Lamp socket, lamp base, lighting device and lighting system

Abstract

A lamp socket for a lamp base, in particular a pin-based lamp base, is provided. The lamp socket comprises an electrically insulating housing having a cavity that is entirely framed by the housing in lateral directions, wherein the cavity is adapted for receiving a connector casing of the lamp base, wherein a bottom of the cavity comprises a receptacle for receiving a connector pin of the lamp base, and wherein a height of the cavity corresponds to at least a length of the connector pin.

Claims

1. A lamp socket for a pin-based lamp base, the lamp socket comprising: an electrically insulating housing having a cavity that is entirely framed by the housing in lateral directions, wherein: the cavity is adapted for receiving a connector casing of the pin-based lamp base; a bottom of the cavity comprises a receptacle adapted for receiving a connector pin of the pin-based lamp base outside of the cavity; an electrically conductive clamp is at least partially disposed within an interior space of the receptacle and is configured to make an electrical connection with the connector pin within the interior space of the receptacle; a spring is at least partially disposed within the interior space of the receptacle and is configured to bias the clamp into contact with the connector pin within the interior space of the receptacle; and a height of the cavity corresponds to at least a length of the connector pin.

2. The lamp socket according to claim 1, wherein the receptacle is positioned at the bottom of the cavity and projects away from the cavity in a vertical direction, wherein the receptacle is adapted for establishing an electrically conductive connection of the connector pin to an electrical contact of the lamp socket.

3. The lamp socket according to claim 2, wherein the housing entirely frames the receptacle and the electrical contact in the lateral directions.

4. The lamp socket according to claim 3, wherein the housing projects beyond the receptacle in the vertical direction by at least 5 mm.

5. The lamp socket according to claim 3, wherein the electrical contact has: a first part, which is electrically conductively connected to the receptacle; and a second part, which extends away from the receptacle in the vertical direction, wherein the second part is directly enclosed by an electrical insulation and entirely framed by the housing in the lateral directions, wherein a length of the second part is at least 5 mm.

6. The lamp socket according to claim 1, wherein a shape of the cavity corresponds to a shape of the connector casing of the pin-based lamp base.

7. The lamp socket according to claim 1, wherein a shape of the cavity corresponds to a rectangular cuboid with at least one socket chamfer.

8. The lamp socket according to claim 1, wherein the housing comprises an opening for receiving a mechanical fastener adapted for mechanically fastening the lamp socket to an object, wherein the opening is positioned at the bottom of the cavity and designed such that a distance between the mechanical fastener and the bottom of the cavity is at least 5 mm.

9. The lamp socket according to claim 8, wherein the opening has a depth that extends from the bottom of the cavity to a contact surface for the mechanical fastener, wherein the depth is at least 5 mm.

10. The lamp socket according to claim 1, wherein the bottom of the cavity is formed by an electrically insulating plate, wherein the receptacle is mounted to the plate and the plate is connected to the housing by a mechanical connection element that at least partly projects away from the cavity in the vertical direction, wherein the mechanical connection element is entirely framed by the housing in the lateral directions, and wherein the housing projects beyond the mechanical connection element in the vertical direction by at least 5 mm.

11. A pin-based lamp base comprising: a connector casing; and a connector pin; wherein the pin-based lamp base is adapted for being received by a lamp socket according to claim 1.

12. The pin-based lamp base according to claim 11, wherein an extension of the connector casing along a main extension direction of the connector pin corresponds to at least a length of the connector pin.

13. The pin-based lamp base according to claim 11, wherein a shape of the connector casing corresponds to a rectangular cuboid with at least one base chamfer.

14. A lighting device comprising the pin-based lamp base according to claim 11, wherein an operating voltage of the lighting device is at least 50 V.

15. The lamp socket according to claim 1, wherein the bottom of the cavity is formed by an electrically insulating plate which has a recess formed therein, wherein the receptacle is mounted in the recess outside of the cavity.

16. The lamp socket according to claim 1, wherein: the bottom of the cavity is formed by an electrically insulating plate having a hole formed therein; and the clamp is positioned at the hole so as to provide a feedthrough for inserting the connector pin of the pin-based lamp base into the clamp.

