JP2000150143A - Electoroluminescence element - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an EL element moldable to a desired shape depending on desire. SOLUTION: This electroluminescence element 11 has an insulation layer 2 and a luminous layer 3 between an upper electrode layer 4 and a lower electrode layer 1. In addition, the element 11 has an upper protection film 5 on the upper electrode layer 4 and a lower protection layer 6 beneath the lower electrode layer 1. Regarding the element 11 so formed, a plurality of upper electrode terminal pieces 4a are formed on the peripheral end of the upper electrode layer 4, and a plurality of lower electrode pieces 1a are formed on the peripheral end of the lower electrode layer 1. In addition, the terminal pieces 4a and 1a are alternately arranged so as to be adjacent to each other.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an electroluminescent (hereinafter, referred to as EL) element used as a planar (two-dimensional) light source for various electronic devices and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an EL element can be formed into a thin film by arranging film electrodes on both sides of a thin phosphor layer. Not only devices and light sources for electronic equipment,
Recently, it has been used for design materials such as various signs such as signboards and wind displays.

[0003] Such an EL element is conventionally known, for example, as shown in FIG.
It has a structure as shown in FIG. That is, the lower electrode layer 1,
An insulating layer 2 is provided on the lower electrode layer 1, a light emitting layer 3 is provided on the insulating layer 2, an upper electrode layer 4 is provided on the light emitting layer 3, and an upper protective film 5 and a lower An EL element 7 having a lower protective film 6 below the electrode layer 1 is usually used.

In order to cause the EL element 7 to emit light, it is necessary to apply a voltage between the upper electrode layer 4 and the lower electrode layer 1. 1, it is necessary to draw a lead wire for connecting the power supply. Then, for example, in the case of the EL element 7 having a cross section as shown in FIG. 6, for example, from the portion a, b, c, or d of the portion circled in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, it is usual to select one or two places as a terminal portion.

For example, FIG. 8 shows a case where a lead wire is soldered to a position shown in FIG. 7B. For this purpose, as shown in FIG. 8, an upper electrode terminal piece 4a must be formed on the upper electrode layer 4, and a lower electrode terminal piece 1a must be formed on the lower electrode layer 1. However, in this case, since the upper electrode terminal piece 4a and the lower electrode terminal piece 1a vertically overlap, the lead wire from the upper electrode terminal piece 4a and the lower electrode terminal piece 1a are electrically insulated so as not to contact with each other. There is a need to. Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, it is conceivable to form an extension piece 2a having a special shape such as a T-shape on the insulating layer 2 and dispose it on the lower electrode terminal piece 1a. There is a disadvantage that the processing of the piece 2a is very complicated.

Further, as can be understood from FIGS. 7 and 8, since the terminal portion for connection to the power supply is basically provided at one place, a flat EL element is cut into a desired shape. , This terminal cannot be removed and cut.
There is also a disadvantage that the shape at the time of cutting the element is inevitably restricted, and the EL element cannot be cut to a desired shape.

FIG. 9 shows, for example, a case where a lead wire is drawn from the positions a and b in FIG. 7, in which the lower electrode layer 1 has a lower electrode terminal piece 1a and the upper electrode layer 4 has an upper electrode terminal piece 4
a, respectively, so that both terminal pieces 1a and 4a do not overlap one another as shown in FIG. In this case, unlike the case of FIG. 8, it is not necessary to form a specially-shaped extension piece 2a or the like on the insulating layer 2, but basically, it is necessary to remove the terminal portion and cut the planar EL element. However, the disadvantage that an EL element having a desired shape cannot be obtained is the same as that in FIG.

[0008]

As described above, in the case of the conventional EL element 7, it is necessary to employ a special insulating method in the terminal portion for connection to the power supply, and furthermore, it is not possible to cut it into a desired shape. For this reason, there are inconveniences such as restrictions in applying various designs.

Therefore, if a surface light emitting device that can be cut freely and does not require special insulation treatment can be provided, the application of the surface light emitting device is greatly expanded, and the effect on the industry is immense.

[0010] An object of the present invention is to provide a surface light emitter that can be cut into a free shape and does not require special insulation treatment.

[0011]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has an insulating layer and a light emitting layer between an upper electrode layer and a lower electrode layer, and an upper protective layer is provided on the upper electrode layer. An electroluminescent device having a film and a lower protective film below the lower electrode layer, wherein a plurality of upper electrode terminal pieces are provided on a peripheral portion of the upper electrode layer, and a plurality of lower electrode terminals are provided on a peripheral portion of the lower electrode layer. An electrode terminal strip is formed, and the upper electrode terminal strip and the lower electrode terminal strip are arranged adjacent to each other.

