JP7591982B2 - LED lighting equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an LED lighting device, and more specifically to an LED lighting device that contains a long substrate that holds multiple LED light-emitting elements aligned in the longitudinal direction, within a long frame.

Conventionally, as shown in Patent Document 1, for example, LED lighting devices have been known in which a long substrate holding multiple LED light-emitting elements aligned in the length direction is housed within a long frame. In many cases, this type of LED lighting device has an opening at the end of the long frame in the length direction, and an end cap is provided to close the opening.

Utility Model Registration No. 3201561

In conventional LED lighting devices that are provided with end caps as described above, it was necessary to provide a structure such as a screw inside the frame to secure the end cap. If such a structure is provided, it would be impossible to place the board over the entire length of the frame from one end to the other, so the board had to be made shorter than the entire length of the frame, which was an obstacle to increasing the total luminous flux of the LED lighting device. The present invention was made in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to provide an LED lighting device that allows the board to be placed over the entire length of the frame, thereby obtaining a high luminous flux.

The LED lighting device according to the present invention comprises:
A long substrate on which a plurality of LED light emitting elements are arranged in a lengthwise direction;
a long frame for accommodating the substrate, the frame having a bottom plate extending in a lengthwise direction and left and right side plate rising from both ends in a width direction of the bottom plate, the frame supporting the substrate on the bottom plate, and at least one of both ends in the lengthwise direction being open;
a light-transmitting cover attached to an upper end of the frame side plate so as to face the bottom plate;
an end cap for closing the opening of the frame;
A coated electric wire for supplying power from an external power source to the LED light emitting element;
In an LED lighting device comprising:
A pair of plate holding portions are formed on the left and right sides of the bottom plate of the frame, the plate holding portions extending downward from both ends in the width direction of the bottom plate of the frame and having leading edges bent in a direction approaching each other, and which hold the plate-like member in close contact with the underside of the bottom plate of the frame,
The end cap is
an opening closing portion that closes the opening of the frame;
an insertion plate which is a plate-like member fixed to the lower part of the opening closing part substantially vertically and is inserted and held in the plate holding part in a state in which the upper surface of the insertion plate is in contact with the lower surface of the frame bottom plate and the left and right ends of the lower surface are received by the leading edge;
a claw portion formed on the upper surface of the insertion plate, which bites into the lower surface of the frame bottom plate when the opening closing portion is in a state where the opening is closed, thereby maintaining the opening in a closed state;
The present invention is characterized in that it is provided with:

In the above explanation, "top and bottom" refer to the top and bottom when the frame is arranged so that the frame bottom plate is on the bottom and the light-transmitting cover is on the top. In addition, the multiple LED light-emitting elements that are aligned and held in the length direction of the long board are not limited to being held in one row, and may be held in multiple rows as long as they are aligned in this direction.

In the above explanation, "digging in" means that the claw portion is made of a harder material than the frame bottom plate, and so deforms the underside of the frame bottom plate and penetrates into the frame bottom plate, making it impossible or very difficult for the opening closure portion to move the end cap in the direction to open the opening. Examples of such material combinations include a frame bottom plate made of aluminum and a claw portion made of steel, a frame bottom plate made of hard synthetic resin and a claw portion made of metal such as steel, and a frame bottom plate made of aluminum and a claw portion made of stainless steel, but of course they are not limited to these examples.

In the LED lighting device of the present invention having the above configuration,
The opening closing portion of the end cap is formed from a synthetic resin,
The end cap insert plate is formed of metal together with the claw portion,
The opening closing portion and the insertion plate are integrally molded.
It is desirable.

It is also desirable that the LED lighting device of the present invention having the above configuration further includes a flat magnet supported by the plate holding portion and integrated with the frame.

The end cap opening closure preferably includes a wire holding section that holds the insulated wire by bending it into an element-side section extending toward the LED light-emitting element and a power-source-side section bent substantially downward from the element-side section, and that tightly passes the element-side section through a groove with an open upper end to clamp and fix it. Here, "passing tightly through the groove" means that the width of the groove is set slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the wire's insulator, so that the wire cannot easily fall out of the groove.

