Illuminated signage employing light emitting diodes

An illuminated sign comprising:

• a channel letter housing defining at least one channel;
• and
• a flexible lighting strip secured within the channel of the channel letter housing, the flexible lighting strip including:
• a flexible electrical power cord including spaced apart parallel conductors in an insulating sheath, the spaced apart parallel conductors in the insulating sheath defining a cord plane arranged transverse to a surface of the channel to which the flexible lighting strip is secured,
• a plurality of LEDs, and
• a plurality of connectors each supporting at least one LED, the connectors being spaced apart along the flexible electrical power cord and connected therewith, each connector including prongs that pierce the insulating sheath to connect with conductors of the flexible power cord to deliver electrical power from the flexible electrical power cord to the at least one LED.

An illuminated sign comprising:

• a channel letter housing defining at least one channel;
• a flexible lighting strip secured within the channel of the channel letter housing, the flexible lighting strip including:
• a flexible lighting strip including at least two strip branches defined by two flexible electrical power cords each including spaced apart parallel conductors in an insulating sheath,
• a plurality of LEDs, and
• a plurality of connectors each supporting at least one LED, the connectors being spaced apart along the flexible electrical power cord and connected therewith, each connector including prongs that pierce the insulating sheath to connect with conductors of the flexible power cord to deliver electrical power from the flexible electrical power cord to the at least one LED;
• a power supply disposed outside of the channel letter housing for delivering power to the flexible lighting strip;
• and
• a splice connector electrically connecting the two flexible electrical power cords of the flexible lighting strip.

An illuminated sign comprising:

• a channel letter housing defining at least one channel;
• a flexible lighting strip secured within the channel of the channel letter housing, the flexible lighting strip including:
• a flexible electrical power cord including spaced apart parallel conductors in an insulating sheath,
• a plurality of LEDs, and
• a plurality of connectors each supporting at least one LED, the connectors being spaced apart along the flexible electrical power cord and connected therewith, each connector including prongs that pierce the insulating sheath to connect with conductors of the flexible power cord to deliver electrical power from the flexible electrical power cord to the at least one LED;
• a power supply disposed outside of the channel letter housing for delivering power to the flexible electrical power cord of the flexible lighting strip;
• and
• a power connector by which the power supply is connected with the flexible electrical power cord, the power connector being arranged between two of the connectors that are spaced apart along the flexible electrical power cord.

An illuminated sign comprising:

• a channel letter housing defining at least one channel;
• a flexible lighting strip secured within the channel of the channel letter housing, the flexible lighting strip including:
• a flexible electrical power cord including two or more ends and including spaced apart parallel conductors in an insulating sheath,
• a plurality of LEDs, and
• a plurality of connectors each supporting at least one LED, the connectors being spaced apart along the flexible electrical power cord and connected therewith, each connector including prongs that pierce the insulating sheath to connect with conductors of the flexible power cord to deliver electrical power from the flexible electrical power cord to the at least one LED;
• a power supply disposed outside of the channel letter housing for delivering power to the flexible electrical power cord of the flexible lighting strip;
• and
• a power connector by which the power supply is connected with the flexible electrical power cord, the power connector being connected with the flexible electrical power cord at a point away from any of the two or more ends of the flexible electrical power cord.

An illuminated sign comprising:

• a channel letter housing defining at least one channel;
• and
• a flexible lighting strip secured within the channel of the channel letter housing, the flexible lighting strip including:
• a flexible electrical power cord including spaced apart parallel conductors in an insulating sheath,
• a plurality of LEDs, and
• a plurality of connectors each supporting at least one LED, the connectors being spaced apart along the flexible electrical power cord and connected therewith, each connector including prongs that pierce the insulating sheath to connect with conductors of the flexible power cord to deliver electrical power from the flexible electrical power cord to the at least one LED, each prong having a bifurcated tip that receives one of the parallel conductors of the flexible electrical power cord, the parallel conductors being multi-stranded conductors that are compressively held within the bifurcated ends of the prongs.

An illuminated sign comprising:

• a channel letter housing defining at least one channel at least a portion of which is curved;
• and
• a flexible lighting strip secured within the channel of the channel letter housing, at least a portion of the flexible lighting strip being secured in a curved configuration conforming with the at least one curved channel portion, the flexible lighting strip including:
• a flexible electrical power cord including spaced apart parallel conductors in an insulating sheath, the spaced apart parallel conductors in the insulating sheath defining a cord plane arranged transverse to a surface of the channel to which the flexible lighting strip is secured,
• a plurality of LEDs, and
• a plurality of connectors each supporting at least one LED, the connectors being spaced apart along the flexible electrical power cord and connected therewith, each connector including prongs that pierce the insulating sheath to connect with conductors of the flexible power cord to deliver electrical power from the flexible electrical power cord to the at least one LED.