CZ37701U1 - Shading device, in particular for vehicles - Google Patents

Description

Shading devices, especially for vehicles

This application claims priority from Chinese Patent Application No. 201310052008.8, filed on 02/17/2013, entitled “Shading device, vehicle containing said device and glass shielding method”, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by this reference.

Field of technology

The presented technical solution generally relates to the production and processing of glass, and more specifically to a shading device and a vehicle containing said device.

Current state of the art

Large changes in the intensity of external light can be encountered when driving a vehicle. For example, on a sunny midday, the light may be too strong. However, the light in the tunnel, on a rainy day or a dark night, can be too weak. In addition, when the driver drives towards the sunlight, which happens often, the sunlight passes through the vehicle window and shines directly into the driver's eyes. If there is a high contrast between strong and weak light in the human field of vision, it can be difficult for human eyes to recognize the information contained in the weak light. The driver may be dazzled and therefore unable to see the surroundings clearly, which may lead to traffic accidents. Therefore, shading devices are required in vehicles.

Conventional techniques use two light shielding solutions.

In the first solution, the sun visor is mounted on the upper area of the front window of the vehicle. The sun visor can be flipped down when shading is needed and flipped up when shading is not needed. In this way, the sunlight cannot directly shine on the driver's eyes, so the field of vision while driving can be improved to some extent. However, the sun visor takes up some of the interior space of the vehicle and is not aesthetically pleasing. In addition, at the expense of driving safety, the driver must manually adjust the position of the sun visor at any time according to different light conditions.

In the second solution, a plastic interlayer (such as PVB film) inserted into the upper part of the laminated windshield is colored to make the corresponding part of the windshield opaque. In this way, it is possible to prevent direct sunlight from hitting the driver's eyes, thereby achieving shading. However, because the colored plastic interlayer is fixed, the corresponding part of the windshield is opaque, even if the light is weak and there is no need to shade it. As a result, outside light cannot effectively pass through the windshield to increase the intensity of light inside the vehicle. In other words, this solution is not flexible and therefore not practical.

Similarly, shielding is also required for use with other types of glass (such as architectural glass), which means that the above disadvantages also exist.

Therefore, solutions are urgently needed for simple and effective adjustment of glass transmittance.

The essence of the technical solution

The embodiments according to the presented technical solution provide a shading device and a vehicle containing this shading device for simple and effective adjustment of glass transmittance.

According to one embodiment, a shielding device is provided, comprising:

-1 CZ 37701 UI glass;

PDLC film, i.e. a film of liquid crystal dispersed in a polymer (polymer dispersed liquid crystal) placed on a part of glass, where the part of glass corresponds to the required shielding position;

power source connected to the PDLC film; and a regulator coupled to the power source, adapted to regulate the voltage supplied to the PDLC film by the power source.

The optional shading device further includes:

a sensor placed on the glass and adapted to obtain information about the current light intensity; and a control unit connected to the regulator and the sensor and adapted to control the voltage regulation regulator according to the current light intensity information.

According to one embodiment, a vehicle is provided. The vehicle includes the shading device described above.

The glass shielding method includes:

placing the PDLC film on the glass in the corresponding desired shielding position;

obtaining information about the current light intensity; and supplying a voltage corresponding to the current light intensity information to the PDLC film.

Compared to conventional techniques, the implementation of the presented technical solution has the following advantages.

1) The PDLC film is placed on the glass in the corresponding required shielding position. The transmittance of the glass corresponding to the required shielding position can be regulated by adjusting the voltage supplied to the PDLC film. If shielding is required, a relatively low voltage can be applied to the PDLC film, so that the glass in the corresponding position has a lower transmittance value. If no shielding is needed, a relatively high voltage can be applied to the PDLC film, so that the glass in the corresponding position has a higher transmittance value. In this way, the transmittance of the glass can be adjusted in a simple and effective way and user comfort can be increased.

2) If the above shading device is used in the vehicle, the interior space of the vehicle can be saved and the aesthetics can be improved. When the outside light is relatively strong, the glass in the corresponding position can become translucent or opaque to shade the light. When the outside light is relatively weak, the glass can become transparent in the corresponding position to increase the light intensity inside the vehicle. The shielding solution is highly practical.