Here, it is preferable that the wire holding portion is capable of holding the element side portion and the power supply side portion by bending them at approximately right angles to each other. It is also preferable that the wire holding portion has a wire guide portion that guides the power supply side portion in a direction that intersects with the direction in which the element side portion extends. It is preferable that such a wire guide portion has a guide hole through which the power supply side portion is inserted.

In the LED lighting device according to the present invention, the end cap can be fixed to the frame by the simple operation of simply pushing the end cap into the frame. This eliminates the need to provide a structure such as a screw for fixing the end cap inside the frame, and allows the board to be placed from one end of the frame to the other. This realizes a high-luminous flux LED lighting device that emits light over the entire length of the frame.

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing an LED lighting device according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a main part of the LED lighting device. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an end cap used in the LED lighting device. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the end cap. FIG. 13 is a perspective view illustrating a combination of the end cap and the frame. FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a state in which the end cap and the frame are assembled together. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the LED lighting device cut in a portion along the frame length direction. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing the LED lighting device cut at a position different from that shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for assembling the LED lighting device.

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing an LED lighting device 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. This LED lighting device 1 is basically composed of a long substrate 10 that holds a number of LED light-emitting elements (described later) aligned in the length direction, a long frame 20 that houses this substrate 10, a light-transmitting cover 30 attached to this frame 20, end caps 40 that close the openings formed at both ends of the frame 20, and a coated electric wire 50 for supplying power from an external power source to the LED light-emitting elements. In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 described later, the length direction of the substrate 10 and the frame 20 is indicated by an arrow L in the figure, and will be referred to as the length direction L below.

In FIG. 1, the frame 20 is cut in the middle and only one of its two ends in the longitudinal direction is shown, but the actual frame 20 extends further forward (to the lower left in the figure) than the cut part in the figure. In other words, an end cap similar to the end cap 40 described above is attached to the other of the two ends in the longitudinal direction of the frame 20 (not shown). The substrate 10 is also shown cut in the middle in the longitudinal direction.

The frame 20 has a frame bottom plate 21 extending in the length direction, and left and right frame side plates 22 rising from both ends of the frame bottom plate 21 in the width direction. The translucent cover 30 is attached to the tip side of the left and right frame side plates 22. In what follows, the terms "upper" and "lower" are used to describe the frame 20, assuming that the frame 20 is arranged so that the translucent cover 30 is on the upper side and the frame bottom plate 21 is on the lower side, as in the state shown in Figure 1.

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the main parts of the LED lighting device 1 of this embodiment before assembly, disassembled. The following description will be continued with reference to this Figure 2. In this Figure 2, the same elements as those already described are given the same numbers, and their description will be omitted unless particularly necessary (hereinafter the same). The substrate 10 holds a plurality of LED light-emitting elements 11 aligned in the length direction on one side. The substrate 10 also has two wire connection parts 12 on the one side for connecting one end of the coated electric wire 50. In the LED lighting device 1 of this embodiment, the plurality of LED light-emitting elements 11 are held in one row in the length direction L of the substrate 10, but the present invention is also applicable to an LED lighting device in which a plurality of LED light-emitting elements 11 are held in two or more rows in the length direction L.

In addition to the frame bottom plate 21 and left and right frame side plates 22 described above, the frame 20 further has a pair of left and right plate holding parts 23 that extend downward, i.e., from both ends of the width of the frame bottom plate 21, toward the opposite side of the frame side plates 22. The tip edges 23a of each plate holding part 23 are bent in such a way that they approach each other, so that the pair of plate holding parts 23 can hold a plate-shaped member in close contact with the underside of the frame bottom plate 21.

The inner surface of the upper end of the left and right frame side plates 22 has recesses 22a with a cross-sectional shape as shown in FIG. 2 formed over the entire length in the longitudinal direction L. The translucent cover 30, which is made of synthetic resin for example, is attached to the frame side plates 22 in a state facing the frame bottom plate 21 by fitting its lower end in the width direction into these recesses 22a.

The frame 20, which has a frame bottom plate 21, frame side plates 22, and plate holding portion 23, is formed, for example, by extruding aluminum so that both ends in the length direction L have openings 20c. As an example, and not limited to this, the overall width of the frame 20 (the distance between the outer surfaces of the left and right frame side plates 22) is about 8 mm, and the overall height (the distance from the top end of the frame side plates 22 to the leading edge 23a of the plate holding portion 23) is about 10 mm. The overall length of the frame 20 is about 40 mm to 1500 mm depending on the total luminous flux, that is, the number of installed LED light-emitting elements 11, and it is preferable that several products be available that fall between these values.

