The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 14, 1999
Filed:
Jun. 17, 1997
Henrick A Zabawski, Arlington Heights, IL (US);
Robert R Kornowski, Schaumburg, IL (US);
Chong S Kim, Naperville, IL (US);
Chris L Tsakiridis, Chicago, IL (US);
Daniel R Schroeder, Carol Stream, IL (US);
Matthew A Stahl, Des Plaines, IL (US);
Lumex, Inc., Palatine, IL (US);
Abstract
An apparatus and method of manufacture for a light source housing apparatus. The housing is insert molded around a plurality of electrically separated leads and defines a cavity. A portion of each lead is exposed along a bottom surface of the housing. Two or more leads have terminal portions near a rear surface of the housing. A lead, which can be used to protect against electrostatic discharge, is also mounted along a front face of the housing and terminates at a ring portion which defines an opening that is aligned with the cavity. The opening of the ring portion is preferably sized and shaped to correspond to an outer peripheral surface of a lens, lightpipe or other optical media, so that the lens can be inserted through the ring portion and into the cavity. A light source, such as an LED, is mounted within a cutout of the housing. The housing is manufactured using lead sets each having pre-formed leads indexed by a leadframe through an injection mold to form the housing around each lead set. After the insert molding process at least a portion of the leadframe is removed to electrically isolate the leads. If used with surface mount technology, the housing is preferably self-aligning.