CAMPOBASSO, Maurizio (Via G. Falcone, 11/4, Casier, I-31030, IT)
NASCIMBEN, Daniele (Via Macello 18, Silea, I-31057, IT)
PIVA, Raffaele (Via Botteniga 11, Treviso, I-31100, IT)
OSRAM S.P.A. - SOCIETA' RIUNITE OSRAM EDISON CLERICI (Via Savona, 105, Milano, I-20144, IT)
BORTOLATO, Daniele (Via Boschi 18, Cappella di Scorzè, I-30030, IT)
CAMPOBASSO, Maurizio (Via G. Falcone, 11/4, Casier, I-31030, IT)
NASCIMBEN, Daniele (Via Macello 18, Silea, I-31057, IT)
PIVA, Raffaele (Via Botteniga 11, Treviso, I-31100, IT)
| CLAIMS 1. An electrical connection device between a lighting source (120) and a power supply circuit (14) mounted on a printed circuit board (142), the device including a laminar electrical contact (16) extending from said printed circuit board (142) towards said lighting source (120) . 2. The device of claim 1, wherein said laminar contact (16) is in the form of a plate or strip. 3. The device of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said laminar contact (16) has an end (16a) inserted in said printed circuit board (142) . 4. The device of any of previous claims, wherein said laminar contact (16) is connected to said printed circuit board (142) by soldering, preferably wave soldering . 5. The device of any of previous claims, wherein said printed circuit board (142) has circuit components (144) of said power supply circuit (14) mounted on one side of the board (142), and wherein said laminar contact (16) extends towards said lighting source (120) on the side of said board (142) opposed to the side on which said circuit components (144) are mounted. 6. The device of any of previous claims, wherein said laminar contact (16) is connected to said lighting source (120) in manner selected out of soldering and elastically biased contact connection. 7. The device of any of previous claims, wherein said laminar contact (16) has a distal end (16b) opposed to said printed circuit board (142), said distal end being bent over itself. 8. A method of realizing a device according to any of claims 1 to 7, including: providing a sheet-like body (N) of an electrically conductive material, preferably in the form of a web, and - cutting said laminar contact (16) out of said sheet-like body (N) , preferably by punching. 9. The method of claim 8, including cutting from said sheet-like body a plurality of said laminar contacts (16) by keeping said laminar contacts (16) provisionally connected to one another in a web-like arrangement. 10. The method of claim 8 or claim 9, including: coupling said laminar contact (16) to said printed circuit board (142) by acting from one side of said board (142), said side being preferably the side of said board (142) onto which the components (144) of said power supply circuit (14) are mounted, and - bending said laminar contact (16) causing it to extend from the opposed side of said printed circuit board (142) . |
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Field of the invention
This disclosure relates to connection devices for light sources.
This disclosure was devised with specific attention paid to its possible application for connecting a high temperature light source (for example a halogen lamp) to the related power supply circuit (for example an electronic transformer or "ballast").
Description of the related art
A halogen lamp is an example of a high temperature lighting source, comprising a helix (spiral), coil or another shaped metal wire structure arranged in a glass bulb and adapted for a flow of high intensity current therethrough .
During the operation of the source (which is sometimes named "burner"), the spiral, coil or structure making up the lighting body itself is incandescent, and can therefore emit a considerable amount of heat, by irradiation, by conduction and by convection .
The related power supply circuit, e.g. an electronic converter, is on the contrary adapted to operate at a lower temperature. Because of the generally high intensity values of the current supplied from the electronic transformer to the halogen lamp, it is important to be able to ensure a high electrical conductivity in the connection between the light source and the related power supply circuit, especially considering the high thermal shock undergone by the integrated lighting device (i.e. the assembly of lighting source and related power supply circuit) during its whole lifetime. The achievement of this goal should be compatible with the normal industrial production processes of such lighting devices.
So far, the most widespread solution has been to carry out such a connection by way of an isolated wire, optionally made up by plural twisted cores, by resorting to hand assembling.
Object and summary of the invention
The inventors have observed that the previously envisaged solution cannot be considered as satisfactory, especially as far as the needs of industrial production are concerned.
The object of the invention is to provide a solution adapted to overcome the intrinsic drawbacks of the known solution. According to the invention, such an object is achieved through a connection device having the features set forth in the claims that follow. The invention also concerns a related realizing method. The claims are an integral part of the technical teaching of the invention provided herein.
In various embodiments, a metallic connection is provided that has an extremely low resistance and simultaneously a high mechanical stability during the manufacturing process. In various embodiments a flat metal plate or strip is used, e.g. of a copper alloy.
Brief description of the annexed representations
The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the enclosed representations, wherein:
- Figure 1 shows a lighting device,
- Figure 2 shows a perspective view of a connection device according to an embodiment, and
Figures 3 to 6 show subsequent steps of realization of an embodiment.
Detailed description of embodiments In the following description, numerous specific details are given to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments. The embodiments can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or . with other methods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the embodiments.
Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
The headings provided herein are for convenience only and do not interpret the scope or meaning of the embodiments .
Figure 1 schematically shows a lighting device 10 comprising :
- a lighting source 12, and
- a related power supply circuit 14.
The lighting source 12 can include a lighting body (or "burner") comprising for example a halogen lamp 120 adapted to reach, during operation, temperatures of the order of 200°C. For this reason, although it is normally provided with a bulb, for example a drop- shaped bulb, the lamp 120 is normally arranged within a bulb 122 of a transparent material (e.g. glass), in such a way as not to hinder the light flow diffusion and on the other hand to avoid an undesirable casual contact with the lighting body 120 at operating temperature .
The presently considered embodiment is representative of an electrical connection device adapted to transfer towards a high temperature lighting source, for example towards the halogen lamp 120, from a power supply circuit (for example an electronic transformer) , a current of such an intensity as to allow the operation of the lighting source, making this source incandescent.
In the considered case, in Figure 2 the following elements are visible:
- one of the power supply contacts (or rheophores) 100 of the halogen lamp 120 (or, in any case, of the lighting source) , and
a printed circuit board (PCB) 142, whereon various electrical and electronic components 144 are mounted making up the power supply circuit (see also Figures 4 to 6) .
In the shown embodiment, the contact or rheophore
100 of lamp 120 (the lighting device may comprise two such terminations 100) has a folded end part 100a, in such a way as to extend in a direction generally orthogonal to the extension direction of the rheophore 100 and as to have moreover a general C shape, given by the presence of a distal tab 100b.
In various embodiments, each rheophore 100 may have an overall semicircular shape, so that both rheophores can jointly form a disk-like structure adapted to support the lamp 120 at the bottom of the protection bulb 122 (which in the present case has a spherical shape and is only partially visible in Figure 2) . The criteria followed can be better inferred from two Patent Applications filed on the same date by the same Applicants. The specific shape of the presently considered rheophores 100 has in any case a merely exemplary nature .
As will be better understood in the following, in various embodiments the board (PCB) 142 is mounted in such a way that the electrical/electronic components 144 mounted thereon are arranged on the side of the board 142 which is opposed to the lamp 120, i.e. on the side opposed to where, in Figure 2, one of the power supply rheophores 100 is visible. In this way, the board 142 can perform the function of shielding and protecting the circuits 12 from the heat coming from the lighting source.
In various embodiments, the power supply circuit 144 mounted on the board 142 and the lamp 120 (i.e. each of the rheophores 10) are connected with each other through a laminar contact 16, consisting of an electrically conductive plate or strip (for example of a metal such as a copper alloy) , extending from the power supply circuit 142, 144 towards the lighting source 120 (i.e. towards the rheophore 10) .
The proximal end 16a of the contact 16 can be connected to the board 142 (more precisely, to the circuits thereon) through soldering (brazing) , for example with the technology known as wave soldering, which is currently employed in printed circuit manufacturing .
In various embodiments, the distal end 16b of the contact 16 (the terms "proximal" and "distal" refer to the position with respect to the board 142) can be bent over itself in a general C shape, so as to promote an elastically biased contact against shaped portions - e.g. against tab 100b or against an otherwise protruding portion 100c of the rheophore 100 - without having to resort to a soldered connection. The connection of the distal end 16b of the contact 16 with the rheophores of the lamp 120 can anyway involve a soldering as well, for example a voltaic-arc soldering.
The elastically biased connection favors the possibility of inserting the light source simply by snapping it into the mounting structure (for example into the upper part of the housing of the power supply device 14, of which the junction element 20 with the bulb 122 is visible) , so as to facilitate both the first insertion and the possible substitution of the lighting source.
As schematically shown in the sequence of Figures 3 to 6, the plate or strip 16 can be obtained from a metal sheet of bigger size (for example from a web N of copper alloy) , for example through punching, so as to obtain a component having, beside an excellent electrical conductivity, a remarkable mechanical stability as well, although it is generally a flexible structure. Resorting to punching from a web-like structure N offers a further advantage because, after punching, the individual elements or contacts 16 can still be kept united in the web, as can be clearly seen in Figure 3, avoiding their separation.
The proximal part 16a of each contact 16 is therefore adapted to be inserted into the printed circuit board 142, as schematically depicted in Figures 4a and 4b, showing the board 142 with the circuits 144 mounted thereon, after mounting contact 16, respectively in side view and in end view. Contact 16 may be simply inserted into a hole of the board 142 corresponding to one of the metal coated contacts of the same, by an operation adapted to be performed in a completely automated way.
The following step consists in the electrical connection, which may take place either by a wave soldering method (for example in a tin bath, with a technology which is known in itself and schematically shown at W in Figure 5), or by hand iron soldering.
Thanks to working on a plate or strip body, the contact 16 can undergo, beside a forming by punching from a web N, various bending and shaping operations.
The sequence of Figures 5 and 6 shows that, after the mounting on the plate 142, obtained by inserting the proximal end 16a within a hole in the board 142 from a face or side of the same, it is possible to bend the contact 16 over itself, so that its distal end 16b (which may be destined to be bent in a C shape, as schematically shown in Figure 2) may be "overturned" on the side of board 12 which is opposed to the side having the circuits 144. This allows the final assembling in the state which has previously been mentioned, i.e. with the circuits 144 carried by the board 142 on the side opposed to the light source, so that the board 142 is adapted to work as a thermal protection shield of the circuits 144 against the heat generated by the light source.
The final achievable result, as more clearly depicted in Figure 2, shows a level of stability, concerning the connection to the board 142 as well, which is remarkably higher than obtained with a single or multiple core wire. Moreover, this production process can be completely automated.
Of course, without prejudice to the underlying principles of the invention, the details and the embodiments may vary, even appreciably, with respect to what has been described by way of example only, without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the claims that follow.
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