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EP-4345366-B1 - STRIP-SHAPED LAMP AND END COVER FOR SUCH A STRIP-SHAPED LAMP

EP4345366B1EP 4345366 B1EP4345366 B1EP 4345366B1EP-4345366-B1

Inventors

  • CHEN, DONG
  • XU, KAI

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20230926

Claims (11)

  1. A strip-shaped lamp, comprising a lamp holder (1), a lampshade (2) mounted on the lamp holder (1), a light emitting module (3) disposed in an inner cavity (14) formed by the lamp holder (1) and the lampshade (2), and an end cover (4), wherein the lamp holder (1) comprises a lamp holder base plate (11) and two lamp holder sidewalls (12) disposed on opposite sides of the lamp holder base plate (11), the lamp holder base plate (11) and the lamp holder sidewalls (12) forming a mounting port (13) at an axial end of the lamp holder (1), wherein first slots (121) and second slots (122) are formed in the lamp holder sidewalls (12), each extending in a longitudinal direction of the lamp holder (1); the lampshade (2) comprises snap-in portions (21) provided on both sides of the lampshade (2) and extending in the longitudinal direction, wherein the snap-in portions (21) are positively accommodated in the first slots (121) so that the lampshade (2) and the lamp holder (1) are connected to each other and form the inner cavity (14); the light emitting module (3) is provided in the inner cavity (14) of the strip-shaped lamp and comprises a light board (31) with a plurality of LED-units (32) disposed on the light board (31), wherein two conductive layers (33) are provided at an axial end of the light board (31) that are insulated against each other; and the end cover (4) is provided at the axial end of the lamp holder (1) to cover the mounting port (13) at the axial end of the lamp holder (1); wherein third slots (123) are formed in the lamp holder sidewalls (12) at a level between the first and second slots (121, 122), each extending in the longitudinal direction, wherein lateral edges of the light board (31) are inserted in the third slots (123), the end cover (4) comprises an outer cover (41) and a bracket (42), the bracket (42) is provided on both sides with guiding blocks (421) that are positively accommodated in the second slots (122) of the lamp holder (1), the bracket (42) is provided with a resiliently biased terminal (43) connected to the bracket (42), the resiliently biased terminal (43) comprises an overlapping connecting portion (431) forming two contact portions in electric contact with corresponding conductive layers (33) of the light board (31) and resiliently biased against the corresponding conductive layers (33) of the light board (31) for electric power supply, and the outer cover (41) is provided with an interface (411) for electrical connection of an external wiring harness (5) to the resiliently biased terminal (43); characterized in that the lamp holder (1) comprises a planar rib (15) spaced apart to the mounting opening (13), extending in the longitudinal direction and two opposite lateral edges thereof being connected to the lamp holder side walls (12), wherein a bottom surface of the light board (31) abuts against an upper surface of the planar rib (15) for establishing a thermal contact for heat dissipation.
  2. The strip-shaped lamp as claimed in claim 1, wherein the overlapping connecting portion (431) is a conductive sheet bent to a resilient contacting portion, in particular to a resilient contacting portion of a triangular profile.
  3. The strip-shaped lamp as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein a limiting strip (125) is formed on the lamp holder sidewalls (12) adjacent to the first slots (121) to form said third slots (123).
  4. The strip-shaped lamp as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the bottom surface of the light board (31) opposite to an upper surface thereof with the LED units (32) is not provided with protrusions.
  5. The strip-shaped lamp as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein and end of the rib (15) is provided with an avoidance opening for the end cover (4) to be mounted into the inner cavity (14) of the lamp holder (1).
  6. The strip-shaped lamp as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein positioning blocks (422) are provided on both sides of the bracket (42), and corresponding positioning slots (124) are formed on the sidewalls (12) of the lamp holder (1) to accommodate the positioning blocks (422) for precisely positioning the bracket (42) and end cover (4), wherein a depth of the positioning blocks (422) is less than that of the guiding blocks (421) and the level of the positioning blocks (422) above the bottom end of the end cover (4) is a little higher than the bracket (42).
  7. The strip-shaped lamp as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the outer cover (41) and the bracket (42) are formed in one piece.
  8. The strip-shaped lamp as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the lampshade (2) is convex shaped.
  9. The strip-shaped lamp as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein a width of the electrically conductive layer (33) at the axial end of the light emitting module (3) is smaller than a width of a middle portion of the light emitting module (3).
  10. The strip-shaped lamp as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the electrically conductive layers (33) are formed as two gold fingers or gold-plated connecting structures.
  11. The strip-shaped lamp as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the outer cover (41) is plate-shaped and the bracket (42) extends perpendicular to the outer cover (41).

