Abstract:
A plurality of adjacent capsules, each comprising a base component, a body component carrying an LED circuit board, and a lens component, wherein the body and the base snap together and the lens snap-fits to the body. Such capsules are attached to a flexible electrical power cable by electrical connector components internal to the body and which conduct power from the power cable through the body to the LED circuit board.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation of U.S. utility patent application Ser. No. 13/533,833, filed Jun. 26, 2012, entitled “Stringed LED Capsule Lighting Apparatus”, and claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/637,141, filed Apr. 23, 2012, entitled “Modular LED Lighting Apparatus,” the contents of each of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
     
    
       [0002]    2. BACKGROUND 
       Field 
       [0003]    The subject disclosure relates to LED lighting apparatus and more particularly to such apparatus providing a string of LED circuit board carrying capsules. 
         [0004]    2. Related Art 
         [0005]    Various decorative and/or accent linear lighting apparatus such as rope light, luminous incandescent lighting, and festoon lighting have been in use for some time. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0006]    An illustrative stringed LED capsule lighting apparatus comprises a plurality of adjacent capsules, each capsule comprising (a) a base component, (b) a body component carrying an LED circuit board thereon, and (c) a lens component, wherein, in one embodiment, the body and the base snap together and the lens snap-fits to the body. Electrical conductors for supplying power to the LEDs enter at one end of the body and exit at an opposite end of the body and attach to respective internal metal connector components, which pass through a surface of the body to supply power to one or more LEDs. The electrical connector components may attach to the body, for example, by snapping into the body in an interior portion thereof to thereby hook the capsules to the conductors, thereby forming a flexible string of LED light capsules. In one embodiment, a guide track and means on the capsule bodies for attaching the capsules to the guide track are provided. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is a side view illustrating a plurality of LED light capsules and a guide track which may find use therewith; 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a base component of a light capsule; 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is a top view of the base component of  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a body component of a light capsule; 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  is a top view of the body component of  FIG. 4 ; 
           [0012]      FIG. 6  is a sectional view taken at VI-VI of  FIG. 5 ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 7  is a sectional view taken at VII-VII of  FIG. 5 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a lens component; 
           [0015]      FIG. 9  is a bottom view of the lens component of  FIG. 8 ; 
           [0016]      FIG. 10  is a sectional view of an illustrative guide track taken at X-X of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0017]      FIG. 11  is a cutaway view of a portion of a light capsule unit illustrating internal electrical conducting componentry; 
           [0018]      FIG. 12  is a perspective view of the underside of a light capsule unit with the base component removed; 
           [0019]      FIG. 13  is a perspective view of an illustrative embodiment of an electrical connector; 
           [0020]      FIG. 14  is an end view of the connector of  FIG. 13 ; 
           [0021]      FIG. 15  is an end view of an opposite end of the connector of  FIG. 13 ; 
           [0022]      FIG. 16  is a side view of the connector of  FIG. 13 ; and 
           [0023]      FIG. 17  is a side view of the connector of  FIG. 13 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0024]      FIG. 1  shows an illustrative embodiment of a string of LED light modules or “capsules”  11  and a flexible guide track  61  to which the capsules  11  may attach. According to an illustrative embodiment, each LED light capsule  11  comprises a base  13 , a body  25 , and a lens  51 , all three of which may snap together to form the unit  11 . 
         [0025]    A base member  13  is shown in  FIGS. 2-3  and includes a generally flat floor portion  14  from which extends a generally rectangular inner vertical support  15  and respective end supports  17 ,  18 . Along each side of the floor  14  are respective vertical lips  16 , indentations  19  in the vertical lips  16 , and mounting tabs  21 . The indentations  19  allow passage of guide track mounting tabs  31  of the body  25 , while the tabs  21  snap into recesses  30  ( FIG. 7 ) in the inner sidewalls  33 ,  35  of the body  25  to enable the base  13  to snap or press fit to the body  25 . 
