Lighting Fixture Thermal Bus for UV Disinfection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing lighting systems for disinfection in hospital settings often require separate fixtures for UV and visible lighting, are cumbersome to install, and may not provide uniform UV irradiance across spaces, especially in areas with high-touch surfaces.
Innovation Solution
A lighting fixture comprising LEDs mounted on a metal-core printed circuit board (MCPCB) with a thermal bus and heat sink, designed to be easily installed on a suspension ceiling grid, emitting UV light for disinfection and optionally providing low-level safety lighting or infrared radiation, ensuring uniform UV irradiance without visible glare or the need for additional optics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If separate fixtures are used for UV and visible lighting, then each fixture can be optimized for its specific function, but the installation complexity and number of fixtures increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines UV LEDs and visible light LEDs into a single lighting fixture with a common substrate and housing. This integration allows both UV disinfection and visible illumination functions to be achieved through one fixture, reducing installation complexity while maintaining functional optimization through separate LED arrays that can be independently controlled.
2Illumination intensity
If traditional lighting fixtures are installed in suspension ceilings, then lighting coverage is improved, but installation effort and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The lighting fixture is designed as a modular unit that can be independently installed into suspension ceiling grid sections. The fixture includes a self-contained housing with mounting features that interface with standard ceiling grids, allowing for quick installation without requiring extensive structural modifications or complex assembly procedures.
3Volume of moving object
If UV LEDs are mounted on small substrates, then the fixture size is reduced for better aesthetic integration, but heat dissipation becomes more challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a heat sink as an intermediary component between the UV LEDs and the fixture housing. The heat sink is thermally coupled to the LED substrate through thermal pads and interfaces, providing an efficient heat transfer pathway that allows compact LED mounting while maintaining effective heat dissipation through the heat sink's extended surface area.
4Manufacturing precision
If additional optics are added to achieve uniform UV irradiance, then disinfection uniformity is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs reflectors with specific geometric shapes and surface finishes positioned around the LED arrays to redirect UV light and create more uniform irradiance distribution. The reflectors are strategically placed to target specific areas, providing localized light redirection that achieves overall uniformity without requiring complex optical systems.
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 enables efficient, cost-effective, and uniform UV disinfection across spaces with minimal installation effort, suitable for high-touch areas, while maintaining a sleek appearance and reducing the need for secondary optics, thus enhancing disinfection efficacy and aesthetic integration.
Implementation Method 1
a thermal bus including a horizontal section supporting the PCB and a vertical section joined to the horizontal section
Implementation Method 2
LEDs mounted on the PCB... the LEDs of the lighting fixture emit ultraviolet light effective to perform disinfection
Implementation Method 3
an inactivating portion having wavelengths in a range of 280 to 380 nanometers... emit ultraviolet (UV) light to provide disinfection
Data Source
AI summary
A luminaire is mechanically attached to a mounting structure, mounted and positioned to illuminate a space adjacent to the luminaire The luminaire comprises at least one light source mounted on a substrate, and a thermal bus transporting heat from the substrate to a heat sink that is veiled from view. The at least one light source and the substrate are exposed to, and illuminate, the space. Another disclosed luminaire includes LEDs and a fixture on which the LEDs are disposed. The fixture is configured to install onto a grid of a suspension ceiling by hooking or clamping onto the grid of the suspension ceiling with the LEDs disposed on the installed fixture facing downward from the suspension ceiling.