LED Light Housing with Heat-Conducting Ribs for Cold Rooms
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Solution Overview
Problem
LED lights in refrigerated environments face overheating issues due to inefficient heat dissipation, which can lead to damage, and existing solutions like CFLs are inefficient and environmentally harmful.
Innovation Solution
An LED light fixture with a thermally conductive housing featuring a heat sink central region and heat conducting ribs, along with a thermally conductive LED pad and a power supply positioned within the housing, to effectively dissipate heat away from the LED elements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If LED lights are enclosed within a housing to protect them from the cold room environment, then the LED lights are protected from environmental damage, but the LED lights cannot efficiently dissipate heat which causes overheating and damage
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is designed with non-uniform wall thickness, featuring a thinner central region for heat dissipation and thicker peripheral regions for structural support and protection. This local differentiation allows the housing to simultaneously protect the LED from environmental damage while enabling efficient heat dissipation through the thinner central portion.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing material's thermal conductivity, which could potentially lead to heat accumulation, is instead utilized as a benefit by designing the central region with reduced thickness. This converts the potential harm of heat buildup into a beneficial heat dissipation pathway, allowing the housing to actively cool the LED while maintaining protective enclosure.
2Temperature
If the housing central region is made thinner to improve heat dissipation, then heat dissipation efficiency increases, but the structural strength and protection capability decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The housing employs varying wall thickness throughout its structure, with the central region having reduced thickness for heat dissipation and the peripheral regions maintaining greater thickness for structural strength. This localized quality differentiation resolves the contradiction by providing thin walls only where heat dissipation is critical while preserving structural integrity in load-bearing areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing design features asymmetric wall thickness distribution, with the central portion being thinner than the peripheral portions. This asymmetry optimizes heat dissipation pathways through the thinner central region while the thicker peripheral regions provide the necessary structural support and protection, balancing thermal and mechanical requirements.
3Illumination intensity
If CFL bulbs are used in refrigerated spaces, then they can provide light, but they are inefficient at low temperatures and take several minutes to warm up
Solution Approach 1:
The patent adopts the LED technology concept which inherently operates efficiently at low temperatures, replacing the CFL bulb design that suffers from warm-up delays. This technological substitution copies the successful low-temperature performance characteristics of LEDs while eliminating the thermal inertia problems of CFL bulbs in refrigerated environments.
4Illumination intensity
If incandescent light bulbs are used, then they provide sufficient light, but they create a large amount of heat which violates lumen per watt efficiency standards
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements LED light elements that copy the energy-efficient characteristics of modern lighting technology, replacing incandescent bulbs. LEDs convert electrical energy directly to light with minimal heat generation, achieving high lumen per watt efficiency while providing sufficient illumination intensity for refrigerated space applications.
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 prevents overheating of LED lights in cold environments, ensuring efficient operation and longevity while meeting stringent lumen per watt efficiency standards and reducing environmental impact.
Implementation Method 1
a housing having at least a thermally conductive top wall... the housing central region is a heat sink which conducts heat away from the plurality of LED light elements
Implementation Method 2
a plurality of heat conducting ribs extending between said central region and said sidewalls
Implementation Method 3
a thermally conductive LED pad mounted between said plurality of LED light elements and said housing top wall to aid in conducting heat from said LED light elements to said housing top wall
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
There is disclosed a LED light (10) including a lower housing (14), an upper housing (15), and a thermally insulative base gasket (16). The upper housing has a top wall (31) with a central mounting area (35) and a peripheral margin. The wall thickness of the central mounting area is thicker than that of the peripheral margin (3 8). The upper housing also includes a plurality of heat dissipating ribs (41) extending between the mounting area and the sidewalls. The ribs increase in height as they extend outwardly toward the sidewalls. The lighting portion includes a LED light array (37), a lens (48), and a lens gasket (49). With the LED array mounted to the central mounting area, heat generated by the LED array is conveyed to the central mounting area and then conveyed through the upper housing top wall and ribs to the sidewalls.