TUBULAR LIGHTING DEVICE ASSEMBLY

Abstract

A tubular solid state lighting device is disclosed having a light transmissive tube. A flexible carrier strip having a first portion attached to an inner wall section of the tube, and comprises an elongate major surface and a further elongate major surface opposite the elongate major surface. The elongate major surface carries a plurality of solid state lighting elements on the first portion and a plurality of electrically conductive contacts on adjacent terminal regions separated by a recess at one end. The flexible carrier strip is soldered to a rigid printed circuit board comprising a first major surface onto which a driver circuit for the solid state lighting elements is mounted facing the flexible carrier strip and a second major surface opposite the first major surface carrying a plurality of spatially separated soldering pads along an edge of the second major surface. The further elongate major surface contacts the second major surface such that each electrically conductive contact is aligned with one of the spatially separated soldering pads and is soldered to said soldering pad by a solder portion extending over the terminal region carrying said electrically conductive contact. A method of forming such an assembly and an assembly method for a tubular lighting device are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A tubular solid state lighting device comprising: a light transmissive tube comprising an inner wall section axially extending along the tube; a flexible carrier strip having a first portion attached to said inner wall section, the flexible carrier strip comprising an elongate major surface and a further elongate major surface opposite the elongate major surface, the elongate major surface carrying a plurality of solid state lighting elements on the first portion, and carrying a plurality of electrically conductive contacts each acting as a terminal for the plurality of solid state lighting elements in adjacent terminal regions at one end of the flexible carrier strip, said adjacent terminal regions being separated by a recess; and a rigid printed circuit board comprising: a first major surface onto which a driver circuit for the solid state lighting elements is mounted, said first major surface facing the flexible carrier strip; and a second major surface opposite the first major surface carrying a plurality of spatially separated soldering pads along an edge of the second major surface, each soldering pad corresponding to one electrically conductive contact; wherein the further elongate major surface contacts the second major surface such that each electrically conductive contact is aligned with one of the spatially separated soldering pads and is soldered to said soldering pad by a solder portion extending over the terminal region carrying said electrically conductive contact.

2. The tubular solid state lighting device of claim 1, wherein the flexible carrier strip further comprises a meandering intermediate region in between the first portion and the adjacent terminal regions.

3. The tubular solid state lighting device of claim 1, wherein each of the soldering pads is wider than the corresponding electrically conductive contact in a direction along the edge.

4. The tubular solid state lighting device of claim 1, wherein the flexible carrier strip comprises an electrically insulating layer on the further elongate major surface in between the flexible carrier strip and the inner wall section.

5. The tubular solid state lighting device of any of claim 1, wherein the flexible carrier strip further comprises an enhancing portion bridging parallel edges of the adjacent terminal regions.

6. The tubular solid state lighting device of claim 1, wherein the electrically conductive contacts are copper contacts and/or wherein the solder portion comprises tin.

7. The tubular solid state lighting device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of electrically conductive contacts is a pair of electrically conductive contacts and the plurality of spatially separated soldering pads is a pair of soldering pads.

8. The tubular solid state lighting device of claim 1, further comprising at least one end cap capping the tubular body, said end cap supporting the printed circuit board.

9. The tubular solid state lighting device of claim 1, wherein the solid state lighting elements are LEDs.

10. A method of forming a light engine assembly by soldering a flexible carrier strip to a rigid printed circuit board, comprising: providing a flexible carrier strip comprising an elongate major surface and a further elongate major surface opposite the elongate major surface, the elongate major surface carrying a plurality of solid state lighting elements on a first portion of the flexible carrier strip, and carrying a plurality of electrically conductive contacts each acting as a terminal for the plurality of solid state lighting elements in adjacent terminal regions at one end of the flexible carrier strip, said adjacent terminal regions being separated by a recess; providing a rigid printed circuit board comprising a first major surface onto which a driver circuit for the solid state lighting elements is mounted and a second major surface opposite the first major surface carrying a plurality of spatially separated soldering pads along an edge of the second major surface, each soldering pad corresponding to one electrically conductive contact; aligning the flexible carrier strip with the rigid printed circuit board such that the further elongate major surface contacts the second major surface and each electrically conductive contact is aligned with one of the spatially separated soldering pads; and soldering each electrically conductive contact to the aligned soldering pad by applying a solder portion to the electrically conductive contact and extending said solder portion over the terminal region carrying said electrically conductive contact onto the aligned soldering pad.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein each of the soldering pad is wider than the corresponding electrically conductive contacts in a direction along the edge.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein soldering each electrically conductive contact to the aligned soldering pad by applying a solder portion to the electrically conductive contact and extending said solder portion over the terminal region carrying said electrically conductive contact onto the aligned soldering pad is performed with a soldering iron.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein soldering each electrically conductive contact to the aligned soldering pad by applying a solder portion to the electrically conductive contact and extending said solder portion over the terminal region carrying said electrically conductive contact onto the aligned soldering pad comprises applying a solder portion containing tin.

