Patent Publication Number: US-11043762-B1

Title: LED light strip with terminal block connector

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to LED light strips and, more particularly, to LED light strips having two-port screw-in terminal connectors at opposite ends to allow for temporary or permanent connections to a DC power source or additional LED lighting strips using interconnecting wire conductors. 
     Discussion of the Related Art 
     Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting has become increasingly popular in both residential and commercial lighting applications. In particular, Light Emitting Diode (LED) tape lighting or LED light strips are very popular for use in many types of lighting applications, including in the field of visual arts and accent lighting. For example, LED light strips are extremely common for use in accent light applications such as, but not limited to, under cabinet lighting, TV back lighting, staircase lighting, architectural lighting, as well as kitchen and bar lighting. 
     LED light strips are typically formed with a flexible or rigid material, such as a silicon substrate. A long printed circuit board (PCB) extends over the entire length of the strip and is incorporated into the body of the flexible or rigid material. The PCB includes conductive tracks for powering LEDs that are arranged at regular spaced intervals along the length of the strip. Conductive contact pads, such as copper pads, serve as contact terminals and are provided at predetermined intervals along the length of the strip in electrical connection with the conductive tracks. When an LED light strip is cut to a desired length, there needs to be a pair of contact terminals pads (i.e., + and −) at each end of the light strip. 
     In order to power the LEDs on the light strip, it is necessary to connect the contact terminals to a DC power source which is typically a 12 volt power source or a 24 volt power source. Additionally, LED light strips can be connected to one another or other DC LED lighting connections. This requires electrical connection to the copper pads at the ends of the LED light strips. Typically, LED light strips are connected to one another by connecting the positive (+) and negative (−) conductive contact terminal pads at the end of one light strip to the corresponding positive (+) and negative (−) conductive contact terminal pads at the end of another light strip. 
     Providing a reliable connection of wire conductors to LED light strips, for connecting the light strips to one another or to a DC power source, has proven to be problematic. In the past, others have soldered wires, such as 18-22 AWG wire, directly to the conductive terminal contact pads. The issue with the wires that come soldered on the LED strip tape from the factory is they don&#39;t offer any flexibility with how many connections you can make off of them. Also, the length they connect to other strips/power sources is limited (usually around 4-6″). It is set/predetermined and only at each end of the 16.5′ roll. For this reason, they are very limited for interconnect-ability. Others have proposed various clip connectors or clamp devices that clamp to the terminal contact pads at the ends of the LED light strips. These various connection devices have been found to be unreliable. Moreover, these type of connectors often scrape or damage the terminal contact pads on the LED light strips and lose connection over time. Still others have proposed connector devices that use screws or metal pins that puncture the LED light strip at the terminal connector pads. These type of connections make destructive edits to the LED terminal connector pads that can ruin or even break the internal circuit on the PCB of the LED light strip. Moreover, most of the proposed connection devices in the related art do not offer any possibility of splitting off with multiple wire connections from the end of one LED light strip to two or more LED light strips and/or a DC power supply source. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to an LED light strip with screw-in terminal connectors at opposite ends of the light strip. The LED light strip includes a flexible or rigid material substrate having a top side and a bottom side, an arrangement of LEDs at regularly spaced intervals on the top side, and a printed circuit board (PCB) with conductive tracks incorporated within the material substrate and electrically connected to the arrangement of LEDs. Pairs of conductive pads serving as positive (+) and negative (−) contact terminals are provided at predetermined intervals along the length of the LED light strip. Two-port screw-in terminal connectors are permanently attached to opposite ends of the LED light strip by soldering pins of the terminal connectors to the corresponding+ and − conductive pads to allow for temporary or permanent connections to a DC power supply or multiple other DC LED lighting connections using 18-22 AWG wire. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       For a fuller understanding of the nature of the present invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a rear top perspective view of a two-port screw-in terminal connector used in the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a front top perspective view of the two-port screw-in terminal connector illustrating a pair of wire conductors ready to be inserted within corresponding positive and negative terminal screw clamps of the two-port screw-in terminal connector; 
         FIG. 3A  is a cutaway perspective view of a portion of an LED light strip showing the two-port screw-in terminal connector with wire conductors attached thereto and placed in position at the end of the LED light strip with conductor pins of the screw-in terminal connector in contact with positive and negative conductive contact terminal pads on the LED light strip; 
         FIG. 3B  is a cutaway perspective view of the portion of the LED light strip shown in  FIG. 3A  and illustrating the conductive pins of the two-port screw-in terminal connector soldered to the positive and negative conductive contact terminal pads on the LED light strip; 
         FIG. 4  is a front elevational view of the two-port screw-in terminal connector showing the screw operated terminal screw clamps within the open ports of the terminal connector; 
         FIG. 5  is a side elevational view, shown in cutaway, illustrating a portion of the LED light strip fitted within an extruded channel and mounted to a surface; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view illustrating three LED light strips of the present invention interconnected in parallel, wherein the terminal end of one of the LED light strips is electrically connected to two other LED light strips using the two-port screw-in terminal connectors and interconnecting wire conductors; and 
         FIG. 7  is a top plan view of the LED light strip of the present invention shown fitted within an extruded channel, wherein the two-port screw-in terminal connectors are provided at each end of the LED light strip and soldered to the conductive terminal contact pads of the light strip and having wire conductors attached to the two-port screw-in terminal connectors. 
     