Next, the end cap 40 will be described in detail with reference to the perspective view of FIG. 3 and the plan view of FIG. 4, which show the end cap 40 separately. The end cap 40 has an opening closing portion 41 that closes the opening 20c of the frame 20, an insertion plate 42 fixed substantially vertically to the lower portion of the opening closing portion 41, and a claw portion 43 formed on the upper surface 42a of the insertion plate 42.

More specifically, the claw portion 43 is formed by cutting out a part of the insertion plate 42 and bending it upward. The claw portion 43 is required to be able to elastically resist being pushed in from above and to have a certain degree of hardness. Therefore, the insertion plate 42 and the claw portion 43 are formed from a steel plate (preferably a stainless steel plate) as an example. On the other hand, the opening closing portion 41 is formed from a synthetic resin as an example, and has a pair of left and right side plates 44, a base portion 45 that also acts as a connecting portion of the side plates 44, a protrusion portion 46 that rises from the base portion 45 in a state in which a vertical groove 47 is formed between the side plates 44, and a back plate 48 that closes the rear of the pair of side plates 44. As shown in the plan view of FIG. 4, a pair of left and right wire guide holes 49 are provided in the portion of the base portion 45 that connects to the back plate 48.

As described above, the opening closure 41 has a fairly complex three-dimensional shape, and is desirably provided with high insulation and optical transparency, for which synthetic resin is a suitable material. In this embodiment, the opening closure 41 made of synthetic resin and the insert plate 42 made of steel plate are integrally molded. Therefore, when assembling the LED lighting device 1, a process of combining the two parts that make up the end cap 40 is not required.

The opening closure portion 41 is placed on the frame 20 as shown in Figure 2, and then pushed toward the frame 20 in the frame length direction L. When pushed in this way, the opening closure portion 41 is integrated with the frame 20 with the opening 20c of the frame 20 closed. The state of the opening closure portion 41 before and after being pushed in is shown in Figures 5 and 6, respectively, as viewed from the underside of the insertion plate 42.

In Figure 2, each part is shown disassembled, so the state in which the two coated electric wires 50 are connected to the electric wire connection part 12 is not shown, but in reality this connection is made as described below. Also, the tip sides of the two coated electric wires 50 extending downward in Figures 1 and 2 are not shown, but a connector is attached to these tip sides for connecting to other electric wires connected to an external power source not shown. With the above configuration, it is possible to supply power to multiple LED light-emitting elements 11.

The LED lighting device 1 of this embodiment is particularly configured so that it can be used with the frame 20 positioned upside down from the state shown in Figures 1 and 2, with the translucent cover 30 on the bottom and the frame bottom plate 21 on the top. For this reason, a magnet 60 is attached to the LED lighting device 1 to magnetically attract the bottom surface (outer surface) of the frame bottom plate 21 in Figures 1 and 2 to, for example, a steel ceiling plate or the bottom surface of the top plate of a steel storage shed.

As shown in Figures 5 and 6, the magnet 60 is generally flat, but more specifically, its longitudinal cross-sectional shape is generally trapezoidal. The magnet 60 is attached to the frame 20 by holding both ends 61, which form the left and right ends of the lower base in the above cross-sectional shape, between the pair of plate holders 23, more specifically, at the leading edges 23a (see Figure 2). The magnet 60 thus held by the pair of leading edges 23a will not easily fall off the frame 20. One or more magnets 60 may be attached depending on the overall length of the frame 20.

The end cap 40, which is pushed into the frame 20 as described above, is also pushed in with its insertion plate 42 positioned between a pair of plate holding parts 23, more specifically between the leading edges 23a (see FIG. 2), as described above. At this time, the front end in the pushing direction is at the same height as the insertion plate 42, and the claw part 43, whose rear end is higher than the insertion plate 42, moves along the lower surface 21a of the frame bottom plate 21 while its rear end elastically presses against this lower surface 21a. Thus, finally, the front end surface (the end surface on the front side in the insertion direction) of the base part 45 of the opening closing part 41 abuts against the end surfaces of the frame bottom plate 21 and the frame side plate 22, which form the periphery of the opening 20c of the frame 20. FIG. 6 shows this state.

