40 results about "Channel letters" patented technology

The present invention provides an apparatus for forming an asymmetric illumination beam pattern that can be advantageous when illuminating channel letters in addition to enabling the creation of cove lighting, as well as other applications benefiting from asymmetric illumination patterns. The apparatus comprises one or more light-emitting elements for creating the illumination. A first optical element is operatively associated with each of the light-emitting elements and provides a means for manipulating the illumination in a first direction. A second optical element is operatively associated with predetermined light-emitting elements and provides a means for manipulating the illumination in a second direction. Upon the interaction of the illumination with both the first and second optical elements, the illumination being created can have an asymmetric beam pattern.

A channel letter lighting system according to the present invention comprising a channel letter housing with a translucent channel letter cover. A plurality of electrically connected lighting units are mounted to the channel letter housing and conductors provide an electrical signal to each of the units. Each of the units comprises a lighting unit housing and a printed circuit board (PCB) mounted within said housing. The PCB has a plurality of light emitting elements, such as light emitting diodes, with the electrical signal applied to the light emitting elements causing them to generate light substantially away from the housing. The PCB conducts and dissipates heat from the light emitting elements, the unit further comprises a space between most of the PCB and the lighting unit housing to allow heat from the PCB to dissipate into the surrounding ambient. A mounting mechanism is included for each unit to the channel letter housing.

A channel letter lighting system according to the present invention comprising a channel letter housing with a translucent channel letter cover. A plurality of electrically connected lighting units are mounted to the channel letter housing and conductors provide an electrical signal to each of the units. Each of the units comprises a lighting unit housing and a printed circuit board (PCB) mounted within said housing. The PCB has a plurality of light emitting elements, such as light emitting diodes, with the electrical signal applied to the light emitting elements causing them to generate light substantially away from the housing. The PCB conducts and dissipates heat from the light emitting elements, the unit further comprises a space between most of the PCB and the lighting unit housing to allow heat from the PCB to dissipate into the surrounding ambient. A mounting mechanism is included for each unit to the channel letter housing.

The present invention relates to image displays and signage, and more particularly, to displays of custom or arbitrary shape. Such shaped displays include channel letter displays, logo or design displays, multiple displays in an assembly, multiple display modules, curved or round displays, or other arbitrary shaped or unusual aspect ratio displays. The present invention further relates to software, apparatus, and methods for a translation table which maps graphical data from an initial shape to an arbitrary shape for use on such displays.

The present invention is an LED module for channel letter illumination utilizing multiple through-hole LEDs in a pixel formation as a light source where one surface mounted LED or other forms of LEDs were previously used. The use of a number of small through-hole LEDs ideally requires that a beam angle between and including 15° and 180° in vertical and horizontal directions, respectively, be utilized. When multiple light sources are used on a module, the distance between light sources is to be between 20 mm and 1 cm. The use of several smaller LEDs reduces the current needed to generate light of appropriate intensity and, thus reduces energy cost and heat generation. The use of smaller LEDs also assists in excess heat dissipation.

The present embodiments provide channel letter lighting devices and / or systems. A lighting system, comprising a plurality of electrically connected lighting units, comprising conductors to provide an electrical signal to each of the units. Each of the lighting units comprise a housing, a printed circuit board (PCB) mounted within the housing and having a plurality of tabs and a plurality light emitting elements on the tabs. The tabs are angled in relation of the remainder of the PCB or housing. The electrical signal applied to the light emitting elements causes them to emit light substantially away from said housing. The lighting system further comprises a sealant within the housing filling cavities around the light emitting elements and the cavity around said PCB and a mounting mechanism for mounting the unit to a structure.

An illumination device generally comprises a housing, a light source, and a scattering member. The housing includes a base portion and a side wall, which collectively defines an interior cavity with an open end having a predetermined shape. A light source is positioned within the interior cavity, along with an electric connecting member adapted to connect the light source to a remote power source. A scattering member having substantially the same predetermined shape as the open end of the housing is positioned adjacent the light source at the open end of the interior cavity. The scattering member has a light-emitting surface and is composed of a material which causes light entering the scattering member to be directed through a portion of thereof before being scattered and emitted, such that a substantially uniform light pattern is perceived along the light-emitting surface of the scattering member in the predetermined shape.

An improved method of preparing an intermediate for the return of a channel letter wherein the intermediate is cut from the same sheet stock as the back and face of the letter using a router, which removes material along the edge of the return and along the width of the return indicating the direction and shape that the finished return will take and removing material from the edge and width of the intermediate to facilitate the shaping and bending of the intermediate into its finished configuration.

