DE20307319U1 - Solar lamp e.g. for garden lighting, uses light generated by LED diode for radiation into ambience via crystal - Google Patents

Abstract

A solar light with a housing, has a solar cell an energy store (12) and a lighting device (13), which are all connected by a circuit (17), such that the electrical energy from the store (12) is converted into light. The lighting device (13) contains at least one light emitting diode (LED) (14), an optical fiber (15) and a crystal (16) and the LED (14) generates light which is passed directly through the optical fiber (15) to the crystal (16) and is radiated out from this crystal (16).

Description

EUROPEAN PATENT ATTORNEYS ⁰ · PATENT ATTORNEYS

EUROPEAN TRADEMARK & DESIGN ATTORNEYS

FUMBURG · BERLIN · MUNICH

DIPL.-ING. JOACHIM RICHTER" DIPL.-ING. HANNES GERBAULET ⁰ DIPL-ING. FRANZ WERDERMANN ⁰ DIPL-GEOKMATn-IIASRICHTER DIPL-PHYS. DR. ANDREAS HOFMANN ⁰

BERLIN

HAMBURG

-1 9 8 6

MUNICH MUNICH

Neuer Wall 10/11 · 20354 HAMBURG S +49/(0)40/34 00 45 / 34 00 56 Fax +49/(0)40/35 2415 eMail: ham@rwgh.de URL: http://www.rwgh.de

Your Reference Your File

Our Sign Our File

R 03050 III 6651

HAMBURG

09.05.2003

Applicant:

Oliver Richter GmbH & Co. KG Düsternstraße 3 DE-20355 Hamburg

OTTO, Frank Fährhausstrasse 19 DE-22085 Hamburg

Title:

Solar lamp DESCRIPTION

The invention relates to a solar lamp, in particular a garden lamp, with at least one housing, a solar cell, an energy storage device and a lighting device, wherein the solar cell, the energy storage device and the lighting device are connected by a circuit so that the lighting device can receive the electrical energy from the energy storage device, which is generated in the solar cell from daylight.

and passed on to the energy storage device, into light which is used to illuminate an environment.

Such a solar lamp is often used as a garden light because it is independent of an external power source. When daylight is present, the solar cell converts the available daylight into electrical energy. This energy is fed into the energy storage unit, which stores it. As a rule, when the daylight has fallen below a certain brightness, the electrical energy from the storage unit is passed on to the lamp. The lamp converts the electrical energy back into light and emits it. This means that temporary lighting can also take place in places in the garden or house that do not have a suitable electrical supply connection. Conventional light bulbs are used as the light source for the well-known solar lamps. The disadvantage of such solar lamps, however, is that with lamps with conventional light bulbs, either only a short lighting period can be achieved, or a voluminous energy storage unit is required, since conventional light bulbs have a high energy consumption and are poorly efficient. This means that the well-known solar lamps cannot bridge the entire dark period (night time) when there is no daylight. Although so-called energy-saving lamps can be used instead of conventional light bulbs, which extend the lighting time, even these energy-saving lamps cannot overcome the entire dark period.

The invention is therefore based on the object of providing solar lamps of the type mentioned above, which are simply constructed and enable a long lighting period.

This object is achieved by the features specified in the characterising part of claim 1.

For this purpose, the invention provides that the solar lamp has a light source that contains at least one light-emitting diode, a light guide and a crystal. The light-emitting diode serves to convert the electrical energy into light, which is guided to the crystal through the light guide. The light generated by the light-emitting diode only exits through the crystal. The large surface area of the crystal enables good light emission. The light source according to the invention achieves an above-average lighting duration, which also bridges the entire dark period between the influence of daylight. The light-emitting diode has a high level of efficiency, i.e. it has low energy consumption, since it converts the electrical energy into light without great losses - in contrast to conventional light bulbs. However, since the external dimensions of a light-emitting diode are currently more or less fixed, they are nowhere near the size of the glass body of a conventional light bulb. For this purpose, the light generated is fed through the light guide to the crystal, which has a large surface area comparable to the size of the glass body of a conventional light bulb. The light can then emerge from the large surface area of the crystal, similar to the glass body of the light bulb. The necessary light intensity can be achieved effortlessly by using so-called laser light-emitting diodes.

