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(11) | EP 2 765 351 A1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | Recessed luminaire |
| (57) Recessed luminaire, in particular for a mounting opening of a furniture board, comprising:
a casing (12), a circuit board (14) that supports at least one light emitting diode
(48), and a cover (18) formed of a transparent material, wherein the cover (18) comprises
a lens unit (50), wherein the casing (12) is adapted for accommodating the circuit
board (14) and the lens unit (50), wherein the cover (18) comprises snap-in members
(42), by which the cover (18) is lockable to the casing (12), and wherein the cover
(18) comprises mounting springs (34) for fixing the recessed luminaire (10) in a mounting
opening (60) of a furniture board.
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[0001] The invention relates to a recessed luminaire, comprising a casing, a circuit board that supports at least one light emitting diode, and a cover formed of a transparent material. In particular, the invention relates to such a recessed luminaire for a mounting opening of a furniture board.
[0002] Recessed luminaires for furnitures boards are known, which are mountable in mounting openings of a furniture board. Usually they are mounted in the furniture board with a luminaire front facing downwards, in order to illuminate an area below the furniture board. For example, such recessed luminaires may be applied to display cabinets, shelves or the like.
[0003] It is an object of the invention to accomplish a recessed luminaire that may be assembled particularly easily.
[0004] According to the invention, this object is achieved by a recessed luminaire of the kind mentioned initially, wherein the cover comprises a lens unit, the casing is adapted for accommodating the circuit board and the lens unit, the cover comprises locking members for locking it to the casing, and the cover comprises mounting springs for fixing the recessed luminaire in a mounting opening of a furniture board.
[0005] As the cover comprises locking members for locking it to the casing, as well as mounting springs for fixing it to the mounting opening, the cover may be fixed by locking it to the casing without the use of tools, after inserting the circuit board into the casing, and, thereby, the mounting springs are provided at the same time. This is particularly advantageous. Firstly, no further mounting member is required for fixing the cover to the casing. Secondly, it is made possible to provide for a rigid casing e.g. of metal, because flexible locking members as well as flexible mounting springs may be provided by the cover, which is, for example, formed of transparent plastics. A metal casing is particularly advantageous, since it allows to dissipate waste heat of high-power light emitting diodes.
[0007] As preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the drawings in which:
- Fig. 1
- is a schematic, perspective exploded view of a recessed luminaire according to the invention;
- Fig. 2
- is a schematic, perspective sectional view of the assembled recessed luminaire;
- Fig. 3
- is a schematic side view of the recessed luminaire in a version having an aperture attachment; and
- Fig. 4
- is a schematic sectional view of the aperture attachment.
[0008] Fig. 1 schematically shows an exploded view of a recessed luminaire 10 having a casing 12, a circuit board 14, a seal in the form of an O-ring seal 16, a cover 18, and a cover ring 20. Also shown is a plug 22 with a cable for supplying power.
[0009] Fig. 2 shows, in a slightly perspectively tilted sectional view, the luminaire in a mounted state, in which the circuit board 14 is inserted into the casing 12 and abuts on the bottom 24 of the casing. The cover 18 is arranged in front of the circuit board 14, wherein the seal ring 16 is arranged between the casing 12 and the cover 18. Also shown is the cover ring 20.
[0010] The casing 12 is cup-shaped, having the bottom 24 and a circumference wall or side wall 26 standing away therefrom towards the front side of the luminaire. The casing is substantially round. The side wall 26 is substantially cylindrical. The casing 12 is made of metal, for example, is an aluminium diecast casing. At the front edge, flange portions 28 stand away from the side wall 26 for delimiting an inserting depth when inserting the recessed luminaire 10 into an mounting opening. Further, cooling structures 30, e.g. cooling ribs, are formed at the outside of the side wall 26.
[0011] Furthermore, at the outside of the side wall 26, there are formed accommodation contours 32 for mounting springs 34 of the cover 18, which are recessed inwards and which run transverse to the bottom 24, as well as accommodation contours 36 for snap-in lugs 38 of the cover ring 20, at other circumferential positions.
[0012] Furthermore, snap-in contours 40 for locking snap-in pins 42 of the cover 18 are formed projecting from the inside of the side wall 26.
[0013] Finally, there are provided alignment contours 44 at the inside of the side wall 26 for interacting with complementary alignment contours 46 at the circumferential edge of the circuit board 14.
