Patent Publication Number: US-2022221136-A1

Title: Wireless controllable lighting device

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of Provisional U.S. Patent Application No. 63/136,958, filed Jan. 13, 2021, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Lamps and displays using efficient light sources, such as light-emitting diodes (LED) light sources, for illumination are becoming increasingly popular in many different markets. LED light sources provide a number of advantages over traditional light sources, such as incandescent and fluorescent lamps. For example, LED light sources may have a lower power consumption and a longer lifetime than traditional light sources. In addition, the LED light sources may have no hazardous materials, and may provide additional specific advantages for different applications. When used for general illumination, LED light sources provide the opportunity to adjust the color (e.g., from white, to blue, to green, etc.) or the color temperature (e.g., from warm white to cool white) of the light emitted from the LED light sources to produce different lighting effects. 
     A multi-colored LED illumination device may have two or more different colors of LED emission devices (e.g., LED emitters) that are combined within the same package to produce light (e.g., white or near-white light). There are many different types of white light LED light sources on the market, some of which combine red, green, and blue (RGB) LED emitters; red, green, blue, and yellow (RGBY) LED emitters; phosphor-converted white and red (WR) LED emitters; red, green, blue, and white (RGBW) LED emitters, etc. By combining different colors of LED emitters within the same package, and driving the differently-colored emitters with different drive currents, these multi-colored LED illumination devices may generate white or near-white light within a wide gamut of color points or correlated color temperatures (CCTs) ranging from warm white (e.g., approximately 2600K-3700K), to neutral white (e.g., approximately 3700K-5000K) to cool white (e.g., approximately 5000K-8300K). Some multi-colored LED illumination devices also may enable the brightness (e.g., intensity or dimming level) and/or color of the illumination to be changed to a particular set point. These tunable illumination devices may all produce the same color and color rendering index (CRI) when set to a particular dimming level and chromaticity setting (e.g., color set point) on a standardized chromaticity diagram. 
     SUMMARY 
     As described herein, a lighting device may comprise a lens having teeth extending from a rear surface of a rim of the lens and a reflector having a collar with attachment clips configured to lock the teeth in place and retain the lens in attachment to the reflector. The reflector may define cavity that extends from a first end to a second end of the reflector. The collar may be located at the second end of the reflector, such that the lens is attached to the second end of the lens. The lighting device may also comprise an emitter that is received in the first end and is configured to emit light through the lens. The attachment clips of the collar of the reflector may each comprise a clip arm that are attached to the collar at a first end and extend to a second end. The clip arm of each attachment clip may define a slot between the respective clip arm and the collar and may flex about the first end. The collar may comprise recesses between the second ends of each clip arm and respective radial surfaces of the collar. The teeth may be configured to be received in the recesses of the collar when the lens is attached to the reflector. To attach the lens to the reflector, the teeth may be inserted into the slots of the attachment clips and the lens may be rotated such the teeth are moved into the recesses of the collar. 
     In addition, the teeth of the lens may each comprise a ledge portion configured to contact a respective lip portion of the collar of the reflector to retain the lens in attachment to the reflector. The reflector may further comprise spring arms configured to apply force onto the lens to cause the ledge portions of the teeth of the lens to come in contact with the respective lip portions of the collar of the reflector when the lens is attached to the reflector. The application of force by the spring arms against the lens to bias the ledge portions against the lip portions may prevent the lens from rattling against the reflector and making noise when the lens is attached to the reflector. 
     A lighting device may include a lens, an emitter configured to emit light through the lens, and a reflector. The reflector may define a cavity that extends from a first end to a second end of the reflector. The emitter may be received in the first end of the reflector, and the lens may be attached to the second end of the reflector. The lens may include teeth that extend from a rear surface of a rim of the lens. In some examples, the teeth may be arc-shaped. The reflector may include a collar at the second end, and the collar may include attachment clips that are configured to lock the teeth in place and retain the lens in attachment to the reflector. The attachment clips may each comprise a clip arm that are attached to the collar at a first end and extend to a second end. The clip arm of each attachment clip may define a slot between the respective clip arm and the collar. The clip arm of each attachment clip may be configured to flex about the first end. In such examples, the collar may include recesses between the second ends of each clip arm and respective radial surfaces of the collar, and the teeth may be configured to be received in the recesses of the collar when the lens is attached to the reflector. Further, in some instance, in order to attach the lens to the reflector, the teeth may be inserted into the slots of the attachment clips and the lens may be rotated such the teeth are moved into the recesses of the collar. 
