JPS61129626A - Electrochromic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve an electrical reliability between an electrode and a fitting part of a lead wire, thereby increasing a yield of production and also to prevent a deterioration of a cell and to ensure a sealing of the titled apparatus by forming an electrode which coats a specific portion of the fitting part of the lead wire fixed on a tapered end surface of pair substrates. CONSTITUTION:In the titled apparatus in which an electrolyte is interposed between two substrates facing each other, and at least one of said two substrates provides an electrode and the fitting part of the lead wire supplying a voltage to the electrode from an external power source, and also the layer of electrochromics is formed on at least one of the substrates. the electrode 93 is formed on at least one of the two substrates by coating the specific portion of the fitting part of the lead wire 92 fixed on an end surface of the tapered substrate 91 with a specific angle.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an electrochromic (hereinafter abbreviated as rECJ) device.

[Prior art] EC for display devices, dimming windows, dimming mirrors, etc., using EC substances that cause ion exchange reactions to occur when an electric field is applied to suppress the coloring and fading phenomenon.
equipment is used. Generally, as shown in a cross-sectional view in FIG. 2, an EC device is constructed by sandwiching an electrolyte 3 between two opposing substrates 1 and 2. Electrodes 4 and 5 are formed on the surfaces of the two substrates 1 and 2, and the electrodes 4 and 5 are formed on the end surfaces.
5 ~ Apply voltage from outside e”b t h 1, 1- wire 6
,7. A belt-shaped lead wire attachment portion 8.8 is formed.

Also, an EC material layer is formed on at least one of the two substrates 1 and 2! O is formed. In addition, two boards 1.2
The ends of the substrate 1 are sealed with sealants 11 and 12, and the substrate 1
．． The peripheral sealing material 13, 14 covers the end faces of the two.

C Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the conventional EC device, as is clear from FIG. 2, the electrode 4.5 and the lead wire attachment portion 8.9 are in line contact, and the electrode 4.5 is in line contact with the lead wire attachment portion 8.9. 5 is usually indium oxide-tin oxide (
Since a transparent conductive thin film such as ITO) is used, the film thickness is extremely thin, for example, about 2000, and the contact area with the lead wire attachment portion 8.9 is extremely small. Therefore, sufficient contact between the electrodes 4 and 5 and the lead wire attachment parts 8 and 8 is maintained.

However, depending on the location, there may be point contact or disconnection, making it impossible to obtain sufficient reliability in electrical connection.

Conventional EC devices usually use glass as the substrate 1.2, and after cleaning a glass plate (for example, square size) as it is, the above-mentioned ITO thin film (or even tungsten oxide, etc.) is used. The EC material layer 10) was vacuum-deposited and then cut into a predetermined size, for example, 10 cm x 10 cm square, so that a lead wire attachment portion 8.8 and lead wires 6 and 7 were formed on the end face.

Therefore, in this way, the electrodes 4 and 5 (and the EC material layer 1
0) formed with the sealing material 11.
During the process from step 12 to sealing and cell formation, dirt from workers' hands and fingers was likely to adhere, resulting in a poor production rate.

Also, lead wire attachment portions 8 formed on the end surfaces of the substrates 1 and 2.
8 usually uses glass solder, but since the glass solder is welded to the end face of the substrate 1.2 while applying ultrasonic vibration, the fine powder of the glass solder is scattered by the ultrasonic vibration. The phenomenon of adhesion to the surfaces of the electrodes 4 and 5 and the EC material layer 10 was observed. Once this fine glass solder powder has adhered, it is difficult to remove it, and even by methods such as high-pressure nitrogen gas injection, it is difficult to remove it, causing cell deterioration.

Furthermore, the third II! As shown in i, solder for glass is applied to substrate 1.
When the lead wire attachment part 17 is formed by welding to the end face of the substrate 15, the glass solder protrudes above and below the substrate 15, creating protruding parts 17a and 17b, and when the substrate 15 is formed into a cell with a counter substrate. In addition, since the cell gap between the substrates is usually about 504 m and extremely narrow, the protruding portion 17
There were cases where a came into contact with the counter electrode, causing a short circuit.

The peripheral sealant 13.14 is an epoxy adhesive or the like, but since the substrate 1.2 was placed facing each other and sealed with the sealant 11.12, it was applied to the end surface of the substrate 1.2. As is clear from FIG. 2, it was formed to bulge from the end face of the cell and was easily peeled off due to expansion and contraction due to heat and vibration, resulting in poor sealing reliability.