3) In some embodiments, information about the current light intensity can be obtained using a sensor, and the control unit is used to control the controller, according to the information about the current light intensity, to regulate the voltage supplied to the PDLC film so that the voltage supplied to the PDLC film can be adjusted automatically. Manual adjustment by the user is not necessary, which increases driving safety.

4) In some embodiments, the PDLC film liquid crystals may be doped with a dichroic dye. Therefore, when the voltage supplied by the power source to the PDLC film is 0, the PDLC film can present a color corresponding to the dichroic dye at the corresponding desired position. In this way, not only the aesthetics can be improved, but the user can also have more options for colors. The user experience can thus be improved.

Clarification of drawings

Giant. 1 schematically shows the structural diagram of the shielding device according to the embodiment of the presented technical solution;

-2 CZ 37701 UI

Giant. 2 schematically shows the first structure of a PDLC film arranged on a windshield according to an embodiment of the present technical solution;

Giant. 3 schematically shows a second structure of a PDLC film arranged on a windshield according to an embodiment of the present technical solution;

Giant. 4 schematically shows a third structure of a PDLC film arranged on a windshield according to an embodiment of the present technical solution;

Giant. 5 schematically shows the structural diagram of the shielding device according to the embodiment of the presented technical solution;

Giant. 6 schematically shows the structural diagram of the control unit in Fig. 5; and

Giant. 7 schematically shows the flow chart of the glass shielding method.

An example of the implementation of a technical solution

In order to clarify the objectives, characteristics and advantages of the technical solution, the embodiments of the technical solution will be interpreted in detail in combination with the accompanying drawings.

Many details are provided in the following description to provide a better understanding of the present technical solution. However, this technical solution can be implemented in various other embodiments. The following detailed description therefore does not limit the technical solution.

As described in the prior art section, the user can use a sun visor or colored glass to shield the light. However, the described conventional solutions have shortcomings in aesthetics or usability. The transmittance of the glass cannot be adjusted in a simple and effective way.

Accordingly, in the embodiments of the presented technical solution, a PDLC film, i.e. a film of liquid crystal dispersed in a polymer (polymer dispersed liquid crystal) is placed on the glass, while corresponding to the required position of the shielding, i.e. the position in which the shielding may be required in practice. After that, part of the information about the current light intensity is obtained, and a voltage corresponding to the information about the current light intensity is supplied to the PDLC film. The transmittance of the glass can thus be regulated in the corresponding position by adjusting the voltage supplied to the PDLC film. The above shading device is both aesthetic and practical, and the transmittance of the glass can be easily and effectively adjusted, which improves the user experience.

Next, embodiments will be illustrated with reference to the attached drawings.

Referring to Fig. 1, a shielding device according to one embodiment is provided. The shading device may include: glass 100; a PDLC film 200 placed on a portion of the glass 100. where this portion corresponds to the desired shielding position; a power source 300 coupled to a PDLC film 200; and a regulator 400 coupled to the power source 300 , adapted to regulate the voltage supplied to the PDLC film 200 by the power source 300 .

The PDLC film 200 can be made by mixing prepolymers, nematic liquid crystals, and spacer materials in a certain ratio, and then placed between two soft transparent conductive films. The working principle includes: if no electric field is applied, the liquid crystal droplets can be randomly distributed in the polymer material with free orientations of their directors. In such a case, the refractive index of the liquid crystal for ordinary lights does not match the refractive index of the polymer material, resulting in a relatively strong scattering effect on the lights, resulting in a translucent or opaque milky white appearance of the PDLC film. Under

-3 CZ 37701 UI under the influence of an electric field, liquid crystal droplets can have their directors arranged along the direction of the external electric field due to their positive dielectric anisotropic characteristic. If the refractive index of liquid crystals for ordinary lights matches the refractive index of polymer materials, the light can pass through the PDLC film, so the PDLC film will have a transparent appearance. Specifically, the greater the voltage applied to the PDLC film, the more transparent the PDLC film is.

In some embodiments, a dichroic dye may be added to the liquid crystals of the PDLC film. A dichroic dye has different rates of light absorption along different axes and thus can exhibit different colors. The orientation of dichroic dye molecules in liquid crystals may depend on the parent liquid crystal, which is well known in the art and is therefore not shown in detail here. When the voltage supplied by the power source to the PDLC film is 0, the PDLC film in the corresponding position presents a color corresponding to the dichroic dye, which improves aesthetics and also offers more options for users. The user can customize the glass in several ways, which improves the user experience.

The presented technical solution fully applies the working principles of the PDLC film 200 described above. When shielding is needed, the controller 400 regulates the power source 300 to provide a relatively low voltage to the PDLC film 200 so that the glass 100 corresponding to the PDLC film 200 becomes translucent or opaque, i.e., the glass 100 has a relatively low transmittance value. When the shielding is not needed, the controller 400 regulates the power source 300 to provide a relatively high voltage to the PDLC film 200, so that the glass 100 corresponding to the PDLC film 200 becomes transparent, that is, the glass 100 has a relatively high transmittance value. In this way, the transmittance of the glass 100 can be easily and effectively adjusted and the user experience can be improved.

For better illustration, embodiments of the application of the above-described shading device in a vehicle will be illustrated below. It should be noted that the shielding can also be used in other types of glass, such as architectural glass and the like, which does not limit the scope of the technical solution presented. If the shading device is used in the vehicle, not only the interior space of the vehicle can be saved, but also the aesthetics can be improved. When the light outside the vehicles is relatively strong, the glass mounted on the vehicle can be adjusted to be colored or translucent or opaque to shade the outside light. When the outside light is relatively weak, the glass can be set to be transparent to increase the light intensity inside the vehicle. Therefore, the shading device is practical.

In a vehicle, in some embodiments, the PDLC film may be placed on the windshield, particularly at the top of the front windshield of the vehicle, i.e., in a position where a sun visor may be arranged by conventional techniques. The shape and size of the PDLC film can be determined based on practical requirements. If the transmittance of the windshield needs to be reduced, the controller can regulate the power source to reduce the voltage supplied to the PDLC film. If the transmittance of the windshield needs to be increased, the controller can regulate the power source to increase the voltage supplied to the PDLC film.

In some embodiments, the PDLC film liquid crystals may include a dichroic dye. Consequently, when the voltage supplied to the PDLC film by the power source is 0, the windshield at the position corresponding to the PDLC film presents a color corresponding to the dichroic dye. When the voltage supplied to the PDLC film by the power source is greater than 0, the PDLC film presents a transparent state at the corresponding desired position.

In some embodiments, the PDLC film liquid crystals do not contain a dichroic dye. As a result, when the voltage supplied to the PDLC film by the power source is 0, the windshield at the position corresponding to the PDLC film exhibits a translucent or opaque state. When the voltage supplied to the PDLC film by the power source is greater than 0, the PDLC film presents a transparent state at the corresponding desired position.

In a first specific example, referring to Fig. 2, from the inside to the outside of the vehicle, the windshield may sequentially include a first glass substrate 703, a polyvinyl butyral (PVB) film 702 and a second glass substrate 701 arranged in layers, where the PDLC film 200 is attached

-4 CZ 37701 UI to the outer surface of the first glass substrate 703.

In a second specific example, referring to Fig. 3 , from the inside to the outside of the vehicle, the windshield may sequentially include a first glass substrate 804 , a first PVB film 803 , a second PVB film 802 , and a second glass substrate 801 arranged in layers where the PDLC the film 200 is placed between the first PVB film 803 and the second PVB film 802.

In a third specific example, referring to Fig. 4, from the inside to the outside of the vehicle, the windshield may sequentially include a first glass substrate 901, a polyvinyl butyral (PVB) film 902, and a second glass substrate 903 arranged in layers, where the PDLC film 200 is attached to the outer surface of the second glass substrate 903. Further, the outer surface of the PDLC film 200 may be provided with a protective layer 900. The protective layer 900 may be a waterproof film to protect the PDLC film 200 from rain or water when washing a vehicle.

