JPH0636947Y2 - Electrochromic display card - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention provides the display characteristics and memory function of an electrochromic display (hereinafter abbreviated as ECD) device that exhibits reversible coloring and decoloring upon application of a voltage. Regarding the ECD card used.

[Conventional technology]

Magnetic cards such as bank cards, telephone cards, orange cards, and credit cards that use magnetic recording are widely used. In recent years, attempts have been made to incorporate a display device for displaying recorded contents and the like on these magnetic cards.

However, these magnetic cards have a thickness of 0.188mm to 0.475.
Since it is as thin as mm, it is difficult to incorporate a liquid crystal display, an electroluminescence display and a light emitting diode display into the magnetic card. In addition, the magnetic card is made of a material having flexibility so that it can be bent to some extent in handling, and the display such as a liquid crystal display having almost no bending resistance is incorporated in such a card. This impairs the flexibility of the card and significantly reduces the handleability.

For these displays, the ECD element is for displaying by color development of a solid layer composed of an electrochromic material, and since it is possible to construct a structure that is thin and flexible, It is expected that this card will be used as an indicator.

Conventionally, as a card incorporating an ECD element, there is known a card in which the ECD element is laminated on a card substrate and the surface thereof is covered with a protective film made of a transparent film. However, in these known ECD cards, the electrode terminals of the ECD element and the input electrodes exposed on the surface of the card are connected by linear wiring. Therefore, such an ECD card is low in reliability because the wiring connecting the ECD element and the input electrode is likely to be interrupted due to bending. Therefore, even if the ECD element has flexibility, it is difficult to fully utilize the flexibility.

[Means for solving problems]

The inventors of the present invention, in the card incorporating the ECD element,
We have conducted research to develop a method of connecting the electrode terminals of the ECD element and the input electrodes, which has high durability against bending of the card. As a result, the electrode terminal of the ECD element is formed by patterning the transparent electrode layer directly laminated on the transparent film, the transparent film in which the electrode terminal is located is pierced, and the input electrode is directly provided, The inventors have found that this object can be achieved and completed the present invention.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited to these accompanying drawings. First
The drawing is a perspective view showing a partial cross section of a typical embodiment of the ECD card of the present invention.

That is, the flexible ECD card according to the present invention comprises a transparent film 1; an electrochromic display element 2 comprising a transparent electrode layer 4, an electrochromic layer 5, an electrolyte layer 6 and a counter electrode layer 7; A card in which the card substrates 3 having the electrochromic display element are sequentially laminated, and the electrode terminals 8 of the electrochromic display element are arranged at arbitrary positions by patterning the transparent electrode layer 4, and the transparent film 1 is penetrated from the electrode terminals 8. And the input electrode 11 is exposed.

In the present invention, the transparent film 1 is not particularly limited as long as it is flexible and has a transparent film portion at least in the display portion. For example, polyethylene terephthalate film, polyether sulfone film, polysulfone film and the like are preferably used. The material of the transparent electrode layer 4, which is one of the layers forming the ECD element, is transparent and conductive, and may be used without particular limitation. For example, indium oxide doped with tin oxide, oxide semiconductors such as tin oxide, zinc oxide, titanium oxide, cadmium oxide, and cadmium tin oxide, with a thickness of 50Å
The following conductive metals such as gold and silver are preferably used. As shown in FIG. 1, the display portion of the transparent electrode layer 4 is patterned according to the characters, numbers, figures, etc. to be displayed. The transparent conductive layer may be formed by a known method such as sputtering or vacuum deposition. The thickness of the transparent electrode layer 4 is 30
~ 1000Å is common.

The electrochromic layer 5 may be a layer containing an electrochromic substance that exhibits reversible coloring or decoloring when a voltage is applied. As the electrochromic substance, for example, amorphous tungsten oxide is most representative, but other organic dyes, metal complexes, transition metal compounds, organic polymer, etc., which have recently been studied as EC substances are appropriately adopted. It is preferable to pattern the electrochromic layer 5 in the same pattern as the display portion of the transparent electrode 4 in order to prevent display bleeding. The electrochromic layer can be formed by a known method such as sputtering, vacuum deposition, electrolytic plating or the like. The thickness of the electrochromic layer is preferably 1000 to 10000Å.

As the electrolyte that constitutes the electrolyte layer 6, any known electrolyte can be used without any limitation. For example, the system of propylene carbonate or putyl lactone and lithium perchlorate:
Mention may be made of electrolytes such as those of the glycerin, urea and paratolusulfonic acid. In addition, it is preferable to use a flexible solid electrolyte in order to give good flexibility to the ECD element. For example, in addition to known materials such as vapor deposited films of tantalum oxide, those in which an electrolyte substance is dispersed in a polymer, specifically, polyalkylene oxide having a molecular weight of 1000 or more, an electrolyte substance such as alkali perchlorate is dispersed. It is preferable to use a polymer having an ion exchange group, for example, an ion exchanger as the electrolyte.

Like the electrochromic layer, the electrolyte layer 6 is preferably patterned in the same pattern as the display portion of the transparent electrode layer 4. The thickness of the electrolyte layer is preferably 0.1 to 5000 μm.