14. An assembling method of a lighting device including a light transmissive tube comprising an inner wall section axially extending along the tube and the light engine assembly formed by the method of claim 11, the assembling method comprising: securing the first portion of the flexible carrier strip into the tubular body such that the elongate major surface faces a central axis of the tubular body; and inserting the printed circuit board through an opening in said tubular body, thereby causing an intermediate region of the flexible carrier strip in between the first portion and the adjacent terminal regions to meander.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein inserting the printed circuit board through the opening in said tubular body comprises securing the printed circuit board in an end cap for the tubular body and capping said opening with the end cap.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] Embodiments of the invention are described in more detail and by way of non-limiting examples with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0032] FIG. 1 schematically depicts a prior art tubular solid state lighting device;

[0033] FIG. 2 schematically depicts a flexible carrier strip according to an embodiment;

[0034] FIG. 3 schematically depicts a flexible carrier strip according to another embodiment;

[0035] FIG. 4 schematically depicts a step of a method of forming a light engine assembly according to an embodiment in perspective view;

[0036] FIG. 5 schematically depicts a side view of the light engine assembly of FIG. 4 in more detail;

[0037] FIG. 6 schematically depicts a further step of a method of forming a light engine assembly according to an embodiment in perspective view;

[0038] FIG. 7 schematically depicts a step of a method of forming a light engine assembly according to another embodiment in perspective view; and

[0039] FIG. 8 schematically depicts an assembly method of a tubular solid state lighting device according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0040] It should be understood that the Figures are merely schematic and are not drawn to scale. It should also be understood that the same reference numerals are used throughout the Figures to indicate the same or similar parts.

[0041] FIG. 2 schematically depicts a top view of a flexible carrier strip 20 according to an embodiment. The flexible carrier strip 20 comprises an elongate major surface 21 and an opposing elongate major surface 22. The elongate major surface 21 carries a plurality of solid state lighting (SSL) elements 30 in a first region of the flexible carrier strip 20. Such SSL elements 30 for example may be LEDs, which may be individually addressable or addressable as a group. The SSL elements 30 may comprise identical LEDs, e.g. white light LEDs, or LEDs that may be configured to produce light of different colours. In the case of individually addressable LEDs, such different colour LEDs may be used to generate light having a configurable colour or colour temperature, e.g. white light having different colour temperatures.

[0042] The flexible carrier strip 20 further comprises an intermediate region 23 in between the region at which the SSL elements 30 are mounted and an end region comprising a pair of the terminal regions 25 separated by a recess 26. The terminal regions 25 may be considered terminal fingers extending from the main body of the flexible carrier strip 20. Each terminal region 25 carries at least one electrically conductive contact 35 on the elongate major surface 21. In some embodiments, each terminal region 25 may carry a plurality of such electrically conductive contacts 35. The electrically conductive contacts 35 may be made of any electrically conductive material, e.g. metal or metal alloy, to which a solder may be adhered as will be explained in more detail below. By way of non-limiting example, the electrically conductive contacts 35 may be copper or copper alloy contacts.

[0043] Although not explicitly shown, conductive tracks may be embedded or otherwise deployed in the flexible carrier strip 20, which conductive tracks provide electrical connections between the electrically conductive contacts 35 and respective SSL elements 30. This is well-known per se and will not be explained in further detail for the sake of brevity. The conductive tracks may be made of any suitable material, e.g. a metal or metal alloy, which may be the same metal or metal alloy is used for the electrically conductive contacts 35 although this is not strictly necessary.

[0044] The further elongate major surface 22 may carry an electrically insulating layer, e.g. an electrically insulating film such as polyimide or the like, such that when the further elongate major surface 22 is secured against a receiving surface, e.g. an inner wall section of tube of a tubular solid state lighting device that axially extends along the tube shields the tube from being exposed to the electrical currents running from the electrically conductive contacts 35 through the conductive tracks to the SSL elements 30, thereby reducing the risk of someone touching the tube from suffering an electrical shock. The flexible carrier strip 20 may be made of any suitable material or stack of materials. By way of non-limiting example, the flexible carrier strip 20 may comprise a layer stack including an electrically insulating film such as polyimide or the like onto which a (patterned) metal or metal alloy layer is adhered, e.g. a copper layer or the like, which (patterned) metal or metal alloy layer may be covered by an electrically insulating further layer that is patterned to expose the electrically conductive contacts 35, e.g. soldering pads, of the flexible carrier strip 20. Other suitable embodiments of such flexible PCBs will be immediately apparent to the skilled person.