         [0026]      FIGS. 4-7  further show that the body  25  includes vertical side walls  32 , 34  and front and back walls,  36 .  38 . A wire guide  37  protrudes from the front wall  36 , while an oval opening  40  ( FIG. 12 ) is formed in the back wall  38 . The guide track mounting tabs  31  are formed along the bottom edges of the side walls  32 ,  34 , while slots  39  are formed along the top edges. The slots  39  accommodate tabs  53  formed on respective sides of the lower rectangular edge  54  of the lens  51  ( FIG. 8 ) and facilitate snap fitting of the lens  51  onto the body  25 . Flexible fingers  44  extend from a top surface  48  of the body  25  and serve to attach an LED-carrying circuit board  115  ( FIG. 11 ) to the surface  48 . 
         [0027]    A pair of holes  41 ,  43  are provided through the top surface  48  of body  25  and facilitate passage of electrical pins  109 ,  111  ( FIG. 11 ) to supply power to the LEDs, e.g.,  112  and related circuitry on the LED carrying circuit board  115 . In one embodiment, one or more relatively low power LEDs are employed to achieve various decorative lighting effects. As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , wire guides are formed on the underside of surface  49 , which in the illustrative embodiment include a central vertical guide tab  45  and a horizontal tab  46  with wire guide slots  47  and  48 . 
         [0028]      FIGS. 11 and 12  illustrate how the respective electrical conductors (wires)  101 , 102  are guided through the body and employed to interconnect one adjacent module or capsule  11  to the next. In particular, in one illustrative embodiment, metal connector components  105 ,  107  are clamped onto the respective wires  101 ,  102  so as to pierce and make electrical contact with the current carrying electrical conductors inside respective outer insulative layers of the wires  101 , 102 . Additionally, the wire guides  37  capture and hold the electrical cable to further assist in attaching the capsules  11  to the cable. 
         [0029]    As noted above, the connector components  105 ,  107  include the vertically extending pins  109 ,  111 , which carry power to the circuit board  115 . As may be seen in  FIG. 12 , respective cylindrical portions of the connector components  105 ,  107  snap into or otherwise attach to the respective wire guide slots  47 ,  48  and are separated by the central vertical guide tab  45 . The conductors  101 ,  102  are guided out of the body  25  at one end by the wire guide  37 , which, in an illustrative embodiment, extends into the oval opening  40  of an adjacent capsule  11  and is shaped and sized to be pivotable or rotatable therein to guide and shield the conductors  101 , 102 , while at the same time allowing each module or capsule  11  in a string of modules or capsules to freely bend in any direction and to provide decorative “string lighting” effects. In one embodiment, strings of modules can be removably attached to a guide track  61 , which may be stapled to adjacent surfaces and optionally also glued, employing the teeth on the underside of the guide track ( FIG. 10 ) which serve to provide more surface area to promote adhesion. The flexibility of the guide track  61  may also vary in various embodiments. 
         [0030]    An illustrative embodiment of a connector  105  is shown in more detail in  FIGS. 13-17 . The connector  105  includes a horizontal channel  121  which unitarily forms or bends into a vertically disposed pin  109 . The channel  121  includes respective sides  125 ,  127 , which extend on either side of an arcuate bottom portion  129 . First and second teeth  131 ,  133  protrude upwardly from the bottom portion  129 . In one embodiment, the second connector  107  may be identical to connector  105 . Connectors so constructed may be readily attached to insulated electrical conductors or cable utilizing a machine which pushes the teeth  131 ,  133  through the insulation and into the electrically conductive portion as the sides  125 ,  127  are crimped around the cable. 
         [0031]    Various embodiments may provide low-profile (¾″ H×⅝″ W), dimmable high-performance, LED articulated accent lighting and may employ Class I or Class II low voltage (12V) transformers. Illustrative embodiments may further comprise a series of low-voltage LED capsules directly attached to a flexible wire harness. Such embodiments can conform to a radius as small as six-inches, allowing attachment to inside and outside curves in a multitude of interior and exterior applications, and in one embodiment, employing lighting-class LEDs, of, for example, 40 to 80 milliamps with 3 LEDs per board  115 . Runs of 30 feet, and optionally 60 feet, are available according to various embodiments. In one embodiment, the length “L” of the lens  51 , may be 3.0 inches, but of course may vary in other embodiments. 
         [0032]    Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various adaptations and modifications of the just described illustrative embodiments can be configured without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, it is to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described herein.