Abstract:
A Light Emitting Diode (LED) light tube is applied to be directly inserted to two pairs of electrode insertion holes of a fluorescent light tube fixture to replace a fluorescent tube. The LED light tube comprises a heat-dissipating base, a plurality of linear-extend LEDs and a light-transmissible shell, wherein an arrangement surface of the heat-dissipating base is arranged with the linear-extend LEDs, a peripheral surface of the heat-dissipating base is formed with a plurality of heat-dissipating grooves, two end-surfaces of the heat-dissipating base are respectively connected a pairs of electrodes to be inserted into the electrode insertion holes, and the light-transmissible shell including an opening for covering and assembling to the arrangement surface to package the linear-extend LEDs with the heat-dissipating base.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a light emitting diode (LED) light tube, and more particularly to an LED light tube applied to be assembled to a fluorescent light tube fixture for replacing a fluorescent light tube. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    In daily life, for exactly identifying environment and directions in the dark, illumination devices have already been a kind of indispensable tools. Most of the existed illumination devices have a light tube or a bulb served as a light source, and more familiar, the light tube or light bulb may be a fluorescent light tube, an incandescent light bulb, a halogen light tube or a halogen light bulb and so on. Among the light tubes or bulbs, the fluorescent light tube are widely used by the most people due to the reasons of the power consumption of the fluorescent light tube is one quarter of that of the incandescent light bulb, the working life of the fluorescent light tube is 5 to 10 times of that of the incandescent light bulb, the fluorescent light tube can provide homogeneous illumination, and the fluorescent light tube can be used for wide-angle illumination. Following up, we will disclose the structure and the working principle of a fluorescent light assembly. 
         [0003]    Please refer to  FIG. 1 , which illustrates a perspective view of a fluorescent light tube and a fluorescent light tube fixture. As shown in  FIG. 1 , a fluorescent light assembly  100  includes a fluorescent light tube  1  and a fluorescent light tube fixture  2 . The fluorescent light tube  1  includes a tube body  11 , and a pair of metal end-portions  12  and  13 . The metal end-portion  12  has a pair of electrode contacts  121  and  122 , and the metal end-portion  13  has a pair of electrode contacts  131  and  132 . 
         [0004]    The fluorescent light tube fixture  2  includes a fixture body  21 , a pair of electrode holders  22  and  23  and a starter  24 . The electrode holder  22  is arranged neighbor to one end of the fixture body  21  and has a pair of electrode insertion holes  221  and  222 ; and the electrode holder  23  is arranged neighbor to the other end of the fixture body  21  and has a pair of electrode insertion holes  231  and  232 . The starter  24  is arranged near the electrode holder  22  or  23 . 
         [0005]    When assembling the fluorescent light assembly  100 , the electrode contacts  121  and  122  of the fluorescent light tube  1  are respectively inserted to the electrode insertion holes  221  and  222 , and the electrode contacts  131  and  132  of the fluorescent light tube  1  are respectively inserted to the electrode insertion holes  231  and  232  to communicate with a specified circuit. When triggering the fluorescent light assembly  100  lighting, the electrons released form the electrodes impact the particles, which are usually the particles of mercury vapor within the fluorescent light tube to stimulate the phosphor, coated on the inner surface of the fluorescent light tube, projecting white light. However, the phosphor distributed on the inner surface of the fluorescent light tube usually contains heavy metals, such as mercury, so that it is difficult to be recycled and makes more pollution problems. 
         [0006]    Besides, since the LED has the advantages of lightweight, less volume, low power consumption, and long working life, etc., it is gradually used to illumination devices. Following up, we will provide brief description about the lighting principle of the LED. The lighting principle of LED is translating electric power to light energy, that is, doping a minute amount of carriers into a conjunction of P-type side and N-type side and continuously combining the minute amount of carriers with a major amount of carriers to form a LED. To be with the good performance of the LED radiation may need a large amount of pairs of electrons and holes. 
         [0007]    The space charge layers become narrower when applying a forward biased voltage, and then a major amount of carriers are doped into the P-type side and the N-type side according to Fermi characteristic energy level deviation. Due to that the minute amount of carriers are increased on the P-type side and N-type side, the pairs of electrons and holes located on the P-type side and the N-type side are recombined to release sufficient photons. In the present, the categories of LED generally include AllGaP and GaN series. 