[0045] FIG. 3 schematically depicts a top view of a flexible carrier strip 20 according to another embodiment in which the parallel edges of the terminal regions 25 distal to the main body of the flexible carrier strip 20 are fused by an enhancing portion 27 that acts as a bridging portion between the two terminal regions 25 and the recess 26 in between these two terminal regions. As will be explained in more detail below, such an enhancing portion 27 may assist in promoting the flatness of the and terminals 25 against a rigid PCB onto which the flexible carrier strip 20 is to be secured by soldering. For the avoidance of doubt, it is noted that such an enhancing portion 27 may simply be formed by providing a continuous flexible carrier strip 20 and creating the recess 26 in the flexible carrier strip 20, e.g. by cutting, stamping or the like such that the recess 26 is formed between the enhancing portion 27 and the main body of the flexible carrier strip 20.

[0046] FIG. 4 schematically depicts part of a method of forming a light engine assembly by soldering the flexible carrier strip 20 to a rigid printed circuit board 40 comprising a first major surface 42 onto which a driver circuit 50 for the solid state lighting elements 30 is mounted in any suitable manner, e.g. by soldering pins of the driver circuit 50 extending through the rigid PCB 40 to soldering pads or the like of the rigid PCB. The rigid PCB 40 further comprises a second major surface 41 opposite the first major surface 42, which carries a plurality of spatially separated soldering pads 45 along an edge 47 of the second major surface 41. Each soldering pad 45 corresponds to one of the electrically conductive contacts 35 of the flexible carrier strip 20, i.e. is designed to engage with one of the electrically conductive contacts 35. As schematically shown in FIG. 4, the soldering pads 45 are typically dimensioned to be larger than the electrically conductive contacts 35 such that at least the width, i.e. the dimension along the edge 47, of the soldering pads 45 is larger than the width of a corresponding terminal region 25 of the flexible carrier strip 20. The materials used for the soldering pads 45 are not particularly limited; any suitable electrically conductive material that is compatible with a soldering process may be used for this purpose. Such materials are well-known per se and are therefore not explained in further detail for the sake of brevity.

[0047] As shown in more detail in FIG. 5, the flexible carrier strip 20 is aligned with a rigid PCB 40 such that the further elongate major surface 22 of the flexible carrier strip 20 contacts the second major surface 41 of the rigid PCB 40 and each electrically conductive contact 35 is aligned with one of the spatially separated soldering pads to which the electrically conductive contact 35 is to be soldered. In other words, rather than in conventional soldering arrangements in which the electrically conductive contacts 35 of the flexible carrier strip 20 would face the soldering pads 45 of the rigid PCB 40, in the approach according to embodiments of the present invention, the flexible carrier strip 20 is located in between the electrically conductive contacts 35 and the corresponding soldering pads 45.

[0048] As schematically depicted in FIG. 6, upon correct alignment of the flexible carrier strip 20 with the rigid PCB 40, solder portions 44 are deposited over the terminal regions 25 including the electrically conductive contacts 35, i.e. the terminal regions 25 are wrapped in the solder, which envelopes the terminal regions 25 and bonds to the underlying soldering pads 45 on the second major surface 41 of the rigid PCB 40. Typically, the solder portions 44 extend into the recess 26 of the flexible carrier strip 20 (and around the other edges of the terminal regions 25) to secure the terminal regions 25 of the flexible carrier strip 20 onto the soldering pads 45 of the rigid PCB 40. This is feasible due to the fact that the soldering pads 45 have larger dimensions, e.g. a larger width along the edge 47 of the rigid PCB 40 then the terminal regions 25 such that part of the soldering pads 45 remain exposed once the terminal regions 25 are correctly positioned over the soldering pads 45, thereby providing exposed surface regions of the soldering pads 45 onto which the soldering portions 44 may be bonded. Any suitable type of solder may be used to form the soldering portions 44. In an embodiment, the solder comprises tin, i.e. is a tin-based solder, which is particularly advantageous if the electrically conductive contacts 35 and/or the soldering pads 45 are made of copper or a copper alloy, as tin-based solders have a favorable affinity with copper and copper alloys. The solder portions 44 may be formed using any suitable soldering technique. For example, so-called hot rod soldering using a soldering iron may be used.

[0049] FIG. 7 schematically depicts an aspect of an alternative embodiment of such a method of forming a method of forming a light engine assembly by soldering the flexible carrier strip 20 to a rigid printed circuit board 40. FIG. 7 differs from FIG. 5 in that the flexible carrier strip 20 as schematically depicted in FIG. 2 is replaced with the flexible carrier strip 20 as schematically depicted in FIG. 3. Consequently, the terminal regions 25 of the flexible carrier strip 20 are positioned in between the edge 47 of the rigid PCB 40 and the enhancing portion 27. The enhancing portion 27 prohibits the independent out of plane bending of the respective terminal regions 25 and therefore assists in more easily achieving good planarity of the terminal regions 25 on the rigid PCB 40, e.g. by pressing down the enhancing portion 27, e.g. during soldering of the soldering portions 44 over the terminal regions 25. By pressing down the enhancing portion 27 during soldering, the terminal regions 25 are forced against the second major surface 41 of the rigid PCB 40, which therefore assists in achieving good quality bonding of the terminal portions 25 and the electrically conductive contacts 35 carried by these terminal portions 25 to the underlying soldering pads 45. The flexible carrier strip 20 may be soldered to the rigid printed circuit board 40 as previously explained with the aid of FIG. 6 and its detailed description, such that this will not be explained again for the sake of brevity only.

[0050] The light engine assemblies that may be made using the above described method may be used in the assembly method of a tubular solid state lighting device 10 as schematically depicted in FIG. 8. Such a tubular solid state lighting device 10 typically comprises a tube 12 of optically transparent or translucent material, e.g. glass or an optical grade polymer such as polycarbonate, PMMA, PET or the like, which tube 12 may further comprise one or optical components, e.g. an optical film such as a diffuser film on an external or internal surface of the tube 12 to diffuse the light generated by the SSL elements 30 on the elongate major surface 21 of the flexible carrier strip 20. A portion of the flexible carrier strip 20 is secured to an inner surface portion of the tube 12 such that part of the further elongate surface 22 of the flexible carrier strip 20 is attached to an inner wall section of the tube 12 that axially extends along the tube, i.e. extends in the elongation direction of the tube 12. As previously mentioned, at least the part of the further elongates surface 22 of the flexible carrier strip 20 attached to the inner wall section of the tube 12 carries an electrically insulating film to electrically insulate the flexible carrier strip 20 from the tube 12 such that someone touching the tube of the tubular SSL lighting device 10 whilst the device is connected to a power supply such as a mains power supply is protected from electrical shock.

[0051] The rigid PCB 40 may be mounted on an end cap 11 for capping an opening of the tube 12, as is well-known per se. The rigid PCB 40 is typically mounted on the end cap 11 such that upon insertion of the rigid PCB 40 into the tube 12 as indicated by the block arrow, the first major surface 42 of the rigid PCB 40 onto which the driver circuit 50 is mounted faces the elongate major surface 21 of the flexible carrier strip 20. The opposing second major surface 41 of the rigid PCB 40 carries the soldering pads 45 onto which the electrically conductive portions 35 of the flexible carrier strip 20 are soldered as explained in more detail above.

[0052] In a preferred embodiment, the flexible carrier strip 20 is secured in the tube 12 as previously explained, e.g. using an adhesive such as glue or a double-sided adhesive tape prior to forming the light engine assembly, i.e. prior to soldering the rigid PCB 40 to the flexible carrier strip 20 as previously explained, such that the elongate major surface 21 faces the elongate or central axis of the tube 12. Typically, the flexible carrier strip 20 may have a length that is greater than the length of the tube 12 such that part of the flexible carrier strip 20 extends beyond the opening of the tube 12, i.e. sticks out of the tube 12, with the terminal regions 25 being external to the tube 12 to provide easy access to the terminal regions and facilitate the soldering of the electrically conductive contacts 35 on the flexible carrier strip 20 to the corresponding soldering pads 45 on the rigid PCB 40.

[0053] The portion of the flexible carrier strip 20 extending beyond the opening of the tube 12 typically comprises an intermediate region 23 in between the region of the flexible carrier strip 20 secured to the tube 12, i.e. the region carrying the SSL elements 30 and the terminal regions 25. During insertion of the rigid PCB 40 into the tube 12, the intermediate region 23 is pushed back into the tube 12 such that the intermediate region 23 meanders from the region of the flexible carrier strip 20 carrying the SSL elements 30 to the leading edge 47 of the rigid PCB 40 over which the terminal regions 25 are wrapped, thereby causing part of the flexible carrier strip 20 to fold back on itself. Importantly, because of the leading edge 47 of the rigid PCB 40 forcing the intermediate region 23 of the flexible carrier strip 20 into the tube 12 upon insertion of the rigid PCB 40 into the tube 12, the force on the soldering portions 44 connecting the electrically conductive connections 35 to their corresponding soldering pads 45 is greatly reduced, thereby greatly reducing the risk of failure of these soldering portions 44. Consequently, a tubular solid state lighting device 10 manufactured in accordance with this assembly method is more robust against such assembly failures, without requiring additional cost to achieve this increased robustness.

[0054] It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the invention, and that those skilled in the art will be able to design many alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim. The word “comprising” does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those listed in a claim. The word “a” or “an” preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. The invention can be implemented by means of hardware comprising several distinct elements. In the device claim enumerating several means, several of these means can be embodied by one and the same item of hardware. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.