Another advantage of the solar lamp according to the invention is that the required housing of the solar lamp can be designed comparatively small, since on the one hand only a small energy storage device with a small size is used, and on the other hand the light-emitting diode, which is located in the interior of the housing

sits, takes up little space. The large light-emitting crystal, on the other hand, can be arranged outside the housing.

Preferred further developments of the solar lamp are described in claims 2 to 17.

In a preferred embodiment, the solar lamp has a housing made up of at least two parts, with a lower shell and an upper shell. At least the upper shell contains a translucent part, so that daylight can pass through the upper shell to the solar cell underneath. Such a housing makes it easy to assemble the "inner workings" of the solar lamp, and also ensures that the housing is well sealed against moisture, dust, or the like. This housing can also be made from plastic using simple injection molding tools.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the lower shell of the housing has a holder that serves to attach the solar lamp to a wall, ceiling, floor or the like. This makes it possible to manufacture the solar lamp cost-effectively, since the housing is always designed the same and thus high production quantities can be achieved, regardless of the subsequent use and attachment of the solar lamp. The holder itself can contain means for screwing. It is also conceivable that the holder has locking means that work together with counter-locking means of a special wall or ceiling holder. The holder could also consist of part of a bayonet lock.

A ground spike can be conveniently attached to the holder of the lower shell, which is used to set up the solar lamp in the ground

These measures allow the solar lamp to be firmly but separably connected to the ground spike. The ground spike itself should have a tapered shape, comparable to a nail or a sheet metal screw, so that it can be easily anchored in the ground and offers a secure hold.

Furthermore, it is advantageous that a sealing ring is arranged between the lower part and the upper part of the housing, which protects the interior of the solar lamp safely and reliably against moisture, dirt or the like. This sealing ring can be an O-ring, for example. A receptacle, e.g. in the form of a simple groove, for the sealing ring is expediently provided in the lower part and/or upper part.

It is also very important that the solar lamp according to the invention has a reflective cover underneath the solar cell that extends over the entire cross-section of the housing. This can reduce the heating of the interior of the solar lamp due to the effects of daylight. The reflective cover can also serve as a stable support for the solar cells. However, this is not possible if the reflective cover is only an aluminum or gold foil that is not applied to a stable support material.

According to a further development of the solar lamp, the housing has a substantially ellipsoidal, angular or other shape. This allows the solar lamp to have a pleasing appearance. In addition, the solar lamp can be adapted to suit the respective installation conditions, be it as a corner lamp, wall lamp or the like.

The light guide is preferably a glass fiber rod or glass fiber cable. This means that it is stable enough to bear the weight of the crystal and the light generated by the LED is transmitted to the crystal without any significant losses. The thickness of the light guide can be used to easily influence the stability. The light guide itself can be provided with or without an opaque coating. It is also conceivable that the light guide consists of a Plexiglas rod.

According to another development of the solar lamp, the crystal has a ball, heart or triangle shape. However, the crystal can also have any other shape. Since the crystal is more or less free in its shape, this can give the solar lamp an exclusive character - in contrast to conventional light bulbs. This also means that the solar lamp has a wide range of applications for a wide variety of lighting tasks. In addition, the solar lamp can be easily and inexpensively adapted to certain festive occasions, such as Christmas, Easter or weddings.

In order to further enhance the aforementioned effects, a design of the solar lamp is proposed in which the surface of the crystal is partially provided with opaque areas. For example, one side of the crystal can be provided with the opaque areas in order to achieve shielding. The opaque areas can be created using a self-adhesive film or an opaque (colored) coating, for example.

