Patent Publication Number: US-2013242570-A1

Title: Light-emitting device

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a light-emitting device; in particular, to a light-emitting device which can reduce the difficulty of assembling. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     A light emitting diode (LED) tube is a kind of lighting which is employed the LED as a light source. Some conventional LED tube not only includes a light bar having a plurality of LEDs, but also includes a supporting board for installation of the light bar, a upper housing, and a lower housing, in which the upper housing and the lower housing both cover the supporting board and the light bar, as shown in  FIG. 1A . 
       FIG. 1A  illustrates a perspective view of a conventional LED tube. Referring to  FIG. 1A , a conventional LED tube  100  includes a light bar  110 , a supporting board  120 , an upper housing  132 , and a lower housing  134 . The light bar  110  has a plurality of LEDs  112  and is disposed on the supporting board  120 . The supporting board  120  is disposed in the lower housing  134 . The upper housing  132  covers the light bar  110  and the supporting board  120 , and is combined with the lower housing  134  by an adhesive. 
       FIG. 1B  illustrates a explode view of the LED tube in  FIG. 1A . Referring to the  FIG. 1A  and  FIG. 1B , the lower housing  134  has a pair of lateral slots  51  and a recess  134   r . The lateral slots  51  are exposed on the inside of the recess  134   r  and opposite to each other. Both the lateral slots  51  and the recess  134   r  extend along a long-axis direction D 1  of the LED tube  100 . Two opposite sides of the supporting board  120  can insert into the lateral slots Si respectively so that the supporting boards  120  can be configured in the recess  134   r  of the lower housing  134 . 
     In the common assembling process of LED tube  100 , the light bar  110  is installed on the supporting board  120  first. Next, insert the two opposite sides of the supporting board  120  into the lateral slots Si in the long-axis direction D 1 , so as to finish the assembly of the supporting board  120  and the lower housing  134 . Then, stick the upper housing  132  and the lower housing  134  together so that the light bar  110  and the supporting board  120  are covered by the upper housing  132 . So far, the LED tube  100  is complete. 
     However, the previous assembling process in actual progress sometimes encounters difficulty, especially when assembling the supporting board  120  and the lower housing  134 . Specifically, variations in process parameter occurs when producing the supporting board  120  and the lower housing  134 . The sizes and the shapes of both the supporting board  120  and the lower housing  134  do not fit each other because of the previous variations in process parameter. Therefore, it is difficult to insert the supporting board  120  into the lateral slots Si. 
     Based on the above, the unfitness of both the size and the shape easily causes that the LED tube  100  is formed with a longer length L 1 . If the length L 1  of the LED tube  100  is to long, the supporting board  120  in the assembling process is easy to be stuck in the lateral slots S 1 , and it increases the difficulty of assembling the supporting board  120  and the lower housing  134 . Even, it is possible to cause the situation that the supporting board  120  and the lower housing  134  can not be assembled. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a light-emitting device to reduce the previous difficulty of assembling the supporting board and the lower housing. 
     In order to achieve the aforementioned objects, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a light-emitting device includes a lower housing, a supporting frame, a light-emitting component, and an upper housing. The lower housing has a capacious recess and a pair of first fastening parts, in which the capacious recess is located between the first fastening parts. The supporting frame includes a disposing region for the light-emitting component and a holding part located except the disposing region. The supporting frame is disposed in the capacious recess. The light-emitting component is disposed on the disposing region. The upper housing has a pair of second fastening parts. The first fastening parts and the second fastening parts are fastened each other so the upper housing covers the supporting frame and the light-emitting component. 
     The supporting frame may include a pair of inserting members or a pair of hookers, and the lower housing may include a pair of inserting slots or a pair of fastening slots. By the insertion of the inserting members in the inserting slots or fastening between the hookers and the fastening slots, the supporting frame can be combined with the lower housing. It makes assembling the supporting frame and the lower housing simple and easy, thereby reducing the difficulty of assembling. 
     In order to further the understanding regarding the present invention, the following embodiments are provided along with illustrations to facilitate the disclosure of the present invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1A  illustrates a perspective view of a common LED tube. 
         FIG. 1B  illustrates a explode view of the LED tube in  FIG. 1A . 
         FIG. 2A  illustrates a perspective view of a light-emitting device according to the first embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2B  illustrates a explode view of the light-emitting device in  FIG. 2A . 