In the state where the above-mentioned abutment is made, the opening 20c of the frame 20 is roughly closed by the opening closing portion 41 of the end cap 40, and then the pushing of the end cap 40 is stopped. In this state, the rear end of the claw portion 43, which is elastically pressing against the lower surface 21a of the frame bottom plate 21, bites into said lower surface 21a, making it impossible or very difficult to move the opening closing portion 41 in the direction opposite to the above-mentioned pushing (the direction to open the opening 20c). In other words, the bite of the claw portion 43 into the lower surface 21a of the frame bottom plate 21 maintains the state in which the end cap 40 closes the opening 20c of the frame 20.

The above-mentioned "biting in" will now be described in detail. The claw portion 43 is formed from a steel plate which is harder than the aluminum which is the material of the frame bottom plate 21, so the edge portion at the rear end of the claw portion 43 deforms the underside 21a of the frame bottom plate 21 and penetrates into the frame bottom plate 21. This makes the above-mentioned movement of the opening closure portion 41 impossible or very difficult. To achieve this biting in, the claw portion 43 needs to have high elasticity and strength in addition to hardness, and steel plate is an ideal material in this respect as well.

As described above, after the openings 20c at both ends of the frame 20 in the length direction L are closed by the end caps 40, the translucent cover 30 having a cross-sectional shape as shown in FIG. 2 is attached to the frame 20 by fitting its lower ends in the left-right direction (width direction) into the recesses 22a while elastically deforming the frame side panels 22. This translucent cover 30 is disposed between the back panels 48 of the two end caps 40. As a result, the openings open above the side panels 44 of each end cap 40 are also closed by the translucent cover 30.

The cross-sectional shape in the longitudinal direction of the LED lighting device 1 with the translucent cover 30 attached to the frame side plate 22 is shown in Figures 7 and 8. Figure 7 shows a cross-section at a position where the magnet 60 mentioned above is not visible, while Figure 8 shows a cross-section at a position where the magnet 60 is visible.

As described above, in the LED lighting device 1 of this embodiment, the end cap 40 can be fixed to the frame 20 by a simple operation of simply pushing the end cap 40 into the frame 20. This eliminates the need to provide a structure such as a screw for fixing the end cap 40 inside the frame 20, and also eliminates the need to provide holes, bumps, steps, etc. on the frame 20 side for hooking the claw portion 43, so the substrate 10 can be positioned from one end of the frame 20 to the other. This realizes a high-luminous flux LED lighting device 1 that emits light over the entire length of the frame 20, including both ends.

Here, the holding of the two coated electric wires 50 will be described. The coated electric wires 50 that have been passed from bottom to top through the electric wire guide hole 49 of the opening closure portion 41 shown in Figures 4, 5, and 6 are bent at approximately a right angle so as to follow the bottom surface of the vertical groove 47 (see Figure 2). The portion of the coated electric wire 50 (element side portion) that faces the substrate 10 side, i.e., the LED light emitting element 11 side, due to this bending is pushed from above into the vertical groove 47, which has a width slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the coating, and is tightly accommodated within the vertical groove 47. As a result, the element side portion of the coated electric wire 50 is clamped and fixed within the vertical groove 47.

The element side portion of the coated electric wire 50 thus clamped and fixed in the vertical groove 47 will not easily slip out of the vertical groove 47 even if an external force that pulls it in the length direction acts on it (so-called tension stop). In addition, in the LED lighting device 1, an external force that pulls the coated electric wire 50 generally acts on the portion (power source side portion) that is closer to the external power source than the bent portion. Even if such an external force acts on the power source side portion of the coated electric wire 50, the element side portion of the coated electric wire 50 is bent at a substantially right angle relative to the power source side portion, so that a force that would cause the element side portion to slip out of the vertical groove 47 is unlikely to act on it. From this point of view, the tension stop can be performed more reliably.

The method for assembling the LED lighting device 1 of this embodiment having the above-mentioned configuration will now be described in chronological order with reference to (1) to (4) in Figure 9. Note that in this Figure 9, the side shape of each element is shown in the right half, and the front shape in the left half. However, in particular in (2), the planar shape is also shown directly below the side shape of the substrate 10.