A further development of the solar lamp is also proposed in which the light guide and/or the crystal is coloured. The colouring of the crystal can be achieved by a translucent coating

or foil on the surface and on the other hand the crystal itself can be coloured through and through. The light guide can also be coloured through and through like the crystal or the light guide can have sections in its cross-section that are coloured and act like a filter. The coloured light guide and/or crystal also influences the colour of the light emitted from the crystal.

Another important feature of the solar lamp is that the light guide is permanently connected to the crystal. For this purpose, the light guide can be glued to the crystal. This means that additional technical means of fastening are not required, which leads to a reduction in production costs. The light guide can also be fused to the crystal or manufactured in one production step if both are made of the same material.

In another embodiment of the invention, the light guide can be firmly but reversibly connected to the housing and/or the crystal. Of course, the light guide can also be permanently connected to the crystal or the housing at one end. The connection of the light guide to the housing or the crystal can be realized by a screwable hollow bushing. It is also conceivable that the light guide itself has a thread for reversible fastening in the housing or crystal. The solar lamp can be easily assembled by the customer using the measures mentioned. This enables the solar lamp to be transported safely in a pre-assembled state, which also requires little space. This also allows the light guide to be easily replaced.

According to a further design of the solar lamp, the light-emitting diode of the lamp emits different colored light.

This can be achieved by using different light-emitting diodes, each of which emits light of a different color, such as red, yellow, green, blue, white, etc. "Special" light-emitting diodes can also be used, which can emit light of different colors depending on how they are controlled, i.e. these colored lights are not emitted simultaneously, but either or. By using colored or "special" light-emitting diodes, coloring the light guide or the crystal can be dispensed with, but this is not absolutely necessary.

A special development of the solar lamp provides for a circuit of solar cell, energy storage and light source, which has an intelligent circuit. This allows the charging cycle of the energy storage to be monitored and controlled, as well as the discharge cycle, and the light source can be controlled depending on the task at hand. For example, the light source can be switched on or off using a radio signal, or the light source can be switched on or off at a predetermined time or when the brightness reaches a certain level. Of course, the intelligent circuit can also be used to implement other functions of the solar lamp. Other electrical and electronic means can also be present for this purpose.

In another development of the solar lamp, at least one light source is present, which in turn can contain several light-emitting diodes, light guides and crystals. For example, one light-emitting diode can be used to supply the emitted light to two crystals through at least two light guides. However, each crystal with its associated light guide can also be assigned its "own" light-emitting diode. This measure can be used to expand the solar lamp into a complex lighting device.

An additional variant of the invention provides that the solar lamp contains more than one housing, in particular in order to store the energy storage device separately from the rest of the solar lamp in an additional housing. For example, the ground spike can serve as an additional housing for the energy storage device. This prevents the solar lamp from heating up due to the heat radiated by the energy storage device. A defective energy storage device can also be easily replaced with a new energy storage device. Of course, other parts of the solar lamp can also be housed in an additional housing.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. They show

Fig. 1 is an exploded view of the solar lamp according to the invention,

Fig. 2 in a purely schematic sectional view, an embodiment of a solar lamp according to the invention without crystal from Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 a lamp with heart-shaped crystal, light guide and

Light-emitting diode for the solar lamp from Fig. 1 and 2.

Figure 1 shows an embodiment of the solar lamp 100 in an exploded view. The only essential part of the invention is the crystal 16, which is not shown in this figure. In this embodiment, the solar lamp 100 is in an ellipsoidal housing 10. This housing 10 is essentially formed from the lower shell 18 and the upper shell 19. There are openings 29 in the upper shell 19, which are intended to allow daylight to penetrate through the upper shell 19. In order to still achieve a

In order to obtain a closed housing 10, there is a translucent part 20 through which daylight can hit the underlying solar cell 11. The upper shell 19 and the translucent part 20 can also be designed as one piece.