According to such a configuration, the upper electrode layer and the lower electrode layer have a plurality of upper electrode terminal pieces and lower electrode terminal pieces at the peripheral portion, respectively. Are arranged adjacent to each other. Therefore, the lead-out position of the power supply connection lead wire, which has been conventionally limited to a specific portion such as a rectangular corner, can be set to an arbitrary position. As a result, the EL element can be cut from anywhere. Processing into a free shape becomes possible. At this time, it is desirable that the upper electrode terminal pieces and the lower electrode terminal pieces are alternately adjacent to each other.

The EL element of the present invention has a feature that all or a part of each of the upper electrode terminal pieces and each of the lower electrode terminal pieces are exposed, so that a lead wire drawing process such as soldering is performed. Can be easily performed. At this time, if the upper electrode terminal piece and the lower electrode terminal piece are backed and held by either the upper protective film or the lower protective film,
There is no risk of deformation such as bending of the upper and lower terminal pieces.

In the EL device of the present invention, the upper protective film or the lower protective film may have a notch for peeling to expose all or a part of each of the upper electrode terminal pieces and each of the lower electrode terminal pieces. Since it has the feature of being formed, the upper electrode terminal piece and the lower electrode terminal piece can be easily exposed as needed by peeling off the edge of the upper protective film or the lower protective film at the cut. In addition, since it is sufficient to peel off either one end of the upper protective film or the lower protective film, the upper electrode terminal piece and the lower electrode terminal piece are held in a state of being lined with the other protective film that has not been peeled. As a result, there is no possibility that the upper electrode terminal piece and the lower electrode terminal piece are bent or deformed, and the lead wire drawing process such as soldering can be easily performed.

Further, in the EL element of the present invention, an extension piece extending outward from a periphery of the upper electrode terminal piece or the lower electrode terminal piece may be integrated with the insulation layer at a periphery of the insulation layer. Since it has the feature of being formed, electrical insulation between the upper electrode layer and the lower electrode layer can be more reliably performed.

[0016]

(First Embodiment) A first embodiment of the present invention.
The embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. However,
FIG. 1A is a plan view of the EL device of the present invention, and FIG.
Is a sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of FIG.

First, an example of the basic structure of the EL element according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the cross-sectional view of FIG. 1B, and then the upper electrode terminal piece, the lower electrode terminal piece, and other characteristic parts will be described. Will be described.

First, the basic structure of the EL element 11 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1B, it is the same as the conventional one (see FIG. 6). In FIG. 1B, reference numeral 1 denotes a lower electrode layer, 2 denotes an insulating layer formed by being laminated on the lower electrode layer 1, 3 is a light emitting layer formed by being laminated on the insulating layer 2, 4 is a transparent upper electrode layer,
5 is an upper protective film laminated on the upper electrode layer 4,
Reference numeral 6 denotes a lower protective film laminated below the lower electrode layer 1.
At this time, the order of lamination of the insulating layer 3 and the light emitting layer 4 may be changed.

The lower electrode layer 1 is made of, for example, silver (A
g), carbon (C), or aluminum (Al). The insulating layer 2 is made of an electrically insulating material. Light emitting layer 3
Are, for example, zinc sulfide (ZnS), cadmium sulfide (C
It is formed by adding copper, silver, manganese, a fluoride of a rare earth element, or the like, which forms a light emission center, to a fluorescent substance such as dS). The upper electrode layer 4 is transparent and is made of, for example, ITO (indium tin oxide). The upper protective film 6 and the lower protective film 6 may be, for example, a transparent plastic such as polyethylene (PE) or polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

Next, in FIG. 1A, 1a is a lower electrode terminal piece, 4a is an upper electrode terminal piece, 5 is the above-mentioned upper protective film, and 6 is the above-mentioned lower protective film. FIG.
In (a), 2 is an insulating layer, and 3 is a light emitting layer. FIG.
As shown in (a), a plurality of rectangular upper electrode terminal pieces 4a are formed on the periphery of the upper electrode layer 4, and a plurality of rectangular lower electrode terminal pieces 1a are also formed on the periphery of the lower electrode layer 1. . In consideration of insulation, these rectangular upper electrode terminal pieces 4a and lower electrode terminal pieces 1a are alternately arranged at regular intervals, and the upper electrode terminal pieces 4a and the lower electrode terminal pieces 1a do not overlap each other. In this manner, the upper electrode terminal pieces 4a and the lower electrode terminal pieces 1b are arranged with a certain gap therebetween.

FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view that illustrates this situation. When the insulating layer 2 is disposed between the upper electrode terminal piece 4a and the lower electrode terminal piece 1a, the upper electrode terminal piece 4a and the lower electrode terminal piece 1a may partially overlap in the vertical direction. As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the upper protective film 5 has substantially the same rectangle as the upper electrode layer 4 not including the upper electrode terminal pieces 4a, and the lower protective film 6
Is to cover the entire lower electrode terminal strip 1a and the lower electrode layer 1 from the lower surface side.
a and each of the lower electrode terminal pieces 1a are exposed to facilitate soldering of the power supply connection lead wire.
In consideration of soldering, on the contrary, the lower protective film 6 is made substantially the same rectangular shape as the lower electrode layer 1 not including each lower electrode terminal piece 1a, and the upper protective film 5 is used to form each upper electrode terminal piece 4a. Alternatively, the entire upper electrode layer 4 may be covered from the upper surface side.

Therefore, according to the first embodiment, a plurality of upper electrode terminal pieces 4a and lower electrode terminal pieces 1a are formed on the peripheral portions of the upper electrode layer 4 and the lower electrode layer 1, respectively, and are alternately adjacent to each other. Since the power supply connection lead wire is not limited to a specific portion such as a rectangular corner as in the related art, the power supply connection lead wire can be set at an arbitrary position. As a result, the EL element 11 can be cut into a free shape as desired from anywhere, and the degree of freedom in design can be greatly expanded, and the application range thereof can be expanded.

In addition, unlike the related art, it is not necessary to apply a special shape processing only to a specific portion of the insulating layer 2, and electrical insulation between the upper electrode layer 4 and the lower electrode layer 1 is easily and more reliably performed. be able to.

Although FIG. 1A illustrates the EL element 11 having a rectangular shape, the shape of the EL element is not particularly limited. For example, the EL element may have another shape such as a circle. Further, the upper electrode terminal piece 4a and the lower electrode terminal piece 1
As shown in FIG. 1A, a may be provided only on a part of the upper side, for example, in addition to being provided over the entire side of the rectangle.

Further, a film (for example, PET) may be provided between the upper protective film 5 and the upper electrode layer 4.
This film can also be used as a design film having a predetermined design, and therefore may be formed by color printing, and the shape is not specified. further,
A transparent film (for example, PET) may be provided between the lower protective film 6 and the lower electrode layer 1.

(Second Embodiment) A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, an extension piece 2a extending outward from each upper electrode terminal piece 4a is formed on a peripheral portion of the insulating layer 2, and an upper electrode layer including each upper electrode terminal piece 4a when viewed from above. The insulating layer 2 is exposed outside the peripheral edge of the insulating layer 4. Further, as shown by the dashed line in FIG. 2, the upper protective film 5 has substantially the same rectangle as the upper electrode layer 4 that does not include each upper electrode terminal piece 4a, as in the first embodiment described above. The lower protective film 6
Each of the lower electrode terminal pieces 1a and the entire lower electrode layer 1 is covered from the lower surface side.

Therefore, according to the second embodiment, since the peripheral edge of the insulating layer 2 is exposed as shown in FIG. 2, it is possible to reliably perform electrical insulation when a lead wire is drawn out by soldering or the like. Become. Also, since each lower electrode terminal piece 1a is covered from below by the lower protective film 6, not only each lower electrode terminal piece 1a but also each upper electrode terminal piece 4a is lined and held by the lower protective film 6, and these Terminal strip 1a,
The inconvenience that the 4a is bent can be prevented.

Here, the insulating layer 2 is connected to each upper electrode terminal piece 4a.
By making the shape slightly larger than the rectangular outer shape obtained by connecting the outer peripheral edges of the insulating layer 2, the peripheral portion of the insulating layer 2 can be exposed as described above. Further, each upper electrode terminal piece 4a may be exposed, and an insulating layer may be separately formed on the lower peripheral edge thereof using an electrically insulating material.

Also, contrary to FIG. 2, an extension piece 2a extending outward from each lower electrode terminal piece 1a is provided on a peripheral portion of the insulating layer 2.
So that the insulating layer 2 is exposed outside the periphery of the lower electrode layer 1 including each lower electrode terminal piece 1a when viewed from below, and the upper protective film 5 is formed by the upper electrode layer 4 and each upper electrode terminal piece. A lower protective film 5 covering the entirety of the lower electrode layer 4a and having substantially the same rectangle as the lower electrode layer 1 not including the respective lower electrode terminal pieces 1a may be provided.

