LED HOLDER FOR HOLDING AN LED MODULE

Abstract

An LED holder for holding an LED module includes a leadframe, which is populated with electrical and/or electronic components for operating the LED module, wherein the leadframe is at least partially enclosed by potting material, and includes at least two exposed first contact regions for electrically contacting the LED module and at least two exposed second contact regions for electrical contacting.

Claims

1. An LED holder for holding an LED module, comprising: a leadframe, which is populated with electrical and/or electronic components for operating the LED module, wherein the leadframe is at least partially enclosed by potting material; and at least two exposed first contact regions for electrically contacting the LED module and at least two exposed second contact regions for electrical contacting.

2. The LED holder as claimed in claim 1, which has a central opening for feeding through the LED module.

3. The LED holder as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one second contact region is designed as a cable clip.

4. The LED holder as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one second contact region is designed as a plug terminal.

5. The LED holder as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second contact regions have been produced by reshaping from a leadframe basic body.

6. The LED holder as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second contact regions have been produced separately and then fixedly connected to the leadframe.

7. The LED holder as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one first contact region is designed as a springy contact tab.

8. The LED holder as claimed in claim 1, wherein the LED holder is configured for its rear fastening on an underlay.

9. A light generating device, comprising at least one LED holder, on which at least one LED module is arranged, wherein the LED holder comprises a leadframe, which is populated with electrical and/or electronic components for operating the LED module, wherein the leadframe is at least partially enclosed by potting material, and at least two exposed first contact regions for electrically contacting the LED module and at least two exposed second contact regions for electrical contacting.

10. The light generating device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the LED module is a CoB module.

11. The light generating device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the LED module is an electronics-free carrier.

12. The light generating device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the LED module comprises a part of an electronics unit for operating the at least one LED of the LED module.

13. The light generating device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the LED module comprises at least one temperature sensor and/or at least one coding unit.

14. The light generating device as claimed in claim 13, wherein the coding unit has a current limiting resistor.

15. A method for producing an LED holder, the LED holder comprising a leadframe, which is populated with electrical and/or electronic components for operating the LED module, wherein the leadframe is at least partially enclosed by potting material, and at least two exposed first contact regions for electrically contacting the LED module and at least two exposed second contact regions for electrical contacting, the method comprising: providing the leadframe by adapting a leadframe basic shape, populating the leadframe with electrical and/or electronic components, and extrusion coating the leadframe using the potting material so that at least two first contact regions for electrically contacting the LED module and at least two second contact regions are exposed.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0059] The above-described properties, features, and advantages of this present disclosure and the manner in which they are achieved will become clearer and more comprehensible in conjunction with the following schematic description of exemplary embodiments, which are explained in greater detail in conjunction with the drawings.

[0060] In the drawings, like reference characters generally refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead generally being placed upon illustrating the principles of the disclosed embodiments. In the following description, various embodiments described with reference to the following drawings, in which:

[0061] FIG. 1 shows a top view in a sectional illustration of an LED holder according to a first embodiment;

[0062] FIG. 2 shows a top view in a sectional illustration of an LED holder according to a second embodiment; and

[0063] FIG. 3 shows a top view in a sectional illustration of an LED holder according to a third embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0064] FIG. 1 shows an LED holder 11 according to a first embodiment having a leadframe 12 and an extrusion coating 13, which at least substantially encloses the leadframe 12, made of an injection-moldable plastic. The leadframe 12 and its extrusion coating 13 and therefore also the LED holder 11 have a ring-shaped basic shape. The leadframe 12 has a circular central recess 14 for this purpose, which is arranged concentrically in relation to a circular central recess 15 of the extrusion coating 13. First contact regions in the form of springy contact tabs 17 protrude into the opening 16 delimited by the recesses 14, 15. The contact tabs 17 are distributed equidistantly here around the circumference of the opening 16 or the recess 14 of the leadframe 12. The contact tabs 17 may have been produced in particular by a stamping and/or reshaping process from a leadframe basic shape.

[0065] The leadframe 12 has a fundamentally circular outer contour 19, wherein a second contact region in the form of a cable clip (“wire trap”) 20 is attached on the outside at each of three circumferential equidistantly distributed points. The cable clips 20 may also have been produced, for example, by a stamping and/or reshaping process from a leadframe basic shape. It may alternatively have been produced separately and then non-detachably connected to the remaining leadframe 12, for example, by laser welding, soldering on, etc.

[0066] The cable clips 20 are externally extrusion coated by the extrusion coating 13 so that it is possible to insert or lead connecting cables W1, W2, W3 into or out of the cable clips 20.

[0067] For this purpose, the extrusion coating 13 may there include, for example, an insertion hole 22 which is congruent with an insertion opening 21 of the cable clips 20. The connecting cables W1, W2, W3 may be fixedly connected to the cable clips 20, for example, by soldering or welding, or may be detachably held therein, for example, by clamping or detachable latching. The connecting cables W1, W2, W3 can be used for the supply with electrical power and/or for data transmission.