In order to protect the part of the solar lamp 100 located under the solar cell 11 from heating up due to daylight, a reflective cover 25 is provided. As shown, this extends over the entire cross-section of the housing 10 and simultaneously serves as a support for the solar cell 22. The entire electrics and electronics of the solar lamp 100 are housed in the box 28. This also contains the energy storage device 12, as indicated, and the light-emitting diode 14, which is not visible. So that the light from the light-emitting diode 14 can penetrate through the box 28, a corresponding (in this case circular) opening is provided in the surface of the box 28. The light guide 15 penetrates through this opening in the final assembled state of the solar lamp 100 (see also Fig. 3). The box 28 itself is firmly mounted in a holder in the lower shell 18.

Furthermore, cylindrical pins can be seen in the lower shell 18, through which the lower shell 18 is screwed to the upper shell 19. The lower shell 18 also contains an annular groove 27 for a sealing ring 23 (not shown). This sealing ring is an O-ring. As shown in Fig. 1, the holder 21 of the lower shell 18 penetrates into the interior 24 of the housing 10. This holder 21 is used to attach the solar lamp 100 to walls, ceilings or the like. A ground spike 22 can also be connected to the lower shell 18 on this holder 21 by screws 21 (which are part of the holder).

U /

Since the ground spike 22 itself is hollow, it can serve as an additional housing for the energy storage device 12, which can consist of a battery or a capacitor or the like. Of course, the energy storage device 12 would then have to be connected to the rest of the circuit 17 of the solar lamp 100 via a contact or plug.

Figure 2 essentially shows the embodiment of the solar lamp 100 from Figure 1 in the final assembled state. This illustration also lacks the crystal 16, which is an essential part of the lighting device 13 and thus also of the solar lamp 100. The light guide 15 is firmly but reversibly connected to the housing 10. This is achieved by the additional screwable hollow bushing 30, which is firmly screwed into the upper shell 19. This measure also firmly connects the light guide 15 to the light-emitting diode 14, so that the light generated by the light-emitting diode 14 can penetrate directly through the light guide 15 from the box 28 and the housing 10 into the crystal 16 without any significant losses. As already mentioned, the lighting device 13 can also comprise several light-emitting diodes 14, light guides 15 and crystals 16.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 2, it is clear that the solar lamp 100 can easily be disassembled into individual components. This is particularly important for transport and packaging. The solar lamp 100 is just as easy for the end user to assemble.

Figure 3 shows the entire light source 13 of the solar lamp 100. This includes the light-emitting diode 14, the light guide 15 and the crystal 16. In the embodiment shown, the crystal 16 is heart-shaped. However, it can also be used in any other shape. As can be seen, the light guide 15 is inseparable.

connected to the crystal 16. The crystal 16 now serves to radiate the light emitted by the light-emitting diode 14 via the light conductor 15 to the surroundings of the solar lamp 100. The light rays emitted by the crystal are shown schematically by the arrows 32. Additional light effects can be achieved with the solar lamp 100 through the opaque areas 26. These can also serve to shield a certain area of the surroundings of the solar lamp 100 from the outgoing light 32.

To ensure that the LED 14 is firmly seated in the housing 10 or the box 28, it is arranged on a circuit board 31. This circuit board also contains the circuit 17 and a possible intelligent circuit. The circuit 17 itself can also serve only as wiring of the LED 14 with the energy storage device 12 and the solar cell 11.

Finally, it should be mentioned that the solar lamp 100 according to the invention can also be operated by an additional power source, such as the local power grid. This is particularly important for the Nordic countries. For this purpose, an external plug can be provided on the solar lamp 100.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

100 solar lamps

10 Housing

11 Solar cell

12 Energy storage / battery

13 lamps

14 LED

15 light guides

16 Crystal

17 Circuit

18 Lower shell

19 Upper shell

20 translucent part

21 Bracket

22 ground spike,

23 Sealing ring

24 Interior

25 reflective cover

26 opaque spots

27 groove for 23

28 boxes for 12,14,17

29 Breakthrough in 19

30 Screwable hollow bushing

31 Circuit board

32 Light beam

Claims (17)

