Flexible LED Light String Extrusion Molding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for manufacturing flexible LED light strings with complex structures and multiple colors are limited by low production efficiency and aesthetic appeal due to uncontrolled coating processes and simplicity in design.
Innovation Solution
A method involving extrusion molding of a core strip with LED light bead holes, multiple-color extrusion molding for a diverse sheath, and minimal manual intervention to create a flexible LED light string with stable bonding and varied designs, including punching and welding of power leads, and printing or stamping for decoration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If heat shrinking tube coating process is used, then simple structure products can be produced, but production efficiency is low and quality control is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the manual heat shrinking tube coating process with an automated extrusion molding process. The extrusion molding machine continuously forms the protective sheath around the LED string during manufacturing, eliminating the need for separate manual coating operations and significantly improving production efficiency while maintaining ease of manufacture for simple structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The protective sheath is formed during the extrusion molding process itself, before the product is completed. This preliminary action integrates the coating step into the main manufacturing process, allowing continuous production without stopping for separate coating operations, thereby resolving the contradiction between ease of manufacture and production efficiency.
2Ease of manufacture
If heat shrinking tube coating process is used, then simple structure products can be produced, but manufacturing precision and aesthetic quality are poor
Solution Approach 1:
The automated extrusion molding process replaces manual heat shrinking tube coating, providing precise control over sheath thickness, uniformity, and positioning. This substitution ensures consistent manufacturing precision and aesthetic quality while maintaining the simplicity of producing basic structure products.
Solution Approach 2:
The extrusion molding process incorporates feedback control mechanisms that monitor and adjust the sheath formation in real-time, ensuring consistent quality and precision. This feedback system maintains high manufacturing precision while keeping the process simple enough for basic structure products.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple colors and complex structures are added, then product versatility is improved, but production efficiency decreases and quality control becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by enabling different sections of the sheath to have different colors, patterns, or material properties through the extrusion molding process. This allows complex multi-color designs to be produced directly during manufacturing without reducing production efficiency, as the extrusion machine can switch materials and colors on-demand during the continuous process.
Solution Approach 2:
The extrusion molding process uses composite materials with different colors, transparencies, and properties in a single continuous operation. This approach maintains high production efficiency while achieving complex multi-color and multi-structure designs, resolving the contradiction between versatility and productivity.
4Adaptability or versatility
If multiple colors and complex structures are added, then product versatility is improved, but manufacturing precision and quality consistency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The extrusion molding process maintains manufacturing precision for complex multi-color structures by controlling the local properties of the sheath during formation. Each section can be precisely formed with specific colors and patterns while maintaining overall consistency, achieving both versatility and precision simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The process uses feedback control to monitor and adjust the extrusion parameters in real-time, ensuring that even complex multi-color and multi-structure designs maintain consistent manufacturing precision and quality standards throughout production.
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
This method enhances production efficiency, stability, and quality control, allowing for complex designs with improved bonding and aesthetic appeal by automating the process and using multiple colors and shapes, reducing manual intervention and defects.
Implementation Method 1
extrusion molding a core strip, including feeding core wires into a forming die of a extrusion molding machine in which molten plastic is coated on an outer surface of the core wires continuously through the forming die
Implementation Method 2
cooling down the flexible LED light string exited from the die of the multiple-color extrusion molding machine in coolant in a cooling tank
Data Source
AI summary
A method for fabricating a flexible LED light string includes steps: 1: core strip extrusion molding; 2. LED light bead hole punching and cutting mark labelling; 3. inserting the flexible LED PCB into the core strip; 4. extrusion molding for light string sheath, i.e. diffusing strip. With the method, the core strip can has a variety of cross sectional shapes according to design needs. In the same way, the sheath can has a variety of cross sectional shapes according to design needs, and has a variety of combinations of materials and colors through multiple-color extrusion molding, for example, the sheath mixed with colored decorative strips, and non-transparent partially.