Further, as a modified example, as shown in FIG.
Upper electrode terminal piece 4a and lower electrode terminal piece 1a in FIG.
It is effective to increase the distance between the electrodes and to further increase the insulation.

(Third Embodiment) A third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 12 denotes a notch for peeling off the end of the upper protective film 5, which is formed to expose the upper electrode terminal piece 4a, and is formed of a groove having a V-shaped cross section. The depth is set so as not to reach the lower surface of the upper protective film 5. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the end portion 13 covering the upper electrode terminal piece 4a is formed.
By peeling off, the upper electrode terminal piece 4a and the lower electrode terminal piece 1a are exposed.

Therefore, according to the third embodiment, the end portion 13 of the upper protective film 5 can be easily peeled off immediately before use, and in the state before that, the upper and lower electrodes are formed by the two protective films 5 and 6. The layers 4, 1, the insulating layer 2, and the light emitting layer 3 can be reliably protected to prevent them from being damaged during transportation or the like.

At this time, the end portion 13 may be peeled so as to expose all of the upper electrode terminal piece 4a and the lower electrode terminal piece 1a, or may be peeled so as to expose only a part thereof. Needless to say, it is only necessary to expose at least a portion where the lead wire can be soldered to the upper electrode terminal piece 4a and the lower electrode terminal piece 1a.

The cut 12 is not limited to a groove having a V-shaped cross section, but may be a groove such as a perforation. Further, for the purpose of facilitating peeling, a tension tag may be attached to the end 13 of the upper protective film 5. Further, such a cut may be formed only on the lower protective film 6 side, or a cut may be formed on both the upper protective film 5 and the lower protective film 6.

Then, a PET film having a road sign design or a railway sign design such as a station name display panel or a time display panel is laminated on the upper layer of the EL element 11 of the present invention as described above, or an upper electrode is formed. By arranging a design film having such a design between the layer 4 and the upper protective film 5, it is possible to obtain a light-emitting film for a road traffic sign or a railway sign. By providing a PET film or a design film on which an advertisement for various events is designed, a luminescent film for a commercial advertisement can be obtained.

Therefore, in such a light-emitting film, the upper electrode terminal piece 4a and the lower electrode terminal piece 1b at any positions can be selected and connected to the driving power source. The inconvenience of having to leave as a configuration can be eliminated, and the degree of freedom in design can be greatly expanded. For example, by selecting the upper electrode terminal piece 4a and the lower electrode terminal piece 1b near the center of the upper side in FIG. 1 and connecting the lead wires, a circle, a cloud, a triangle having an arbitrary angle, or the like is selected according to preference. It is possible to create design films of any shape.

The shapes of the upper electrode terminal piece and the lower electrode terminal piece are not limited to rectangles as in the above embodiments, but may be triangular or semicircular. .

Further, the upper electrode terminal pieces and the lower electrode terminal pieces need not be adjacent to each other alternately as in the above-described embodiments. For example, the upper electrode terminal pieces and the lower electrode terminal pieces may be adjacent to each other in the order of upper part, lower part, lower part, and upper part. I do not care.

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications other than those described above can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0041]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the lead-out position of the power supply connection lead wire is not limited to a specific portion such as a rectangular corner as in the prior art.
The EL element can be set at any position, and as a result, the EL element can be cut into any desired shape from anywhere, which is suitable for road traffic signs, railway signs, and light-emitting films for commercial advertising. In addition, it is possible to provide a film material having various light-emitting functions and a very high degree of freedom in design, and it is possible to greatly expand industrial uses.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, all or a part of each of the upper electrode terminal pieces and each of the lower electrode terminal pieces are exposed, so that lead wire drawing processing such as soldering can be easily performed. It can be carried out.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the edge of the upper protective film or the lower protective film can be peeled off at the cut, only the upper electrode terminal piece and the lower electrode terminal piece are required. It can be easily exposed.
Also, since it is sufficient to peel off either one end of the upper protective film or the lower protective film, the upper electrode terminal piece and the lower electrode terminal piece will be held by the other protective film that has not been peeled off, There is no possibility that the upper electrode terminal piece and the lower electrode terminal piece are bent or deformed, and lead wire drawing processing such as soldering can be easily performed.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, an extension piece extending outward from the periphery of the upper electrode terminal piece or the lower electrode terminal piece is integrated with the insulation layer at the periphery of the insulation layer. Due to the formation, electrical insulation between the upper electrode layer and the lower electrode layer can be more reliably performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1A and 1B show a first embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 1A is a plan view and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view.

FIG. 2 is a partial plan view of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partial plan view of a modification of the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a state in a part according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view in a partially different state in a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a general EL element.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a lead wire drawing position in the related art.

FIG. 8 is a plan view illustrating a conventional lead wire drawing process.

FIG. 9 is a plan view illustrating another example of a conventional lead wire drawing process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Lower electrode layer 1a Lower electrode terminal piece 2 Insulating layer 3 Light emitting layer 4 Upper electrode layer 4a Upper electrode terminal piece 5 Upper protective film 6 Lower protective film 11 EL element 12 Notch 13 Edge

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] December 27, 1999 (1999.12.
27)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims

[Correction method] Change

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[Claims]

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[0011]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has an insulating layer and a light emitting layer between an upper electrode layer and a lower electrode layer, and an upper protection layer is provided on the upper electrode layer. An electroluminescent device having a film and a lower protective film below the lower electrode layer, wherein a plurality of upper electrode terminal pieces are provided on a peripheral portion of the upper electrode layer, and a plurality of lower electrode terminals are provided on a peripheral portion of the lower electrode layer. Electrode terminal pieces are respectively formed, the upper electrode terminal piece and the lower electrode terminal piece are arranged adjacent to each other ,
Each of the upper electrode terminals is provided on the upper protective film or the lower protective film.
All or a part of the lower electrode terminal piece
A notch for peeling is formed .

[Procedure amendment 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0012

[Correction method] Change

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According to such a configuration, the upper protective film or
Is the lower protective film, each upper electrode terminal strip and each lower electrode terminal
Stripping notch to expose all or part of the piece
Has the characteristic of being formed,
The upper protective film or the lower protective film at the end
Requires upper and lower electrode terminal strips.
And can be easily exposed. Also, the upper protective film or
Should be peeled off one end of the lower protective film
Therefore, the upper electrode terminal piece and the lower electrode terminal piece are not peeled off.
Held by the other protective film
As a result, the upper electrode terminal piece and the lower electrode terminal piece
There is no danger of deformation such as bending.
The wire lead-out process can be easily performed. Furthermore, the EL element
Cut from anywhere to any shape you like
Can be used for road traffic signs, railway signs and other commercial advertising
Has various light-emitting functions suitable for light-emitting films, etc.
Providing film materials with a very large degree of freedom in design
And greatly expand industrial applications.

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[0041]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention , the upper protective film or the lower protective film is formed at the cut.
End of the upper electrode terminal strip.
And the lower electrode terminal strip can be easily exposed as necessary.
Will be possible. Either the upper protective film or the lower protective film
It is sufficient to peel off one end, so that the upper electrode terminal piece and
And the lower electrode terminal strip are covered with the other
The upper electrode terminal strip and the lower electrode end
There is no danger of deformation such as bending of the child piece.
Can easily perform lead wire extraction processing such as
To make the EL element into any shape you like from anywhere
Can be cut, starting with road traffic signs, railway signs
Various luminescence suitable for luminous film for commercial advertisement
It has a function and a very large design flexibility.
LUM material can be provided, a great deal of industrial use
Expansion can be achieved.

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Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An electroluminescent device having an insulating layer and a light emitting layer between an upper electrode layer and a lower electrode layer, having an upper protective film on the upper electrode layer and a lower protective film below the lower electrode layer. An element, wherein a plurality of upper electrode terminal pieces are formed on a peripheral portion of the upper electrode layer, and a plurality of lower electrode terminal pieces are formed on a peripheral portion of the lower electrode layer, respectively. An electroluminescent element, wherein an electrode terminal piece is disposed adjacent to the electrode terminal piece. 2. The electroluminescent device according to claim 1, wherein all or a part of each of the upper electrode terminal pieces and each of the lower electrode terminal pieces is exposed. 3. A cutout for exposing all or a part of each of the upper electrode terminal pieces and each of the lower electrode terminal pieces is formed in the upper protective film or the lower protective film. The electroluminescent device according to claim 1, wherein 4. An extended piece extending outward from a peripheral edge of the upper electrode terminal piece or the lower electrode terminal piece is formed integrally with the insulating layer at a peripheral portion of the insulating layer. The electroluminescent device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein