Movable Sealing Unit for Thermal Expansion Compensation in LED Lamps
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Fluorescent LED lamps experience structural modifications due to temperature changes, leading to gaps that allow external impurities to enter and cause malfunctions or damage over time.
Innovation Solution
A lighting device design featuring a sealing unit with a hollow frame and elastomer base that moves between the body and terminal units, preventing gaps from forming due to temperature changes, using materials like polycarbonate, polybutylene terephthalate, or silicone, and incorporating guiding holes and coupling mechanisms for secure attachment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a rigid sealing structure is used between the body portion and terminal unit, then the initial sealing effect is good, but the sealing unit cannot compensate for structural modifications caused by temperature changes, leading to gap formation
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing unit is designed with movable components including a sliding block that can move along the terminal unit's external surface, and a base with elastomeric elements that provide flexible compensation. This dynamic structure allows the sealing unit to adapt to thermal expansion and contraction of the LED lamp body, maintaining continuous contact and preventing gap formation while preserving reliable sealing performance
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing unit utilizes elastomeric materials with varying degrees of flexibility and the movable sliding block mechanism to change physical parameters (position, contact pressure) in response to temperature changes. This allows the sealing structure to dynamically adjust its parameters to compensate for thermal expansion and contraction, maintaining effective sealing under varying thermal conditions
2Adaptability or versatility
If the sealing unit is made movable to compensate for temperature changes, then adaptability improves, but the structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing unit is divided into distinct functional segments: a frame structure, a movable sliding block, and a base with elastomeric elements. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function (structural support, movement/adjustment, flexible compensation) independently, simplifying the overall design while achieving the required adaptability for thermal compensation
Solution Approach 2:
The sliding block acts as an intermediary element between the frame and the base, enabling controlled movement and force transmission. This intermediary component facilitates the compensation mechanism in a simple and effective manner, allowing the sealing unit to adapt to thermal changes without requiring a overly complex overall structure
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 effectively prevents gap formation between the body and terminal units, thereby preventing impurity ingress and maintaining device functionality and integrity over time.
Implementation Method 1
The base may include at least one pair of side walls extending from the inner surface of the frame, and a plane connecting the at least one pair of side walls. The plane may include an elastomer that creates elasticity and contacts the inner bottom surface of the terminal unit.
Implementation Method 2
when an LED lamp is repeatedly heated and cooled due to the heat generated from an LED, a body portion may be modified due to contraction and expansion, thereby creating a gap in a connecting portion between a cap and the body portion
Data Source
AI summary
A lighting device includes a body portion on which a light source is mounted; a terminal unit, provided at each of both ends of the body portion, receiving power for driving the light source; and a sealing unit movably disposed between the body portion and the terminal unit so as to prevent a gap between the body portion and the terminal unit.