The present invention was made in order to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks of conventional EC devices, and it has high reliability in electrical connection between electrodes and lead wire attachment parts, improves production stoppages, and reduces cell deterioration. It is an object of the present invention to provide an EC device with a complete cell seal, which does not cause accidents such as sheets between opposing electrodes.

c. Means for Solving Problems] The EC device of the present invention is composed of an electrolyte sandwiched between two opposing substrates, and the two substrates have electrodes and a voltage is applied to the electrodes from the outside. In an electrochromic device, the device has a lead wire attachment portion, and an electrochromic material layer is formed on the electrode of at least one substrate,
The two substrates are characterized in that electrodes are formed to cover predetermined portions of lead wire attachment portions fixed to end faces of the substrates tapered at a predetermined angle.

A cross-sectional view of a typical configuration example of the EC device according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 1. Hereinafter, the EC device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the typical configuration example shown in FIG.

The substrates 20 and 21 are made of glass, plastic, etc., and their end surfaces are as shown in partial cross-sections in FIGS. 4 and 5.
It is tapered at a predetermined angle α. Taper angle α is less than 10° L80', good; IL < Ha30
For handling purposes or ■T.

The height DE in FIG. 85, which is desirable for forming electrodes such as
It can be arbitrarily set depending on the thickness of the layer 1.

It is desirable that the ends A, B, C, D, and E of the substrates 41.51 be formed with roundness for the following reasons.

That is, in parts A and C, the electrodes formed by covering the lead wire attachment parts on the surface and end face of the substrate 41, 51 are not bent sharply, and electrical and mechanical continuity is maintained.

In the portions B, D, and E, as shown in the partial cross-sectional view of FIG. electrical and mechanical continuity is maintained.

It is possible to prevent the so-called "hammer cut" phenomenon in which the ends of the substrates 2o, 21Jjl, and ss are damaged in a shell-like manner.

For the above reasons, it is desirable that the ends A, B, C, D, and E be rounded.

The roughness of the end surface of the tapered substrates 2G, 21, 41.51 (surface A9 in FIGS. 4 and 5) is as follows:
It is desirable for the lead wire attachment portions 22 and 23 to be polished to a polishing depth of 5 lpm or less, preferably 5 lpm or less, particularly 1pm or less.

A strip-shaped lead wire attachment portion 22.23 for attaching lead wires 24.25 is fixed to the end surface of the substrate 20.21. In an EC device, the driving current is larger than that in a liquid crystal display device, etc., so a strip-shaped low resistance conductor is fixed to the entirety of at least one end surface of the substrate 20.21 as the lead wire attachment portion 22.23. This keeps the potential the same.

For such lead wire attachment parts 22 and 23, in addition to the aforementioned glass solder, a metal vapor deposition film, metal foil, etc. may be used, or a metal plated by a plating method such as electroless plating may be applied to the end surface. It may be formed by depositing it in a field, or it may be formed by applying a conductive adhesive such as silver paste to the end surface.

When using solder for glass, use one with a melting point of 170°C or higher to withstand the high temperatures when depositing a transparent conductive thin film such as ITO as the electrode 28.27.
It is particularly preferable to use C or higher.

Further, as shown in a partially sectional view in FIG.

The upper end surface F of the lead wire attachment part 62 does not need to protrude above the surface of the substrate 61, but the electrodes 2B, 2? In order to improve the electrical and mechanical continuity of the electrodes 26 and 27 during vapor deposition, the lead wire attachment portion 6 is
The upper end surface F of the substrate 7 is polished with a file having a roughness of about 400 to 800, as shown at point G in the partial cross-sectional view of FIG.
1 and the upper end surface of the lead wire attachment portion 72 are preferably made to be a continuous surface.

The lead wire attachment parts 22, 23.62 are connected to the board 20, 21.8.
Although electrodes of the thin film may be formed only on one end surface of the electrode 1, electrodes of the thin film may be formed on the other end surface or all other end surfaces because the resistance value is generally large, so it is preferable in terms of reliability and responsiveness.

Lead wire 24 that applies voltage to the electrodes 28 and 27 from the outside
, 25, 73.83 are thin metal wires made of copper, nickel, etc., and as shown in the partial cross-sectional views of FIGS. 7 and 8, the tapered surfaces of the substrate 20, 21, 71.
1.81 back side lead wire attachment parts 22, 23, 72.8
Fixed to 2.

The electrodes 26 and 27 are metal thin films such as gold, copper, platinum, etc.
A transparent conductive film such as O or tin oxide is used. conductive ai28
．． 27 is formed on the surface of the substrate 20.21 so as to cover a predetermined portion of the lead wire attachment portion 22.23. At this time, as shown in the partial cross-sectional view of FIG. 9, the tip of the lead wire attachment portion 92 is formed slightly lower than the surface of the substrate 81
The electrode θ3 is placed so as to cover the upper surface of the lead wire attachment portion 92.
By forming the electrode 93 on the end surface of the substrate 81, the electrode 93 will not swell, and there is no fear of short circuit with the counter electrode.

The electrodes 28 and 27 may be formed by a vacuum evaporation method, or may be formed by a known method such as an eratin h sub-screen printing method using a photomask.

The EC material M28 is formed on the upper surface of the electrode 2B or 27. As the EC material, tungsten oxide, molybdenum oxide, etc. are used. The EC material layer 28 is formed by a vacuum evaporation method, a method of applying a solution and drying it, or the like.

As described above, the lead wire attachment portion 22. '23. Electrode 2
B. 2? , a substrate 20 on which an EC material layer 28 is formed.
21 has electrodes 26 and 27 facing each other, and ends thereof are sealed with sealing materials 29 and 30 to form a cell. The sealing material 29.30 includes epoxy, silicone, urethane,
A resin such as vinyl acetate, a frit, etc. may be used, or a printing method or a formed sheet may be used.

The electrolyte 31 sandwiched in the cell may be a solution of an alkali metal such as lithium perchlorate or sodium iodide dissolved in an acid such as sulfuric acid or an organic solvent such as propylene carbonate or γ-butyrolactone, or a gel solution thereof. A gelling agent or a film electrolyte is used.

The V-shaped groove formed by the tapered end surfaces of the opposing substrates 20.21 and the sealing material 29.30 further includes a V-shaped groove on the outside of the sealing material 29.30. The peripheral sealing materials 32 and 33 may be fixed in a buried manner, and an organic adhesive such as an epoxy adhesive or hot melt butyl is used as the peripheral sealing materials 32 and 33.

[Function] The lead wire attachment portion 22.23 formed on the tapered end surface of the substrate 20.21 and the lead wire attachment portion 22.
, 23 are in surface contact with each other. Therefore, contact surface collapse is large, contact resistance is low, electrical and mechanical connection is highly reliable, and signal transmission time is shortened.

The peripheral sealing materials 32 and 33 fit into the V-shaped groove formed by the tapered end surfaces of the opposing substrates 20 and 21, increasing the bonding area and preventing external force and heat. The interface peeling phenomenon due to fluctuation does not occur, and since the peripheral sealing materials 32 and 33 form adhesive surfaces with the electrodes 27 and the EC material layer 28, the end surfaces of the substrate 1.2 and the lead wire attachment portions 8, Stronger adhesive force can be obtained compared to the peripheral sealing materials 13 and 14 of conventional EC devices, which form an adhesive surface with 8.

[Example] A glass plate having a thickness of 1.1 mm is cut into a size of 10 cm x 10 cm. The four end surfaces of the cut glass plate were tapered at an angle of 45° using a belt with a diameter of 800 as shown in a partial cross-sectional view in FIG. After that, the ends H and Z were lightly chamfered with the same belt and sangoo to make them rounded.

After cleaning and drying the glass substrate tapered in this manner, glass solder having a melting point of 224° C. was fused to a portion of the taper on the four end faces. Thereafter, the upper end surface (H portion) of the solder for glass was further polished with a belt polisher so that the end surface and the surface of the glass substrate became a continuous surface.

After further cleaning and drying, ITO and further tungsten oxide (WO3) were deposited to cover the surface of the glass substrate and the glass solder layer on a portion of the taper to form electrodes (and an EC material layer).

The two glass substrates thus prepared were placed facing each other, and the periphery was sealed with an epoxy adhesive (including spacers) to form a cell shape. An electrolyte solution containing 1 mole of lithium iodide dissolved in a γ-butyrolactone solution is injected into the cell through an injection hole previously drilled in the cell, and after the injection hole is sealed, the edge of the glass solder layer is injected into the cell. Copper wires were welded as lead wires in the form shown in Figure 8.

Finally, hot-melt butyl was applied so as to fill the V-shaped groove formed by the tapered part of the end surfaces of the opposing glass substrates to obtain an EC device having a cross-sectional shape approximately as shown in FIG. .

As in Example 1, the four end surfaces of the glass substrate were tapered. After cleaning the glass substrate, copper (Cu) is applied to the tapered portion by electroless plating to provide a strong and low resistance.
A thick U layer was electrodeposited.

After cleaning and drying the glass substrate on which the lead wire attachment part was formed in this way, ITO (Zarani WO3) was vapor-deposited on the surface and end face of the glass substrate so as to cover most of the lead wire attachment part. Electrodes (and an EC material layer) were formed on the substrate. .