         [0008]    Additionally, although the electric power consumption of the fluorescent light is just one quarter of the incandescent light, the working life of the fluorescent light is five to ten times of the incandescent light. But the electric power consumption of the LED is just one eighth of the incandescent light, and the working life of the fluorescent light is fifty to one hundred times of the incandescent light. Comparing with the fluorescent light, the LED not only can save electric power and work in a long life, but also can work in a lower lighting temperature. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    The problems intend being solved in the present invention and the objects of the present invention are described as follows: 
         [0000]    Summarizing above description, since the LED has the advantages of lower electric power consumption, longer working life, and lower lighting temperature with respect to the fluorescent lamp, therefore, if the problem of the illumination not homogenous enough has been overcome, the LED will have more commercial values to replace the fluorescent light and be applied in wide-angle illumination devices. 
         [0010]    Thus, the primary object of the present invention provides a LED light tube compatible to, both in electrical and in spatial, the existed fluorescent light tube fixture, so that it can directly replace the fluorescent light tube, without refitting the fluorescent light tube fixture, to have the advantages of lower electric power consumption, longer working life, and lower lighting temperature. 
         [0011]    The secondary object of the present invention provides a LED light tube having grained patterns, so that the LED light tube can provide homogenous illumination after being communicating with power supply. 
         [0012]    Means of the present invention for solving problems: 
         [0000]    Means of the present invention for solving the problems as mentioned above provide an LED light tube applied to be directly assembled to two pair of electrode insertion holes of an existed fluorescent light tube fixture to replace a fluorescent light tube. The LED light tube includes a heat-dissipating base, a plurality of linear-extended LEDs and a light-transmissible shell. An arrange surface of the heat-dissipating base is provided for the linear-extended LEDs, a first peripheral-surface of the heat-dissipating base is formed with a plurality of heat-dissipating grooves, each one of the two end-surfaces of the heat-dissipating base is respectively protruded with a pair of electrode contacts for assembling to the electrode insertion holes. The light-transmissible shell matching to the heat-dissipating base includes an opening for assembling to the arrangement surface to package the plurality of linear-extend LEDs with the heat-dissipating base. 
         [0013]    In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the LED light tube is compatible to the existed fluorescent light tube fixture, not only in electrical but also in spatial. Furthermore, the light-transmissible shell is formed with a plurality of grained patterns and has the performance of light filtering, polarization, concentration and anti-glare. 
         [0014]    Effects of the present invention with respect to prior arts: 
         [0000]    Make a comparison between the LED light tube of the present invention and the fluorescent light tube, the power consumption of the LED light tube is one half of that of the fluorescent light tube, while the working life of the LED light tube can reaches to ten times of that of the fluorescent light tube. Besides, the LED light tube can reduce pollution toward environment due to that no phosphor with polluted heavy metal element is necessary to be coated within LED light tube. Thus, making a summary of above description, the means of the present invention not only can provide homogenous illumination, but also can provide the effects of reducing power consumption, increasing working life and reducing pollution toward environment. 
         [0015]    The devices, characteristics, and the preferred embodiment of this invention are described with relative figures as follows. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0016]    The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein 
           [0017]      FIG. 1  illustrates a perspective view of a fluorescent light tube and a fluorescent light tube fixture; 
           [0018]      FIG. 2  illustrates a perspective view of a first embodiment of the LED light tube in accordance with the present invention, with the transparent shell lifted off; 
           [0019]      FIG. 3  illustrates a sectional view of the light-transmissible shell along line A-A of  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0020]      FIG. 4  illustrates a perspective view of the first embodiment in accordance with the present invention and a fluorescent light tube fixture; and 
           [0021]      FIG. 5  illustrates a perspective view of the first embodiment in accordance with the present invention and a conventional tube fixture; in particular, presenting an LED driver can be directly arranged in a heat-dissipating base; and 
           [0022]      FIG. 6  illustrates a perspective view of a second embodiment of the LED light tube in accordance with the present invention, with the light-transmissible shell lifted off. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0023]    Due to that the light emitting diode (LED) light tube as provided in accordance with the present invention can be directly assembled to a fluorescent light tube fixture, the combined applications are too numerous to be enumerated and described, so that we only disclose two preferred embodiments for representation. 
