Electrochromic device and electrochromic equipment
By dividing the electrode layer into multiple regions in the electrochromic device and controlling the color change with a microcontroller, the problems of high power consumption and slow coloring of the electrochromic device are solved, low power consumption and high efficiency color change are achieved, and the manufacturing process is simplified .
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202411731883.3
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-11-28
- Publication Date
- 2025-01-14
AI Technical Summary
The existing electrochromic devices have high power consumption and slow coloring, making it difficult to meet the needs of low power consumption and efficient color discoloration.
By dividing the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer into multiple regions in the electrochromic device, multiple electrochromic regions are formed, and the operating state of these regions is controlled by a microcontroller, partition discoloration is achieved, thereby reducing the workload Consume and improve coloring efficiency.
It effectively reduces the power consumption of electrochromic devices, improves color discoloration efficiency, and reduces the number of wiring, simplifies the manufacturing process.
Smart Images
Figure CN119310775A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of electrochromic technology, and in particular to an electrochromic device and an electrochromic apparatus. Background Art
[0002] Electrochromism is an optical property of a material (reflectivity, transmittance, absorptivity, etc.). Under the action of an external electric field, the material can undergo a stable and reversible color change. When no electric field is applied, the material is transparent. After the electric field is applied, the material will gradually change color. Electrochromic devices are made of electrochromic materials and can achieve device color change, but electrochromic devices have high power consumption and slow coloring. Summary of the invention
[0003] Based on this, it is necessary to provide an electrochromic device and an electrochromic apparatus that can reduce power consumption and improve coloring efficiency in response to the above technical problems.
[0004] In a first aspect, the present application provides an electrochromic device, comprising a first electrode layer, a second electrode layer, and an electrochromic functional layer disposed between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer;
[0005] The first electrode layer includes one or more first electrode layer regions, the second electrode layer includes one or more second electrode layer regions, and the first electrode layer regions and the second electrode layer regions are respectively used to connect signal lines;
[0006] The number of the first electrode layer regions and / or the number of the second electrode layer regions is greater than 1, so that the electrochromic functional layer is divided into M electrochromic regions by the one or more first electrode layer regions and the one or more second electrode layer regions, where M is an integer greater than 1;
[0007] There are no completely overlapping first electrode layer regions and second electrode layer regions among the one or more first electrode layer regions and the one or more second electrode layer regions, so that the sum of the first electrode layer regions and the second electrode layer regions is less than 2*M.
[0008] In one embodiment, the first electrode layer includes N first electrode layer regions, and the second electrode layer includes K second electrode layer regions, where N and K are integers greater than 1 and less than M.
[0009] In one embodiment, the first electrode layer includes M first electrode layer regions, and the second electrode layer includes one second electrode layer region; or
[0010] The first electrode layer includes one first electrode layer region, and the second electrode layer includes M second electrode layer regions.
[0011] In one of the embodiments, the electrochromic device further comprises a substrate and an optical component;
[0012] The first electrode layer is located between the substrate and the electrochromic functional layer;
[0013] The second electrode layer is located between the optical component and the electrochromic functional layer.
[0014] In one of the embodiments, the electrochromic device further includes a sealing layer;
[0015] The sealing glue layer is located between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer, and surrounds the electrochromic functional layer.
[0016] In one embodiment, the electrochromic functional layer includes an ion storage layer, an electrolyte layer and an electrochromic layer arranged in sequence.
[0017] In a second aspect, the present application also provides an electrochromic device,
[0018] The device comprises a microcontroller, a plurality of control devices and the electrochromic device described above, wherein the plurality of control devices correspond one to one with the one or more first electrode layer regions and the one or more second electrode layer regions, wherein:
[0019] The input end and the control end of the control device are connected to the microcontroller respectively, and the output end of the control device is connected to the corresponding first electrode layer area or the second electrode layer area;
[0020] The microcontroller is used to control the working states of the multiple control devices by outputting control signals to the control ends of the multiple control devices and outputting voltage signals to the input ends of the multiple control devices, so as to control the M electrochromic regions to change color in sequence.
[0021] In one of the embodiments, when the first electrode layer includes N first electrode layer regions and the second electrode layer includes K second electrode layer regions, the coloring time of the electrochromic functional layer includes N cycles or K cycles.
[0022] In one embodiment,
[0023] In the case where the coloring time of the electrochromic functional layer includes N cycles, each of the N cycles includes K sub-cycles;
[0024] In the case where the coloring time of the electrochromic functional layer includes K periods, each of the K periods includes N sub-periods.
[0025] In one embodiment, the duration of the sub-period is shorter than the fading time of the electrochromic functional layer.
