FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to LED assemblies, and more specifically to a three-dimensional display formed therewith.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Three-dimensional LED assemblies are known to be used in decorative and art purposes.

[0003] However, such known uses are limited to static installations.

They are also complicated to repair and/or changed their configurations.

SUMMARY

[0004] According to illustrative embodiments, there is provided an LED

(Light-emitting diode) assembly comprising:

[0005] - at least one LED board, each including at least one LED and at least one connecting element; and

[0006] - at least one support wire, each including at least one connecting dock, each for removably receiving and operatively connecting one of the at least one LED board via the at least one connecting element. [0007] According to another illustrative element, there is provided a video display comprising:

[0008] the above LED assembly having a plurality of support wires, each having a plurality of LED boards mounted thereto; and

[0009] a controller for controlling the plurality of LED boards.

[0010] Other objects, advantages, and features of the LED (Lightemitting diode) assembly and video display therewith will become more apparent upon reading the following non-restrictive description of illustrative embodiments thereof, given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] In the appended drawings:

[0012] Figure 1 is a perspective view of an LED assembly according to a first illustrative embodiment;

[0013] Figures 2a and 2b are isolated perspective views of first and second assemblies of LED boards mounted to a support wire as part of the assembly from Figure 1 ;

[0014] Figure 3 is an isolated view of one of the LED boards, illustrated mounted to one of the wires from the assembly of Figure 1 ;

[0015] Figure 4 is a close-up perspective view of one of the support wires from Figure 1 ; [0016] Figures 5a-5b are close-up perspective views similar to Figure

3, illustrating the removable mounting and positioning of a LED board on the wire;

[0017] Figures 6A-6B are respectively perspective, bottom plan and side elevational views of an LED assembly according to a second illustrative embodiment;

[0018] Figure 7 is a perspective view of a three-dimensional display screen according to a third illustrative embodiment; and

[0019] Figure 7A is a close-up view of one of the display screen from

Figure 7.

DETAILED D ESCRIPTION

[0020] It should be understood that the elements of the drawings are not necessarily depicted to scale, since emphasis is placed upon clearly illustrating the elements and structures of the present embodiments.

[0021] In the following description, similar features in the drawings have been given similar reference numerals, and in order not to weigh down the figures, some elements are not referred to in some figures if they were already identified in a precedent figure. Herein, it shall further be noted that, for avoiding unnecessary details obscuring the invention, only device structures and/or processing steps closely relevant to schemes according to the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings while omitting other details less relevant to the invention.

[0022] The use of the word "a” or “an" when used in conjunction with the term “comprising" in the claims and/or the specification may mean “one", but it is also consistent with the meaning of “one or more”, “at least one”, and “one or more than one”. Similarly, the word “another" may mean at least a second or more.

[0023] As used in this specification and claim(s), the words “comprising”

(and any form of comprising, such as “comprise” and “comprises”), “having’ ¹ (and any form of having, such as “have” and “has"), “including” (and any form of including, such as “include" and “includes”) or “containing" (and any form of containing, such as “contain" and “contains"), are inclusive or open-ended and do not exclude additional, un-recited elements.

[0024] According to illustrative embodiments, there is provided an LED

(Light-emitting diode) assembly comprising:

[0025] - at least one LED board, each including at least one LED and at least one connecting element; and

[0026] - at least one support wire, each including at least one connecting dock, each for removably receiving and operatively connecting one of the at least one LED board via the at least one connecting element.

[0027] According to another illustrative element, there is provided a video display comprising:

[0028] the above LED assembly having a plurality of support wires, each having a plurality of LED boards mounted thereto; and

[0029] a controller for controlling the plurality of LED boards.

[0030] It is to be noted that the term wire should be construed herein as including any elongated conductor such as, without limitation, a rod or a cable. Such a conductor may or may not be connected to other conductor in a mesh like assembly.

[0031] A first illustrative embodiment of an LED (Light-emitting diode) assembly 10 will now be described with reference first to Figures 1 to 4.

[0032] The LED assembly 10 comprises a plurality of support wires 12, each having a plurality of LED boards 14 removably and movably mounted coaxially thereon.

[0033] With reference more specifically to Figure 4, each support wire 12 is formed by a core planar 0.30 mm layer of fiberglass 16 that is covered on each of its faces by a half-round copper wire layer 18. Each support wire 12 further includes two thin rectangular wires 20 and 22, each protruding along each lateral edges 24 (only one shown) of the fiberglass layer 16 so as to partially cover it, without contacting either of the copper wire layers 18.

[0034] As will be described hereinbelow in more detail, the half-round copper wire layers 18 define a power wire for the LED boards 14 in contact therewith, while the rectangular wire 20 is provided to transmit data to the LED boards 14 and the rectangular wire 22 allows transmitting clock information from a clock source (not shown).

[0035] According to the first illustrative embodiment, the half-round copper wire layers 18 are dead-soft 16-gauge copper half-round wires” and define and power sides. However, they are not limited to such gauge or geometry.

[0036] Also, according to another embodiment, the interlayer 16 is made of another electricity insulating material, such as ceramic. [0037] The data and clock conductors 20 and 22 are made of copper or of another electricity conducting material, such as another metal or a conductive resin.

[0038] According to aannootthheerr iilllluussttrraattiivvee embodiment, the two conductors 20 and 22 have another configuration than being rectangular.

[0039] Both conductors 20 and 22 includes regularly distanced breaks 24, which define LED boards receiving portions along the support wires 12. With references to Figures 2a and 2b, such boards receiving portions 24 facilitate the positioning of the LED boards 14 at regular and precise positions along the wires 12. As will be described hereinbelow in more detail, they also contribute to maintaining the LED boards 14 at selected positions along the wires 12.

[0040] A person skilled in the art will now appreciate that the breaks 24 can be provided at a plurality of equidistant or not positions along the wires 20, yielding a plurality of connecting options for connecting one or a plurality of LED boards 14 along the wires 12.

[0041] The core and half-round copper layers 16 and 18 and the two rectangular wire layers 20 are assembled by heat welding or using an adhesive. They can also be 3D printed or printed on a flexible substrate.

[0042] The LED boards 14 are in the form of FR4 LED boards that are installed at different intervals along each support wires 12 within the cutouts 24.

[0043] Each LED boards 14 is generally circular and defines top and bottom sides 26 and 28. The bottom side 28 is configured to be seen from the ground (not shown) and includes four (4) RGBW LEDs 30-36, all connected to an LED controller (not shown). The controller is further connected to both copper wire layers 18 via two diametrically opposite pogo pin connectors 38 which are mounted to the board 14 on the top side 26 thereof, and on diametrically opposite sides of a central hole 39 in each board 14. The hole 39 is configured for coaxially receiving the wire 12 therein in a snuggly fit manner. The boards 14 are further maintained in place by the pin connectors 38-42.

[0044] The LED board 14 further includes a first pair of pogo pin connectors 40 that connect the board 14 to the data conductor 20. Each of the two

(2) pogo pin connectors 40 are mounted to a respective one of the top and bottom sides 26 and 28 so as to face each other.

[0045] The LED board 14 also includes a second pair of pogo pin connectors 42 that connect the board 14 to the clock conductor 22. Each of the two (2) pairs of pogo pin connectors 42 are mounted to a respective one of the top and bottom sides 26 and 28 so as to face each other and so as to be diametrically opposite the first pair of pogo pin connectors 40.

[0046] The LED boards also includes conventional electronic components allowing the controlled operation of the LEDs 30-36 (not shown).

[0047] As mentioned hereinabove, and as illustrated in Figures 5a and 5b, each LED board 14 is mounted to one of the wires 12 and moved in any longitudinal directions to any one of the breaks 24 (see arrow 44), where it is maintained in place by the pogo pin connectors 38-42, and more specifically, those 40-42 that are inserted in the diametrically opposite breaks 24.

[0048] All LED boards 14 are connected to a main controller (not shown) and controlled and synchronized thereby via the data and clock conductors 20 and 22 on the wires 12. As will be described hereinbelow with reference to further embodiments, the boards 14 and main controller can alternatively be configured for communicating data and clock information wirelessly.

[0049] Each wire 12 is secured to a structure, such as ceiling 46, via a mounting bracket 48 and is then connected directly or indirectly to the main controller. The main controller is programmed to manage all LED controllers on the LED boards 14 to illuminate the LEDs in the LED assembly 10 according to a predetermined or dynamically changing pattern. The main or individual LED controllers can be configured to receive input signal from one or a plurality of sensors to modify the lighting pattern in response thereto. Such sensors can be in the form of, without limitations, light, motion or sound sensors.

[0050] It is to be noted that many modifications could be made to the

LED (Light-emitting diode) assembly 10 described hereinabove and illustrated in the appended drawings. For example:

[0051] - the wire layer 18 is not limited to be half-round and can have another geometry, such as rectangular and planar; the wire layer 18 can also be made from a 3D printed resin, such as, without limitation, Kepstan® PEKK Resin.

[0052] - the core planar layer 16 is not limited to being 0.30 mm thick.

