Light-Emitting Clock Dial Illumination Using Annular Lamp Strip
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional light-emitting clocks face challenges with uneven dial illumination, increased production costs, reduced production efficiency, and limited appearance design due to the use of annular blind grooves and uniform illumination paper.
Innovation Solution
A light-emitting clock design that eliminates the need for an annular blind groove and uniform illumination paper by using an annularly disposed lamp strip within a receiving groove, coupled with a light-penetrable dial and a screen printing ink layer for uniform illumination, allowing for simplified processing and enhanced production efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If an annular blind groove is disposed at the rim of the acrylic plate to hide the light source, then the appearance design is improved, but the production cost increases, production efficiency decreases, and production yield is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the light-emitting function from the traditional hidden light source configuration. Instead of hiding LEDs in a blind groove, the patent uses a lamp strip whose light-emitting surface directly faces the dial, eliminating the need for the blind groove structure while achieving uniform illumination.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention inverts the traditional lighting approach: rather than hiding the light source behind the dial (conventional method), the light-emitting surface of the lamp strip directly faces the dial from the rear, allowing light to pass through the light-penetrable dial material to achieve uniform illumination without requiring appearance-compromising structural modifications.
2Shape
If an annular blind groove is disposed at the rim of the acrylic plate to hide the light source, then the appearance design is improved, but the processing complexity and production cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the blind groove structure entirely from the acrylic plate. The lamp strip is mounted on the rear surface with its light-emitting surface facing the dial, eliminating the need for complex groove formation processes while achieving the desired appearance and illumination uniformity.
3Illumination intensity
If uniform illumination paper is added to achieve uniform dial illumination, then the illumination uniformity is improved, but the production cost increases and production efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention makes the acrylic plate itself serve the illumination uniformity function by using a light-penetrable material with appropriate optical properties. The uniform illumination is achieved through the material's inherent light diffusion characteristics rather than requiring an additional uniform illumination paper layer, thereby eliminating extra production steps.
4Illumination intensity
If uniform illumination paper is added to achieve uniform dial illumination, then the illumination uniformity is improved, but the production cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The acrylic plate's light-penetrable material properties are utilized to achieve uniform illumination inherently. This eliminates the need for separate uniform illumination paper materials and the associated material costs, while maintaining the desired illumination uniformity across the dial surface.
5Illumination intensity
If multiple LED lamps are disposed on the circuit board to illuminate the dial, then the illumination coverage is improved, but the visual appearance deteriorates due to the bright ring effect
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses a continuous lamp strip instead of discrete LED lamps arranged in a circle. This creates a continuous light-emitting surface that eliminates the segmented appearance and bright ring effect caused by individual LED lamps, while maintaining comprehensive illumination coverage across the dial.
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 solution achieves uniform dial illumination, reduces production costs, and enhances appearance design flexibility, improving production yield and efficiency while eliminating the need for complex structural features.
Implementation Method 1
The lamp strip is annularly disposed at the washer. The light-emitting surface of the lamp strip at least faces the rim of the dial
Implementation Method 2
The screen printing ink layer 93 is a white ink layer formed on the back of the acrylic plate 91 by screen printing. The light beams diffuse and reflect off the screen printing ink layer 93
Data Source
AI summary
A light-emitting clock has a case, a dial, a light-emitting mechanism, a movement and a plurality of hands. The case has a front cover, a back cover and a washer. The front cover is coupled to the back cover. The washer is disposed between the front cover and the back cover. The dial is disposed between the washer and the back cover. The light-emitting mechanism has a switch, a power unit electrically connected to the switch, and at least one lamp strip electrically connected to the switch. The switch and the power unit are disposed on the back cover. The lamp strip is annularly disposed at the washer. A light-emitting surface of the lamp strip at least faces the rim of the dial. The movement is disposed on the back cover. The hands are coupled to the movement and correspond in position to one side of the dial.