The present embodiments provide channel letter lighting devices and / or systems. A lighting system, comprising: a plurality of electrically connected lighting units, comprising conductors to provide an electrical signal to each of said units, each of which comprises: a housing; a printed circuit board (PCB) mounted within said housing and having a plurality of light emitting elements, the electrical signal applied to said light emitting elements causing them to emit light substantially away from said housing, said PCB conducting and dissipating heat from said light emitting elements, further comprising a sealant within said housing filling cavities around said light emitting elements and the cavity around said PCB; and a mounting mechanism for mounting said unit to a structure.

The present invention is an LED module for channel letter illumination utilizing multiple through-hole LEDs in a pixel formation as a light source where one surface mounted LED or other forms of LEDs were previously used. The use of a number of small through-hole LEDs ideally requires that a beam angle between and including 15° and 180° in vertical and horizontal directions, respectively, be utilized. When multiple light sources are used on a module, the distance between light sources is to be between 20 mm and 1 cm. The use of several smaller LEDs reduces the current needed to generate light of appropriate intensity and, thus reduces energy cost and heat generation. The use of smaller LEDs also assists in excess heat dissipation.

A channel letter lighting system comprising a plurality of lighting units that are interconnected by a conductor. Each of the units is coupled to the conductor such that an electrical signal applied to the conductor causes the lighting units to emit light. The length of the conductor between said units is adjustable to vary the distance between adjacent ones of the lighting units. In other embodiment the lighting units comprise a plurality of emitters. A conductor is included for carrying an electrical signal with the lighting units connected to and interconnected by a conductor. An electrical signal applied to the conductor causes the emitters emit light. The lighting units are separable into sections each of which comprise at least one of the plurality of emitters and each of which remains connected to the conductor. The length of the conductor between the sections can be adjustable to vary the distance between adjacent ones of the sections.

A trim cap for a sign cabinet such as a channel letter includes an elongated formable band along with a pressure activated adhesive layer that is connected to the band. The adhesive layer is conformable to facilitate adherence of the trim cap to the edge of a sign face of the light cabinet. Preferably, the adhesive layer comprises a pressure activated adhesive and a foam layer that includes a plurality of polymeric microspheres.

A graphical display station of arbitrary shape such as channel letters or other shaped structures is populated with pixels which are components of flexible pixel strings which can be arranged to fit the arbitrary shape(s). The flexible pixel strings provide for straightforward and cost effective fabrication of channel letter or other shaped displays. The invention also includes pixel units which comprise lighting elements together with such control circuits as are needed to properly drive the lighting elements to form a graphical image. Addressing of the particular pixels is provided to accommodate the arbitrary arrangement of pixels of the flexible pixel strings. Methods of fabricating a channel letter display are also disclosed.

The present invention relates to image displays and signage, and more particularly, to displays of custom or arbitrary shape. Such shaped displays include channel letter displays, logo or design displays, multiple displays in an assembly, multiple display modules, curved or round displays, or other arbitrary shaped or unusual aspect ratio displays. The present invention further relates to software, apparatus, and methods for a translation table which maps graphical data from an initial shape to an arbitrary shape for use on such displays.

The present embodiments provide channel letter lighting devices and / or systems. A lighting system, comprising a plurality of electrically connected lighting units, comprising conductors to provide an electrical signal to each of the units. Each of the lighting units comprise a housing, a printed circuit board (PCB) mounted within the housing and having a plurality of tabs and a plurality light emitting elements on the tabs. The tabs are angled in relation of the remainder of the PCB or housing. The electrical signal applied to the light emitting elements causes them to emit light substantially away from said housing. The lighting system further comprises a sealant within the housing filling cavities around the light emitting elements and the cavity around said PCB and a mounting mechanism for mounting the unit to a structure.

The invention discloses a switching method of television channels and a client side for realizing switch of the television channels. The method comprises the following steps: in the channel switching process of every time, when user keying information is detected, the client side screens out a channel containing the user keying information as a new current alternative channel from current alternative channels according to a character matching scheme and displays the information of the new current alternative channel to a user; after the fact that one channel in the current alternative channels is chosen is detected, a television is switched to the channel; and during first screening, the client side uses all channels in a channel list obtained from a server as the current alternative channels. The channel list at least comprises channel numbers, channel names and channel letter abbreviations of all channels, and the information of the current alternative channels at least comprises the channel numbers and the channel names. According to the method and the client side, the memory capacitance of the user is decreased, and the error rate of the user switching the channels is obviously reduced.

A graphical display station of arbitrary shape such as channel letters or other shaped structures is populated with pixels which are components of flexible pixel strings which can be arranged to fit the arbitrary shape(s). The flexible pixel strings provide for straightforward and cost effective fabrication of channel letter or other shaped displays. The invention also includes pixel units which comprise lighting elements together with such control circuits as are needed to roperly drive the lighting elements to form a graphical image. Addressing of the particular pixels is provided to accommodate the arbitrary arrangement of pixels of the flexible pixel strings. Methods of fabricating a channel letter display are also disclosed.