First, as shown in FIG. 1(1), the opening closure 41 of the end cap 40 is separated from the frame 20, and the coated electric wire 50 is passed from bottom to top through the opening closure 41 of the end cap 40 (more specifically, through the electric wire guide hole 49) with the end of the element side portion at the front. Next, as shown in FIG. 1(2), the end of the element side portion of the coated electric wire 50 that has passed through the opening closure 41 is connected to the electric wire connection portion 12 of the board 10 using solder S. At this point, the element side portion of the coated electric wire 50 is left in a somewhat loose state between the electric wire connection portion 12 and the opening closure 41 to facilitate the subsequent process.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3 (3), the substrate 10 with the above connections is adhered and held on the frame bottom plate 21, and then the insertion plate 42 is inserted and held in the plate holding portion 23 (see FIG. 2) with its upper surface in contact with the lower surface of the frame bottom plate 21. Next, as shown in FIG. 3 (4), the coated electric wire 50 is bent into the element side portion and the power supply side portion, and the element side portion is passed through the vertical groove 47 and clamped and fixed. It does not matter whether the above bending and clamping of the coated electric wire 50 are performed first.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 LED lighting device 10 Substrate 11 LED light-emitting element 12 Electric wire connection portion 20 Frame 21 Frame bottom plate 22 Frame side plate 22a Recessed portion of frame side plate 23 Plate holding portion 23a Tip edge of plate holding portion 30 Light-transmitting cover 40 End cap 41 Opening closing portion 42 Insertion plate 43 Claw portion 44 Opening closing portion side plate 45 Base portion of opening closing portion 46 Convex portion of opening closing portion 47 Vertical groove of opening closing portion 48 Back plate of opening closing portion 49 Electric wire guide hole of opening closing portion 50 Covered electric wire 60 Magnet

Claims (7)

A long substrate on which a plurality of LED light emitting elements are arranged in a lengthwise direction;
a long frame for accommodating the substrate, the frame having a bottom plate extending in a lengthwise direction and left and right side plate rising from both ends in a width direction of the bottom plate, the frame supporting the substrate on the bottom plate, and at least one of both ends in the lengthwise direction being an opening;
a light-transmitting cover attached to an upper end of the frame side plate so as to face the bottom plate;
an end cap for closing the opening of the frame;
A coated electric wire for supplying power from an external power source to the LED light emitting element;
In an LED lighting device comprising:
A pair of plate holding portions are formed on the left and right sides of the bottom frame plate, the plate holding portions extending downward from both ends in the width direction of the bottom frame plate and having leading edges bent in a direction approaching each other, and the plate holding portions hold a plate-like member in close contact with the underside of the bottom frame plate,
The end cap is
an opening closing portion that closes the opening of the frame;
an insertion plate which is a plate-like member fixed to the lower part of the opening closing part substantially vertically and is inserted and held in the plate holding part in a state in which the upper surface of the insertion plate is in contact with the lower surface of the frame bottom plate and the left and right ends of the lower surface are received by the leading edge;
a claw portion formed on the upper surface of the insertion plate, which bites into the lower surface of the frame bottom plate when the opening closing portion is in a state where the opening is closed, thereby maintaining the opening in a closed state;
An LED lighting device comprising: The end cap opening closing portion is formed from a synthetic resin,
The end cap insert plate is formed of metal together with the claw portion,
The opening closing portion and the insertion plate are integrally molded.
2. The LED lighting device according to claim 1. The LED lighting device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a flat magnet supported by the plate holder and integrated with the frame. The LED lighting device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the end cap opening closure portion is configured with a wire holding portion that holds the coated electric wire by bending it into an element side portion extending toward the LED light emitting element and a power supply side portion bent substantially downward from the element side portion, and that tightly passes the element side portion through a groove with an open upper end and clamps and fixes it. The LED lighting device according to claim 4, wherein the electric wire holding portion is capable of holding the element side portion and the power supply side portion by bending them at approximately right angles to each other. The LED lighting device according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the wire holding portion has a wire guide portion that guides the power supply side portion in a direction intersecting the direction in which the element side portion extends. The LED lighting device according to claim 6, wherein the wire guide portion has a guide hole through which the power supply portion is inserted.