[0014] The round, approximately circular disk shaped circuit board 14 is equipped with light emitting diodes (LEDs) 48 at the front, and is adapted to the cross section of the casing 12. A portion of the circuit board 14, which projects sidewards, supports a plug connector, which is, in the mounted state, arranged in a corresponding opening of the casing 12 and which allows to insert a plug 22 from the outside.
[0015] As is shown in Fig. 2, the seal ring 16 rests on a shoulder at the inner side of the circumference wall 26 of the casing 12 in the mounted state. The shoulder forms a sealing face. An opposite sealing face is formed by a ring shaped protrusion projecting from the outside of the cover 18.
[0016] Fig. 2 further shows the snap-in pin 42, which is in locking engagement with the snap-in contour 40 that projects obliquely downwards. The snap-in pin 42 can deflect inwards and comprises a recess, in which the snap-in contour 40 engages. Multiple snap-in contours 40 and associated snap-in pins 42 are distributedly arranged at the circumference of the casing 12 and the cover 18.
[0017] In the locked state, the seal 16 seals the cover 18 against the side wall 26, and thereby protects against entry of splash water into the casing 12, when the luminaire 10 is mounted in a mounting opening. For example, the seal ring is of silicone or an other elastomer.
[0018] In the mounted state, the cover 18 also presses the circuit board 14 to the bottom 24 of the casing 12 and thereby provides for a good heat contact for dissipating heat of the light emitting diodes 48 into the casing 12. The circuit board 14 e.g. comprises a metallic heat dissipation structure. In particular, it is a circuit board with aluminium core.
[0019] In addition to the mounting springs 34 and snap-in pins 42, the cover 18 comprises a lens unit 50, which is indicated in Fig. 2 in a cross sectional view. The lens unit 50 comprises a lens element 52 in front of each of the light emitting diodes 48. Each lens element 52 has a recess clearance, which is e.g. cylindrical, at the end facing the LED, for coupling light into the surrounding lens element body on the face side and on the circumferential side. At the outside, the lens element 52 forms a chalice-shaped reflecting contour that expands towards the front, for reflecting light, which is guided in the transparent material of the lens element 52, towards the front side.
[0020] The lens elements merge into a front side cover plate 54 of the transparent cover 18, which is substantially circular disk-shaped. The cover plate 54 forms the free surface of the lens unit 50 as well as of the cover 18.
[0021] The cover 18 is integrally formed with the lens unit 50 and the mounting springs 34 as well as the snap-in pins 42, for example of PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate) or PC (polycarbonate).
[0022] Multiple mounting springs 34 are distributedly arranged at the circumference of the cover 18. The respective mounting spring 34 projects at the outside from the circumferential edge of the cover plate 54, continuous backwards in a first portion 56, and, further outside, from a back side end obliquely back to the front. The mounting spring 34 has a cross-section that is formed approximately V-shaped. Therein, the first portion 56 forms a first leg of the V and is connected at its end to the cover plate 54 by a short bar. The second portion 58, which obliquely projects outwards, forms the second leg of the V.
[0023] In the mounted state, the mounting spring 34 with its short bar engages around the front side edge of the side wall 26, and the first portion 56 runs towards the backside in the accommodation contour 32 along the side wall 26 and at the outside of the same. When the mounted luminaire 10 is inserted into a round mounting opening (Fig. 3), the mounting spring 34 is supported by its back side end at the outside of the side wall 26, in particular at the bottom of the accommodation contour 32. The portion 58 that projects obliquely to the front is deflected inwards, such that the luminaire 10 is securely held by the mounting springs 34 in the inner, cylindrical, circumferential wall of the mounting opening 60.
[0024] The cover ring 20 covers the front edge and, in particular, the flange portions 28 of the casing 12 at the front side, and may be shaped according to the desired design. The cover ring 20 is snap-in lockable to the casing 12 by the snap-in lugs 38, which are distributedly arranged around the opening 62 of the cover ring 20 at the backside of the cover ring 20. This is done by the snap-in lugs 38 being inserted into the accommodation contours 36 and sliding towards the outside over a snap-in projection of the accommodation contour 36, while being flexibly deflected, and engaging the snap-in projection 64 of the accommodation contour 36. This is exemplarily shown in Fig. 2.
[0025] In the mounted state, the cover ring 20 and the integrated cover plate 54 of the cover 18 approximately lie in one plane.
[0026] Fig. 3 schematically shows a side view of the recessed luminaire 10, wherein an aperture attachment 66 is mounted in addition to the components already described, which is shown in Fig. 4 in a cross sectional view.
