Light-emitting diode (LED) device

Details Light-emitting diode (LED) device Light-emitting diode (LED) device

1999-12-13

2001-11-13

Sember, Thomas M. (Department: 2875)

Illumination

Light source and modifier

Adjustable or repositionable light source or light source...

C362S276000, C362S802000, C362S427000, C362S800000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06315432

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a light-emitting diode (LED) arrangement, and particularly to a rotatable LED arrangement which can be conveniently adjusted to emit infrared in different directions.
As shown in
FIG. 6
, a LED device
50
is traditionally fixed in a front face
51
of an electronic/electrical element
5
. A detecting element
6
can safely detect the infrared emitted by the LED device
50
only when the detecting element
6
is previously located only within the reversed conical infrared covering zone
502
of the LED device
50
.
Pertinent conventional LED devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,978,317; 5,700,157; 5,685,737 and 5,704,802. Particularly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,873 discloses a LED fixed within a cavity defined in the front face of a housing of a modular jack connector in a preferred embodiment thereof. Alternately, in another preferred embodiment of U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,873, the LED is fixed within a cavity defined in the bottom face of the housing and meanwhile the housing is made of transparent or translucent resin for rendering the infrared rays emitted by the LED transmitting penetrating therethrough.
However, a common deficiency of such LED devices is that the LED is fixedly secured in an electronic/electrical element, and thus can only emit infrared rays in a particular direction. The light emitted by the LED is visible to an observer. However, if it is a detector that is supposed to detect the light emitted by the LED, the detector can safely detect the LED only when it is previously positioned within the reversed conical infrared covering scope of the LED in the particular direction.
Hence, an improved LED device is required for rendering a detector to detect the infrared emitted by the LED device without strict position requirements.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A main object of the present invention is to provide a rotatable light-emitting diode (LED) arrangement which can emit infrared in different directions by proper rotations thereof.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a rotatable LED arrangement positioned in a panel of an electronic/electrical device providing a wide infrared covering zone by properly rotating the LED thereof thereby facilitating a detector to detect the infrared emitted by the LED thereof.
A rotatable light-emitting diode (LED) arrangement in accordance with the present invention comprises a LED member, a retaining housing for retaining the LED therein and a positioning base for positioning the rotatable housing to a panel of an electronic/electrical device, such as a back panel of a computer enclosure. The retaining housing includes a ball-like retaining portion defining a chamber for retaining the LED member therein, and a cylindrical portion connecting with the ball-like retaining portion for receiving leads of the LED therein. The positioning base defines an unclosed spherical opening therein for rotatably receiving the ball-like retaining portion of the retaining housing and a pair of curved annular recesses respectively connecting with opposite open ends of the cylindrical opening for allowing proper rotations of the ball-like retaining portion of the retaining housing therein. Thus, the LED member of the LED arrangement can emit infrared lights in different directions simply by properly rotating the ball-like retaining portion of the retaining housing, whereby a detector can easily detect the infrared emitted by the LED without being previously positioned.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5700084 (1997-12-01), Yasukawa et al.
patent: 6019477 (2000-02-01), Wegrzyn et al.
patent: 6170967 (2001-01-01), Usher et al.

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