Angled emitter channel letter lighting

A lighting unit, comprising:

• a housing;
• a printed circuit board (PCB) mounted within said housing and having a plurality of tabs and having a plurality of light emitting elements on said tabs, said tabs and light emitting elements angled in relation to the remainder of said PCB, an electrical signal applied to said light emitting elements causing them to emit light substantially away from said housing;
• and
• a sealant within said housing, filling the cavity around said PCB and cavities around said light emitting elements.

A channel letter lighting system, comprising:

• a channel letter housing;
• a translucent channel letter cover;
• a plurality of electrically connected lighting units mounted to said channel letter housing;
• conductors to provide an electrical signal to each of said units, wherein each of said units comprises:
• a lighting unit housing;
• a printed circuit board (PCB) mounted within said lighting unit housing and having a plurality of tabs and said tabs having a plurality of light emitting elements, said tabs and said plurality of light emitting elements angled in relation to the remainder of said PCB, said electrical signal applied to said light emitting elements, causing them to emit light substantially away from said housing;
• and
• a sealant filling the surrounding area of said PCB within said housing, said sealant also filling all other cavities or voids within said housing without covering said light emitting elements.

A method for fabricating a lighting unit, comprising:

• providing a housing with an opening;
• providing a printed circuit board (PCB) having a plurality of tabs and having a plurality of light emitting elements on said tabs;
• mounting said PCB within said housing;
• providing a shaped plate;
• angling said tabs and light emitting elements angled in relation to the remainder of said PCB by inserting said shaped plate into said housing such that said shaped plate pushes at least a portion of said tabs and light emitting elements out of the opening of said housing;
• and
• providing a sealant within said housing by filling the cavity around said PCB, shaped plate, and cavities around said light emitting elements.