Patent Publication Number: US-8992048-B2

Title: Connector and LED light bar

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to the field of light-emitting diode (LED) light source techniques, and in particular to a connector and LED light bar. 
     2. The Related Arts 
     Due to the advantages of low power consumption, high luminance and long life span, LED light bar is widely applied to many fields, such as, furniture, car, advertisement, lighting, boats and home decoration. As LED technique develops and the demands on LED increase, LED light bar also becomes more complex. 
     In known technique, LED light bar usually comprises LED, single-jack connector and circuit board. The LED and the single-jack connector are disposed on the circuit board. LED is connected through the single-jack connector to the external power supply to obtain electricity for lighting. However, because of the limitation of the single-jack connector, a connector can only provide limited number of LED for connecting to external power supply. In a more complex LED light bar, more connectors will be required to supply the power, resulting in higher cost of light bar as well as inconvenience of LED light bar control. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The technical sue to be addressed by the present invention is to provide an LED light bar, for improving the utilization of the connector and simplifying design structure. 
     The present invention provides a connector, which comprises: an input module and an output module, wherein the input module and the output module being electrically connected: the input module comprising at least two input interfaces, the input interface being a jack-type interface, the jack-type interface being for plugging in one end of a flexible cable, the other end of the flexible cable being for connecting to an external power supply; the output module comprising a same number of output interfaces as the input interfaces, each output interface being for electrical connection to all LEDs in an external area, each output interface being electrically connected to a corresponding input interface. 
     The present invention provides a connector, which comprises: an input module and an output module, wherein the input module and the output module being electrically connected; the input module comprising at least two input interfaces, the input interface being for connecting to an external power supply, the output module being for electrical connection to all LEDs in at least two external areas. 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the input interface is a jack-type interface. 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the jack-type interface is for plugging in one end of a flexible cable, and the other end of the flexible cable is for connecting to an external power supply. 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the output module comprises a same number of output interfaces as the input interfaces, and each output interface is for electrical connection to all LEDs in an external area. 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the input module is located on a front side of the connector and the output module is located on a back side of the connector. 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the connector has a shape rectangle or square. 
     The present invention provides an LED light bar, which comprises: a circuit board, LEDs and a connector; the LEDs and the connector being disposed on the circuit board, the circuit board being disposed with at least two areas for disposing LEDs, the connector comprising an input module and an output module, wherein the input module and the output module being electrically connected; the input module comprising at least two input interfaces, the input interface being for connecting to an external power supply, the output module being for electrical connection to all LEDs. 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the input interface is a jack-type interface. 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the jack-type interface is for plugging in one end of a flexible cable, and the other end of the flexible cable is for connecting to an external power supply. 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the output module comprises a same number of output interfaces as the input interfaces, and each output interface is for electrical connection to all LEDs in an external area. 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the input module is located on a front side of the connector and the output module is located on a back side of the connector. 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the connector has a shape of rectangle or square. 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the connector and the circuit board are formed in a single injection molding. 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the connector is soldered to the circuit board. 
     The efficacy of the present invention is that to be distinguished from the state of the art. By disposing at least two input interfaces at the connector, the present invention realizes the use of a connector to control LEDs in a plurality of areas to increase the utilization of the connector and simplify the LED light bar structure. In the mean time, the improvement of the connector utilization results in the reduction in the number of connectors used so as to reduce the cost of LED light bar. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       To make the technical solution of the embodiments according to the present invention, a brief description of the drawings that are necessary for the illustration of the embodiments will be given as follows. Apparently, the drawings described below show only example embodiments of the present invention and for those having ordinary skills in the art, other drawings may be easily obtained from these drawings without paying any creative effort. In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view showing the structure of an embodiment of the connector according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a top view showing the structure of an embodiment of the connector according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic view showing the circuit of an embodiment of the connector according to the present invention; and 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic view showing a part of an embodiment of an LED light bar according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The following refers to drawings and embodiment of the present invention for detailed description. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-3 ,  FIG. 1  is a schematic view showing the structure of an embodiment of the connector according to the present invention;  FIG. 2  is a top view showing the structure of an embodiment of the connector according to the present invention; and  FIG. 3  is a schematic view showing the circuit of an embodiment of the connector according to the present invention. 
     In the instant embodiment, a connector  100  comprises: a shell  130 , an input module  110  and an output module  120 , fixed inside the shell  130 . The input module  110  and the output module  120  are electrically connected. The input module  100  comprises two input interfaces  111  and the input module  110  is for connecting to an external power supply. The output module  120  is for electrical connection to all LEDs in two corresponding external areas, wherein he two corresponding external areas are two areas on the LED light bar where the connector  100  is disposed on. 
