Illumination – Plural light sources – With modifier
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-19
2003-01-14
Ball, Michael W. (Department: 1733)
Illumination
Plural light sources
With modifier
C362S234000, C362S240000, C362S800000, C264S171130, C264S171170, C264S171210, C264S272170
Reexamination Certificate
active
06505955
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to a method for production of conducting element, which conducting element consists at least of an elongated and essentially flat electricity conductive conductor part, such as a band, a strip or a like, in which several electric components, such as probes, LEDs, resistors and/or the like bringing out the lighting operation or the like according to the use of the conducting element, are being attached to one after another in the longitudinal direction, and of a casing part, which conducting element is being manufactured by arranging the conductor part and the components existing therewith when viewed in a cross section totally surrounded by a casing material forming the said casing part, by exploiting a continuous manufacturing process, such as extrusion or like.
In light operated guidance devices, that are meant, for example, to guide sports performances, it is previously known to use lamps that are connected one after another to an electric conductor placed inside a transparent pipe, which guide the athletes' performance according to a predrafted programme. In this case, when following the lamps getting lighted one after another, the athlete may keep the previously defined speed. The type of traditional solutions described above are usually based on guidance devices, that have been put together completely one by one from separate parts and in which usually bulbs have been used as lamps, that have been connected in series to the electric conductor passing through a transparent pipe. When using the type of guidance devices above adequate attention must be payed to the tightness of the casing part, so that water may not enter inside the guidance device, when the same is being used in damp circumstances, for example, in a swimming pool.
On the other hand it is known to use also certain type of electric guidance devices or like, that are manufactured one by one and that may be used e.g. the way described above when being coupled to each other one after another. This type of solutions are usually produced by molding the same inside transparent plastics, that is why when coupling the guidance devices to each other completely separate coupling wires must be used, that must naturally be protected separately as well when the same are being used e.g. for guiding purposes under particularly demanding circumstances, such as in inflammable or the like accommodations. Protection of the intermediate wires require thus careful installation or auxiliary measures and components during actual production of the devices on the one hand e.g. to prevent sparkling to the surroundings and on the other hand to protect the electric wires and actual lighting devices from water or humidity of the surroundings.
Furthermore e.g. from U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,427 it is previously known to produce fully capsulated lighting strip based on electroluminance by extrusion. This type of solution, that is purely based on electroluminance, may be carried out in a totally traditional way by using merely elongated leads and intermediate strips, that continue constant (cf. electric cables). Instead of the above, with a structure that is based according to the present invention on printed circuit board technics, it is possible to achieve a conducting strip, that operates particularly dynamically as well and in which there exists a light effect, that moves along the guiding direction. This type of solution may not in any way be achieved by the strip according to the above US Patent, that is based on electroluminance, because it operates by on/off principle only.
On the other hand it is no doubt previously known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,895 as well to produce an elongated strip for lighting purposes. In this patent there has not been presented, however, particularly a moisture resistant end product, that may be achieved just by exploiting extrusion being mentioned above. The type of solution is thus based on at least two separate parts, in which case moisture will cause always problems in practice, when the same enters between the part layers. With this type of solution it is not either possible to end up to a conducting strip, that operates dynamically as described above, but the conducting strips enabled by the solution in question always operate by on/off principle.
Furthermore in EP Application 760448 (which application has become public, however, only after the priority date of the invention in question) there has been represented a solution, which is first of all based on two or more continuous conducting bars passing throughout the whole conducting strip, into which LEDs are connected one after another in the longitudinal direction. The first variation in the application comprises a solution, which consists of two elongated conducting bars, into which there has been attached LEDs, which entirety has been extruded by a suitable plastic based paste to achieve a built-in elongated conducting strip. The other variation in the application is such, that in addition to the conducting bars a binding strip is being fed to the extrusion apparatus, that is unwound from a roll and that is continuous in the longitudinal direction and on top of which there exists separate printed circuit boards, in which the LEDs have been installed. Because in this variation there has been used conducting bars as well, that are continuous in the longitudinal direction, and that are attached to the contact surfaces existing in those totally separate printed circuits by means of separate pressing rollers, it is not possible with the type of solution in question to achieve such dynamic operation of the conducting strip as described above, but instead the solution in question is further based on traditional on/off use.
In the solution in question the starting point is thus always such, that the conducting strip comprises at least two or more conducting bars passing continuously from one end to the other end of the same and into which the LEDs are connected either directly or by using furthermore a binding strip, on which the separate printed circuit boards equipped with LEDs have been supported. This is why the solution in question is particularly with a view to manufacturing technics as well as by the construction of the same disproportionately complicated, because in connection with the same there must furthermore be used first of all conducting bars, continuing in the longitudinal direction, because of the printed circuit boards, that are electrically totally separate in respect to each other, to connect the printed circuit boards and LEDs existing therewith to each other to achieve at least a static operation of the conducting strip.
A method of this invention has an object of providing a decisive remedy to the above discussed problems and, thus, of raising substantially the existing prior art. In order to achieve this object, the method of the invention is substantially characterized in, that the electric components of a conducting element, that enables preferably dynamic use, are being attached preferably by means of surface mounting technics to an electric conductor layer, such as to a copper coating or like of a basic material, that is made of plastics, such as polyamide, polyesters polyethylene napthalate or like, of the conductor part, that is based on so called printed circuit board technics, whereby the electric conductor layer continues essentially uninterruptedly over the whole length of the conducting element, whereafter the entirety being brought out is being surrounded by a casing material, that is based on plastics such as PVC, polyurethane, olefin and/or like.
The most essential benefits of the method of the invention include its simplicity and operating reliability, which enables significantly more profitable production when compared to nowadays conducting elements. The method according to the invention enables first of all a very low profile, thanks to which conducting elements according to the invention may be used e.g. in connection with vinyl floors, because a guiding element enabled by the met
Hatjasalo Leo
Rinko Kari
Ball Michael W.
Musser Barbara J
Oy Modular Technology Group Engineering Ltd.
Swidler Berlin Shereff & Friedman, LLP
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