Lighting Cove Apparatus with Interlocking Modular Housing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Constructing a room with a light alcove for soft, circumferential lighting is costly, typically requiring custom features like drop-down ceilings or aluminum channels with plastic lenses, which are expensive and difficult to install.
Innovation Solution
A lighting cove apparatus that can be easily installed between a room wall and ceiling, featuring an elongate main housing with a reflecting surface and interlocking components, designed to conceal tape lighting, allowing for a cost-effective and flexible way to create a pleasant lighting effect around the room.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If a drop-down ceiling or custom crown molding is constructed to create a light alcove, then soft circumferential lighting effect is achieved, but construction cost and installation complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The lighting system is divided into separate modular components: a housing unit, an LED light strip, and installation brackets. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured independently and assembled on-site, eliminating the need for complex custom construction while achieving the desired lighting effect.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a housing structure as an intermediary element that mediates between the LED light strip and the ceiling/wall surfaces. This housing provides the necessary structural support and positioning without requiring complex custom construction, thereby simplifying installation while maintaining the soft lighting effect.
2Illumination intensity
If aluminum channels with plastic lenses are used for tape lighting installation, then lighting functionality is achieved, but material cost and installation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a simple housing structure made from cost-effective materials that can be easily manufactured and installed. The design prioritizes ease of installation and low material cost over long-term durability, allowing for simple replacement if needed while achieving the lighting functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the essential lighting functionality from the complex aluminum channel system and implements it using a simplified housing structure. By taking out only the necessary light containment and direction functions, the design eliminates unnecessary complexity and material costs associated with traditional aluminum channels.
3Ease of operation
If space is left between ceiling and crown molding for light insertion, then lighting installation is enabled, but structural integrity and aesthetic appearance are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The lighting system is nested within a self-contained housing structure that fits into the crown molding space without compromising the surrounding structure. The housing unit contains all necessary components (LED strip, diffuser, mounting elements) in a compact form that integrates seamlessly with the existing ceiling and wall structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing structure is pre-assembled with the LED light strip and mounting brackets before installation. This preliminary assembly ensures proper structural support and positioning are built-in, eliminating the need to compromise structural integrity during final installation while maintaining aesthetic appearance.
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 cost-effective and easy-to-install lighting system that creates a pleasant, circumferential lighting effect by using interlocking components to house LED strips, eliminating the need for expensive custom features and allowing for flexible placement around the room.
Implementation Method 1
The peripheral lip comprises an inwardly chamfered surface extending at an acute angle and intersecting with an inside surface of outer sidewall
Implementation Method 2
The inwardly chamfered surface comprises an LED strip
Data Source
AI summary
A lighting cove apparatus includes an elongate main housing with an outer rear wall from which an outer sidewall extends vertically therefrom on each side of the outer rear wall and terminating in an inwardly extending peripheral lip to define a channel with a passageway. The passageway extends the length of the housing. The outer rear wall has an inner concave reflecting surface configured to reflect light. The peripheral lip has an inwardly chamfered surface extending at an acute angle and intersecting with an inside surface of outer sidewall. The inwardly chamfered surface is configured to hold an LED strip. The main housing includes one or more female interlock components at one end and corresponding male interlock components at the other end. The lighting cove apparatus further includes a right-angled connector component for connecting two main housing units in a horizontal configuration and a corner connector component for connecting two main housing units in a vertical configuration.