Modular Heat Sink with Snap-Fit Latching for LED Street Lamp Assembly
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional LED street lamps face issues with complex assembly and maintenance due to rusting screws, increased maintenance costs, and reduced reliability due to dust accumulation on heat sinks, which limits their scalability and energy efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A modular extensible lamp design featuring a heat sink with a heat radiating plate, housing, lateral latching portions, and connecting members, allowing for easy assembly and disassembly, and sequential connection of modular heat sinks via fasteners, along with a base and light source modules, enhancing heat dissipation and flexibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional LED street lamps use screw-based fixing structures for modular heat sinks, then assembly and disassembly can be performed, but the screws rust easily and loosen in vibration environments, increasing maintenance costs and safety hazards
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the traditional screw-based mechanical fastening system with a snap-fit connection system. The connecting member includes a connecting end that snaps into the groove of the heat dissipation module, eliminating screws entirely. This substitution resolves the rusting and loosening issues inherent in screw-based systems while maintaining ease of assembly and disassembly through the snap-fit mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the LED street lamp into modular components: light source modules, heat dissipation modules, and connecting members. Each heat dissipation module can be independently assembled and disassembled by connecting members snapping into grooves. This segmentation allows for easy maintenance and replacement without affecting the entire lamp structure, resolving the complexity issue while improving reliability through standardized connection interfaces.
2Ease of manufacture
If LED street lamps use fixed power and shape designs, then manufacturing is simpler, but changing power requires redeveloping moulds and redesigning electric circuits, incurring high costs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the LED street lamp into standardized modular components with uniform connection interfaces. The heat dissipation modules and light source modules can be mixed and matched in different configurations. This allows manufacturers to produce a limited set of standardized modules that can be assembled into various power configurations, eliminating the need to redevelop molds for different power levels while maintaining manufacturing simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates universal connecting members and grooves that work across all module types. A single connecting member design can join different heat dissipation modules and light source modules in various configurations. This universality enables flexible power scaling without requiring specialized components for each power level, resolving the contradiction between manufacturing simplicity and adaptability.
3Device complexity
If LED street lamps use integrated non-modular designs, then structure is simpler, but assembly and maintenance procedures become complicated and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the LED street lamp into independently replaceable modules connected by snap-fit mechanisms. The heat dissipation modules and light source modules can be quickly assembled by snapping connecting members into grooves, and disassembled by reversing the process. This segmentation dramatically reduces assembly and maintenance time compared to integrated designs, while the standardized interfaces keep the overall structural complexity manageable.
4Temperature
If modular heat sinks expose fins outside for heat dissipation, then heat dissipation efficiency is improved, but the appearance becomes ugly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent nests the heat dissipation fins inside a housing structure rather than exposing them externally. The heat dissipation module includes a housing that encloses the fins, with the connecting member extending from the housing to interface with other modules. This nesting arrangement maintains the heat dissipation functionality of the fins while hiding them within the housing, resolving the contradiction between heat dissipation efficiency and appearance aesthetics.
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 modular design simplifies assembly and maintenance, improves heat dissipation, and allows for flexible configuration of light source modules, reducing maintenance costs and enhancing the reliability and scalability of LED street lamps.
Implementation Method 1
The housing is connected to the heat radiating plate, the heat radiating plate and the housing are provided with fins
Implementation Method 2
the heat radiating plate and the housing are provided with fins
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5
AI summary
A modular heat sink 1 includes a heat radiating plate 11, a housing 12, a lateral latching portion 14, and a lateral connecting member 17. The housing is connected to the heat radiating plate 11, the heat radiating plate 11 and the housing 12 are provided with fins 13. The latching portion 14 and the lateral connecting member 17 are positioned on a middle position of the housing 12, when two modular heat sinks 1 are connected together, the lateral latching portion 14 of one modular heat sink 1 is configured to be fastened to the lateral connecting member 17 of the other modular heat sink via a lateral fastener 5. A modular extensible lamp is further provided.