     The teeth of the lens may each include a ledge portion that is configured to contact a respective lip portion of the collar of the reflector to retain the lens in attachment to the reflector. The reflector may include spring arms that are configured to apply force onto the lens to cause the ledge portions of the teeth of the lens to come in contact with the respective lip portions of the collar of the reflector when the lens is attached to the reflector. Further, in some examples, the teeth may each include a body portion that is connected to the rear surface of the rim portion via two legs. The teeth may be configured so that there is a cavity located between the body portion and the rear surface of the rim portion. The body portion of the teeth may include a ledge portion that extends in a radial direction from an interior surface of the body portion toward a center of the rim portion. The ledge portion of the teeth may be configured to contact a rear surface the respective lip portion to secure the lip portion within a cavity that is located between the body portion and the rear surface of the rim portion. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an example lighting device. 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the lighting device of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of a light-generation module of the lighting device of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a bottom view of the light-generation module of  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 5  is a top perspective view of a lens and a reflector of the lighting device of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 6  is a bottom perspective view of the lens of  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 7  is a side cross-section view of the lens and the reflector of  FIG. 5 . 
         FIGS. 8A and 8B  are top cross-sectional views illustrating a process for attaching the lens to the reflector of  FIG. 5 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an example illumination device, such as a lighting device  100  (e.g., a controllable LED lighting device). The lighting device  100  may have a parabolic form factor and may be a parabolic aluminized reflector (PAR) lamp. The lighting device  100  may include a housing  110  (e.g., having a housing heat sink  112  and a base portion  114 ) and a lens  115 . The lens  115  may be made of any suitable material, for example glass. The lens  115  may be transparent or translucent and may be flat or domed, for example. The lighting device  100  may include a screw-in base  116  that may be configured to be screwed into a standard Edison socket for electrically coupling the lighting device  100  to an alternating-current (AC) power source. The housing heat sink  112  may comprise vents  118  to allow for cooling of the lighting device  100  (e.g., as will be described in greater detail below). 
       FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the lighting device  100 . The lighting device  100  may comprise a light-generation module  120  that has one or more light sources, such as emitters  122  (e.g., emission LEDs) mounted to an emitter printed circuit board (PCB)  124 . The emitters  122  of the light-generation module  120  may be configured to shine light through the lens  115 . The light-generation module  120  may comprise a module heat sink  125  to which the emitters  122  of the emitter PCB  124  may be thermally coupled. The module heat sink  125  may be made from a thermally-conductive material (e.g., aluminum). The module heat sink  125  may have a circular periphery. The module heat sink  125  may have cylindrical shape and/or a truncated cone shape. The light-generation module  120  may be mounted (e.g., press fit) within the housing heat sink  112 . The module heat sink  125  of the light-generation module  120  may be thermally coupled to the housing heat sink  112 . The module heat sink  125  may transfer heat to the housing heat sink  112  peripherally. The housing heat sink  112  may be made from a material that is cheaper, but less thermally conductive than the material of the module heat sink  125 . The housing heat sink  112  may be larger in volume and may have more surface area than the module heat sink  125 . 
     The lighting device  100  may comprise a reflector  130  that may be located within the housing heat sink  112  of the housing  110 . The reflector  130  may be configured to reflect the light emitted by the emitters  122  of the emitter circuit  124  towards the lens  115 . The reflector  130  may shape the light produced by the emission LEDs within the emitter module  122  to shine out through the lens  115 . The reflector  130  may be configured to sit on fins  132  inside of the housing heat sink  112  of the housing  110 . The lens  115  may be connected to the reflector  130  (e.g., as will be described in greater detail below). 
