Abstract:
The present invention comprises a type of connector used to electrically connect a light source board and a driver board in LED lighting equipment, and the LED lighting equipment that uses this connector. The connector is mounted on the light source board, and comprises two or more conduction terminals, each of which comprises at least one flexible arm whose points of contact with the driver board can achieve an electronic connection between the light source board and the driver board. Compared to earlier models, the connector structure of the present invention is simple and easy to assemble and fabricate, facilitating large-scale automated production of LED lighting equipment and helping to reduce costs.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to the field of lighting technology; it specifically relates to a type of connector that electrically connects a light source and a driver board, and the LED lighting equipment that uses said connector. 
       BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    In the conventional technology, the electrical connection between the light source board and driver board in LED lighting equipment is achieved with a wire, each of whose ends are separately welded onto the light source board and driver board by hand, thus supplying the LED light source on the light source board with electricity. This method of electrical connection requires much time and effort, there is no way to achieve automatic assembly, and it is also unreliable and is easy to short-circuit. 
         [0003]    In order to improve the connection between the light source board and driver board, technicians have developed a variety of direct plug-in connectors, for example the two types of connector disclosed in patent applications CN201210562730.1 and CN201310527555.7. Direct plug-in connectors use sockets mounted on the light source board and pins mounted on the driver board make a connection, simplifying the conventional process of welding wires by hand, thus making the task of connection more convenient, and enabling automatic assembly. However, there still remain problems with existing direct plug-in connectors, including a complex structure, relatively high cost and low adaptability. For example, existing connectors use metal with plastic insulation material, making design and fabrication complex and requiring a high level of precision for assembly. Therefore the scrap rate is high, and furthermore the creepage distance is not adjustable so it is not adaptable to different sizes of LED lighting equipment and thus has low adaptability. 
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    In view of the above problems, one aspect of the present invention is to provide a connector to electrically connect the light source board and driver board of LED lighting equipment. The light source board has at least one through-hole that allows a part of the driver board to pass through it, and the part of the driver board that passes through the light source board has at least two connection points used to electrically connect it with the connector. This connector comprises two or more conduction terminals, each terminal comprising two or more mounting parts that fix the conduction terminals to the light source board, one supporting portion that connects said two or more mounting parts, and one sprung arm that electrically connects the conduction terminals with the part of the driver board that passes through the light source board. The shape and size of the conduction terminals of the present invention can be adjusted to different requirements, for example according to the size of current or creepage distance so that it can be adapted to all types of LED lighting equipment. 
         [0005]    With regard to the connector in the present invention, it flexibly connects the flexible arms with contact points on the part of the driver board that passes through the light source board, thus achieving an electrical connection between the conduction terminal and the driver board. 
         [0006]    With regard to the connector in the present invention, at least one flexible arm is of a cantilever form that comprises one fixed end and one free end, with the fixed end connected to one of the mounting parts of the conduction terminal or the supporting portion, thus fastening it, while the free end extends towards the side and is used to connect the contact point on the part of the driver board that passes through the light source board. Specifically, in one of the cantilever&#39;s embodiments the its fixed end and one of its mounting parts are connected or close, and the cantilever&#39;s free end extends towards the light source board&#39;s through-hole, connecting with the contact points on the part of the driver board that passes through the light source board; in the other embodiment the cantilever&#39;s fixed end forms a connection with the supporting portion and is at a distance from either of the mounting parts. The cantilever&#39;s free arm extends towards the through-holes on the light source board, and forms a connection with the contact point on the part of the driver board that passes through the light source board. The cantilever can assume any shape, for example a sheet or rod etc., and can be straight or curved. In addition, when it does not affect the connecting function of the supporting portions, the cantilever may be formed by bending part of the supporting portion. 
         [0007]    With regard to the connector in the present invention, at least one conduction terminal also comprises a second flexible arm. This arm and either the mounting part or the supporting portion make a connection and make a flexible connection with the part of the driver board that passes through the light source board, fixing the driver board in position. At this stage, the first and second flexible arms both make a connection with the part of the driver board that passes through the light source board, making the connection between the driver board and the light source board on the structure more secure. Preferably, the said two flexible arms should separately form a connection with the two sides of the part of the driver board that passes through the light source board. Even better, the two flexible arms should be the same shape and symmetric on the driver board. 
         [0008]    With regard to the present invention&#39;s connector, at least one of the terminal ends should be wholly fabricated from conductive metal, for example using sheet metal stamping. 
