Flexible LED lighting strips for auto, fashion flash
LightForm strips are available in red, amber, green, and blue (although that really looks like purple to us), with white currently in development.
(Credit: Grote Industries)Flexible LED lighting strips could mean flash in unexpected places. Grote Industries' LightForm flexible LED lighting film, which just became commercially available, is ultrathin and ultrapliable, meaning it can be bent around corners and over contoured areas and maneuvered into various shapes. It can also be cut to fit while lit and slid into narrow crevices and between panels and trim.
The LED strips can be sewn directly into fabric.
(Credit: Grote Industries)Grote mainly envisions the strips being used for vehicle lighting (along carpet edges, floor vents, and window openings; inside trunks; and as ambient lighting under dashboards and seats) or sewn into fabric--say, for LED dresses and doggie porcupine costumes (too bad we found out about this just after Halloween). We're sure creative types will be able to think of plenty of other possibilities, though.
The strips, introduced at the 2009 SEMA auto trade show in Vegas Wednesday, measure 10 inches long, half an inch wide, and less than 1 millimeter thick. They're expandable: up to three, 10-inch segments can be connected, providing up to 30 inches of red, amber, green, or blue LED lighting.
LightForms come with a peel-and-stick adhesive backing that sticks to clean metal, acrylic, polycarbonate, and fiberglass surfaces. And they're hardy enough to withstand hammer blows, as well as extreme humidity, heat, and cold, according to the maker--potentially good news if you live in Fargo, N.D., and plan to trick out your car/garage/clothing in January.
We've contacted Grote for pricing information and will add that as soon as we hear back.
A nice look, but let's not get too carried away here.
(Credit: Grote Industries)
Leslie Katz, senior editor of CNET's Crave, covers gadgets, games, and most other digital distractions. As a co-host of the CNET News Daily Podcast, she sometimes tries to channel Terry Gross. E-mail Leslie. 
Maplins sells similar on a roll, with sticky backing
try
maplins.co.uk
Today, most flexible LED lighting products originate off-shore and are based on comparatively primitive flexible circuit board technology. Flexible circuit boards are bulky, can?t be cut to precise lengths and add significant dimension (LightForm is less than 1 millimeter thick). Flexible circuit boards are also less resilient and are unavoidably filled with bulky resisters and other failure points all along their length.
So, don?t get confused when looking for flexible LED lighting products.
You just unroll your screen from a tube. Add a touch sensitive film on it and you get a portable PC.
How is this new again???
Developed by Grote Industries, a global leader in vehicle and transportation lighting, LightForm flexible LED lighting film is manufactured and rigorously tested in the United States. LightForm is the first branded product of its kind and is backed by over a century of Grote?s experience and integrity.
- by r_f_ashley November 9, 2009 7:49 AM PST
- LightForm? flexible LED lighting film is different from more common ?flexible circuit board? lighting (like those on Maplin's site) in a number of important ways.
- Like this Reply to this comment
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(6 Comments)Today, most flexible LED lighting products originate off-shore and are based on comparatively primitive flexible circuit board technology. Flexible circuit boards are bulky, can?t be cut to precise lengths and add significant dimension (LightForm? is less than 1 millimeter thick).
Flexible circuit boards are also less resilient and are unavoidably filled with bulky resisters and other failure points all along their length.
So, don?t get confused when looking at flexible LED lighting products.