Next, an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer resin is placed in a width of 2 cm on the periphery of the surface of the glass substrate on which the TO has been formed, to form a bank, and on the inside of this bank, 1 mol of γ-butyrolactone is added. A gel electrolyte containing lithium iodide and polyvinyl butyral (50%) as a gelling agent was applied, and the other glass substrate (on which WO3 was evaporated) was placed facing each other under vacuum, and both substrates were heated at 100°C. were thermocompressed to form a cell. A Cu wire is fixed to the lead wire attachment part at the end of the cell, and finally, an epoxy adhesive is applied so as to fill the V-shaped groove formed by the tapered part of the end face of the opposing glass substrate. An EC device having a cross-sectional shape substantially similar to that shown in FIG. 1 was obtained.

Example 3 Instead of the copper plating in Example 2, a silver paste for baking was applied to a part of the taper and fired to form a lead wire attachment part. To connect the lead wire to the lead wire attachment portion, it was soldered using glass solder. Otherwise, an EC device having the cross-sectional shape approximately shown in FIG. 1 was obtained in the same manner as in Example 2.

[Effects of the Invention] In the EC device of the present invention, the end surfaces of the two substrates are tapered, and a predetermined portion of the lead wire attachment portion fixed to a part of the taper is covered to form an electrode. So,
The electrode and the lead wire attachment part are in surface contact, and a large contact area is obtained, and high electrical and mechanical reliability of the contact part is obtained, and the contact resistance is also reduced, so that the electrical response characteristics are improved. It will also be faster.

Furthermore, since the electrode formation process is performed after the lead wire attachment 1 is fixed to the taper part, glass solder is used as the lead wire attachment part, and ultrasonic vibration is applied during the formation of the glass solder layer. Even if fine glass solder powder adheres to the substrate surface, the fine powder can be easily removed by cleaning, the cell will not deteriorate, and the production yield will be 2 to 3 times lower than the conventional yield.
It will be relatively good.

In addition, since cells can be formed immediately after electrodes or FC material layers are formed on a substrate, dirt such as oil from workers' fingers does not adhere to the electrode surface or EC material surface, and EC The reliability of the quality of the equipment and the production yield are improved.

The peripheral sealing material is formed by embedding it in a V-shaped groove formed by a tapered part of the end surfaces of two opposing substrates, so it is easy to apply, and at the same time, the sealing area increases and the sealing area is increased. Improved reliability. In addition, the contact area with the electrode surface and the EC material layer increases, and as mentioned above, it also prevents the adhesion of dirt such as oil from the hands of the operator during handling, increasing the interfacial adhesion of the peripheral sealant. However, the surrounding area due to thermal fluctuations and vibrations
No peeling is observed.

As described above, the EC device of the present invention has high reliability in electrical and mechanical connections between electrodes and lead wires, and has a good production yield.
There is little deterioration of the cell, there are no accidents such as short circuits between opposing electrodes, and the seal is perfect.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a typical configuration example of an EC device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an example of a conventional EC device, and FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view of an example of a conventional EC device. 4 to 9 are partial cross-sectional views of various configuration examples of the present invention, and FIG. 10 is a partial cross-sectional view of one embodiment of the present invention. 1.2, 15, 20, 21, 41, 51, 81, 71,
81.91---one substrate, 3.3L---one electrolyte,
4,5.18.2B, 27.93---one electrode, 8.7
, 24, 25, 73.83--- Lead wire, 8
,9.1? . 22.23, 82, 72, 82.92---Lead wire attachment part, 10.28---EC: material layer, 11,1
2, 29.30---Sealing material, 13, 14.3
2.33---One periphery sealing material. ---p: tQ Q”; ;2, lrl, Ikπ exposure yJ-III dyeing 3 Memine 61X!

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) An electrolyte is sandwiched between two opposing substrates, each of which has an electrode and a lead wire attachment part for applying a voltage to the electrode from the outside, and at least one In an electrochromic device in which an electrochromic material layer is formed on the electrodes of the substrates, the two substrates have predetermined lead wire attachment portions fixed to the end surfaces of the substrates that are tapered at a predetermined angle. An electrochromic device characterized in that an electrode is formed by covering a portion. (2) The electrochromic device according to claim 1, wherein the lead wire attachment portion is a solder layer. (3) The electrochromic device according to claim 1, wherein the lead wire attachment portion is formed of a metal vapor deposited film or metal foil. (4) The electrochromic device according to claim 1, wherein the lead attachment portion is a metal layer deposited by plating. (5) The electrochromic device according to claim 1, wherein the lead wire attachment portion is a conductive adhesive layer. (6) The electrochromic device according to claim 1, wherein the electrode is a transparent conductive film.