     Specifically, the input interface  111  is a jack-type interface and is for plugging in one end of a flexible cable, and the other end of the flexible cable is for connecting to an external power supply. The input interface is electrically connected through the flexible cable to the external power supply, and through the output module  120  to realize supplying electricity to external LEDs, wherein the external LEDs are the LEDs disposed on the same circuit board as the connector  100 . Correspondingly, each input interface  111  realizes power supply control to all LEDs in an area on the circuit board. The voltage of the external power supply is DC12V. It should be noted that the external power supply is not limited to 12V. The specific voltage is determined by the LED light bar where the connector  100  is disposed on. 
     Preferably, the output module  120  comprises a same number of output interfaces  121  as the input interfaces  111 . Each output interface  121  and each input interface  111  are correspondingly connected and each output interface  121  is for electrical connection to all LEDs in an area of the same circuit board where the connector  100  is disposed on. Each input interface  111  realizes the power supply control to all LEDs of an area in the circuit board through corresponding output interface  121 . 
     In the instant embodiment, the input module  110  is located on a front side of the connector  100  and the output module  120  is located on a back side of the connector  100 . However, the present invention is not restricted to the disposition in the instant embodiment that the input module  110  is located on a front side of the connector  100  and the output module  120  is located on a back side of the connector  100 . The connector  100  has a shape of a rectangle. Similarly, the present invention is not restricted to the disposition in the instant embodiment. The connector  100  can also be shaped as a square or other shape suitable for the structure of LED light bar where the connector  100  is disposed on. 
     For convenience of description, the embodiment shows that the input module  110  comprises two input interfaces  111  and realizes power supply control to all LEDs in two areas through the output module  120  correspondingly. However, the present invention is not restricted to the disposition in the instant embodiment of comprising two input interfaces  111  and realizing power supply control to all LEDs in two areas through the output module  120  correspondingly. The input module  110  can comprises more than two input interfaces  111 , for example, the input module  110  can comprise three input interfaces  111 . Also, the number of areas controlled by the connector is not necessarily the same as the number of input interfaces. For example, a connector  100  having two input interfaces  111  can also realize the power supply control to: all LEDs in one area. In addition; the input interface  111  is disposed as a jack-type interface for plugging in a flexible cable. However, the present invention is not restricted to the disposition in the instant embodiment of a jack-type interface for plugging in a flexible cable. 
     In the instant embodiment, the present invention realizes the use of a connector  100  to control more LEDs by disposing the connector  100  with two input interfaces  111  to improve utilization of connector  100  and meet the control demands of the complex LED light bar. In addition, each input interface  111  supplies power to an area on the circuit board so that the LEDs can be separately controlled by the area. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 ,  FIG. 4  is a schematic view showing a part of an embodiment of an LED light bar according to the present invention. In the instant embodiment; an LED light bar  200  comprises: a circuit  210 , a connector  220  and LEDs  230 . The connector  220  and LEDs  230  are disposed on the circuit board  210 . The connector  220  and the LEDs  230  are electrically connected, wherein the description of connector  220  is as in  FIGS. 1-3 , and will not be repeated here. 
     In the instant embodiment, the two input interfaces of the connector  220  are for connecting to an external power supply. The output module of the connector  220  is connected respectively with conductive wire of the circuit board  210  connecting all LEDs  230  in corresponding area. LEDs  230  are electrically connected to one of the conductive wires of the circuit board  210  connecting to the output module of the connector  220 . The connector  220  is electrically connected to all LEDs  230  in corresponding areas through the circuit board  210  to realize power supply control to all LEDs  230  in corresponding areas, wherein the voltage external power supply is DC 12V. It should be noted that the external power supply is not limited to 12V. The specific voltage is determined by the LED light bar where the connector  200  is disposed on. 
     Preferably, each input interface of connector  220  is electrically connected through the output module to all LEDs  230  in an area of the circuit board  210  correspondingly. Through a plurality of input interfaces, the connector  220  realizes power supply control to all LEDs in a plurality of areas on the circuit board  210 . 
     In a specific embodiment, the fixing manner of the circuit board  210  and the connector  220  comprises, but not limited to, (1) the connector  220  and the circuit board  210  are formed in a single injection molding, wherein the connector  220  and the circuit board  210  are formed in a single injection molding during manufacturing the circuit board  210 ; and (2) the connector  220  is soldered to the circuit board  210 , wherein the connector  220  is soldered to the circuit board  210  during manufacturing LED light bar  200 . 
     In the instant embodiment, by disposing at least two input interfaces  220  at the connector  220 , the present invention realizes the use of a connector  220  to control LEDs  230  in a plurality of areas to increase the utilization of the connector  220  and simplify the structure of LED light bar  200 . In the mean time, the improvement of the connector  220  utilization results in the reduction in the number of connectors used so as to reduce the cost of LED light bar  200 . 
     Embodiments of the present invention have been described, but not intending to impose any unduly constraint to the appended claims. Any modification of equivalent structure or equivalent process made according to the disclosure and drawings of the present invention, or any application thereof, directly or indirectly, to other related fields of technique, is considered encompassed in the scope of protection defined by the claims of the present invention.