LED luminaire thermal management system
View Patent ↗A thermal management system for led luminaires that, in certain embodiments, includes a heat sink, a heat-dissipating pipe, a base plate, a variable speed air-cooling element, an air-directing structure, a temperature measuring element, and a driver that includes at least one of thermal sensing response logic, light-emitting dimming control logic, fan speed control logic and air-cooling element malfunction detection logic. In some instances, the heat sink includes a plurality of fins coupled to a base plate. In some instances, one or more heat-dissipating pipes extend partially inserted along the length of the base plate and outwardly away from an end of the base plate. In some embodiments, an LED PCB assembly is coupled to the base plate. In some embodiments, fan speed variability, LED dimming, or both are engaged in combination with heat transfer and dissipation associated with the heat sink and the one or more heat-dissipating pipes.
1 . A thermal management system for an LED luminaires, comprising:
a programmable driver comprising a thermal-sensing response logic, a light-emitting dimming control logic, an air-cooling element speed control logic, and an air-cooling element malfunction detection logic;
a temperature measuring element electrically coupled to the programmable driver; and
a variable-speed air-cooling element electrically coupled to the programmable driver, the variable-speed air-cooling element comprising an air intake portion located proximal to the programmable driver.
2 . The thermal management system of claim 1 , wherein the temperature measuring element comprises a thermistor thermally coupled to a printed circuit board of the LED luminaire.
3 . The thermal management system of claim 1 , wherein the variable-speed air-cooling element comprises an air-directing structure configured to direct airflow from the air intake portion across a housing portion of the programmable driver.
4 . The thermal management system of claim 1 , wherein the light-emitting dimming control logic of the programmable driver is configured to reduce a power output level to one or more light-emitting diodes of the LED luminaire upon detection of an air-cooling element malfunction by the air-cooling element malfunction detection logic.
5 . The thermal management system of claim 4 , further comprising a second variable-speed air-cooling element electrically coupled to the programmable driver, wherein the variable-speed air-cooling element comprises a first variable-speed air-cooling element, and wherein upon detection of a malfunction of the first variable-speed air-cooling element by the air-cooling element malfunction detection logic, the air-cooling element speed control logic is configured to increase a speed of the second variable-speed air-cooling element and the light-emitting dimming control logic is configured to reduce a power output level to one or more light-emitting diodes of the LED luminaire.
6 . The thermal management system of claim 1 , further comprising an optical element positioned adjacent to a light-emitting diode of the LED luminaire.
7 . The thermal management system of claim 6 , wherein the optical element comprises a PMMA focal lens.