     The lighting device  100  may further comprise a power converter circuit  140  mounted to a power printed circuit board (PCB)  142 . The power converter circuit  140  may be enclosed by the inner sleeve  114  of the lighting device  100 . The power converter circuit  140  may be electrically connected to the screw-in base  118 , such that the power converter circuit may be configured to receive an AC mains line voltage generated by the AC power source. The power converter circuit  140  may comprise a bus connector  144  that may be electrically connected to the power PCB  142  via electrical wires  145  and may provide for electrically connection to the light-generation module  120 . The power converter circuit  140  may be configured to convert the AC mains line voltage received from the AC power source into a direct-current (DC) bus voltage for powering the light-generation module  120 . The power converter circuit  140  may comprise a rectifier circuit (e.g., a full-wave bridge rectifier) for converting the AC mains line voltage to a rectified voltage. The power PCB  140  may be arranged in a plane that is parallel to a plane of the emitter PCB  124  of the light-generation module  120 . 
       FIG. 3  is a top view and  FIG. 4  is a bottom view of the light-generation module  120 . The emitters  122  may be arranged on (e.g., mounted to) the emitter PCB  124 . The light-generation module  120  may also comprise a control PCB  126  on which electrical circuitry may be mounted. The module heat sink  125  of the light-generation module  120  may be captured (e.g., sandwiched) between the emitter PCB  124  and the control PCB  126 . The emitter PCB  124  and the control PCB  126  may each have a circularly-shaped periphery. The control PCB  126  may be electrically isolated from the module heat sink  125  via an insulator  150 . The control PCB  126  may be electrically connected to the emitter PCB  124  through pins (not shown) that are electrically connected to the control PCB  126  and extend through the module heat sink  125  to a connector  127  on the emitter PCB  124 . The pins may be electrically isolated from the module heat sink  125  (e.g., via the insulator  150 ). The electrical circuitry mounted on the control PCB  126  may include one or more drive circuits for controlling the amount of power delivered to the emitters  122  of the emitter PCB  124 , one or more control circuits for controlling the drive circuits, and one or more wireless communication circuits for communicating wireless signal (e.g., radio-frequency (RF) signals) with external devices. The control PCB  126  may comprise a bus connector  128  configured to be attached to the bus connector  144  of the power converter circuit  140  on the power PCB  142 . The control PCB  126  may be arranged in a plane that is parallel to a plane of the emitter PCB  124 . The light-generation module  120  may be attached to the inner sleeve  114  via fasteners (e.g., screws—not shown) that extend through openings  129  in the module heat sink  125  and are received in openings  134  in the inner sleeve  114 . 
     The light-generation module  120  may comprise an antenna  152  electrically connected to at least one of the wireless communication circuits mounted to the control PCB  126 . For example, the antenna  152  may comprise a plated wire. The antenna  152  may be electrically isolated from a control circuit on the control PCB  126 . The antenna  152  may be configured to extend from the control PCB  126  through the module heat sink  125 , for example, through a bore  154  in the insulator  150  (e.g., to isolate the antenna  152  from the module heat sink  125 ). The light-generation module  120  may be attached to the reflector  130  via fasteners (e.g., screws—not shown) that extend through openings  156  in the module heat sink  125  and openings  136  ( FIGS. 8A and 8B ) in the reflector  130 . The antenna  152  may extend into an optical cavity of the lighting device  100  (e.g., cavity  172  shown in  FIG. 5 ). The antenna  152  may be capacitively coupled to and electrically isolated from the wireless communication circuit, for example, as described in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 9,155,172, issued Oct. 6, 2015, entitled LOAD CONTROL DEVICE HAVING AN ELECTRICALLY ISOLATED ANTENNA, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
       FIG. 5  is a top perspective view of the lens  115  detached from the reflector  130 .  FIG. 6  is a bottom perspective view of the lens  115 .  FIG. 7  is a side cross-section view of the lens  115  and the reflector  130  with the lens  115  attached to the reflector  130 . The lens  115  may comprise a dome portion  160  that may have a circular periphery and a convex shape. Although illustrated as having a convex shape, in some examples the dome portion  160  may be substantially planar. The lens  115  may also comprise a rim portion  162  surrounding the dome portion  160 . The rim portion  162  may be substantially planar and may have a circular periphery. The lens  115  may comprise teeth  164  that extend from a rear surface  165  of the rim portion  162 . The teeth  164  may allow for attachment of the lens  115  to the reflector  130  (e.g., as will be described in greater detail below). Each of the teeth  164  may comprise a body portion  166  (e.g. bridge) connected to the rear surface  165  of the rim portion  162  via two legs  168 . In some examples, each of the teeth  164  is substantially arc-shaped. For example, each of the teeth  164  may be shaped to correspond with the circumference of the collar  178 . The legs  168  may be configured so that there is a cavity  163  (e.g., void) between the body portion  166  and the rear surface  165  of the rim portion  162 . The body portion  166  of each of the teeth  164  may comprise a ledge portion  167  that extends in a radial direction R from an interior surface of the body portion  166  toward a center of the rim portion  162 . 