[0068] The leadframe 12 is populated with electrical and/or electronic components 29, which are provided for operating an LED module 23 to be inserted into the LED holder 11. In other words, a driver electronics unit, which includes the electrical and/or electronic components 29, is at least partially integrated into the LED carrier 11. The electrical and/or electronic components 29 may in particular not be enclosed or extrusion coated by the extrusion coating 13, which improves the heat dissipation thereof.

[0069] An LED module 23 is provided for holding by the LED holder 11. The LED module 23 includes a substrate 24, for example, a printed circuit board or a ceramic substrate provided with conductor tracks. LEDs (not shown) are arranged centrally on a front side of the substrate 24, which are covered by a phosphor-containing potting material 25, for example, made of silicone. Outside the potting material 25, multiple, four here, contact fields 26 are provided on the front side on the substrate 24. These contact fields are electrically connected via conductor tracks to the LEDs for the operation thereof. Two of the contact fields 26 are also connected to the two terminals of a temperature sensor, for example, an NTC resistor 27. For example, a heat management of the LED chip can be enabled by means of the NTC resistor 27.

[0070] Additionally or alternatively to the NTC sensor 27, for example, a coding element in the form, for example, of a coding resistor can also be provided for identifying the LED module 23. Overall, the more than double electrical contacting of the LED module 23 enables independent operation of multiple strands of LEDs, for example, of different colors, for example, red, green, and blue, respectively. The LEDs may be LED chips (sometimes also referred to as unhoused LED chips), so that the LED module 23 is designed as a CoB (“chip-on-board”) module. The substrate 24 has matching conductor tracks, etc. for this purpose. A further application is that a center tap is connected to a contact tab for powering the electronics unit on the LED holder 11.

[0071] To marry LED holder 11 and LED module 23, the LED module 23 is inserted with its front side into the recess 14 of the leadframe so that the potting material 25 containing the phosphor protrudes into or through the recess 14, while the contact fields are pressed against the contact tabs 17, which are thus elastically bent. The contact tabs 17 are thus used for the electrical contacting of corresponding contact fields 26 of the LED module 23 and for generating a contact pressure force on the LED module 23 in the reverse direction. The substrate 24 of the LED module 23 furthermore has two mounting holes 28 for fastening the LED module 23 on the LED carrier 11, for example, by means of hot caulking, crimping, etc.

[0072] The LED holder 11 and the LED module 23 together form a light generating device, in particular a light engine or light generator 11, 23. The light generator 11, 23 can be placed with its rear side on an underlay and fastened thereon. The underlay may be a heat sink (not shown). For fastening the LED holder 11, mounting holes 30 are provided in the leadframe 12 and in the extrusion coating 13, to fasten the LED holder 11 by means of a screw terminal, for example.

[0073] FIG. 2 shows a top view in a sectional illustration of an LED holder 31 according to a second embodiment. The LED holder 31 is constructed similarly to the LED holder 11. In contrast to the LED holder 11, however, the LED holder 31 has a leadframe 32 having an extrusion coating 33 having a, in a top view four-sided, in particular square outer contour 34 in each case. An extrusion coated cable clip 20 adjoins the exterior on each of the four straight sides of the outer contour 34. One of four wires or cables W1 to W4 is inserted into each of the cable clips 20.

[0074] FIG. 3 shows a top view in a sectional illustration of an LED holder 41 according to a third embodiment. The LED holder 41 is constructed similarly to the LED holder 11, but differs, however, in that a second extrusion-coated contact region of the associated LED frame 43 is designed as an electrical plug terminal. This plug terminal is designed here as a bus-type terminal in the form of a USB terminal 44. For example, a USB device 45 may be connected to the USB terminal 44, for example, a USB memory stick, a wireless transceiver, for example, for retrofitting as a Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth device, or also a USB cable for wired communication.

[0075] Although the present disclosure was illustrated and described in greater detail by the embodiments shown, the present disclosure is not thus restricted thereto and other variations can be derived therefrom by a person skilled in the art, without leaving the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0076] The LED module may also include a part (but not all) of the electrical and/or electronic components of a driver circuit.

[0077] In general, “a”, “one”, etc. can be understood as a single or a multiple, in particular in the meaning of “at least one” or “one or more”, etc., as long as this is not explicitly precluded, for example, by the expression “precisely one” etc.

[0078] A numeric specification can also include precisely the specified number and also a routine tolerance range, as long as this is not explicitly precluded.

[0079] While the disclosed embodiments have been particularly shown and described with reference to specific embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosed embodiments as defined by the appended claims. The scope of the disclosed embodiments is thus indicated by the appended claims and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced.