BULB FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE LAMP

Abstract

The bulb for an automobile vehicle lamp includes a body having a housing making at least one compartment for housing an electronic card on which is mounted at least one light-emitting diode, and an end-piece, connected to the housing. The end-piece is laid out for defining a cap able to cooperate with a socket for a bulb of the wedge base T10 type. The bulb includes an electric connection for the light-emitting diode to an electric circuit of the lamp. The body and electric connection are defined by independent parts coupled together and including additional fittings.

Claims

1. A bulb for an automobile vehicle lamp, comprising: a body having a housing making at least one compartment, and an electronic card housed in said at least one compartment, said electronic card having at least one light-emitting diode mounted on said electronic card, and an end-piece, connected to said housing, said end-piece defining a cap cooperative with a socket for a bulb, said bulb being comprised of an electric connection means of said light-emitting diode with an electric circuit, wherein said body and said electric connection means are defined by independent coupled parts and additional fitting means.

2. The bulb, according to claim 1, wherein said body is comprised of one piece in a plastic material.

3. The bulb, according to claim 1, wherein said housing is comprised of a bottom having a lower face extended with said end piece and an upper face bordered with at least two opposite side walls, extending in a plane perpendicular to an insertion plane of said end-piece into a socket, wherein said electronic card extends parallel to said bottom and between said at least two opposite side walls, and wherein said electric connection means comprised two identical metal members, formed from a cutout and folded metal plate, each metal member having an upper portion provided with position-maintaining arms and connection arms engaged through additional orifices which each side wall of said housing includes for respectively ensuring a blocking in position on said body and coming into contact with said electronic card, each metal member further having a lower portion, having a connection strip the structure of which is laid out for fitting at least one portion of said end-piece.

4. The bulb, according to claim 3, wherein said additional orifices are distributed in an area wherein each side wall is comprised of a recess on respective external face.

5. The bulb, according to claim 4, wherein said connection arms and said position-maintaining arms of each metal member are extended with a rear face, perpendicular to a plane in which they extend, connecting them to said connection strip, and able to come and be housed in said recess when said metal member and said body are coupled together.

6. The bulb, according to claim 3, wherein said bottom of said housing comprises two grooves, each groove opening onto a longitudinal slot formed in each of said side walls, each of said grooves being laid out for receiving and guiding in translation a positioning tab which each metal member includes.

7. The bulb, according to claim 3, wherein said housing comprises at least a pair of grooves formed facing each other on the internal face of each side wall for receiving the opposite edges of at least one electronic card.

8. The bulb, according to claim 1, wherein said body is comprised of a transparent, tinted or diffusing plastic material.

9. The bulb, according to claim 1, wherein said housing further comprises an upper wall surmounting both side walls of said housing.

10. The bulb, according to claim 9, wherein said upper wall is laid out for defining or receiving a distribution means towards different directions of the light radiation emitted by the LED.

11. The bulb, according to claim 1, wherein said housing comprises an electronic control card of said LED.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The understanding of this description will be facilitated with reference to the enclosed drawings.

[0022] FIG. 1 corresponds to an exploded perspective view of a bulb according to the invention.

[0023] FIG. 2 is a perspective view that corresponds to the perspective view of the bulb of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0024] The object of the present invention is a LED bulb 1 for an automobile vehicle lamp, such as for example a ceiling lamp or a pilot lamp, etc, conventionally having a format of a lamp of the wedge base T10 type lamp. With reference to the figures, and according to the invention, such a bulb 1 includes a body 2, preferably made in one piece in a suitable plastic material, at least partly transparent, tinted or diffusing, according to the desired type of illumination. The body 2 has a housing 3 divided into a first and second superposed compartments 3a, 3b. The latter are respectively able to receive an electronic card 4a on which is mounted a light-emitting diode (LED) 5 (upper compartment 3a), and an electronic card 4b intended for controlling the LED 5 (lower compartment 3b). The body 2 of the bulb 1 moreover includes an end-piece 6, located in the extension of the lower compartment 3b, and configured for defining a cap able to cooperate with a socket for a bulb of the wedge base T10 type. Moreover, the bulb 1 includes a pair of identical metal members 7 giving the possibility of ensuring the electric connection of said LED 5, and adapted so as to be fitted on the body 2 and the electronic cards 4a, 4b, as this will be described in more detail hereafter.

[0025] In fact, according to the invention, the housing 3 of the body 2 includes a bottom 30 the lower face 31 of which is extended by the end-piece 6 and the upper face is bordered with two opposite side walls 33. The latter extend in a plane perpendicular to the plane for inserting the end-piece 6 into a socket for a bulb of the wedge base T10 type, and are surmounted, in the illustrated embodiment alternative, with an upper wall 34 with a curved shape having a central aperture 35 able to receive, if necessary, a distribution means towards different directions of the light radiation emitted by the LED 5. The housing moreover includes an intermediate wall 36 parallel to the bottom 30, extending between the latter and the upper wall 35. Thus, the upper compartment 3a is delimited by the upper wall 35, the intermediate wall 36 and the two side walls 33, while the lower compartment 3b is delimited by the intermediate wall 36, both side walls 33 and the bottom 30. Moreover, each compartment 3a, 3b has a pair of grooves 37a, 37b formed facing each other on the internal face of each side wall 33 for receiving and supporting the opposite edges of the respective electronic cards 4a, 4b.

[0026] As illustrated in the figures, the end-piece 6 has a substantially Y shaped section, the rectilinear branch of which includes two opposite faces 60a, 60b symmetrical relatively to the longitudinal axis of the end-piece 6. In fact, each face 60a, 60b includes a central strip 61 in raised/recessed portions relatively to two end areas 62, 63 bordering it. The end area 62 has a planar surface, while the end area 63 includes a notch 64 with an axis parallel to the bottom 30 of the housing 3 adapted for cooperating with electric connection elements with which a socket of the wedge base T10 type is provided in a conventional way, when the bulb 1 and said socket are fitted together.

[0027] Moreover, according to the invention, each metal member 7 is formed from a cutout and folded metal plate so as to have an upper portion provided with position-maintaining arms 70 and with connection arms 71, 72 intended to be respectively engaged through additional orifices 8, 9, 10, which each side wall 33 of the housing 3 includes and which are preferentially distributed in an area wherein each side wall includes a recess 11 on its external face. Each metal member 7 further has a lower portion, having a connection strip 73, the structure of which is laid out for fitting at least one portion of the end-piece 6 and more specifically, for resting against the end area 62 with a planar surface of one of its faces 60a, 60b. Further, the structure of each metal member 7 is provided so that the connection arms 71, 72 and the position-maintaining arms 70 are extended with a rear face, perpendicular to the plane in which they extend, connecting them to the connection strip 73, and able to come and be housed in the recess 11 when the metal member 7 and the body 2 are coupled together. Each metal member 7 also has a positioning tab 75 able to be received and guided in translation in a groove 12 of a corresponding shape opening onto a longitudinal slot 13 formed in one of said side walls 33 of the housing 3.

[0028] As this clearly emerges from the foregoing, the bulb 1 according to the invention has both a very simple, compact and robust structure, without any protruding elements, which rest on a single fitting of a few independent parts in one piece without any weakened areas which may have a negative incidence on their lifetime. More particularly, the assembly of the different constitutive portions of the bulb 1 according to the invention is very rapid to achieve since it simply consists of inserting the edges of the electronic card(s) 4a, 4b into the corresponding grooves 37a, 37b, by providing the positioning of the electronic card 4a bearing the LED 5 in the upper compartment 3a, so that the LED 5 is located facing the upper wall 34 of the housing 3, and then fitting both metal members 7 on the body 2.

[0029] As this was mentioned earlier, this last step consists, for each connection member 7, of introducing the position-maintaining arms 70 and the connection arms 71, 72 into the orifices 8, 9, 10 while the positioning tab 75 is slid into the corresponding groove 12, before pushing the assembly towards the compartments 3a, 3b until the rear face 74 of the metal member 7 rests in a recess 11 of a side wall 33 of the housing 3. The correct positioning of a metal member 7 is facilitated by the cooperation between the positioning tab 75 and the groove 12. Once in position, each metal member 7 remains clipped onto the body 2 by means of its position-maintaining tabs 70, while the electric connection between the electric circuit of the lamp receiving the bulb 1 and the electronic cards 4a, 4b is achieved through connection arms 71, 72 which advantageously define connection areas by elastic contact with either one of the electronic cards 4a, 4b, not requiring any soldering spot which may break over time.

[0030] Moreover, each metal member 7 is designed so as to also give the possibility of the electric connection between two electronic cards 4a, 4b, in the case of electronic control of the LED 5, like in the illustrated embodiment alternative, without requiring specific additional connection means. Separation areas 14 by cutting of electric bridges (unshuntings) are moreover provided for performing the different conceivable control modes (resistive with the electronic card 4a bearing the LED 5 alone, or electronic mode when the electronic card 4a bearing the LED 5 is coupled with an electronic card 4b bearing electronics for controlling the LED 5).

[0031] Thus, the objects set by the present invention are achieved and the bulb 1 which has just been described is both with a simplified manufacturing and therefore of reduced cost, with easy use and improved lifetime, while providing the possibility of providing different types of illumination according to the conventionally proposed range on the market in the same field.