     The reflector  130  may comprise a body portion  170  that may have a truncated conical shape and may form a cavity  172  (e.g., an optical cavity of the lighting device  100 ) that extends from a narrow end  174  to a wide end  176  of the body portion  170 . The narrow end  174  may be referred to as a first end of the reflector  130 . The wide end  176  may be referred to as a second end of the reflector  130 . The emitter PCB  120  may be received within the cavity  172 . For example, the emitter PCB  120  may be received in the narrow end  174  of the body portion  170  of the reflector  130 . The reflector  130  may further comprise a collar  178  that extends around the reflector at the wide end  176  (e.g., an outer perimeter of the wide end  176 ) of the body portion  170  of the reflector  130 . The collar  178  may define an outer surface  179  that defines the outer perimeter of the wide end  176 . 
     The lens  115  may be configured to be attached to the wide end  176  of the reflector  130 . The collar  178  may comprise one or more (e.g., a plurality of) attachment clips  180  configured to receive the teeth  164  of the lens  115  and attach the lens  115  to the reflector  130 . The attachment clips  180  may extend from the collar in a substantially circumferential direction. The circumferential direction may be defined by the outer surface  179  of the collar  178 . The attachment clips  180  may be configured to engage the teeth  164 , for example, such that the lens  115  is secured to the reflector  130 .  FIGS. 8A and 8B  are top cross-sectional views (e.g., taken through the legs  168  of the teeth  164 ) illustrating a process for attaching the lens  115  to the reflector  130 .  FIG. 8A  shows the lens  115  and the reflector  130  in a first assembly state and  FIG. 8B  shows the lens  115  and the reflector  130  in a second assembly state (e.g., a final assembly state and/or an attached state). Each of the attachment clips  180  may comprise a clip arm  182 . Each clip arm  182  may form a respective slot  184  in the collar  178  and is connected to the collar  178  at a first end  185 . For example, each clip arm  182  may define the respective slot  184  between the respective clip arm  182  and the collar  178  (e.g., an inner surface  181 ) of the collar  178 . Each respective slot  184  may be configured to receive one of the teeth  164 . Each clip arm  182  may be cantilevered from the collar  178  (e.g., a perimeter of the collar  178 ). The perimeter of the collar  178  may be defined by an outer surface  179 . For example, a second end  186  of each clip arm  182  (e.g., opposite the first end  185 ) may not be connected to the collar  178  such that the clip arm  182  may flex about the first end  185 . Each clip arm  182  may extend from the collar  178  in a substantially circumferential direction that is defined by the outer surface  179  of the collar  178 . Each clip arm  182  (e.g., the second end  186 ) may biased inward toward the inner surface  181  of the collar  178 . The collar  178  may define recesses  187  that are each located between the second end  186  of each clip arm  182  and a radial surface  188  of the respective recess  187 . The collar  178  may comprise fingers  191  that extend proximate to the outer surface  179  in the circumferential direction. Each of the fingers  191  may be located proximate to a respective one of the recesses  187 . The collar  178  may also comprise lip portions  189  that extend into the respective recesses  187 . For example, the recesses  187  and clip arms  182  may be equally spaced about the collar  178  (e.g., the outer surface  179 ). 
