Bendable Lighting Adapter for Curved Rail Profiles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing rail lighting systems face challenges in accommodating curved rail profiles with limited flexibility and narrow mounting slots, requiring adapters that can easily fit and adapt to varying curvatures while maintaining electrical contact.
Innovation Solution
A lamp adapter designed with a bendable adapter body, either subdivided into flexible segments or made of elastomer, allowing it to be inserted into curved mounting rails and adapt to changes in curvature, with optional features like printed circuit boards and latching elements for secure fitting within narrow slots.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the adapter body is made rigid to maintain structural stability, then the mounting slot width can be reduced, but the adapter cannot adapt to curved rail profiles
Solution Approach 1:
The adapter body is divided into multiple adapter segments (first adapter segment, second adapter segment, etc.) connected by bending sections. This segmentation allows each segment to maintain structural stability while the bending sections provide flexibility to adapt to curved rail profiles. The segments can be arranged in different configurations to match various curvature requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The bending sections are designed with flexible material characteristics, allowing the adapter body to bend and conform to curved surfaces. These flexible sections act as articulation points between rigid segments, enabling the adapter to wrap around curved rail profiles while maintaining overall structural integrity through the segmented design.
2Area of stationary object
If the mounting slot width is reduced to save space, then the system becomes more compact, but the electrical contact reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The adapter is divided into multiple segments with bending sections between them. This segmentation allows the adapter to fit into narrow mounting slots while maintaining sufficient contact area through the distributed contact points across multiple segments, ensuring reliable electrical contact even in compact configurations.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of relying solely on slot width for electrical contact, the adapter uses its segmented structure to create contact in multiple dimensions. The bending sections allow the adapter to conform to the rail profile and establish contact through its length and curvature, compensating for the reduced width while maintaining contact reliability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the adapter body is made flexible to adapt to curved profiles, then the adaptability improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The adapter body is segmented into multiple sections connected by bending sections. This segmentation provides flexibility for adapting to curved profiles while keeping each individual segment relatively simple in structure. The complexity is distributed across multiple simple segments rather than concentrated in a single complex continuous structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The adapter incorporates dynamic bending sections that allow the structure to adapt its shape based on the rail profile. These bending sections provide the necessary flexibility through controlled deformation, enabling the adapter to conform to various curvatures while maintaining a relatively simple overall design compared to fully flexible alternatives.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The adapter enables easy fitting and displacement along the rail, maintaining electrical contact and reducing the mounting slot width, resulting in a more flexible and space-efficient track lighting system that can handle curved profiles effectively.
Implementation Method 1
The lighting adapter comprises an adapter body which is essentially made of an elastomer and is bendable along its entire longitudinal extent
Data Source
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AI summary
A track lighting system comprises a mounting rail, which is curved at least in sections along its longitudinal extent and has at least one mounting slot along its longitudinal extent, and a lighting adapter, which is selectively designed to be inserted into the at least one mounting slot along the longitudinal extent of the mounting rail for electrical contact and includes an adapter body. In a first embodiment, the adapter body is divided into adapter segments along its longitudinal extent, with each pair of adapter segments being connected to each other via a bending section, wherein the adapter body is designed to be bendable at the bending section with respect to its longitudinal extent. In a second embodiment, the adapter body is essentially made of an elastomer and is designed to be bendable along its entire longitudinal extent.The track lighting system can be designed to be particularly narrow, for example, due to the lateral arrangement of the supply rails, and can have mounting slots with a slot width of less than 7.5 mm.