The portions other than the pattern of the display section are preferably patterned with a non-conductive material such as silicon oxide.

As the material of the counter electrode layer 7, known materials can be used. Examples thereof include indium oxide, indium oxide-tin oxide film (ITO film), amorphous tungsten oxide, iron complex, transition metal compound-carbon sintered body and manganese oxide. The counter electrode in the present invention includes, in addition to the well-known electrodes described above, those having two layers of an electrochromic layer and a transparent conductive layer and functioning as an electrode. The counter electrode layer 7 is the electrolyte layer 6 to be laminated thereon.
It is preferable that the pattern is continuously provided as shown in FIG. 1 in order to reduce the number of electrode terminals taken out to the transparent electrode layer 4 described later and to simplify the structure. The counter electrode layer can be formed by a known method such as sputtering, vacuum deposition or printing. The thickness of the counter electrode is 0.1 to 300
0 μm is preferable. An ink in which a metal such as aluminum, chromium, nickel, copper, gold, silver, or platinum; carbon, an oxide semiconductor, or the like is dispersed in a synthetic resin in order to apply a current evenly to the counter electrode layer. The electron conductive layer 16 made of, for example, may be laminated.

In the present invention, the transparent electrode layer 4 of the ECD element 2 is patterned with the electrode terminals 8 and 8'as well as the pattern of the display portion. The pattern of the electrode terminal 8 is continuously patterned with each pattern of the display section. The pattern of the electrode terminal 8'is electrically connected to the counter electrode layer 7 or the electronic conductive layer 15 described above. Such connections are conductive layers
It is preferable to carry out via 12. Examples of the conductive layer include silver paste, carbon paste, copper paste, nickel paste, and anisotropic conductive adhesive.

Further, in the electrode terminal 8 thus formed, the input electrode 11 is exposed from the electrode terminal 8 through the transparent film 1. The means for exposing the input electrode 11 is not particularly limited. For example, it is common to provide a through hole 9 at a position where the electrode terminal 8 of the transparent film 1 is located, and attach the input electrode 11 with the conductor 10 interposed in the through hole 9. The size and shape of the through hole 9 are the same as the size of the electrode terminal 8.
It cannot be unconditionally limited depending on the shape of the conductor 10 or the like, but a size of 0.2 to 3 mm is generally suitable. The mode of interposing the conductor 10 in the through hole 9 is not particularly limited, but a method of plating the inside and the periphery of the through hole with a metal such as gold, silver, copper, aluminum, nickel, chromium, platinum, silver paste, etc. Method of injecting conductive paste, input electrode
Examples include a method of inserting a pin-shaped conductor integrated with 11. Further, the input electrode 11 may be formed by the above-mentioned plating or the like, but as another mode, there is a method of forming a metal such as aluminum into a rivet shape and caulking it. The thickness of the exposed part of the input electrode is 5000Å ~
100 μm, particularly 1 to 50 μm is preferable. Further, in order to improve the electrical reliability of the input electrode terminal 11, it is preferable to plate or coat with a metal having a low corrosive property such as gold, platinum and silver-palladium.

In the present invention, the known card substrate 3 is used without particular limitation. Generally, a substrate having a thickness of 0.005 to 3 mm and made of plastic such as polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl chloride, polysulfone, polyether sulfone, and polyimide is used.

Laminated between the card substrate 3 and the transparent film 1
The ECD element 2 does not need to be present on the entire surface of the card board,
Rather, it is generally present in a part thereof as shown in FIG. In this case, it is preferable to interpose the spacer 13 at a position where the ECD element 2 does not exist.

Incidentally, 14 is an insulator, and non-conductive plastic such as epoxy resin is generally used. Further, the film 16 may be provided if necessary.

[Action and effect]

In the ECD card of the present invention, by patterning the electrode terminals on the transparent electrode layer of the ECD element, the electrode terminals are integrated with the ECD element by a planar joint, so that the electrical connection is reliable and bending is easy. It has durability. Moreover,
Since the electrode terminals are directly laminated on the transparent film on the surface of the card and the input electrodes are exposed by penetrating the thin transparent film, the length of the connecting portion is extremely short, which has an influence on the bending of the card. It has the characteristic of being difficult to receive.

Therefore, the ECD card of the present invention has extremely high reliability in handling the ordinary card.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a partial cross section of a typical embodiment of the ECD card of the present invention. 1 ... Transparent film, 2 ... ECD element, 3 ... Card substrate, 4 ... Transparent conductive layer, 5 ... Electrochromic layer, 6 ... Electrolyte layer, 7 ... Counter electrode layer, 8, 8 '... … Electrode terminal, 9… Through hole, 10… Conductor, 11… Input electrode, 12… Conductive layer, 13… Spacer, 14… Insulator,
15: Electronic conductive layer, 16: Film.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A card in which a transparent film; an electrochromic display element comprising a transparent electrode layer, an electrochromic layer, an electrolyte layer and a counter electrode layer; and a flexible card substrate are sequentially laminated, the electrochromic display. A flexible electrochromic display card in which the electrode terminals of the device are arranged at arbitrary positions by patterning the transparent electrode layer and the input electrodes are exposed from the electrode terminals through the transparent film.