Abstract:
The present invention discloses an LED light bar structure, which includes at least one LED and a circuit board. Each LED has two or an even number of pins. The circuit board has at least one receiving space and at least two recesses, in which the LED is disposed in the receiving space, and each of the pins is engaged in the recess. The present invention solves drawbacks of the LED shifting when being conventionally welded and the LED is difficult to replace.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a light bar structure, and especially to an LED light bar structure. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) have advantages of long life, high light efficiency, and energy saving, so the LEDs are gradually utilized as a backlight source of an LCD. Referring to  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 1  is a schematic drawing illustrating a conventional light bar structure used in an edge-lit backlight module. The conventional light bar structure has a plurality of LEDs  25  being welded on a circuit board  40 . The circuit board  40  has contact pads  42  corresponding to pins  27  of the LEDs  25 , and the LEDs  25  are electrically coupled to wires (not shown) via the contact pads  42 , so as to receive external electric power. 
         [0003]    In general, the way of welding the LEDs  25  onto the circuit board  40  is by stamping the pins  27  of the LEDs  25  on the contact pads  42  having soldering tin thereon to slightly fix the LEDs  25  on the circuit board  40  and then to put into a hot oven to melt the soldering tin between the pins  27  and the contact pads  42 . After cooling, the pins  27  and the contact pads  42  are connected together, thereby completing the welding process. 
         [0004]    However, the LEDs  25  may shift in the soldering tin melting process such that the pins  27  fail to align with the contact pads  42 . Moreover, the material of the LEDs  25  may experience a chemical change after being processed by the high temperature, so that optical properties such as chromaticity or brightness of the LEDs  25  are changed and fail to achieve the desired optical effects. In addition, if some LEDs  25  are broken, the broken LEDs  25  can be replaced by removing the LEDs  25  through a special solvent with a welding torch. However, the original optical properties of the LEDs  25  are easy to be changed by the high temperature during the contact of the welding torch and further to affect the optical properties of the backlight module. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    Accordingly, an objective of the present invention is to provide an LED light bar structure to solve the above-mentioned problem by using an engaging structure to replace welding. 
         [0006]    To achieve the foregoing objectives, according to an aspect of the present invention, the LED light bar structure provided by the present invention includes at least one LED, a circuit board, and a plurality of wires. Each LED has two or an even number of pins. The circuit board has at least one receiving space and at least two recesses, in which the LED is disposed in the receiving space, and each of the pins is engaged in a corresponding one of the recesses. The wires are disposed in the circuit board, and the wires are electrically coupled to the pins of the LED, respectively. 
         [0007]    In one preferred embodiment, each LED has a light-emitting surface, and the light-emitting surface is exposed outside the corresponding receiving space. The light bar structure according to the preferred embodiment further includes a reflector, which the reflector are disposed on the circuit board. The reflector defines at least one opening corresponding to the at least one light-emitting surface for exposing the at least one light-emitting surface of the LED. More specifically, the reflector is utilized to fix the LED into the receiving space. 
         [0008]    In another preferred embodiment, the light bar structure further includes at least one elastic bump, and the elastic bump is disposed in the recess to clamp each of the pins engaged in the recess. 
         [0009]    In another preferred embodiment, the recess is inclined with respect to a direction of the pin to be inserted into the receiving space, thereby the pin being bent after being inserted into the recess. 
         [0010]    In another preferred embodiment, one of the recesses is an arch-shaped ditch for each LED. The LED is rotatably disposed in the receiving space, and one of the pins of the LED is engaged in one end of the arch-shaped ditch. 
         [0011]    In accordance with the design of the receiving space and the recess in the circuit board, the LED can be easily fixed on the circuit board with an advantages of easy replacement. Therefore, the present invention overcomes drawbacks of the LEDs shifting when being welded by means of the conventional welding and the material change of the LEDs at high temperature, and further overcomes that the LEDs have to be replaced by de-soldering the LEDs. 
         [0012]    It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]      FIG. 1  is a schematic drawing illustrating a conventional light bar structure used in an edge-lit backlight module; 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a top view schematically illustrating an LED light bar structure according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is a schematic cross-sectional diagram along A-A′ in  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is a schematic cross-sectional diagram illustrating an LED light bar structure according to another aspect of the first preferred embodiment; 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is a partial cross-sectional diagram illustrating a light bar structure according to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0018]      FIG. 6  is a partial cross-sectional diagram illustrating a light bar structure according to the third preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0019]      FIG. 7  is a partial cross-sectional diagram illustrating a light bar structure according to another aspect of the third preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0020]      FIG. 8  is a partial perspective view illustrating a light bar structure according to the fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0021]      FIG. 9  is a partial perspective view illustrating the LED of  FIG. 8  being rotated to engage in an arch-shaped ditch. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0022]    The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to a preferred embodiment , thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings . In different drawings the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. Referring to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 ,  FIG. 2  is a top view schematically illustrating an LED light bar structure according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention, and  FIG. 3  is a schematic cross-sectional diagram along A-A′ in  FIG. 2 . The LED light bar structure according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention is generally designated at  110 , hereinafter referred to as the light bar structure  110 . The LED light bar structure  110  includes at least one LED  25 , a circuit board  40 , and a plurality of wires  60 . 