         [0009]    The other aspect of the present invention is the provision of LED lighting equipment. This comprises a light source board on which there is at least one LED light and at least one through-hole; one driver board, part of which can pass through the light source board&#39;s through-hole, the part of the driver board that passes through the light source board having at least two contact points on it; and a connector that is mounted on the light source board and is used to achieve an electrical connection between the light source board and the driver board, said connector comprising two or more conduction terminals, each terminal comprising at least one mounting part that fixes the conduction terminal to the light source board, and one flexible arm that electrically connects the conduction terminal with the contact points on the part of the driver board passes through the light source board. The present invention uses a design in which a part of the driver board passes through the light source board; it is designed so that the driver board does not have any connecting contact pins, making the structure simple and the LED lighting equipment easy to assemble. 
         [0010]    With regard to the LED lighting equipment in the present invention, in one embodiment each of the conduction terminals of its connector comprises two or more mounting parts that fix the conduction terminals onto the light source board, one supporting portion that connects two or more mounting parts, and one flexible arm that electrically connects the conduction terminals with the contact points on the part of the driver board that passes through the light source board. 
         [0011]    With regard to the LED equipment in the present invention, the part of the driver board that passes through the light source board is a protruding part that is narrower than the entire width of the driver board, the whole driver board is shaped like an inverted “T”, and the protruding part has at least two contact points on it, while the light source board has a through-hole that allows the protruding part of the driver board to pass through it. In another embodiment, the part of the driver board that passes through the light source board may comprise two or more protruding parts, each protruding part having a separate contact point. The light source board has a through-hole that allows the protruding parts of the driver board to pass through it, or else the light source board has the same number of through-holes as protruding parts of the driver board, allowing each protruding part to pass through the light source board separately. 
         [0012]    With regard to the LED lighting equipment in the present invention, the two contact points on the driver board are the welding spots on the surface of the driver board, such as solder points or metal parts on the driver board. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]      FIG. 1  is the first embodiment of the connector in the present invention; it is a 3D diagram of the light source board and driver board in an unconnected state. 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is the first embodiment of the connector in the present invention: it is a 3D diagram of the light source board and driver board in an electrically connected state. 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is the front view of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is the second embodiment of the connector in the present invention; it is a 3D diagram of the light source board and driver board in an unconnected state. 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is the second embodiment of the connector in the present invention; it is the front view of the light source board and the driver board in an unconnected state. 
           [0018]      FIG. 6  is the third embodiment of the connector in the present invention, a 3D diagram of the light source board and driver board in an unconnected state. 
           [0019]      FIG. 7  is the third embodiment of the connector in the present invention, the front view of the light source board and the driver board in an electrically connected state. 
           [0020]      FIG. 8  is the fourth embodiment of the connector in the present invention, a 3D diagram of the light source board and driver board in an unconnected state. 
           [0021]      FIG. 9  is an exploded 3D diagram of the LED lighting equipment in the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0022]    The following combination of diagrams and detailed descriptions describe the present invention in further detail. 
         [0023]      FIG. 1  shows the first embodiment of the connector in the present invention; connector  31  is used to connect the light source board  10  and driver board  20  in LED lighting equipment. As  FIG. 1  shows, light source board  10  has a through-hole  11 , the driver board  20  has a protruding part  21  that is narrower compared with the width of the whole driver board  20 , one side of protruding part  21  has two contact points  23  and  24 , the connector  31  is mounted on light source board  10 , comprising two conduction terminals  311  and  312 . Said two conduction terminals  311  and  312  are wholly fabricated from a conductive metal. Taking conduction terminal  311  as an example, it comprises two mounting parts,  313  and  314 , a supporting portion  315 , and a flexible arm  316 , of which the mounting parts  313  and  314  are positioned on the two sides of the light source board&#39;s through-hole  11  and are used to fix conduction terminal  311  onto light source board  10 , supporting portion  315  is used to connect mounting parts  313  and  314 ; flexible arm  316  is formed by bending part of the supporting portion  315  towards the light source board&#39;s through-hole  11 . Specifically, part of the supporting portion  315  bends with the point of contact between supporting portion  315  and mounting part  314  as the axis. As  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3  show, when the protruding part  21  of the driver board  20  passes through the light source board&#39;s through-hole  11 , flexible arm  316  and contact point  23  on the driver board make a connection achieving an electrical connection between conduction terminal  321  and the driver board  20 . In this embodiment, conduction terminals  312  has the same structure as conduction terminal  311 , the flexible arm of conduction terminal  312  and the contact point  24  on the driver board make a connection, achieving an electrical connection between conduction terminal  312  and driver board  20 , thus achieving an electrical connection between light source board  10  and driver board  20 . 
