JPS609769Y2 - Reinforced dimmer - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a high-strength light control body using an electrochromic substance (EC).

Conventionally, blinds, curtains, and the like have been used as light control bodies for blocking light rays, but they are troublesome to open and close, and a light control body that allows finer adjustment is desired.

In recent years, liquid crystal display devices (LCD), electrochromic display devices (ECD), etc. have attracted attention as devices that perform display by electro-optically shielding light rays, and there are various ideas for using these devices as light control devices. Proposed.

Among these, liquid crystal has the advantage that the liquid crystal layer is thin,
The use of polarizing films has disadvantages such as insufficient weather resistance and low transmittance during transmission, difficulty in maintaining a constant substrate gap, and disadvantages that liquid crystals are sensitive to heat and ultraviolet rays. Not put into practical use.

ECD, which is a display using EC, has a slow response speed compared to LCD, and repeated coloring and decoloring causes decolorization and decolorization failure, and has a lifespan of only about 1015 to 107 times, which is equivalent to seconds on a clock. Although it has the disadvantages of not being able to display images, it has the advantage of good contrast, does not consume electricity and has memory properties other than coloring and fading, but it is hardly put into practical use at present. Not yet.

However, the drawbacks of these ECDs do not pose much of a problem when used as a light control body that is not a display body.

In other words, a response speed of a fraction of a second is essentially meaningless for a light control body, and a response speed of several seconds to several minutes is usually sufficient, and the lifespan due to repeated coloring and decoloring is limited to one day. There is no problem because it can withstand practical use after decoloring about 40,000 times and 1σ to 1 (llP times).

Furthermore, the advantages of EC, such as good contrast and the fact that no electricity is required except for coloring and decoloring, can be utilized as is.
Like liquid crystal, the substrate gap can be controlled very easily as long as the EC and the counter electrode are not short-circuited, so it is easy to manufacture as a light control body.

Based on these findings, the present inventor has already made several proposals regarding the structure of a light control body.

However, in terms of practical use of EC dimmers, in addition to the coloring and decoloring performance, ECD
Problems that did not require much consideration were discovered in the case of LCDs and LCDs.

In other words, dimmers generally have a large area and are often used in openings, and are susceptible to damage due to shock during installation, damage due to thermal expansion, distortion caused by cooling, damage due to flying objects such as stones and balls, damage caused by animals, etc. There is a risk of damage due to collisions between humans and various tools, and damage due to wind and rain.Dangers such as electrolyte scattering and electrode exposure may occur in addition to glass scattering due to breakage.

For this reason, the inventor of the present invention aimed at an EC light control body with good light control performance that is easy to install while preventing such drawbacks. In a light control body in which a back glass substrate on which a counter electrode is formed is laminated via an electrolyte, the compressive stress on the surface of at least one of the front glass substrate and the back glass substrate is 100 kg/crl! This is a light control body characterized by having the above glass substrate.

The light control body of this invention has a weight of 100 kg/kg on the surface of the glass periphery.
Since it contains a compressive stress of more than cIft, damage is less likely to occur during work when installing the light control body.

Ordinary glass can withstand shocks of several hundred kg/cJ, and there is almost no problem with normal installation work, but since the dimmer has two glass substrates sealed at the periphery, distortion occurs in the periphery. However, by reinforcing the periphery, this installation work becomes easier.

In addition, this seal is prone to distortion due to expansion and contraction due to direct sunlight and cooling at night, and is more prone to sudden breakage during use than ordinary glass plates. Since this weak peripheral area is reinforced, it is less likely to be damaged.

Furthermore, in a light control body, the glass of the fixed seal part is likely to be distorted due to external force or wind pressure, etc.
In this invention, as mentioned above, the peripheral part is reinforced, so it is less likely to be damaged, and because of the use of EC, the difference in density due to coloring and decoloring is high, the coloring density can be set steplessly, and power consumption is low. It has the advantage of

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a basic configuration example of a light control body of the present invention.