         FIG. 3A  illustrates a perspective view of a light-emitting device according to the second embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 3B  illustrates a explode view of the light-emitting device in  FIG. 3A . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 2A  illustrates a perspective view of a light-emitting device according to the first embodiment of the invention, and  FIG. 2B  illustrates a explode view of the light-emitting device in  FIG. 2A . Referring to  FIG. 2A  and  FIG. 2B , a light-emitting device  200  in the embodiment includes a light-emitting component  210 , a supporting frame  220 , an upper housing  232 , and a lower housing  234 . The light-emitting component  210  is disposed on the supporting frame  220 . The upper housing  232  and the lower housing  234  can be combined together. 
     Specifically, the light-emitting component  210  may be a light bar containing a plurality of LEDs (not shown). The supporting frame  220  includes a disposing region  222  for the light-emitting component  210  and a holding part  224  located except the disposing region  222 , in which the light-emitting component  210  is disposed on the disposing region  222 . The disposing region  222  is inward in the surface of the holding part  224  and the recess region of the supporting frame  220 . The light-emitting component  210  is located in the recess region. 
     The lower housing  234  has a capacious recess  234   r , a pair of inserting slots  234   h , and a pair of first fastening parts  234   b . The supporting frame  220  further includes a pair of inserting members  226 . The inserting members  226  all extend downward from both sides of the holding part  224 . Specifically, the holding part  224  has an upper surface  224   a  and a lower surface  224   b  opposite to the upper surface  224   a . The disposing region  222  is exposed on the upper surface  224   a . The inserting member  226  all protrude from the lower surface  224   b , but not from the upper surface  224   a . Thus, the inserting members  226  only extend downward from the lower surface  224   b.    
     The inserting members  226  correspond to the inserting slot  234   h  respectively and are inserted in the inserting slots  234   h  separately. By the insertion of the inserting members  226  in the inserting slots  234   h , the supporting frame  220  can be fixed in the capacious recess  234   r . By the insertion of the inserting members in the inserting slots or fastening between the hookers and the fastening slots. Therefore, the supporting frame  220  can be installed in the capacious recess  234   r . In addition, the capacious recess  234   r  may be located between two first fastening parts  234   b , and the inserting slots  234   h  may be parallel to each other in the region between the capacious recess  234   r  and the pair of the first fastening parts  234   b.    
     The pair of the first fastening parts  234   b  is used to combine the upper housing  232  and the lower housing  234  together. In detail, the first fastening part  234   b  is such as fastening slot, and the upper housing  232  has a pair of second fastening parts  232   b , such as hooker. The second fastening part  232   b  can be inserted in the first fastening part  234   b  so the second fastening parts  232   b  and the first fastening parts  234   b  are fastened each other. 
     Accordingly, because the second fastening parts  232   b  and the first fastening parts  234   b  are fastened each other, the upper housing  232  and the lower housing  234  can be combined together so the upper housing  232  can cover the supporting frame  220  and the light-emitting component  210 . Therefore, the upper housing  232  and the lower housing  234  can cover the light-emitting component  210  and the supporting frame  220 . In addition, the upper housing  232  may further has a pair of pressing parts  232   c  used for pressing the holding part  224  of the supporting frame  220 . After the second fastening parts  232   b  and the first fastening parts  234   b  are fastened each other, the pressing parts  232   c  press the holding parts  224  respectively, as shown in  FIG. 2A . 
     In the embodiment, the light-emitting device  200  may be a tube employed LEDs. The light-emitting device  200  may be in the shape of a bar. Thus, the shapes of both the upper housing  232  and the lower housing  234  can fit the shape of the light-emitting device  200  so that the upper housing  232  and the lower housing  234  are each in the shape of a bar. Hence, any one of the light-emitting device  200 , the upper housing  232 , and the lower housing  234  has a long axis and a short axis. The direction D 1  of the long axis is perpendicular to the short-axis direction D 3  of the short axis. The upper housing  232  and the lower housing  234  all extend along the direction D 1  of the long axis of the light-emitting device  200 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 2B , besides the upper housing  232  and the lower housing  234 , the light-emitting component  210  and the supporting frame  220  are each in the shape of a bar. The light-emitting component  210  and the supporting frame  220  also extend along the direction D 1 . Moreover, in view of shape, the first fastening parts  234   b , the second fastening part  232   b , the capacious recess  234   r , the inserting slot  234   h , the inserting member  226 , and the disposing region  222  all extend along the direction D 1  of the long axis. 
