LED apparatus and method for accurate lens alignment

A method for assembly of an LED-apparatus, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a mating feature on a mounting board which has at least one LED device thereon, the mating feature being one of the protrusion and a complementary hollow;
• providing a lens-aligning member having front and back surfaces, the back surface having an alignment feature being the other of the protrusion and a complementary hollow positioned and arranged for engagement with the mating feature of the mounting board;
• providing at least one lens member on the front surface of the lens-aligning member, the at least one lens member corresponding to the at least one LED device;
• aligning the lens-aligning member with the mounting board by placing the lens-aligning member between the lens member and the mounting board such that the alignment and mating features engage one another, thereby aligning the lens member over the LED device and establishing a light path therebetween;
• and
• securing the lens-aligning member with respect to the mounting board.

A method for assembling custom LED-array modules of the type including a plurality of separate lens members each configured for a specific type of light distribution, and a plurality of LED devices spaced from one another on a mounting board, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a mating feature on the mounting board, the mating feature being one of the protrusion and a complementary hollow;
• providing a lens-support member having front and back surfaces, the back surface having an alignment feature, being the other of the protrusion and a complementary hollow, the alignment and mating features being positioned and arranged for engagement with one another;
• determining a desired light distribution of the LED-array module;
• selecting specific type(s) of the lens members to achieve the desired light distribution;
• positioning the selected lens members on the front surface of the lens-support member;
• verifying the type and orientation of each lens member;
• attaching each lens-member to the front surface of the lens-support member;
• aligning the lens-support member with the mounting board through engagement of the alignment and mating features by placing the lens-support member between the lens member and the mounting board such that each lens member substantially surrounds LED device;
• and
• securing the lens-support member with the lens members attached thereto with respect to the mounting board,
• thereby achieving alignment of each lens member over a respective one of the LED devices while accommodating different desired light-distribution patterns.