Also, the core planar layer is not limited to being made of fiberglass and can be made for example of ceramic or of a non-cond active coating on a high flexible modulus conductive material, such an embodiment rendering the fiberglass core unnecessary;

[0053] - the LED boards 14 can be differently shaped or configured than illustrated. For example, the boards 14 may include more or less than 4 LEDs; [0054] - other connecting elements than pogo pin connectors can be provided to connect the boards 14 to the wires 12;

[0055] - the number and relative positions of the wires 12 and LED boards 14 may be different than illustrated;

[0056] - the wires 12 may be secured to another structure than a ceiling 46;

[0057] - the LED assembly can be configured and shaped as a 3D display. According to such an embodiment, the LED boards 14 are for example positioned in a dome or half-sphere shape, wherein one or more persons would be positioned within the assembly for visualization of an 3D image or animated video displayed thereby; the density and position of the LED boards 14 determining the resolution of the display assembly.

[0058] An LED assembly 50 according to a second illustrative embodiment, will now be described with reference to Figures 6A-6C.

[0059] Since the assembly 50 is similar to the assembly 10, only the differences therebetween will be described herein in more detail for concision purposes.

[0060] The assembly 50 includes a plurality of LED boards 52 (only 27 shown), similar to the LED boards 14, which are disposed within a three- dimensional configuration similarly to in the assembly 10.

[0061] As a first difference between both assemblies 10 and 50, the assembly 50 does not include a series of wires 12 to receive the LED boards 52 in a coaxial manner. For that reason, the LED boards 52 do not include a central hole.

[0062] Instead, each LED board 52 includes “+” and power side pair of connecting pads 54 and 56 that allows receiving wires 58, which interconnect the LED boards 52 and further connect them to a power source (not shown). The interconnection further bring support to the LED boards 52, forcing a relative spatial positions therebetween, for example when the assembly 50 is hang. It is to be noted that some of the connecting wires 58 have been omitted on Figures 6A-6C to alleviate the views.

[0063] According to the second illustrative embodiment, the wires 58 have a diameter of 0,08 mm. They are therefore small enough to be practically invisible to the eye.

[0064] The wires 58 can be soldered to the pads 54 and 56 or the wires

58 and pads 54-56 are configured for removable connections, using connectors well-known in the art.

[0065] The LED boards 52 and wires 58 can be assembled using, for example, a pick and place machine (not shown), equipped with a wire bounder, both well-known.

[0066] Other spatial configuration of the assembly 50 can be obtained by varying the number of LED boards 52 and the interconnections therebetween. This can be achieved, for example, by varying the length of the connecting wires 58 therebetween. Of course, the length of the wires 58 may be different between some of the LED boards 52 than between others. [0067] It is to be noted that the clock and data connections are provided on each board 52 by an NFC (Near-Field Communication) chip, configured to communicate in a peer-to-peer mode. This mode is further coupled with a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi Direct implementation for a near instantaneous communication between the boards 52.

[0068] Since NFC, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Direct implementations are believed to be well-known in the art, they will not be described herein in more detail for concision purposes. According to another embodiment (not shown), the boards 52 are configured for another wireless mode of communication than described hereinabove.

[0069] Figure 7 illustrates an LED assembly 60 according to a third illustrative embodiment. Since the assembly 60 is very similar to the assembly 50, only the differences therebetween will be described herein for concision purposes.

[0070] The LED assembly 60 comprises a plurality of support panels 62 assembled to form a 3D display screen. According to the illustrated embodiment, the assembly includes two rows of four panels 62. The four panels 62 on each lateral sides are assembled so as to be in a same plane but are assembled to the four other panels so that both planes define a small angle ‘a’ therebetween. This angle ‘a’ illustrates that the panels 62 can be assembled in any arrangement.

[0071] For example, according to another illustrative embodiment, a greater number of panels 62 can be assembled to form a dome. According to another embodiment, some or ail of the panels 62 have a different configuration than rectangular.

[0072] As can be better seen on Figure 7A, each panel 62 includes two layers 64 and 66 of LED boards 62 assembled with wires 58 (not shown on Figure 7) similarly than in the assembly 50. Each layer is mounted on a transparent substrate made for example of glass, and both layers 64 and 66 are sandwiched together.

[0073] The panels 62 are then assembled on a rigid support (not shown) to form the display screen 60. According to another embodiment (not shown), the panels 62 are assembled using an adhesive or another attaching means.

[0074] The LEDs from the front and back layers 64 and 66 are connected to a controller and controlled so as to yield a 3D video image (not shown). Such an image may be provided to the controller via a data signal.

[0075] Although an LED assembly and a 3D video display therewith have been described hereinabove by way of illustrated embodiments thereof, they can be modified. It is therefore to be understood that numerous modifications may be made to the illustrative embodiments and that the scope of the claims should not be limited by the preferred embodiment but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.