A transparent electrode 2 is formed on the entire inner surface of the front glass substrate 1, and an electrochromic material layer 3 such as WO3 is further formed thereon.

A transparent electrode 5 is also formed on the entire surface of the inner surface of the back glass substrate 4, and the periphery of the back glass substrate and front glass substrate is sealed with a sealing material 6, and an electrolyte 7 is filled inside.

At least one of the front glass substrate and the back glass substrate, preferably both, are made of glass having a compressive stress of 100 kg/cft or more at least on the surface of the peripheral portion of the glass.

Since the light control body has seals and electrode extraction parts on the periphery, it is prone to distortions that do not occur with ordinary glass plates, and extremely careful work is required during installation. Manual force of glass by applying compressive stress 500-700 kg/CFI!
It can be done with almost no breakage and can be handled with the same degree of care as regular glass plates.

In particular, by applying a compressive stress of 200 kg/cit or more, manual damage is hardly necessary.

This peripheral reinforcement requires a minimum seal width of the light control body.

However, it is safer to make the width at least twice the width of the seal.

Note that the seal width of a normal light control body is about 10 to 2 oTgn for a light control body of about 90 cm square, and the reinforcing width is also about 10 to 2 oTgn.
The number of questions is 0 or more, preferably 20 to 40 rran or more, and compressive stress may be applied to the entire surface to improve the overall strength, but productivity will decrease.

For this reason, when the purpose is to prevent damage due to collisions of stones, birds, etc. near the center of the glass plate, it is preferable to use glass with compressive stress applied to the entire surface.
Especially 500kg/cr! By using glass with the above properties, it is possible to obtain approximately twice the strength, and even if it breaks, it will not produce sharp glass fragments.

However, this type of full-scale reinforcement is difficult to achieve the damage prevention effect described above unless it generates high compressive stress, which reduces productivity. In this case, it is preferable to apply compressive stress only to the peripheral area, usually 100 kg/cn.
! More preferably, the pressure should be 200 kp/cft or more, and compressive stress can be applied very easily at about 100 to 400 kg/a.

In addition, when compressive stress is applied only to the periphery, it is assumed to be equal to or greater than the seal width, but if the seal width is set to 50 wIL with a relatively soft seal, it may be less than the seal width, so the minimum It is only necessary to apply compressive stress of about 10 mm.

For this reason, it is usually necessary to apply compressive stress to a width wider than the seal width, about 10 to 100 m.

The transparent electrodes formed on the front glass substrate and the back glass substrate can normally be made of Ir1203, 5r102 type materials, but any electrode that is transparent and can supply sufficient power for coloring/decoloring the EC is sufficient. does not show a specific method for taking out the leads, but it is also possible to shift the board a little to a different level and take out the leads from the transparent electrode that extends outside the seal, as in the case of LCDs and ECDs, or to attach pins to the board. It is also possible to add through holes to the LCD,
It is also possible to integrally form some kind of connector, plug, etc., which are not used in a thin type device such as an ECD, but can be used in a floating type device such as a light control body.

As for the EC provided on the front glass substrate, WO3 is listed as a typical example, but there are also ECs that absorb at least part of the visible light range when colored and do not absorb in the visible light range when decolorized. It can be used if

It should be noted that the material may be colored or decolored, or may change color due to a change in electric potential instead of being colored or decolored.

Further, the transparent electrode on the back glass substrate does not need to be formed on the entire surface, and may be laminated with an EC material that does not absorb in the visible light region due to changes in potential.

In the present invention, the expressions "front" and "back" are used for convenience, but this is merely for the purpose of distinction, and either side may face the outside.

The sealing material may be any material as long as it does not adversely affect the EC and the electrolyte and is not eroded by the electrolyte, and may be appropriately selected from epoxy resin, fluororesin, silicone resin, MMA resin, glass frit, and the like.

Also, since it is not small like normal ECDs and LCDs, the seal width can be 5wn or more, so conventional ECDs,
It is also possible to use materials that are not strong enough for LCDs, and the seal part has a three-layer structure of a seal material, a plate spacer, and a seal material between the substrates, or a concave type with a thicker peripheral part. The substrate may be used for sealing.

Various known electrolytes can be used as the electrolyte to be injected inside, as long as it can color or erase the color of EC, including those made by adding lithium perchlorate to the organic solvent used in general ECDs, etc. The organic solvent or adhesive polymer compound that the present inventors have already proposed has coloring, decolorizing,
It may be appropriately selected from those containing additives that improve responsiveness and the like.

Specific examples include alcohols with 3 or more carbon atoms, amide solvents, propylene carbonate, etc., chelating agents such as acetylacetone, ethylenediamine, dimethylglyoxime, oxalic acid, thiosalicylic acid, etc., which have the ability to promote coloring, and decolorizing agents. tribromoacetic acid, C)′l, which improves
Br3, I2. which improves low voltage drivability and response. Li
I, monoiodoacetic acid, NH4I, etc. as necessary.
There is one in which 1 or more of X IQ-3 mol/1 is added.

Alternatively, a solvent containing a supporting electrolyte and a suitable Redox system may be used.

Instead of the organic solvent, a gel-like solution of a polymer having polar groups and adhesive properties such as polyvinyl butyral, polyacrylic acid, polyvinyl alcohol, etc. can also be used.

In addition, glass fibers, alumina particles, glass beads, etc. are placed between the substrates to narrow the gap and prevent short circuits.
Place spacer material such as plastic film.

An adhesive may be used to form a dotted, linear, or other sealing portion within the substrate to keep the distance between the substrates constant.

In this way, the EC light control body of the present invention can be applied to residential windows, vehicle windows, partitions, showcases, advertising bodies, and various other fields where light control performance is required.

In addition, removing a partial EC or using a different type of EC,
Applications such as partially configuring an ECD and using it for a clock or various displays are also possible.

Example 1 As a glass substrate, a 90 cm square glass plate with a thickness of 4771771 mm was heated, and the compressive stress on the entire surface of the glass was set to 1000 to 9/c1N by an air cooling method, and In2O3 was vacuum-deposited on this. Furthermore, the front glass substrate was vacuum-deposited with WO3, the front glass substrate and the back glass substrate were sealed with epoxy resin to a width of 1 ha, and the electrolyte was 0.1 m01 of thiosalicylic acid in butyl alcohol.
//, tribromoacetic acid Q, Q5mol/J, Li1
A light control body was prepared by injecting 1 mol// of Q.

The strength of this light control body is far superior to that of one using a general glass plate, and even when subjected to a destructive test, it did not break into small pieces or produce sharp glass fragments.

Of course, the coloring/decoloring performance was good.

Example 2 A light control body was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the surface of the peripheral part of the glass was made to have a width of 307 m and a compressive stress of 300:9/cd.

This light control body did not break even if it was handled a little roughly during installation, and its coloring/decoloring performance was also good.

In this way, the reinforced dimmer of the present invention has good dimming performance, consumes no power except when coloring or decoloring, and has excellent safety against damage when installing and using the dimmer. Various applications are possible.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an example of the basic configuration of the present invention. 1... Front glass substrate, 4... Back glass substrate.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] ■ In a light control body in which a front glass substrate on which an electrochromic material layer is formed on a transparent electrode and a back glass substrate on which a transparent counter electrode is formed are laminated via an electrolyte, the front glass substrate At least one of the glass substrates and the back glass substrate has a bottom line stress of 100k at least on the surface of the peripheral area of the glass.
g/c7I! A reinforced light control body characterized by having the above glass substrate. 2. The strengthened light control body according to claim 1, wherein the width of the surface of the peripheral portion of the glass where the compressive force is applied is greater than or equal to the seal width of the light control body. 3. The reinforced light control body according to claim 2, which has a compressive stress of 200 kg/ad or more.