    
    
     Like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The LED light strip of the present invention is shown in the accompanying drawings and is generally indicated as  10 . 
     Referring initially to  FIGS. 3A-3B and 7 , the LED light strip  10  includes an elongate substrate  12  which may be formed of a flexible or rigid material. Similar to other LED light strips that are well-known in the art, the LED light strip  10  includes a printed circuit board (PCB) embedded within the material substrate  12 . Because this is a well-known feature in LED light strips, the PCB and other details of the circuitry are not shown in any great detail in the drawings. The LED light strip  12  of the present invention further includes LEDs or LED light engines  20  arranged at regular spaced intervals on a top side  14  of the elongate substrate strip  12 . The LEDs  20  are electrically connected to the PCB circuitry and are in further electrical communication with conductive contact terminal pads  22 ,  24 . The pairs of conductive pads serve as positive (+) and negative (−) contact terminals for receiving electrical power to energize PCB circuitry, and particularly the LEDs  20 . To provide a connection to a DC power source, the opposite ends of the LED light strip  10  are provided with two-port screw-in terminal connectors  30  that are permanently attached to the opposite ends of the LED light strip. In particular, as seen in  FIG. 3A , the two-port screw-in terminal connector  30  includes terminal pins  32 ,  34 . Terminal pin  32  is placed in electrical contact with conductive pad  22  while terminal pin  34  is positioned in contact with terminal pad  24  on the LED light strip. It has been found that the best way to secure the connection of the two-port screw-in terminal connectors  30  is by soldering the terminal pins  32 ,  34  to the corresponding conductive pads  22 ,  24 . This is done by first priming the terminal contact pads  22 ,  24  with a small bead of solder, then making the connection by fully immersing the pins  32 ,  34  completely within the molten solder until it sets.  FIG. 3B  shows the soldered connections  26 ,  28  that effectively secure the connection of the terminal pins  32 ,  34  to the corresponding copper terminal conductive pads  22 ,  24 . 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 1-2 and 4 , the two-port screw-in terminal connector  30  that is attached at opposite ends of the LED light strip  12  is shown in more detail. More specifically, each two-port screw-in terminal connector  30  includes terminal connector pins  32 ,  34 . An opposite side of the two-port screw-in terminal connector  30  includes open ports  36 ,  38 , each corresponding with either the positive or negative electrical terminal. The open ports  36 ,  38  are fitted with screw operated terminal screw clamps  42 ,  44 . Terminal screw clamp  42  is electrically connected, in electric current flow connection with terminal pin  32  on the back side of the screw-in terminal connector  30  while terminal screw clamp  44  is electrically connected in direct electric current flow communication with terminal pin  34 . Each of the terminal screw clamps  42 ,  44  are independently operated by an associated screw  46  or  48  to effectively open and close the screw clamps. More particularly, closing terminal screw clamp  42  is achieved by turning screw  46  on the top of the terminal connector  30  in a clockwise direction to cause the terminal screw clamp  42  to move downwardly towards a bottom conductor portion of the clamp within the open terminal port  36 . Loosening or opening of the terminal screw clamp  42  I achieved by turning screw  46  in the opposite (i.e., counterclockwise) direction to cause the upper portion of the screw clamp to move upwardly within the terminal port  36  and away from the bottom conductive element of the screw clamp. Similarly, terminal screw clamp  44  is operated in the same manner by turning screw  48  either clockwise or counterclockwise to either close or open the terminal screw clamp  44 . The open terminal ports  36 ,  38  and associated terminal screw clamps  42 ,  44  allow for convenient and secure connection of conductive ends  52 ,  54  of wire conductors  56 ,  58 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , the conductive ends  52 ,  54  of the wire conductors have been stripped of their insulation to allow for direct electrical contact with the terminal screw clamps  42 ,  44 . With the terminal screw clamps  42 ,  44  in the open position, the conductive ends  52 ,  54  of the wire conductors  56 ,  58  are received within the associated terminal screw clamps  42 ,  44  and then, once fully inserted, the screw  46  and  48  are turned in order to close the terminal screw clamps  42 ,  44  that are already onto the conductive ends  52 ,  54  of the wire conductors  56 ,  58  to effectively sandwich the conductive ends  52 ,  54  within the terminal screw clamps  42 ,  44  and in electrical connection therewith, as shown in  FIG. 4 . This provides an excellent and highly secure and reliable electrical connection of the wire conductors  56 ,  58  to the two-port screw-in terminal connectors  30  and the PCB circuitry of the LED light strips, via the soldered terminal pins  32 ,  34  to the copper terminal contact pads  22 ,  24 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the LED light strips  10  are shown within an extruded channel  60 . Extruded channels of this type are well-known in the art and may be made out of metal, such as aluminum, or plastic. The extruded channels  60  of this nature allow for a cleaner, more, more neat appearance of the LED strip lighting fixture as well as allowing for easier mounting and insulation. 
     As seen in  FIG. 6 , the two-port screw-in terminal connectors  30  of the present invention allow for splitting off with multiple wire connections in parallel from the end of one LED light strip to two or more LED light strips and/or a DC power supply source. As seen in  FIG. 6 , wire conductors  56 A and  58 A extend from the positive and negative terminals of one terminal connector  30  on one of the LED light strips to another terminal connector  30  of a second LED light strip. Moreover, wire conductors  56 B and  58 B can extend from the one terminal connector  30  of the one LED light strip to yet a third LED light strip, as seen in  FIG. 6 . And from that the terminal connector  30  of that third LED light strip, wire conductors  56 C and  58 C can be connected to the terminal connector and to a 12 volt or 24 volt DC power source or an additional LED light strip. 
     While the present invention has been shown and described in accordance with a preferred and practical embodiment, it is recognized that departures from the instant disclosure are fully contemplated within the spirit and scope of the present invention which is not to be limited except as defined in the following claims as interpreted under the Doctrine of Equivalents.