[0027] The aperture attachment 66 comprises a narrow flange 68 at its outside at its back side end, which flange projects outwards from a ring shaped wall 70. The flange 68 is insertable into an adapted, flat, ring shaped clearance 72 (Fig. 2) at the back side of the cover ring 20, before the cover ring 20 is mounted to the luminaire. Therein, the wall 70 projects from the cover ring 20 through the opening 62 to the front. In this region, the clearance 72 is access-able through a ring shaped gap between the cover ring 20 and the cover plate 54. For example, the aperture attachment 66 forms an aperture for delimiting the light output of the recessed luminaire 10. The aperture attachment 66 can be formed according to any desired design.
[0028] For example, the described luminaire has a mounting diameter according to the free cross section of the mounting opening of 58 mm. The mounting depth of the recessed luminaire 10, which is determined by the depth of the casing 12 behind the flange portions 28, is, for example, 15 mm or less, in particular, for example, 13 mm.
[0029] The cover ring 20, and the optional aperture attachment 66, are, for example, formed of plastics, e.g. polycarbonate or ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene).
[0030] The described luminaire can not only be assembled and mounted in a mounting opening 60 without the use of tools in a particularly easy manner with a few hand movements, wherein the circuit board 14 is used prefabricated with the light emitting diodes 48 and the plug connector. Moreover, the luminaire can also be detached from a furniture without the use of tools, because the electrical connection is done via the plug 22, and because the mounting springs 34 with their free ends are accessible from the front, when the cover ring 20 is detached, and can easily be disengaged from the mounting opening 60. This is due to the accommodation contours 32 for the mounting springs 34 running along the side wall 26, towards the front, up to an open end, where the mounting springs 34 engage around the front edge of the side wall 36.
[0031] Moreover, at the back side of the casing 12, there are provided openings 74 in front of the ends of the snap-in pins 42 in the region of the snap-in contours 40. Thereby, the snap-in pins, which are in the inside of the casing 12, may be disengaged from the snap-in contours 40, such that the cover 18 may be detached from the casing 12.
1. Recessed luminaire, in particular for a mounting opening of a furniture board, comprising:
- a casing (12),
- a circuit board (14) that supports at least one light emitting diode (48), and
- a cover (18) formed of a transparent material,
wherein the cover (18) comprises a lens unit (50),
wherein the casing (12) is adapted for accommodating the circuit board (14) and the
lens unit (50),
wherein the cover (18) comprises snap-in members (42), by which the cover is lockable
to the casing (12), and
wherein the cover (18) comprises mounting springs (34) for fixing the recessed luminaire
(10) in a mounting opening (60) of a furniture board.
2. Recessed luminaire according to claim 1, wherein the cover (18) is adapted for arranging
the lens unit (50) in the casing (12) in a position in which the cover (18) is locked
to the casing, in which position the mounting springs (34) are arranged external to
a side wall of the casing (12).
3. Recessed luminaire according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the mounting springs (34) each
comprise a first portion (56) running from a front side portion of the cover (18)
towards the back side, and a second portion (58) running further outside back to the
front side, wherein a clearance for accommodating a portion of a side wall (26) of
the casing (12) is formed between the respective mounting spring (34) and the lens
unit (50).
4. Recessed luminaire according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the cover
(18) is adapted for holding, in a position in which it is locked to the casing (12),
the circuit board (14) to rest on a bottom (24) of the casing (12).
5. Recessed luminaire according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the casing
(12) is of metal and comprises cooling structures (30) at its outside.
6. Recessed luminaire according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the casing
(12) is an integrally cast metal diecast casing.
7. Recessed luminaire according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising
a cover ring (20), which comprises snap-in elements (38) that project at the back
side, and which are adapted for locking the cover ring (20) to an outside of a side
wall (26) of the casing (12).
8. Recessed luminaire according to claim 7, wherein the casing (12) comprises a side
wall (26) that comprises accommodating contours (32; 36) for the mounting springs
(34) and for the snap-in elements (38) of the cover ring (20) at the outside of the
side wall (26), and which accommodating contours are recessed towards the inside.
9. Recessed luminaire according to claim 7 or 8, further comprising an aperture attachment
(66) adapted for engaging an edge of an opening (62) of the cover ring (22) at the
back side thereof, wherein the aperture attachment (66) projects from the cover ring
(20) through the opening (62) towards the front side.