     During a first step of the attachment process of the lens  115  to the reflector  130 , the teeth  164  may be inserted into the slots  184  of the collar  178  (e.g., in the first assembly state as shown in  FIG. 8A ). During a second step of the attachment process, the lens  115  may be rotated (e.g., in a counter-clockwise direction as shown in  FIG. 8B ) causing the clip arms  182  to flex out from the collar  178  and allowing the teeth  164  to move into the respective recesses  187  of the collar  178 . For example, each of the teeth  164  may abut (e.g., and apply a force to) a respective clip arm  182  as the lens  115  is rotated. The force applied by the teeth  164  to the clip arms  182  may be configured to push the second end  186  of the clip arms  182  away from the inner surface  181  of the collar  178 . The teeth  164  may remain in contact with the respective clip arms  182  as the lens  115  is rotated until one of the legs  168  is within a respective one of the recesses  187  (e.g., and engaged with a respective finger  191  proximate to the respective one of the recesses  187 ). For example, the lens may be rotated until the teeth  164  move into respective recesses  187  of the collar  178 . The teeth  164  may be held in place in the respective recesses  187  (e.g., in the second assembly state as shown in  FIG. 8B ). For example, the teeth  164  may be locked in place in an angular direction by the second ends  186  of the clip arms  182  and the radial surfaces  188  of the respective recesses  187 . For example, the second ends  186  of the clip arms  182  may prevent angular movement of the lens  115  when the teeth  164  are located in the recesses  187 . The fingers  191  may lock the teeth  164  within the recesses  187 . For example, the fingers  191  may prevent radial movement of the teeth  164  at the radial surface  188  of the respective one of the recesses  187 . In addition, the ledge portions  167  of the teeth  164  may contact the lip portions  189  of the collar  178  to retain the lens  115  in attachment to the reflector  130  (e.g., to prevent the lens  115  from being detached from the reflector  130 ). Accordingly, the clip arms  182  may be configured to prevent or limit movement (e.g., angular movement) of the lens  115  once it is attached to the reflector  130 . In some examples, the ledge portions  167  may be configured to contact a lower surface  171  of the lip portion  189  to limit movement (e.g., in the radial direction R, transverse direction T, and/or longitudinal direction L) of the lip portion  189  within a cavity  163  (e.g., void) defined between the body portion  166  and the rear surface  165  of the rim portion  162 . 
     The reflector  130  may comprise biasing members  190  in the collar  178 . The biasing members  190  may comprise spring arms  192  formed in respective openings  194  in the collar  178 . The spring arms  192  may each be connected to the collar  178  at a first end  195  and extend to a second end  196  that is not connected to the collar  178 . For example, the second end  196  of the spring arms  192  may be cantilevered from the collar  178 . The biasing members  190  may each comprise a boss  198  at the second end  196  of the respective spring arm  192 . The boss  198  may be a rounded knob that extends beyond a plane defined by an upper surface  177  of the collar  178 . The biasing members  190  may be configured to pivot about the first end  195 . When the lens  115  is installed on the reflector  130  (e.g., as shown in  FIG. 7 ), the boss  198  at the second end  196  of each spring arm  192  may each be configured to apply a force against the lens  115  (e.g., the rim portion  162 ). For example, each of the spring arms  192  may apply the force onto the lens  115  when the lens  115  is attached to the reflector  130 . The force may be applied by the boss  198  in the longitudinal direction L as shown in  FIG. 7  such that the rim portion  162  is pushed away from the collar  178 . The force applied by the boss  198  may cause the ledge portions  167  of the teeth  164  of the lens  115  to come in contact with the respective lip portions  189  of the collar  178  of the reflector  130 . The application of force by the spring arms  192  against the lens  115  to bias the ledge portions  167  (e.g., in the longitudinal direction L) against the lip portions  189  may prevent the lens  115  from rattling against the reflector  130  and making noise when the lens  115  is attached to the reflector  130 .