Thin LED Downlight Housing with Junction Box Mounting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional surface mount LED downlights often have a bulky profile and non-uniform lighting distribution, which can be aesthetically unpleasing and inefficient, and they typically require direct mounting to the ceiling, limiting their installation flexibility and appearance.
Innovation Solution
A thin profile surface mount LED lighting apparatus with a housing that is secured within a junction box, featuring a twist lock mechanism and a lens with a conical structure for uniform light distribution, allowing for a flush installation that appears surface-mounted without the bulkiness of traditional designs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If conventional surface mount LED downlights are designed with traditional mounting structures, then they provide stable installation, but they result in bulky profile and poor aesthetic appearance
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting function is segmented from the visible luminaire body. The junction box and mounting brackets are separated as distinct components, allowing the luminaire to have a thin profile while the mounting structure provides stability behind the ceiling surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The luminaire is nested within the junction box, with the thin-profile housing fitting inside the box that is mounted to the ceiling. This nesting arrangement allows the visible portion to be thin while the supporting structure provides installation stability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If conventional downlights require direct ceiling mounting, then they provide secure installation, but they limit installation flexibility and require ceiling modification
Solution Approach 1:
The junction box serves multiple functions: it provides structural support for the luminaire, acts as a mounting interface that can be attached to various ceiling types, and serves as a electrical junction point. This multi-functionality increases installation flexibility while simplifying the overall mounting structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The junction box acts as an intermediary component between the ceiling structure and the luminaire. It mediates the connection, allowing installation on various ceiling types without requiring direct mounting of the luminaire to the ceiling itself, thereby increasing flexibility.
3Illumination intensity
If conventional downlights use traditional lens designs, then they provide adequate light output, but they result in non-uniform lighting distribution
Solution Approach 1:
The lens is designed with varying local properties - different refractive indices, curvatures, or surface treatments in different zones. This local variation in optical quality enables uniform light distribution across the beam while maintaining a manufacturable lens structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The lens employs curved surfaces with specific radii and profiles to redirect light rays. The spherical or aspherical curvature of the lens surfaces helps to evenly distribute light output, transforming the point-source LED emission into a uniform beam pattern.
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 provides a low-cost, aesthetically pleasing, and efficient LED downlight with uniform lighting distribution, appearing surface-mounted while maintaining a thin profile and allowing for easy installation and maintenance without direct ceiling mounting.
Implementation Method 1
the lens combines a total internal reflection lens with a conical structure buried at its center
Data Source
AI summary
An LED downlighting apparatus includes a housing with a sidewall having a front facing edge and a back facing edge positioned adjacent to a ceiling when the LED downlighting apparatus is installed in an opening of the ceiling. A depth of the sidewall is less than one inch and a thickness of at least a portion of the sidewall is less than three millimeters. An LED board and a lens are coupled to the housing. The lens is disposed with respect to the LED board such that the lens is illuminated from a back side. One or more mechanical couplers snap fit the apparatus to a junction box installed and positioned above the ceiling such that when the apparatus is snap fit to the junction box through the opening of the ceiling, the housing appears to be surface mounted to the ceiling.