     Since the inserting members  226  all extend downward from the lower surface  224   b  and are inserted in the inserting slots  234   h  of the lower housing  234  respectively, the supporting frame  220  is fixed in the capacious recess  234   r . Thus, comparing with prior art, the assembly between the supporting frame  220  and the lower housing  234  is simpler and easier. Furthermore, in the process for assembling the supporting frame  220  and the lower housing  234 , even if the length L 2  of the light-emitting device  200  is to long, the supporting frame  220  is not easy to be stuck in the inserting slot  234   h.    
     In addition, in the light-emitting device  200 , the upper housing  232  and the lower housing  234  is combined together because the second fastening part  232   b  and the first fastening parts  234   b  are fastened each other. Thus, the upper housing  232  and the lower housing  234  both are directly combined together without applying adhesive for sticking. Comparing with conventional combination of the upper housing  132  and the lower housing  134  via adhesive (referring to  FIGS. 1A and 1B ), the assembly of the light-emitting device  200  can skip the adhesive for sticking to upper housing  232  and the lower housing  234 , so as to reduce the cost of material in process. 
       FIG. 3A  illustrates a perspective view of a light-emitting device according to the second embodiment of the invention, and  FIG. 3B  illustrates a explode view of the light-emitting device in  FIG. 3A . Referring to  FIG. 3A  and  FIG. 3B , a light-emitting device  300  in the embodiment includes a light-emitting component  210 , a supporting frame  320 , an upper housing  232 , and a lower housing  334 . The function of both light-emitting devices  300  and  200  are the same, and the structure of both light-emitting devices  300  and  200  are similar. 
     For example, the lower housing  334  and the supporting frame  320  both also extend along the direction D 1 , and the lower housing  334  has a capacious recess  334   r  and a pair of first fastening parts  234   b . The first fastening parts  234   b  are all fastening slots and can be fastened the second fastening part  232   b  of the upper housing  232  so that the upper housing  232  is combined with the lower housing  334 . 
     Accordingly, the supporting frame  320  also includes a disposing region  222  and a holding part  224  located except the disposing region  222 . The disposing region  222  is inward the surface of the holding part  224 , and the light-emitting component  210  is disposed on the disposing region  222 . Additionally, the pressing part  232   c  included by the upper housing  232  is also used to press the holding part  224  of the supporting frame  320 . 
     However, the light-emitting devices  300  and  200  are different. In detail, the supporting frame  320  further includes a pair of hookers  326 , and a pair of fastening slot  334   h  is set in the capacious recess  334   r , where the fastening slots  334   h  are located in two corresponding sidewalls of the capacious recess  334   r . The hookers  326  extend outward from two sides of the holding part  224  and correspond to the fastening slots  334   h  respectively. Specifically, the hookers  326  all protrude from the lower surface  224   b  of the holding part  224 , but not from the upper surface  224   a . Thus, the inserting members  226  only extend downward from the lower surface  224   b.    
     When assemble the supporting frame  320  and the lower housing  334 , the hookers  326  may be inserted entirely in the capacious recess  334   r , and each of the ends of the hookers  326  can insert in one of the fastening slots  334   h  so that the hookers  326  are fastened the fastening slots  334   h  respectively, as shown in  FIG. 3A . Because the hookers  326  and the fastening slots  334   h  are fastened each other, the supporting frame  320  is fixed in the capacious recess  334   r . Therefore, the supporting frame  320  and the lower housing  334  can be combined together. 
     In conclusion, by the insertion of the inserting members in the inserting slots, or the fastening of the hookers in the fastening slots, the supporting frame can be fixed in the capacious recess of the lower housing, so as to finish the assembly between the supporting frame and the lower housing. Therefore, the supporting frame can be combined with the lower housing firmly. Comparing with prior art, the assembly between the supporting frame and the lower housing according to the invention is fairly simple and easy. Even if the length of the light-emitting device is to long, the supporting frame is not easy to be stuck in the lower housing. Thus, the invention can reduce the difficulty of assembling the light-emitting device to speed up the process, and the invention is helpful for mass production of the light-emitting devices. 
     The descriptions illustrated supra set forth simply the preferred embodiments of the present invention; however, the characteristics of the present invention are by no means restricted thereto. All changes, alternations, or modifications conveniently considered by those skilled in the art are deemed to be encompassed within the scope of the present invention delineated by the following claims.