A new packaging approach in which the COB array is manufactured separately from the plastic body is one of the innovative aspects of Bridgelux’s latest family of LED arrays. Livermore, California-based Bridgelux has unveiled the Vero LED array family, which offers “new advancements in design flexibility, ease of use, and energy efficiency,” says the company. Vero is also intended to be a platform that will enable future integration opportunities for smart sensors and wireless communication technology.
Compared with existing Bridgelux LED arrays, the Vero family offers an increase in lm/W by up to 20%, a higher flux density, and a simplified assembly process that streamlines manufacturing and improves overall system reliability.
Fig. 1.
The Vero platform will be available in four form factors (Fig.1) with performance ranging from 800 lm in warm white (3000K) up to 20,000 lm in cool white (5000K). There will be multiple CCT and CRI options, including the 97 CRI Decor product option. The Vero platform is currently being evaluated by Bridgelux customers and will be broadly commercially available in the first quarter of 2013.
The company says that the new Vero platform will allow manufacturers to “dramatically reduce electronic and optical component inventories.” Also, broad input current ranges allow designers to optimize products on efficiency, cost, and light output.
Packaging and connectivity
One immediately noticeable aspect of the Vero platform is that the products are manufactured in two parts, with the COB array made separately from the plastic body (see Fig.2). However, the two parts are sold together as the Velo product customers, although the customer must buy the connectors separately.
There are a number of advantages in this approach. The MCPCB is smaller in size, and can be manufactured with greater throughput and capacity, says Bridgelux. Also, the same plastic body is used for each array of a particular size, irrespective of CCT or CRI.
Fig. 2.
More of the manufacturing process – building the COB arrays and combining them with the molded-plastic component – is automated. The array-body configuration also makes it easier to add functionality in future, for example smart sensors or wireless-communication chips.
“The Vero product is manufactured using highly automated processes to reduce cost, and can be easily upgraded for the smart applications of the future,” said Jim Miller, chief sales and marketing officer of Bridgelux. “The Vero array offers our customers the manufacturing and design capabilities they need to open up new design possibilities, while ultimately driving faster adoption of LED lighting.”
Another major feature is improved flexibility for the electrical connection, which can be made either via a solderless on-board connector provided by Molex or using the solder pads on the plastic body (as shown in Fig.2). Soldering is considerably easier because the solder pads are thermally isolated from the MCPCB and heat sink.
Array details
The COB architecture has been redesigned so that the chips sit in a radial pattern rather than on a square grid. This improves the optical fill and light-beam quality. Overall, the products have much higher lumen density than current parts. The diameter of the circular light-emitting surface (LES) varies from 10 mm to 29 mm, as shown in Fig.1.
Bridgelux has designed the Vero product to run at “industry-standard” currents e.g. 350, 500, 700 or 1000 mA. Higher-voltage operation has been enabled by re-designing the circuit configuration of the chips. At these current values, the Vero arrays are compatible with a wide variety of standard drivers.
The Vero arrays are also compatible with a wider range of optical components. All of this provides manufacturers with greater flexibility and more options than normal, shortening product development times, lowering inventory requirements and reducing costs, says Bridgelux.
About the Author Tim Whitaker is an Editorial Consultant with LEDs Magazine.