17. The lamp socket according to claim 1, wherein a shape of the cavity is a negative of a shape of the connector casing.

18. The lamp socket according to claim 1, wherein the receptacle does not extend into the cavity.

19. The lamp socket according to claim 1, wherein the cavity and the receptacle co-terminate at a plane that extends substantially perpendicular to the height of the cavity.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Preferred embodiments of the invention will be explained in the following, having regard to the drawings. It is shown in:

(2) FIGS. 1A, 1B, 1C, 2 and 3A show exemplary embodiments of a lamp socket according to the present invention.

(3) FIG. 3B shows an exemplary embodiment of a lamp base and a lighting device according to the present invention.

(4) FIG. 4 shows an exemplary embodiment of a lighting system according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(5) In the following, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Here, elements that are identical, similar or have an identical or similar effect are provided with the same reference numerals in the figures. Repeating the description of such elements may be omitted in order to prevent redundant descriptions.

(6) The figures and the size relationships of the elements illustrated in the figures among one another should not be regarded as to scale. Rather, individual elements may be illustrated with an exaggerated size to enable better illustration and/or better understanding.

(7) With reference to the schematic drawings of FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C, an exemplary embodiment of a lamp socket 1 according to the present invention is explained in detail. FIG. 1A shows a schematic side view of the lamp socket 1, FIG. 1B shows a schematic top view of the lamp socket 1, and FIG. 1C shows a schematic sectional view of the lamp socket 1.

(8) The lamp socket 1 comprises a housing 10 with a cavity housing part 11 and a connector part 12 (FIG. 1C) that are arranged on top of each other in a vertical direction z. The cavity housing part 11 and the connector part 12 directly adjoin each other and/or are formed integrally. The cavity 20 is entirely surrounded by the housing 10, in particular the cavity housing part 11, in the lateral directions x, y. The connector part 12 surrounds electrical connection means of the lamp socket 1 and/or electrically conductive components of the lamp socket 1. In particular, the connector part 12 comprises an electrical contact 60.

(9) The cavity has a height D1 that is at least a length of a connector pin 102 of a lamp base 100 that is adapted to be placed into the lamp socket 1. Preferably, the height D1 is at least 5 mm, particular preferably 6.7 mm The cavity 20 has a rectangular shape with a truncated corner, that forms a socket chamfer 22.

(10) A bottom 20a of the cavity 20 is formed by an electrically insulating plate 21 that is connected to the housing 10 by a mechanical connecting element 50, in particular a rivet. The mechanical connecting element 50 may be formed with a metal such as aluminum. A head 51 of the mechanical connecting element 50 is positioned in the cavity 20 and the shaft 52 of the mechanical connecting element 50 projects through the plate 21 and away from the cavity 20 in the vertical direction z. A distance D4 of the mechanical connecting element 50 and an outer area of the housing 10 in the vertical direction z is at least 5 mm, in particular 6.4 mm. That is to say, the housing 10 extends beyond the mechanical connecting element 50 in the vertical direction z by at least 5 mm.

(11) The housing 10 comprises an opening 40 for receiving a mechanical fastener 41. The depth of the opening 40 is such that a distance D2 between the mechanical fastener 41 and the bottom 20a of the cavity 20 is at least 5 mm, in particular 10.9 mm.

(12) At the bottom 20a of the cavity 20, a receptacle 30 is positioned. The receptacle 30 may be formed with a clamp 31 and a spring 32. The clamp 31 is positioned at a hole of the electrically insulating plate 21, thereby providing a feedthrough for inserting the connector pin 102 into the clamp 31. The receptacle 30 is adapted for receiving the connector pin 102 and electrically conductively connecting said connector pin 102 to electrical contacts 6 of the lamp socket 1.