         [0023]    Each LED  25  has two pins  27 . However, the pins of each LED  25  also can be four or an even number of pins, and the present invention does not limited the number of the pins. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the circuit board  40  has at least one receiving space  46  and at least two recesses  43  corresponding to the LEDs  25 , in which the LED  25  is disposed in the receiving space  46 , and each of the pins  27  is engaged in a corresponding one of the recesses  43 . The wires  60  are disposed in the circuit board  40  and electrically coupled to the pins  27  of the LED  25  for providing external electrical power. It should be noted that positions of the wires  60  exposing do not limited in the present invention, and the wires that can respectively be disposed at different layers of the circuit board  40  can be adjusted as desired. 
         [0024]    It is worth mentioning that each of the LED  25  has a light-emitting surface  28 , and the light-emitting surface  28  is exposed outside the corresponding receiving space  46  to emit light. In the first preferred embodiment, the light bar structure  110  further includes a reflector  80 . The reflector  80  are disposed on the circuit board  40 , and the reflector  80  defines at least one opening  82  corresponding to the at least one light-emitting surface  28  for exposing the light-emitting surface  28 . The reflector  80  is utilized to fix the LED into the receiving space  46 . More specifically, the reflector  80  can resist against one end of the pin  27  for fixing the pin  27  in the recess  43 . 
         [0025]    In addition to the effect of fixing the LED  25 , the reflector  80  has an effect of reflecting the light from the LED  25  for increasing light utilization efficiency. Moreover, the light bar structure  110  is held against an incident surface  92  of a light guide plate  90  in a top-view LED backlight module, so the reflector  80  can fill the gap between the LED  25  and the light guide plate  90  to strengthen the assemble therebetween. 
         [0026]    Referring to  FIG. 4 ,  FIG. 4  is a schematic cross-sectional diagram illustrating an LED light bar structure according to another aspect of the first preferred embodiment, in which the LED light bar structure according to the aspect of the first preferred embodiment is generally designated at  115 . The light bar structure  115  is a light bar structure used in a side-view LED backlight module. One difference from the above-mentioned aspect is that the LEDs  25  of the aspect are side-view LEDs, that is, the light-emitting surface  28  of the LED  25  is perpendicular to the reflector  80  and is located out of the circuit board  40 . In the aspect of the first preferred embodiment, a mold frame  95  of the side-view LED backlight module can fix the LEDs  25 . 
         [0027]    A second preferred embodiment of the present invention will be explained in the following. Referring to  FIG. 5 ,  FIG. 5  is a partial cross-sectional diagram illustrating a light bar structure according to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention, in which the LED light bar structure according to the second preferred embodiment is generally designated at  120 . The descriptions of the same elements in the first embodiment have been explained as above mention, so no further detail will be provided herein. The light bar structure  120  of the second embodiment further includes a plurality of elastic bumps  48 , and the elastic bumps  48  are disposed in each recess  43  to clamp the corresponding pins  27 . Preferably, two elastic bumps  48  are respectively disposed both sides of the recess  43  to clamp more firmly. 
         [0028]    A third preferred embodiment of the present invention will be explained in the following. Referring to  FIG. 6  and  FIG. 7 ,  FIG. 6  is a partial cross-sectional diagram illustrating a light bar structure according to the third preferred embodiment of the present invention, and  FIG. 7  is a partial cross-sectional diagram illustrating a light bar structure according to another aspect of the third preferred embodiment of the present invention. The LED light bar structure according to one aspect of the third preferred embodiment is generally designated at  132 , and the LED light bar structure according to another aspect of the third preferred embodiment is generally designated at  134 . In the third preferred embodiment, the recess  43  has a predetermined angle θ with respect to a direction (as the dashed line shown) of the LED  25  being inserted into the receiving space  46  so that the pins  27  are bent after being inserted into the recess  43 , and the LED  25  is fixed in the receiving space  46  through the bend pins  27 . 
         [0029]    A fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention will be explained in the following. Referring to  FIG. 8  and  FIG. 9 ,  FIG. 8  is a partial perspective view illustrating a light bar structure according to the fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention, and  FIG. 9  is a partial perspective view illustrating the LED  25  of  FIG. 8  being rotated to engage in an arch-shaped ditch, in which the LED light bar structure according to one aspect of the fourth preferred embodiment is generally designated at  140 . As shown in  FIG. 8 , one of the recesses  43  is an arch-shaped ditch for each LED in the fourth preferred embodiment. The LED  25  is rotatably disposed in the receiving space  46 , and one of the pins for each LED is engaged in one end of the arch-shaped ditch, as shown in  FIG. 9 . 
         [0030]    The following will explain assembly processes of the light bar structure  140  in the fourth preferred embodiment. A first step of the assembly processes includes insert one of the pins  27  into one end of the arch-shaped ditch when disposing the LED  25  into the receiving space  46  of the circuit board  40 ; meanwhile, a direction of the LED  25  is perpendicular to the direction  41  of the circuit board  40 . Then a second step thereof includes rotate the LED  25  counterclockwise to make the pin  27  to engage in another end of the arch-shaped ditch (as  FIG. 9  shown), so that the LED  25  is fixed on the circuit board  40  as a correct position. 
         [0031]    In summary, in accordance with the design of the receiving space  46  and the recess  43  in the circuit board  40 , the LED  25  can be easily fixed on the circuit board  40  with an advantages of easy replacement. Therefore, the present invention overcomes the drawbacks of the shift of the LEDs  25  in using the conventional welding and the material change of the LEDs  25  at high temperature, and further overcomes that the LEDs  25  have to be replaced by de-soldering the LEDs  25 . 
         [0032]    While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described in detail, various modifications and alterations can be made by persons skilled in this art. The embodiment of the present invention is therefore described in an illustrative but not restrictive sense.