Patent Publication Number: US-2015070915-A1

Title: Apparatus for Hanging Lighting Assembly

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims benefit to and is based upon U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/876,801 filed Sep. 
       12 ,  2013  entitled Apparatus for Hanging Lighting Assembly to Grajcar, et al, and that application is incorporated by reference in full. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     This invention relates to lighting assemblies. More specifically invention relates to an improved lighting structure for hanging a lighting assembly. 
     Traditionally incandescent light bulbs have been used for lighting purposes. They are placed in a ceiling mount, or fixture, typically screwed into a socket. As alternative forms of lighting have been invented the lighting industry has greatly changed. For instance more energy efficient lighting is now available, such a metal halide, CFL, solid state or LED lighting assemblies or the like. 
     In the typical LED lighting assembly a circuit board of some type, typically a printed circuit board is provided that contains both a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) but also driving circuitry, such as AC to DC converters, PWM drives, rectifiers, capacitors, transistors, resistors and the like that are compatible with a typical wall dimming device and provide a supply current to the plurality of LEDs. As a result, electrical wiring can he directly secured to the circuit board to provide the input circuit. This allows for hard wiring of a lighting assembly straight to electrical wiring coming into a building. In other words, with the use of these lighting assemblies, sockets are no longer required. 
     During the installation process for hard wiring the wiring of the light assembly is typically pulled and the entire weight of the lighting assembly supported by wiring. Problems thus occur in that when pulled, soldering between the wiring and circuit board can break or become weakened, thus causing malfunctioning of the lighting assembly. 
     In some embodiments lighting is required that is more robust to survive harsh environments. For example, in agricultural settings feces, dust, debris and other such objects often fill the air. Often agricultural buildings are washed down with high pressure power washers to clear this dirt and debris. As a result such lighting not only needs to be able to convey heat from circuitry, but also prevent the dirt, debris and water from entering the interior of the lighting assembly. The resulting lighting assembly is often bulky and can weigh significantly more than the typical incandescent light bulb. As a result the wiring is often strained during the installation process causing breaking of the wiring. Additionally in such agricultural settings machinery is occasionally used, such as forklifts. A forklift driver that is not paying attention can sometimes drive materials on the forks into the lighting assemblies themselves or wiring, again causing additional stress and strain on the wiring increasing the chance of damaging the wiring or lighting assembly. 
     Therefore a principle object of the present invention is to provide a lighting assembly that minimize the stresses and strains on electrical wiring; 
     Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a more robust lighting assembly that can withstand harsh environments; 
     These and other objects, features and advantages will become apparent from the rest of the specification and claims, 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A lighting assembly that has a heat sink that receives a circuit board having a plurality of light emitting diodes and has an opening disposed therethrough for receiving wiring. The wiring is electrically connected to the light emitting diode to provide electrical excitation to cause illumination of the light emitting diodes and is attached to the ceiling of a dwelling. The heat sink has an arcuate channel with an arcuate sidewall curving about a circular member that is enclosed by an end cap. Thus during the installation process the wiring is looped around the circular member and then held in place by the end cap causing strain from the wiring to be transferred to the heat sink to prevent, dislodging or breaking of the soldering connection between the wiring and the circuity board. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         FIG. 1  is a plan side view of a lighting assembly within an agricultural dwelling. 
         FIG. 2  is a top plan view of a heat sink and wiring of a lighting assembly. 
         FIG. 3  is a top plan view of an end cap in a heat sink of a lighting assembly. 
         FIG. 4  is a bottom plan view of an end cap of a lighting assembly. 
         FIG. 5  is a top plan view of a heat sink, wiring and substrate of a lighting assembly. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION 
     The figures show a lighting assembly  10  that in a preferred embodiment is an LED lighting assembly used within an agricultural setting or building  12  such as a barn. Within the agricultural building  12  is a power supply  14  that provides electricity to a wiring  16  that hangs from the ceiling  18  of the building or dwelling  12 . The wiring  16  can be provided in any traditional manner including but not limited to conduit bodies, whether plastic, metal or otherwise or other manners as is known in the art. 