The specific structures and fabrication techniques of PDLC film 200 are well known in the art and are therefore not illustrated in detail herein.

In some embodiments, the PDLC film 200 may have a thickness ranging from 0.3 mm to about 2 mm, for example, the thickness may be 0.3 mm, 0.7 mm, 1.0 mm, 1.5 mm, or 2.0 mm .

In some embodiments, the vehicle may include a power source for providing direct current, while the power source may be an alternating current source adapted to provide alternating current for the PDLC film. Therefore, in some embodiments, the shielding device may further include a DC-to-AC converter (not shown in FIG. 1 ), coupled to the power source and power supply, which is used to convert the DC power provided by the power supply to AC power.

The operating voltage provided by the power source that the PDLC film needs to maintain a transparent appearance is primarily related to the dielectric index of the polymer and liquid crystals in the PDLC film, which is well known in the art and is not shown in detail here.

Specifically, in some embodiments, the power source may provide alternating current with an operating voltage ranging from about 20 V to about 50 V, for example, the operating voltage may be 20 V, 30 V, 40 V, 50 V, and the like.

In practice, the vehicle power supply generally provides an operating voltage of 12 V. When the operating voltage provided by the power supply is not the same as the desired voltage of the power source, in some embodiments the shielding device may further include a transformer adapted to change the voltage.

In some embodiments, the controller may be operated manually or by voice control by the user to simply and effectively adjust the interior light intensity of the vehicle.

Referring to Fig. 5, compared to the structure shown in Fig. 1, in some embodiments, the shielding device may further include:

a sensor 510 located on the glass 100, adapted to obtain information about the current light intensity; and a control unit 530 connected to the sensor 510 and the controller 400 and adapted to control the controller 400 to regulate the voltage according to the current light intensity information.

Specifically, the sensor 510 may be a light intensity sensor, which may be located on the inner surface, the outer surface, or the inside of the glass 100, so that the sensor 510 can obtain information about the light intensity corresponding to where it is located.

The controller 530 may be a single-chip computer, a digital signal processor, or the like.

-5 CZ 37701 UI

Referring to Fig. 6, the controller 530 may include:

an extraction unit 531 connected to the sensor 510 and adapted to obtain light intensity information;

a memory unit 532 adapted to store corresponding relationships between various light intensity information and voltage values;

a recall unit 533 connected to an extraction unit 531 and a memory unit 532 and arranged to recall a target voltage value corresponding to light intensity information;

a receiving unit 534 connected to the controller 400 and adapted to obtain information about the current state of the controller 400 to obtain the value of the current voltage currently applied to the PDLC film;

a comparator 535 connected to the generating unit 533 and the receiving unit 534 and arranged to calculate a difference value between the target voltage value and the current voltage value; and an adjustment unit 536 connected to the controller 400 and the comparator 535 and adapted to control the controller 400 for regulation according to the difference value.

Specifically, controller 530 may operate as follows:

1) Before starting the operation of the shading device, corresponding relationships between various light intensity information and voltage values to be provided by the power source 300 are pre-stored in the memory unit 532. The voltage corresponding to the information about the current light intensity is the target voltage value that corresponds to the required level of light transmission.

2) When the sensor 510 obtains the current light intensity information, the extraction unit 531 extracts the current light intensity information from the sensor 510 and sends the current light intensity information to the developing unit 533.

3) The retrieval unit 533 retrieves from the storage unit 532 a voltage value, that is, a target voltage value corresponding to the current light intensity information, and sends the target voltage value to the comparator 535. When the controller 400 can regulate the power source 300 to provide the PDLC film 200 voltage having the target voltage value, the degree of transmittance of the glass in the corresponding position can meet the user's requirements.

4) The receiving unit 534 obtains information about the current state of the regulator 400. it then obtains the voltage value currently supplied to the PDLC film 200 by the energy source 300 and sends the obtained voltage value, i.e. the current voltage value, to the comparator 535.