1. Solar lamp ( 100 ) with at least one housing ( 10 ), a solar cell ( 11 ), an energy storage device ( 12 ) and a lighting means ( 13 ), wherein the solar cell ( 11 ), the energy storage device ( 12 ) and the lighting means ( 13 ) are connected by a circuit ( 17 ) so that the lighting means ( 13 ) converts the electrical energy from the energy storage device ( 12 ), which was generated in the solar cell ( 11 ) from daylight and was passed on to the energy storage device ( 12 ), into light which is used to illuminate an environment, characterized in that the lighting means ( 13 ) contains at least one light-emitting diode ( 14 ), a light guide ( 15 ) and a crystal ( 16 ) and the light-emitting diode ( 14 ) generates a light which is guided indirectly through the light guide ( 15 ) to the crystal ( 16 ) and is reflected by this crystal (17). 16 ) can be broadcast. 2. Solar lamp ( 100 ) according to claim 1, characterized in that the housing ( 10 ) of the solar lamp ( 100 ) is at least two-part and contains a lower shell ( 18 ) and an upper shell ( 19 ), wherein at least the upper shell ( 19 ) has a translucent part ( 20 ) so that daylight passes through the upper shell ( 19 ) to the underlying solar cell ( 11 ). 3. Solar lamp ( 100 ) according to claim 2, characterized in that the lower shell ( 18 ) has a holder ( 21 ) which serves to fasten the solar lamp ( 100 ) to a wall, ceiling, floor or the like. 4. Solar lamp ( 100 ) according to claim 3, characterized in that a ground spike ( 22 ) can be fastened to the holder ( 21 ) of the lower shell ( 18 ) and serves to set up the solar lamp ( 100 ) in the ground. 5. Solar lamp ( 100 ) according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that a sealing ring ( 23 ) is arranged between the lower part ( 18 ) and the upper part ( 19 ) of the housing ( 10 ), which seal ring protects the interior ( 24 ) of the solar lamp ( 100 ) against moisture. 6. Solar lamp ( 100 ) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that below the solar cell ( 11 ), over an entire cross section of the housing ( 10 ), a reflective cover ( 25 ) is provided, which reduces heating of the interior ( 24 ) of the solar lamp ( 100 ) due to the effects of daylight. 7. Solar lamp ( 100 ) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the housing ( 10 ) of the solar lamp ( 100 ) has essentially an ellipsoidal, angular or other arbitrary shape. 8. Solar lamp ( 100 ) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the light guide ( 15 ) is a glass fiber rod or glass fiber guide. 9. Solar lamp ( 100 ) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the crystal ( 16 ) has a spherical, heart-shaped, triangular or any other shape. 10. Solar lamp ( 100 ) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the surface of the crystal ( 16 ) is partially provided with opaque areas ( 26 ). 11. Solar lamp ( 100 ) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the light guide ( 15 ) and/or the crystal ( 16 ) is colored. 12. Solar lamp ( 100 ) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the light guide ( 15 ) is permanently connected to the crystal ( 16 ). 13. Solar lamp ( 100 ) according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the light guide ( 15 ) is firmly but reversibly connected to the housing ( 10 ) and/or the crystal ( 16 ). 14. Solar lamp ( 100 ) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that differently colored light can be emitted by the light-emitting diode ( 14 ) of the lighting means ( 13 ). 15. Solar lamp ( 100 ) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the circuit ( 17 ) of solar cell ( 11 ), energy storage ( 12 ) and lighting means ( 13 ) comprises an intelligent circuit. 16. Solar lamp ( 100 ) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the lighting means ( 13 ) contains several light-emitting diodes ( 14 ), light guides ( 15 ) and crystals ( 16 ). 17. Solar lamp ( 100 ) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the solar lamp ( 100 ) contains more than one housing ( 10 ), in particular in order to store the energy storage device ( 12 ) separately from the remaining part of the solar lamp ( 100 ) in an additional housing ( 10 ).