US patent number 6,846,093 entitled "Modular mounting arrangement and method for LEDs" has been issued to Permlight Products, an LED lighting product manufacturer.
The patent covers the company's thermal management techniques to increase brightness in LED systems for signage, safety, and architectural applications without adversely affecting lifetime, allowing for a very low cost solution to be produced.
Specifically, the patent claims the following:
"A modular LED mounting configuration is provided including a light source module having a plurality of pre-packaged LEDs arranged in a serial array. The module includes a heat conductive body portion adapted to conduct heat generated by the LEDs to an adjacent heat sink.
"A heat conductive adhesive tape connects the LED module to the mount surface. As a result, the LEDs are able to be operated with a higher current than normally allowed. Thus, brightness and performance of the LEDs is increased without decreasing the life expectancy of the LEDs.
"A plurality of such LED modules can be pre-wired together in a substantially continuous fashion and provided in a dispenser, such as a roll or box. Thus, to install a plurality of such LED modules, a worker simply pulls modules from the dispenser as needed, secures the appropriate number of modules in place, and connects the assembled modules to a power source."
This application is a continuation of US application Ser. No. 09/948,338, which was filed on Sep. 5, 2001, now US Pat. No. 6,578,986, and which claims priority to US application Ser. No. 60/301,951, which was filed on Jun. 29, 2001.
"This new patent claims both serial and parallel configuration of LED systems," said Manuel Lynch, president and CEO of Permlight Products. "We shipped over 100 miles of these products in 2004 marking a major milestone in the channel letter and architectural lighting market that is now accepting LEDs as a viable light source."
Lynch continued, "We believe our patented techniques of thermally managing LEDs in an application is the cornerstone to providing the market with low cost, high performance, and reliable lighting systems."