5) Comparator 535 obtains the target voltage value and the current voltage value and calculates the difference value between them. If the transmittance level of the glass in the corresponding position needs to be reduced, the PDLC film must be adjusted from the transparent state to the opaque state, so the target voltage value should be lower than the current voltage value. If the transmittance degree of the glass in the corresponding position needs to be increased, the PDLC film must be adjusted from the opaque state to the transparent state, so the target voltage value should be higher than the current voltage value.

6) The adjustment unit 536 obtains the difference value from the comparator 535 and controls the regulator 400 to regulate the power source 300 so that the power source 300 can provide a voltage with a target voltage value to the PDLC film 200. When the degree of transmittance of the glass in the corresponding position needs to be reduced, the regulator 400 must ensure that the power source 300 lowers the voltage supplied to the PDLC film 200 because the target voltage value is lower than the current voltage value. When the degree of transmittance of the glass in the corresponding position needs to be increased, the controller 400 must ensure that the power source 300 increases the voltage supplied to the PDLC film 200. because the target voltage value is higher than the current voltage value.

The controller 530 controls the regulator 400 to regulate the power source 300 to provide the PDLC film 200 with the appropriate voltage, thereby obtaining the desired degree of glass transmittance

-6 CZ 37701 UI in the corresponding position.

Corresponding relationships between different light intensity and voltage information can be preset and can also be changed at any time.

It should be noted that when the sensor 510 is placed on different surfaces of the glass, it can obtain different information about the light intensity, so the corresponding voltage can be changed.

In some embodiments, the shading device may further include: an audio player 550 coupled to a controller 530. When the controller 530 controls the controller 400 for regulation, the audio player 550 may broadcast light intensity information and regulation information to the user in time.

In some embodiments, the shielding device may operate as shown in Fig. 5 as follows:

1) Sensor 510 obtains information about the current light intensity;

2) The control unit 530 obtains the current voltage value through the controller 400 and the target voltage value according to the current light intensity information; and

3) The controller 530 controls the controller 400 to regulate the power source 300 according to the difference value between the target voltage value and the current voltage value, and controls the audio player 550 to broadcast the corresponding audio information.

The sensor 510 is used to obtain information about the current light intensity, and the controller 530 is used to control the regulator 400 to automatically regulate the voltage supplied to the PDLC film 200, so that the user does not need to manually adjust the device, and driving safety can be increased.

It should be noted that in some embodiments, when the shading device as shown in Fig. 1 or Fig. 5 is used in a vehicle, the PDLC films may be placed on different pieces of glass or in different positions on the same vehicle glass. Each PDLC film can have a corresponding controller, power source and sensor. In some embodiments, multiple PDLC movies can share the same controller and audio player. In this way, according to different requirements, different degrees of transmittance can be achieved for different pieces of glass or different positions of the same glass.

Accordingly, with reference to Fig. 7, a shielding method is provided. The method may include:

Step S1, placing the PDLC film on the glass corresponding to the desired shielding position;

Step S2, obtaining information about the current light intensity; and

Step S3, supplying the voltage corresponding to the current light intensity information to the PDLC film.

In some embodiments, the PDLC film may have a thickness ranging from about 0.3 mm to about 2 mm.

In some embodiments, the PDLC film liquid crystals may be doped with a dichroic dye. As a result, when the voltage supplied to the PDLC film by the power source is equal to 0, the PDLC film at the desired shielding position presents a color corresponding to the dichroic dye. When the voltage supplied to the PDLC film by the power source is greater than 0, the PDLC film presents a transparent state at the desired position.

In some embodiments, the PDLC film liquid crystals may not contain a dichroic dye. As a result, when the voltage supplied to the PDLC film is a power source of 0, the PDLC film in the desired shielding position presents a translucent or opaque state. When the voltage supplied to the PDLC film by the power source is greater than 0, the PDLC film presents a transparent state in the desired shielding position.

-7 CZ 37701 UI

In some embodiments, the PDLC film may be placed on the surface of the glass or inside the glass.

In some embodiments, the glass may be a vehicle windshield.