         [0024]    Please refer to  FIG. 2  to  FIG. 4 , wherein  FIG. 2  illustrates a perspective view of a first embodiment of the LED light tube in accordance with the present invention, with the transparent shell lifted off,  FIG. 3  illustrates a sectional view of the light-transmissible shell along line A-A of  FIG. 2 , and  FIG. 4  illustrates a perspective view of the first embodiment in accordance with the present invention and a fluorescent light tube fixture. As shown in above figures, a LED light tube  3  is directly assembled to a fluorescent light tube fixture  2   a  to project an illumination light beam for replacing the fluorescent light tube  1  shown in  FIG. 1 . Except for using an LED driver  24   a  being used for replacing the starter  24 , the rest elements of the fluorescent light tube fixture  2   a  are the same as those of the fluorescent light tube fixture  2  as mentioned above, so that we just present all relative elements in above figures. 
         [0025]    LED light tube  3  includes a heat-dissipating base  31 , a plurality of linear-extended LEDs  32  and a light-transmissible shell  33 . The heat-dissipating base includes a base body  311 , a pair of electrode contacts  312  and  312   a , another pair of electrode contacts  313  and  313   a , and a plurality of heat-dissipating grooves  314 . The base body is substantially composed of heat-conductive material, extended along an extension direction I, and having an arrangement surface  311   a , a first peripheral surface  311   b  and two first end-surfaces  311   c  and  311   d . In this embodiment, the heat-dissipating base  311  is specially shaped as a semi-cylindrical structure. 
         [0026]    The electrode contacts  312  and  312   a  are protruded from the first end-surface  311   c  for inserting to the electrode insertion holes  221  and  222 . The electrode contacts  313  and  313   a  are protruded from the first end-surface  311   d  for inserting to the electrode insertion holes  231  and  232 . The heat-dissipating grooves  314  are formed on the first peripheral surface  311   b , furthermore, they are formed from the first end-surface  311   c , extended along the extension direction I, to the first end-surface  311   d  for dissipating lighting heat generated when projecting the illumination light beam. 
         [0027]    The linear-extended LEDs  32  are arranged on the arrangement surface  311   a , and each one of the linear-extended LEDs  32  is parallel to the extension direction I and apart from each other. In the first embodiment, the linear-extended LEDs  32  are arranged to form two illumination circuits L 1  and L 2  connected with each other in a parallel connection, wherein two ends of the illumination circuits L 1  are connected to the electrode contacts  312  and  313  respectively, and two ends of the illumination circuits L 2  are connected to the electrode contacts  312   a  and  313   a  respectively. 
         [0028]    The light-transmissible shell  33  matching to the heat-dissipating base  31  can be composed of light-transmissible material, such as light-transmissible glass, acrylic, or plastic. Meanwhile, the light-transmissible shell  33  is extended along the extension direction I, and has a second peripheral surface  311 , two second end-surfaces  332  and  333 , an opening  334  and a plurality of grained patterns  335 . 
         [0029]    The grained patterns  335  are distributed on the second peripheral surface  331 , furthermore, they are formed from the second end-surface  332 , extended along the extension direction I, to the second end-surface  333  to modulate the illumination light beam projected form the linear-extended LEDs  32  for making the illumination light beam more homogenous. Moreover, the opening  334  is removable to be covered and assembled to the arrangement surface  311   a  for packaging the linear-extended LEDs  32  with the heat-dissipating base  31 . 
         [0030]    In the first embodiment, the light-transmissible shell  33  is shaped as a semi-cylindrical shell structure with a cross section as shown in  FIG. 3 , so that when the opening  334  of the light-transmissible shell  33  assembles to the arrangement surface  311   a  to package the LEDs  32 , the light-transmissible shell  33  and the heat-dissipating base  31  respectively shaped as the semi-cylindrical shell structure and the semi-cylindrical shell structure can make the LED light tube  3  be shaped as a cylindrical structure. Thus, the LED light tube  3  can be provided with overall dimensions similar to the fluorescent light tube  1  as shown in  FIG. 1 , so that the LED light tube  3  is spatially compatible to the fluorescent light tube fixture  2   a.    