         [0024]      FIGS. 4 and 5  show the second embodiment of the connector in the present invention; connector  32  is used to connect light source board  10  and driver board  20  in LED lighting equipment,  FIGS. 4 and 5  are the 3D diagram and the front view of the light source board  10  and driver board  20  in an unconnected state and the front view in a connected state respectively. The structure of the connector  32  is similar to connector  31  in the first embodiment; the difference is between the methods of forming the flexible arms of the conduction terminals. Connector  32  comprises two conduction terminals  321  and  322 , taking  321  as an example, it comprises two mounting parts  323  and  324 , one supporting portion  325  and one flexible arm  326 , of which mounting parts  323  and  324  are positioned on the two sides of the light source board&#39;s through-hole  11 , and are used to fix conduction terminal  321  onto light source board  10 . Supporting portion  325  is used to connect mounting parts  323  and  324 , and flexible arm  326  is formed by bending part of supporting portion  325  towards the light source board&#39;s through-hole  11 . Specifically, part of the supporting portion  325  bends with the point on the supporting portion  325  at a distance from the mounting parts  323  and  324  as its axis, when the protruding part  21  of driver board  20  passes through the light source board&#39;s through-hole  11 , the connection between flexible arm  326  and contact point  23  on the driver board achieve an electrical connection. In this embodiment, conduction terminal  322  has the same structure as conduction terminal  311 . 
         [0025]      FIGS. 6 and 7  show the third embodiment of the connector in the present invention; connector  33  is used to connect light source board  10  and driver board  20  in LED lighting equipment.  FIGS. 6 and 7  are a 3D diagram of light source board  10  and driver board  20  in an unconnected state and the front view diagram in a connected state, respectively. Connector  33  comprises two conduction terminals  331  and  332 . Taking conduction terminal  331  as an example, it comprises two mounting parts  333  and  334 , one supporting portion  335  and two flexible arms  336  and  337 , whose mounting parts  333  and  334  are positioned on the two sides of the light source board&#39;s through-hole  11  and are used to fix conduction terminal  331  onto the light source board  10 . Supporting portion  335  is used to connect mounting parts  333  and  334 . Flexible arm  336  is formed by bending part of supporting portion  335  towards the light source board&#39;s through-hole  11 . Specifically, the part of supporting portion  335  close to mounting part  334  bends, with the point on the supporting portion  335  at a distance from the mounting part  334  as its axis. Flexible arm  337  is similar in shape to flexible arm  336 ; the part close to mounting part  333  bends towards through-hole  11 , with the point of supporting portion  335  that is at a distance from mounting part  333  as its axis. As  FIG. 7  shows, when the protruding part  21  of driver board  20  passes through the light source board&#39;s through-hole  11 , flexible arm  336  and contact point  23  on the driver board connect achieving an electrical connection, at the same time, flexible arm  337  forms a connection on the other side of the protruding part  21  of the driver board. The two flexible arms  336  and  337  appear to make a symmetric structure on the two sides of the driver board. In this embodiment, conduction terminal  332  has the same structure as conduction terminal  331 . Compared with connectors  31  and  32  in the first and second embodiments, conduction terminals  331  and  332  of connector  33  both have two flexible arms, and can achieve a more stable connection between light source board  10  and driver board  20 . 
         [0026]      FIG. 8  shows the fourth embodiment of the connector in the present invention; connector  34  is used to connect light source board  10  and driver board  20  in LED lighting equipment.  FIG. 8  is a 3D diagram of light source board  10  and driver board  20  in an unconnected state. The structure of connector  34  is similar to that of connector  31  in the first embodiment, comprising two conduction terminals  341  and  342 . The difference is light source board  10  has two through-holes  11  and  12 , and driver board  20  has two protruding parts  21  and  22 , each with its own contact point,  23  and  24 . Each of the driver board&#39;s protruding parts  21  and  22  pass through the light source board&#39;s through-holes  11  and  12 , causing contact points  23  and  24  to make separate flexible connections with the flexible arms of conduction terminals  341  and  342 , in this way achieving an electrical connection between light source board  10  and driver board  20 . 
         [0027]      FIG. 9  is an exploded 3D diagram showing the first embodiment of the LED lighting equipment in the present invention; this comprises a light source board  10 , driver board  20  and a connector  30  that is mounted on light source board  10 . Light source board  10  has multiple LED lights  40  and one through-hole  11 , driver board  20  has a protruding part  21  that is narrower than the entire width of driver board  20 . There are two contact points  23  and  24  on protruding part  21 ; connector  30  has the same structure as connector  31  in the first embodiment. Passing protruding part  21  of the driver board through the light source board&#39;s through-hole  11  can cause contact points  23  and  24  to make separate connections with the flexible arms of the two conduction terminals of connector  30 , thus achieving an electrical connection between light source board  10  and driver board  20 . 
         [0028]    This detailed description of the various embodiments makes clear the many modifications and variations that may be made to the present invention. Therefore, it should be recognized that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.