Description

Technical Field The present invention relates to the field of strip-shaped lamps comprising a plurality of LEDs. Background of Invention As the brightness of LED light-emitting components continues to improve, and due to the high luminous efficiency, small size and colorful features, LED light-emitting components as a light source for lighting lamps are gradually widely used in many different lighting applications, and LED lamps become more and more prevalent in daily use for lighting. Existing strip-shaped LED lamps include a lamp holder usually having a U-shaped cross-section, a light transmissive lampshade covering an upper end of the lamp holder and a circuit board with LED light-emitting units soldered to it, which is accommodated in an inner cavity formed by the lamp holder and lampshade. Currently, the end covers of such strip-shaped lamps are mounted as separate pieces at the axial ends of the lamp holder, and electric wires lead through the end covers need to be connected separately to the circuit board by soldering special wire connections. All this results in a very low in productivity for assembly, especially for strip-shaped lamps with waterproofing needs, which require a much more complex structure of the end cover assemblies, require manual soldering, and are not easy to assemble. Therefore, there is a need to develop light end structures for strip-shaped lamps, which can be efficiently mounted, do not require a soldering of electric wires during assembly and are suitable for automated production. US 2014/362574 A1 discloses a strip-shaped lamp according to the preamble of claim 1, wherein a third slot is formed at a level between the first and second slot in the lamp holder sidewalls, the end cover includes guiding blocks embodied as protrusions, which are inserted into corresponding recesses formed in the lamp holder sidewalls, and the resilient terminals are biased against contact layers of the light board. A planar rib in the inner cavity in the lamp holder for abutment against a bottom surface of the PCB of the light-emitting module is not disclosed. Moreover, the interface is of different configuration. Comparable strip-shaped lamps are disclosed in CN 217 356 571 U and EP 4 033 145 A1 of the Applicant. Summary of Invention In view of the above deficiencies of the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a strip-shaped lamp that can be efficiently mounted, does not require a soldering of electric wires during assembly and is suitable for automated production. It is another object of the present invention to provide a simple end cover for such strip-shaped lamps. These problems are solved by a strip-shaped lamp as claimed by claim 1. Further advantageous embodiments are the subject-matter of the dependent claims. The present invention provides particularly the following technical effects: (1) In the strip-shaped light of the present invention, the lampshade, the light board and the end cover holder can be mounted by means of slots, which enables an easy location and definition of the positions of the lamp components and is suitable for automated assembly.(2) The resiliently biased terminals in the end cover and the light board are electrically connected solely by mechanical contacting rather than by means of welding or soldering electric wires, which enables a simple structure and simplifies the assembly process significantly.(3) The resiliently biased terminal and an external wire harness used for electric power supply can be positioned precisely and easily in the end cover. According to a non-claimed embodiment, the wire harness can be provided with an anti-pulling structure, which additionally protects the resiliently biased terminal and wire harness connection structure in the end cover from being damaged under external pulling forces.(4) According to a non-claimed embodiment, by means of glue injection via the end cover, the end structure of the strip-shaped lamp can offer good waterproof characteristics. Overview on Drawings Hereinafter, the preferred embodiments according to the present invention will be described in an exemplary manner and with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Fig. 1is a schematic perspective view of a strip-shaped lamp of a first embodiment according to the present invention;Fig. 2is an exploded view of the end cover structure of the strip-shaped lamp of Fig. 1;Fig. 3is a schematic diagram showing details of the end cover structure of Fig. 2;Fig. 4is a schematic perspective view of a strip-shaped lamp of a second embodiment (non-claimed) that serves for a better understanding of the present invention;Fig. 5is an exploded view of the end cover structure of the strip-shaped lamp of Fig. 4;Fig. 6is a cross-sectional view of the end cover structure of Fig. 5 in an assembled state;Fig. 7shows details of a bracket end cover structure of the strip-shaped lamp of Fig. 4;Fig. 8is a schematic diagram of the connection assembly of the