(13) Each electrical contact 60 comprises a first part 61 and a second part 62. The first part 61 provides the electrically conductive connection to the receptacle 30 the second part 62 is insulated by an electrical insulation 63. The second part 62 projects beyond the housing 10 in the vertical direction 10. The first part 61 of the electrical contact 60 and/or the clamp 31 of the receptor 30 are distanced to an outer area of the housing 10 by a distance D3 of at least 5 mm, in particular 8.6 mm.

(14) With reference to the schematic blow-up scheme of FIG. 2, an embodiment of the lamp socket 1 according to the present invention is explained in detail. FIG. 2 shows the lamp socket 1 of FIGS. 1A to 1C in a blow-up scheme. The lamp socket 1 comprises the housing 10, the electrically insulating plate 21, the clamps 31 and the springs 32 for the receptacle 30, the mechanical connection elements 50 for connecting the plate 21 to the housing 10, and the electrical contacts 31.

(15) With reference to the schematic drawings of FIGS. 3A and 3B, an exemplary embodiment of a lamp socket 1 and an exemplary embodiment of a lamp base 100 and a lighting device 200 according to the present invention is explained in detail.

(16) FIG. 3A shows an embodiment of a lamp socket 1, in particular the lamp socket 1 according to FIGS. 1A to 1C and 2. The lamp socket 1 has the cavity 20. The cavity 20 has the shape of a rectangular cuboid and comprises two socket chamfers 22 at opposite edges of the cavity 20.

(17) FIG. 3B shows an embodiment of a lamb base 100 that is part of a lighting device 200. The lamp base 100 is a pin-based lamp base 100 and has a connector casing 101 and the connector pins 102. The lamp base 100 is connected to a lighting body 201 of a lighting device 200. The lighting body 201 may comprise a lighting means, such as a light-emitting diode. In addition, the lighting body 201 may comprise a reflector for shaping the light emitted by the lighting means.

(18) The connector casing 101 of the lamp base 100 has the negative shape of the cavity 20 of the lamp socket 1 according to FIG. 3A. In particular, the connector casing 101 has the shape of a rectangular cuboid and comprises two base chamfers 122 at opposite edges of the connector casing 101. The socket chamfers 122 of the lamp base 100 are positioned such that the lamp base 100 may be inserted into the lamp socket 1 according to FIG. 3A.

(19) Due to the socket chamfers 22 and the base chamfers 122, only the lamp base 100 and the lighting device 200 that are adapted for being received by the lamp socket 1 may be placed into the lamp socket 1. Thereby, a connection of an alternative lighting device, which has an operating voltage that differs from the voltage provided by the lamp socket 1, may be prevented and the safety is improved.

(20) According to the schematic drawing of FIG. 4, an exemplary embodiment of a lighting system 300 according to the present invention is explained in detail. The lighting system 300 comprises a lighting device 200 and a lamp socket 1. The lighting device 200 and the lamp socket 1 are connected, in particular via the cavity 20 of the lamp socket 1.

(21) The lamp socket 1 described herein preferably is formed with commonly known components, which may also be used in currently known lamp sockets for a 12 V lighting device. Thereby, the production costs of the lamp socket 1 can be improved.

(22) The invention is not restricted by the description based on the embodiments. Rather, the invention comprises any new feature and also any combination of features, including in particular any combination of features in the patent claims, even if this feature or this combination itself is not explicitly specified in the patent claims or exemplary embodiments.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

(23) 1 lamp socket 10 housing 11 cavity housing part 12 connector part 20 cavity 21 electrically insulating plate 22 socket chamfer 20a bottom 22 socket chamfer 30 receptacle 31 clamp 32 spring 40 opening 41 mechanical fastener 50 mechanical connection element 51 head of the mechanical connection element 52 shaft of the mechanical connection element 60 electrical contact 61 first part of the electrical contact 62 second part of the electrical contact 63 electrical insulation 100 lamp base 101 connector casing 102 connector pin 122 base chamfer 200 lighting device 201 lighting body 300 lighting system x,y lateral directions z vertical direction D1 height of the cavity D2 distance between the mechanical fastener and the bottom of the cavity D3 distance of the outer area of the housing to the first part of the electrical contact and/or the clamp D4 distance of the outer area of the housing to the mechanical connection element