This invention relates to a light unit of a type suitable for mounting on or recessed in a wall or ceiling surface, and including a light unit of a type sometimes referred to as a bulkhead light.

In order to facilitate ease of installation and maintenance it is common for a light unit to comprise a base section which is permanently secured to a supporting wall or ceiling surface and a facia which can be removed from the base section without removing the base section from the supporting surface. Typically electrical connectors and other components as appropriate, such as a transformer, are mounted in the base section along with the light source, such as an incandescent, fluorescent or LED lamp.

By providing a readily removable and replaceable facia it is relatively easy to access the lamp to replace a defective lamp or exchange a lamp for one of a different light output.

In the case of an LED light unit there is not the same frequency of need to replace the light source as in the case of an incandescent or fluorescent lamps. But if there is a need to change an LED light source for one of a different light output there is a need often to change the transformer/driver. That is not always easy to undertake, particularly with the base section remaining in situ on a supporting surface.

The present invention seeks to provide an LED light unit in which at least some of the disadvantages of known light units are mitigated or overcome.

The invention seeks also to provide an LED light unit which facilitates ease of installation and ease of exchange of the LED light source.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention an LED light unit comprises a base section and facia section wherein the facia section comprises a mounting panel having a rear face which, in the assembled light unit, faces towards the base section, the mounting panel additionally having a front face which faces in a direction opposite that of the rear face, the rear face having mounted thereon an LED power source and the front face being covered by a protective cover of light transmitting material, the mounting panel having secured thereto at least one LED lamp which, in use, emits light in the direction of the protective cover.

At least one LED lamp may be mounted on the front face of the mounting panel. Alternatively or additionally the mounting panel may be apertured for passage of light through the mounting panel from an LED lamp supported by the rear face of the mounting panel or for the purpose of allowing the body of an LED lamp to extend through the mounting panel.

The protective cover may be secured directly to a peripheral region of the mounting panel or may be secured thereto by means of a bezel. The protective cover may be formed of a transparent or translucent material, or a combination thereof.

The mounting panel may be apertured for ventilation whereby heat generated by the driver/transformer in the space between the base section and rear face of the mounting panel is cooled by natural air flow convection through a space between the front panel of the mounting panel and the light transmitting cover. The bezel may be shaped to obscure sight of the ventilation aperture(s), particularly but not exclusively in the case of a light unit having a transparent protective cover.

The LED power source may comprise a battery. The battery may be of a rechargeable type and the front face of the mounting panel, or other part of the facia section may comprise a solar cell for charging of the battery.

It is envisaged, however, that commonly the LED light unit will be required to be of a type which is mains powered. In that case the mounting panel preferably has secured relative thereto a push-fit type of connector

component for interconnecting with the base section, for example with a complementary connector component secured relative to the base section of the LED light unit. Accordingly, during installation of the LED light unit, and subsequent to installation of the base section, electrical connection can readily be effected in situ by push-fitting together the two connector components prior to then securing the facia section to the base section.

Correspondingly, removal of the facia section from the base section may be readily effected by removal of the facia section and separation of the two connector components. Thus in both installation and removal operations the difficulty and inconvenience of effecting on-site wired connection using screw type terminals is avoided.

The facia section may comprise a push-fit connector component which is mounted on the rear face of the mounting panel and which may be secured directly to the mounting panel. Alternatively a push-fit connector may be connected to the driver/transformer by a wired interconnection, without being secured directly to the mounting panel.

Similarly, the base section may have a push-fit connector which is directly mounted thereon or which is secured to the body of the base section by a wired interconnection, for example from a mains power supply by means of a cable connected to the mains supply at the time of or subsequent to installation of the base section.

Preferably at least one of the push-fit connector components secured relative to the base section and that secured relative to the facia section is secured thereto by a wired connection whereby the two connector components may be joined together by push-fitting prior to securing the facia section to the base section. That is, either only one or neither of the push-fit connector components is directly mounted.

Alternatively, however, push-fit connector components may be directly mounted to both the base section and facia section and positioned such that the two connector components engage with one another to provide electrical continuity when the facia section is fitted to the base section. The two connector components may be positioned such that they are engaged by movement of the facia section towards the base section in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the mounting panel. Alternatively, for example, they may come into engagement following presentation of the facia section to the base section and relative rotational movement of the two sections.

The mounting panel preferably extends over the whole or substantially all of the base section in the assembled light unit whereby, particularly in the case of a transparent protective cover, the whole of the base section that faces the protective cover is obscured from sight.

The mounting panel, or a bezel if provided, may comprise a locking means for securing the facia to the base section.

The light unit may have a circular profile and may comprise a facia section of circular profile.

The base section also may be of a circular profile. The base and facia sections may be provided with locking formations whereby the two sections are secured together by relative rotation about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the mounting panel. The locking formations may comprise at least one pair of mutually engagable abutment surfaces carried respectively by the base and facia section. At least one of said abutment surfaces may be inclined relative to the tangential direction, that is it may be a surface of increasing (or decreasing) radius as considered in a circumferential direction whereby the two abutment surfaces come into increasing frictional contact as the base and facia sections are rotated relative to one another to secure them together. Thus the base and facia sections may be secured together by a twist and lock action.

A removable retainer may be provided to retain the two sections against relative movement and separation until the retainer has been removed. One embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which :-

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an LED light unit in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of parts of each of the two sections of the light unit of Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the rear face of the facia section of the light unit of Figures 1 to 3;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of an installed base section prior to receiving a facia section;

Figure 5 shows base and facia sections electrically interconnected, with a part in enlarged detail;

Figure 6 is a perspective view showing the manner in which the electrically interconnected base and facia sections are assembled, and

Figure 7 is a perspective view showing the manner in which the base and facia sections are locked relative to one another.

An LED light unit 10 suitable for use as a bulkhead light comprises a base section 11 and a facia section 12.

The base 11 comprises a circular back plate 13 from the periphery of which a skirt portion 14 extends, thereby to define a cavity 15 which in the assembled light unit accommodates components carried by the facia section. The skirt portion 14 in this embodiment comprises a decorative collar 16. The back plate 13 is of a substantially conventional form, comprising apertures 17 for screws or other fixing means by which the light unit may be fixed to a support surface and a cable aperture 18 (see Figure 4) through which a cable 19 extends for supply of electrical power to the facia section.

The cable 19 is provided with a connector component 20 which is a push-fit for engagement with a complimentary connector component 21 carried by the facia section.

The inner peripheral surface 22 of the skirt portion 14 is provided with four abutment surfaces 25 which are each engagable by a corresponding abutment surface 26 carried by the facia section 12.

The abutment surfaces 26 of the facia section are inclined relative to a tangential direction whereby they come into increasing frictional engagement with the abutment surfaces 25 of the base section as the two sections are rotated relative to one another in a first direction, and permit separation of the two sections when the two sections are rotated relative to one another in a second, reverse direction.

The facia section 12 comprises a circular mounting panel 30 relative to which a transparent (or optionally a translucent) protective cover 31 is secured by means of an encircling bezel 32.

The mounting panel has a rear face 33 (see Figure 3) to which are secured electric components 34 for operation of a plurality of LED lights 36 (see Figure 2). The electrical components 34 include a driver/transformer 37, microwave sensor 37' for allowing remote on/off operation of the driver 37, a standby battery 35 and the aforementioned connector 21 which is secured relative to the mounting panel by a short length of cable 28 that extends from the driver The mounting panel additionally is apertured for through passage of wires 38 that interconnect between the electrical components 34 and the LED lights 36. Other wires, not shown, interconnect between the electrical components.

Close to the outer periphery of the mounting panel 30 the panel is provided with a plurality of small apertures 39 which permit air circulation between the aforementioned cavity 15 and a space between the protective cover 31 and the front face 40 of the mounting panel. In this embodiment of the invention the bezel comprises an inwardly directed lip portion 41 that extends radially inwards to have an inner diameter slightly less than the inner diameter of the circumferential array of ventilation apertures 39 whereby the ventilation apertures are not externally directly visible in the case of a protective cover that is transparent.

The bezel additionally is provided with the aforementioned four abutment surfaces 26, and the bezel, protective cover and mounting plate are secured relative to one another in a click-fit manner.

For installation of the light unit, with the base section 11 secured to a support surface, the two connector components are joined together (see Figure 5) and then the facia section is moved towards the base section (see Figure 6) with the cable 19 being positioned to lie within the cavity 15. Subsequently the facia section is rotated (see Figure 7) to cause the aforementioned abutment surfaces 25, 26 to come into increasing frictional engagement with one another whereby the facia section becomes firmly secured to the base section. A small screw 43 is then inserted through the skirt 14 to engage with an aperture 42 in the base section and tightened by use of an Alien key 45 (see Figure 1 ) thereby to prevent relative rotation to separate the two sections 1 1 , 12.

In the event of a need to service or replace any components of the facia section the facia section may readily be removed by rotating the facia section relative to the base section in a first direction and simply separating the two connector components 20,21. Accordingly replacement can be readily effected without the need to conduct any intricate work in situ on the base unit, and in the event of a maintenance operation being required to the facia unit, that can be undertaken at a convenient location remote from the base section.