providing vias on said PCB arranged in proximity to said light emitting elements for heat dissipation.