     Wiring  20  of the lighting assembly  10  is engaged and electrically connected to the wiring  16  of the building to provide an electrical path for the flow oil electrical current to a circuit board  22 . The circuit board  22  in one embodiment is a substrate and preferably is a printed circuit board. The circuit board  22  has driving circuitry  24  thereon for driving plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs)  28 . In one embodiment the driving circuitry  24  and LEDs  28  are presented as provided in U.S. Pat. No. 8,373,363 entitled. Reduction of Harmonic Distortion for LED Load to Grajcar and U.S. Ser. No. 12/824,215 entitled Spectral Shift Control for Dimmable AC LED Lighting also to Grajcar, both of which are incorporated in full herein. 
     A heat sink  30  engages the circuit board  22  such that heat is conveyed through and away from the driving circuitry  24  to the heat sink  30 . The circuit board  22  is engaged along a first side  32  of the heat sink  30  and the heat sink  30  has an opening  34  disposed therethrough to a second side  36 . The heat sink  30  is of size and shape to allow the wiring  20  of the lighting assembly  10  to pass, yet not allow passage of the circuit board  22 . The opening  34  is located within an arcuate channel  38  having an arcuate sidewall  40  that curves from a closed first end  42  adjacent the opening  34  about a centrally located first circular member  44  or spoke to an open second end  46 . Adjacent the open second end  46  is a second circular member  48  or spoke. Thus, wiring  20  is disposed through the opening  34  into the channel  38  and is wrapped around the first circular member  44  and out the open second end  46 . The wiring  20  can than similarly be wrapped around the second circular member  48  or spoke. 
     An end cap  50  is when secured over the channel  38 . In one embodiment the end cap  50  has a plurality of flanges  52  extending therefrom that are in spaced relation to one another. The flanges  52  are disposed within the arcuate channel  38  and the final flange  52  terminates within the open second end  46 . The plurality of flanges  52  engage the wiring  20  in the arcuate channel  38  to prevent upward, movement, of the wiring  20  out of the arcuate channel  38 . While presented as a plurality of flanges  52 , a solid arcuate block that extends from either the heat sink  30  or end cap  50  that is within the arcuate channel to engage the wiring  20  could also be provided without falling outside the scope of this disclosure. 
     In operation the wiring  20  of the lighting assembly  10  is disposed. through the opening  34  in the heat sink  30 . The wiring  20  extends from the opening  34 , engages and wraps around the first circular member  44  and through the open second end  46  of the arcuate channel  38 . The end cap  50  is secured to the arcuate sidewall  40  such that when the wiring  20  is pulled upwardly, the plurality of flanges  52  of the end cap  50  impede or resist the movement of the wiring  20 . The wiring  20  can then be optionally wrapped around the second circular member  48  before being connected to the wiring  16  or the building. Once hung, the weight of the assembly pulls downwardly on the wiring  20  of the lighting assembly  10  and consequently the wiring  16  of the building  12 . However, the wiring engages the first and second circular members  44  and  48  and the flanges  52  of the end cap  50  such that stress and strains placed on the wiring  20  is transferred to the circular members  44  and  46  and flanges  52  of the end cap  50 . 
     In sum, by engaging and wrapping around the first and second circular members  44  and  48  the surface area upon which force is exerted increases, thus allowing more force to be dissipated into the assembly  10  improving mechanical properties. Therefore less force is transferred to the wiring  16  of the building, providing a more robust assembly  10 . In addition, by utilizing the arcuate channel  38 , if the opening  34  disposed through the heat sink  30  is off center, the arcuate channel  38  can be located such that the opening  34  is located within the channel  38  proving a manner in which the assembly can be centered without requiring the opening  34  to be centered during the manufacturing process. This improves manufacturing and efficiencies in manufacturing, thus providing an improvement in the art. 
     Thus provided is an assembly  10  having a heat sink  30  that provides a manner to transfer force placed on the wiring  20  of the lighting assembly directly to the heat sink  30 . In this manner the assembly can withstand more force and if additional force is exerted on the assembly, whether downward or laterally, the assembly can better handle such forces preventing breaking of the assembly. Thus, at the very least all of the objects have been met. 
     While described as used in association with a lighting assembly  10  that presents light emitting diodes  28 , other lighting elements that utilize wiring  16  or require to be hung are contemplated and encompassed by this disclosure. In addition, a number of implementations have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modification may be made. For example, advantageous results may be achieved if the steps of the disclosed techniques were performed in a different sequence, or if components of the disclosed systems were combined in a different manner, or if the components were supplemented with other components. Accordingly, other implementations are contemplated within the scope of the following claims.