US-12618533-B2 - Three-wire flat cable high-voltage plug-in light string and method of making thereof

US12618533B2US 12618533 B2US12618533 B2US 12618533B2US-12618533-B2

Abstract

A method of making a light string is disclosed. The method includes: providing a three-wire flat cable comprising a middle wire between two outer wires; cutting the middle wire at a first place to expose a first end and a second end of the middle wire; mounting a plurality of light sources onto a predetermined region of a circuit board, the circuit board comprising a first and a second exposed conductor contact pads positioned at a terminal end of the circuit board; applying phosphor materials over the mounted SMDs to create a luminous pattern; enclosing the circuit board in an encapsulation shell; fitting a light base over the terminal end of the circuit board enclosed in the encapsulation shell; solder the first end and second end of the middle wire to the first and the second exposed conductor contact pads contact pads, respectively; placing a light cover over the circuit board; affixing the light cover to a light base; and securing a decorative shell to a base portion of the light base to form a complete light assembly.

Inventors

ZHUMEI DENG

Assignees

Dongguan Yongfeng Lighting Co., Ltd

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20250711

Claims (11)

1 . A method of making a light string comprising: providing a three-wire flat cable comprising a middle wire between two outer wires; cutting the middle wire at a first place to expose a first end and a second end of the middle wire; mounting a plurality of light sources onto a predetermined region of a circuit board, the circuit board comprising a first and a second exposed conductor contact pads positioned at a terminal end of the circuit board; applying phosphor materials over the mounted light sources to create a luminous pattern; enclosing the circuit board in an encapsulation shell; fitting a light base over the terminal end of the circuit board enclosed in the encapsulation shell; solder the first end and second end of the middle wire to the first and the second exposed conductor contact pads, respectively; placing a light cover over the circuit board; affixing the light cover to a light base; and securing a decorative shell to a base portion of the light base to form a complete light assembly.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising sealing a terminal end of the transparent encapsulation shell using a plug or an adhesive compound.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the light base is affixed to the terminal end of the encapsulated circuit board using an adhesive.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the circuit board is fabricated in one of a plurality of geometric configurations.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of light sources comprise Surface Mount Devices (SMDs).
6 . A method of making a light string comprising: providing a three-wire flat cable comprising a middle wire between two outer wires; cutting the middle wire at a first place to expose copper strands of the middle wire; mounting a plurality of light sources on a circuit board, the circuit board comprising a first and a second exposed conductor contact patches located at a first end of the circuit board; applying phosphor materials over the mounted light sources to create a luminous pattern; enclosing the circuit board in a protective shell; coupling the enclosed circuit board with connecting parts; inserting two metallic contact tips into corresponding bayonets in the connecting parts such that each of the two metallic contact tips are in electrical contact with one of the first and second exposed conductor contact patches; affixing the three-wire flat cable onto a light holder; clamping a top cap over the three-wire flat wire onto the light holder, forming an enclosure through which the three-wire flat wire passes; installing a first and a second metal nails into designated insertion points on the light holder such that the first and second metal nails penetrate through the light holder, reaching the middle wire of the three-wire cable and establishing electrical contact with the exposed copper strands of the middle wire; and aligning and pushing the first and second metal nails through the light holder to be in contact with the first and second metallic contact tips, respectively.
7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising applying an adhesive between the encapsulated circuit board and the connecting parts to seal an opening between the encapsulated circuit board and the connecting parts.
8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein affixing the three-wire flat cable onto a light holder comprises having a protruding feature of the light holder wedged in the first space of the middle wire.
9 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising drilling tips of the first and second metal nails into the top cap.
10 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising installing a decorative light shell over the enclosed circuit board.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of light sources comprise Surface Mount Devices (SMDs).

Description

FIELD This relates to light strings, and more particularly, to a three-wire flat cable high-voltage plug-in light string and the method of making thereof. BACKGROUND Traditional processes of making light strings include a step of twisting the wires, which can add to the complexity and cost of the processes. SUMMARY In one aspect, this disclosure relates to a three-wire flat cable high-voltage plug-in light string. In another aspect, the disclosure relates to a method of making such three-wire flat cable high-voltage plug-in light string. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1, 2a, and 3-25 illustrate the exemplary steps in manufacturing three-wire flat cable high-voltage plug-in light strings, according to embodiments of the disclosure. FIG. 26 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary circuit of a light string, according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 2b, and 27-33 illustrate the exemplary steps in manufacturing three-wire flat cable high-voltage plug-in light strings, according to embodiments of the disclosure. FIG. 34 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary circuit of a light string, according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIGS. 35-45 illustrate the exemplary steps in manufacturing three-wire flat cable high-voltage plug-in light strings, according to embodiments of the disclosure. FIG. 46 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary circuit of a light string, according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIGS. 47-56 illustrate the exemplary steps in manufacturing three-wire flat cable high-voltage plug-in light strings, according to embodiments of the disclosure. FIGS. 57 and 58 are schematic diagrams of exemplary circuits of a light string, according to embodiments of the disclosure. FIG. 59 is an exemplary circuit diagram of the controller of FIG. 58, according to an embodiment of the disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, but it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described below are exemplary, rather than exhaustive. They are only used to illustrate the present disclosure and should not be regarded as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts based on the embodiments disclosed herein shall fall within the scope of the present disclosure. This disclosure relates to three-wire flat cable high-voltage plug-in light strings and the processes of making thereof. FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary three-wire flat cable 100. The flat cable 100 includes 3 copper wires 102, 104, 106. The copper wires can be covered by and insulated from each other by an insulation layer 108. The insulation layer can be made or Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) or any other suitable material. First, as illustrated in the various views of FIG. 2A, part of the insulation (e.g., PVC) layer 208 is removed from the middle wire 204 of the three-wire cable 200. The middle wire 204 is also cut in one or more places 210. Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the two legs 322, 324 of a light emitting diode (LED) 320 can be connected to the two exposed ends 312, 314 of the middle wire 304 at a place where the middle wire 304 is cut in the previous step. The two legs 322, 324 of the LED 320 can be bent so that they can be welded or riveted to the exposed ends 312, 314 of the middle wire 304. As shown in the figure, multiple LEDs 320 can be connected to the middle wire 304 at the various places 310 where the middle wire 304 is cut. The same step illustrated in FIG. 3 can be used for connecting one or more filament strip LEDs to the middle wire of the three-wire flat cable, as illustrated in FIG. 4. In the illustrated example, the two legs 422, 424 of each filament strip LED 420 can be bent so that they can be welded or riveted (or connected by other suitable means) to the two exposed ends 412, 414 of the middle wire 404 at a place where the middle wire 404 is exposed and cut. FIG. 5 illustrates another embodiment, in which a two-wire Surface Mount Device (SMD) light string with multiple SMD LEDs connected in parallel is connected to the middle wire of a three-wire flat cable in a similar fashion as discussed above with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. As shown in FIG. 5, one end 540 of the two-wire SMD LED slight string 500 can be striped of the insulation wrap to expose 2 copper wires 512, 514. The exposed copper wires 512, 514 can be connected, respectively, by welding or riveting or any other suitable means to the two exposed ends of the middle wire 504 of the three-wire flat cable at a place where the middle wire 504 is cut. The other end 542 of the two-wire SMD LED light string 500 can be sealed by overholding 544 to protect the copper wires from being exposed. As shown in FIG. 5, multiple two-wired SMD LED light strings can be connected to the same three-wire flat cable at places where the three-wire flat cable is cut to