         [0031]    Besides, the heat-dissipating base  31  further can be connected with proper circuits, the LEDs  32  can be provided with specified resistance, so that the LED light tube  3  can be provided with electrical parameters equivalent to the fluorescent light tube  1  to make the LED light tube  3  be electrically compatible to the fluorescent light tube fixture  2   a . Under the same illumination, due the power consumption of the LEDs  32  is approximate to one half of that of the fluorescent light tube, so that it the heat-dissipating base  31  can be arranged with proper voltage-dividing circuits, voltage-down circuits, voltage-transformation circuits or other modulation circuits complied with safety standard, so that the LED light tube  3  can reduce power consumption with respect to the fluorescent light tube  1 . From above description, the LED light tube  3  of the present invention is compatible to the fluorescent tube fixture  2   a  both in spatial and electrical, so that it can directly replace the fluorescent light tube without refitting the existed fluorescent light tube fixture. 
         [0032]    People skilled in relative arts can easily realize it is still necessary to use an LED driver  24   a  to replace the starter  24  of the prior art for driving the linear-extended LEDs  32  projecting the illumination light beam. While in real application, the LED driver  24   a  can be directly arranged in the heat-dissipating base  31  (as shown in  FIG. 5 ) to directly drive the linear-extended LEDs  32  projecting illumination light beam. Thus, it is unnecessary to assemble the LED driver  24   a  to the fluorescent light tube fixture  2   a , so that it can further provide more convenience of assembling and use. 
         [0033]    Additionally, the light-transmissible shell  33  itself can be a structure of light filtering and polarization, so that the illumination light beam projected from the linear-extended LEDs  32  can have specified color, polarization and optical rotation. For example, the illumination light beam can be a yellow polarized light beam or a red light beam with left optical rotation. Of course, the light-transmissible shell  33  itself can be a structure of light concentration or anti-glare, so that the LED light tube  3  can provide more comfortable and diversification illumination. Due to that the opening  334  of the light-transmissible shell is removable to the arrangement surface  311   a  of the base body  311  of the heat-dissipating base  31 , so that it is able to fit the light-transmissible shell with specified performance of light filtering, polarization, concentration and anti-glare according the diversification requirements of illumination. 
         [0034]    Please refer to  FIG. 6 , which illustrates a perspective view of a second embodiment of the LED light tube in accordance with the present invention, with the light-transmissible shell lifted off. As shown in  FIG. 6 , in the second embodiment, another LED light tube  3   a  is provided to replace the LED light tube  3 , wherein a plurality of linear-extended LEDs  32   a  are provided to replace the linear-extended LEDs  32  of the LED light tube  3 , and the arrangement of the linear-extended LEDs  32   a  is also different from that of the linear-extended LEDs  32 . Excepting for above differences, the rest elements of the LED light tube are similar to or the same as those of the LED light tube  3 . 
         [0035]    As shown in  FIG. 5 , the linear-extended LEDs  32   a  are arranged on the arrangement surface  311   a , and each one of the linear-extended LEDs  32  is vertical to the extension direction I and apart from each other. In the second embodiment, the linear-extended LEDs  32   a  are arranged to form two illumination circuits L 1 ′ and L 2 ′ connected with each other in a parallel connection, wherein two ends of the illumination circuits L 1 ′ are connected to the electrode contacts  312  and  313  respectively, and two ends of the illumination circuits L 2 ′ are connected to the electrode contacts  312   a  and  313   a  respectively. 
         [0036]    For being easily manufactured and meeting specified requirements, the plurality of linear-extended LEDs  32  and  32   a  can be made by connecting a plurality of short linear LEDs. Furthermore, the arrangement method of the linear-extended LEDs is not limited by the disclosed two embodiments, i.e., being arranged parallel or vertical to the extension direction I. In real applications, the linear-extended LEDs  32  and  32   a  can be arranged on the arrangement surface  311  a via 3-dimensional crossing and other possible combined connection methods. 
         [0037]    Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intend to be defined by the append claims.