A light emitting diode (LED) module including: a circuit board; at least one LED disposed on the circuit board; a molding cover spaced apart from the LED by a predetermined gap and covering upper and lower surfaces of the circuit board at an edge of the circuit board; and a circuit part positioned at the edge of the circuit board and driving the LED. The LED is centrally disposed on an upper surface of the circuit board.

Disclosed herein is a method for manufacturing a light emitting diode (LED) module, the method including: disposing a circuit board at a molding space formed by an upper mold and a lower mold; adding a filling material to the molding space; hardening the filling material to form a molding cover covering at least a portion of an upper surface, a lower surface, and a side surface of the circuit board, the molding cover having an opening exposing the lower surface of the circuit board; removing the upper mold and the lower mold from the circuit board; and disposing an LED on the upper surface of the circuit board.

Light Emitting Diode (LED) modules that generally comprise a) a frame or housing, b) a circuit board that comprises a solid state circuit and is mounted on the frame or in the housing, c) one or more LEDs connected to the solid state circuit and d) at least one of the following: i) a heat sink that extends outboard (e.g., outside the outer boundaries of) the housing or frame; and / or ii) a power regulator which controls power dissipation over load and line variations and / or a pulse regulation circuit which to regulates current pulses in the LEDs in the unfiltered full wave unregulated 60 cycle Hz alternating current (AC). These LED modules may be connected to one another in series and my operate on AC current. In some embodiments, these LED modules are used for channel letter lighting and other illuminated signage applications.

An LED module for use in sign letter channel lights comprises a substrate, a reflector mounted on the substrate, an LED mounted within the reflector on the substrate and a Zener diode shunt element connected in parallel across the LED, a printed circuit board on the substrate, wherein the LED is mounted on the printed circuit board, and an insulating cover. The module may be entirely encapsulated. An LED driving protection circuit provides ground fault protection for a plurality of series connected LED modules.

An apparatus and method for forming a molded object, e.g., a channel letter trim and trimmed face. A shape is stored in a processor. A mold material is held by vacuum on a table, movably supported on a support frame. The table moves to a second position on the support frame, where the mold material is cut into a mold having the stored shape. The table and mold are moved to a third position on the support frame. Heated synthetic material is drawn over the mold by vacuum. After the synthetic material hardens, excess material is cut off, if necessary, and the synthetic material, now in the shape of the mold, is removed from the mold.

A light emitting diode, LED, strip (301) for the illumination of channel signs is provided. The LED strip comprises a flexible circuit board, a plurality of LEDs mounted on the circuit board, and an electrical connector for connecting the LED strip to a power supply. The LED strip is at least in part encapsulated by a flexible resin such that the LED strip is foldable. The LED strip according to the present invention is advantageous in that its length can be adjusted by folding instead of cutting, thereby retaining the waterproof encapsulation of the LED strip. Further, a method for mounting a flexible LED strip (301) in a channel sign is provided. The method comprises the steps of attaching at least one clip (302) to an interior surface (303) of the channel sign, folding back an end (304) of the LED strip, and fixating the LED strip including the folded end using the clip. The method according to the present invention is advantageous in that it provides an easier and more reliable mounting of a LED strip as compared to standard prior art techniques.

The invention discloses a remote-control-based light-emitting diode (LED) display screen, which solves the problem that an LED channel letter in the prior art is lack of stereoscopic sensation. One-surface imaging in the prior art is changed into multi-surface simultaneous imaging, a plurality of surfaces are connected end to end to form an enclosed display screen space at the same time, a rigid LED light bar is driven by the rotation of all side motors to rotate, lights on the rigid LED light bar are turned on and off to form a certain circular pattern due to a visual persistence effect when the rotating speed of each motor reaches a certain degree, and LED light beads on the rigid LED light bar are controlled to be turned on and off to form a designed pattern when the rotating speed of each motor is relatively higher.

Disclosed herein is a method for manufacturing a light emitting diode (LED) module, the method including: disposing a circuit board at a molding space formed by an upper mold and a lower mold; adding a filling material to the molding space; hardening the filling material to form a molding cover covering at least a portion of an upper surface, a lower surface, and a side surface of the circuit board, the molding cover having an opening exposing the lower surface of the circuit board; removing the upper mold and the lower mold from the circuit board; and disposing an LED on the upper surface of the circuit board.

A channel letter lighting system comprising a channel letter housing including a light transmissive face, a rear wall and at least one trim cap adapted to receive the light transmissive face and rear wall. A plurality of light emitting units within the channel letter housing and at least one optical element proximate the plurality of light emitting units, wherein the at least one optical element is configured to direct light emitted from the plurality of light emitting units in a direction away from the face and towards the rear wall or the opposing trim cap. The channel letter lighting system arranged to provide low profile channel letters.