In this way, the transmittance of the glass can be easily and effectively adjusted and user comfort can be increased.

Although this technical solution has been described above with reference to its preferred embodiments, it will not be limited to them. Experts in the field can modify and change the design without deviating from the essence and scope of the technical solution presented. Accordingly, without deviating from the scope of the present technology scheme, any simple modification and equivalent change falls within the protection scope of the present technology scheme.

Claims (11)

1. A shading device, especially for vehicles, characterized by the fact that it contains: - glass (100); a PDLC film (200) of a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal placed on a portion of the glass corresponding to the desired shielding position; a power source (300) associated with the PDLC film (200); and a regulator (400) connected to the power source (300), adapted to regulate the voltage supplied by the power source (300) to the PDLC film (200). 2. The shielding device according to claim 1, characterized in that the liquid crystals in the PDLC film (200) are doped with a dichroic dye, while at zero voltage supplied by the power source (300) to the PDLC film (200), the PDLC film (200) in the shielding position the color corresponding to the dichroic dye, and when the voltage is greater than zero supplied by the power source (300) to the PDLC film (200), the PDLC film (200) is transparent. 3. The shielding device according to claim 1, characterized in that at zero voltage supplied by the power source (300) to the PDLC film (200) the PDLC film (200) is translucent or opaque in the shielding position, and at a voltage greater than zero supplied by the source ( 300) energy into the PDLC film (200), the PDLC film (200) is transparent. 4. The shielding device according to claim 1, characterized in that the power source (300) is an alternating current power source for providing an operating voltage in the range from 20 V to 50 V. 5. The shielding device according to claim 1, characterized in that the PDLC film (200) has a thickness in the range from 0.3 mm to 2 mm. 6. The shading device according to claim 1, characterized in that the glass (100) successively contains, from the inside to the outside, layers of the first glass substrate (703), the film (702) made of polyvinyl butyral and the second glass substrate (701), while The PDLC film (200) is placed on the outer surface of the first glass substrate (703). 7. The shading device according to claim 1, characterized in that the glass (100) successively contains, from the inside to the outside, layers of the first glass substrate (901), the film (902) made of polyvinyl butyral and the second glass substrate (903), while The PDLC film (200) is placed on the outer surface of the second glass substrate (903) and is provided with a protective layer (900) on its outer surface. 8. The shading device according to claim 1, characterized in that the glass (100) successively contains, from the inside to the outside, layers of the first glass substrate (804), the first film (803) of polyvinyl butyral, the second film (802) of polyvinyl butyral and a second glass substrate (801), wherein the PDLC film (200) is positioned between the first polyvinyl butyral film (803) and the second polyvinyl butyral film (802). 9. The shading device according to claim 1, characterized in that it further contains: a sensor (510) placed on the glass (100) and adapted to obtain information about the current light intensity; and a control unit (530) connected to the regulator (400) and the sensor (510) and adapted to control the regulator (400) to regulate the voltage according to the current light intensity information. -9 CZ 37701 UI 10. A shading device according to claim 9, characterized in that the control unit (530) contains: an extraction unit (531) connected to the sensor (510) and adapted to obtain information about the current light intensity; a memory unit (532) adapted to store corresponding relationships between various light intensity information and voltage values; a recall unit (533) connected to the extraction unit (531) and the memory unit (532) and adapted to recall the target voltage value corresponding to the current light intensity information from the memory unit (532); a receiving unit (534) connected to the controller (400) and adapted to obtain information about the current state of the controller (400) to obtain the value of the current voltage supplied to the PDLC film (200); a comparator (5 3 5) connected to the developing unit (5 3 3) and the receiving unit (5 34) and adapted to calculate a difference value between the target voltage value and the current voltage value; and an adjustment unit (536) connected to the regulator (400) and the comparator (535) and adapted to control the regulator (400) to regulate the voltage according to the difference value. 11. The shading device according to claim 9, characterized in that it further comprises an audio player (550) connected to the control unit (530), adapted to present corresponding light intensity information and regulation information when the control unit (530) controls the regulator ( 400) for voltage regulation.