[0026] In the embodiment of the present application, the electrochromic device includes a first electrode layer, a second electrode layer, and an electrochromic functional layer arranged between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer, the first electrode layer includes one or more first electrode layer regions, the second electrode layer includes one or more second electrode layer regions, the first electrode layer region and the second electrode layer region are respectively used to connect the signal line, the number of the first electrode layer regions and / or the number of the second electrode layer regions are greater than 1, so that the electrochromic functional layer is divided into M electrochromic regions by one or more first electrode layer regions and one or more second electrode layer regions, and there is no completely overlapping first electrode layer region and second electrode layer region in one or more first electrode layer regions and one or more second electrode layer regions, so that the sum of the first electrode layer region and the second electrode layer region is less than 2*M. It can be seen that the electrochromic functional layer is divided into a plurality of electrochromic regions, so that the electrochromic device can realize device color change by partition color change, and since the partition color change has low power consumption and fast coloring, the power consumption of the electrochromic device can be reduced and the color change efficiency of the electrochromic device can be improved. In addition, since the electrochromic functional layer is divided into M electrochromic regions, and there are no completely overlapping first electrode layer regions and second electrode layer regions, so that the sum of the first electrode layer regions and the second electrode layer regions is less than 2*M, the total number of wiring required for the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer is less than 2*M, which can reduce the number of wirings of the electrochromic device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0027] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or related technologies, the drawings required for use in the embodiments of the present application or related technical descriptions will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other related drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.
[0028] Figure 1 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of an electrochromic device provided in an embodiment of the present application;
[0029] Figure 2 is a schematic top view of a first electrode layer and a second electrode layer provided in an embodiment of the present application;
[0030] Figure 3 is a schematic top view of a first electrode layer, a second electrode layer and an electrochromic functional layer provided in an embodiment of the present application;
[0031] Figure 4is a side view schematic diagram of a first electrode layer, a second electrode layer and an electrochromic functional layer provided in an embodiment of the present application;
[0032] Figure 5 is a top view schematic diagram of another first electrode layer, a second electrode layer and an electrochromic functional layer provided in an embodiment of the present application;
[0033] Figure 6 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of another electrochromic device provided in an embodiment of the present application;
[0034] Figure 7 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of another electrochromic device provided in an embodiment of the present application;
[0035] Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram of a process for forming an electrochromic device provided in an embodiment of the present application;
[0036] Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of an electrochromic functional layer provided in an embodiment of the present application;
[0037] Fig.10 is a schematic structural diagram of an electrochromic device provided in an embodiment of the present application;
[0038] Fig.11 is a structural schematic diagram of a control device provided in an embodiment of the present application;
[0039] Fig.12 It is a schematic diagram of dividing a voltage signal provided in an embodiment of the present application;
[0040] Fig.13 This is a schematic diagram of a partition color change provided in an embodiment of the present application;
[0041] Fig.14 This is a schematic diagram of full-area color change provided in an embodiment of the present application.
[0042] Component number description:
[0043] First electrode layer: 10; second electrode layer: 20; electrochromic functional layer: 30; first electrode layer region: 11; second electrode layer region: 21; electrochromic region: 31; substrate: 40; optical component: 50; sealing layer: 60; ion storage layer: 32; electrolyte layer: 33; electrochromic layer: 34. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0044] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the present application more clearly understood, the present application is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present application and are not used to limit the present application.
[0045] In order to better understand the embodiments of the present application, the relevant technologies of the present application are described below.
[0046] The electrochromic device may include an electrochromic functional layer and two electrode layers located on both sides of the electrochromic functional layer. An electric field may be applied to the two electrode layers to change the color of the electrochromic functional layer.
[0047] Due to the advantages of low power consumption and fast coloring of partitioned coloring, in order to reduce the power consumption of the electrochromic device and improve the coloring efficiency of the electrochromic device, the two electrode layers can be divided into multiple regions respectively, so that the electrochromic functional layer can be divided into multiple regions. An electric field is applied between the electrode layers on both sides of the electrochromic functional layer to color it, so each region in the two electrode layers is separately wired. Exemplarily, the two electrode layers are divided into four regions respectively, and the four regions of the two electrode layers can divide the electrochromic functional layer into four regions. In order to ensure the color change of the four regions of the electrochromic functional layer, the four regions of the two electrode layers need to be wired respectively, and a total of 8 wires are required. It can be seen that after the electrochromic functional layer is divided into multiple regions, the number of required wiring is twice the number of partitions of the electrochromic functional layer, resulting in a large number of wirings for the electrochromic device.
[0048] In order to solve the above problems, the present application provides an electrochromic device and an electrochromic apparatus. Figure 1 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of an electrochromic device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 As shown, the electrochromic device may include a first electrode layer 10, a second electrode layer 20, and an electrochromic functional layer 30 disposed between the first electrode layer 10 and the second electrode layer 20. That is, the first electrode layer 10 and the second electrode layer 20 are disposed (or located) on both sides (i.e., the upper and lower sides) of the electrochromic functional layer 30, respectively.
[0049] The first electrode layer 10 may include one or more first electrode layer regions 11 , that is, may include one first electrode layer region 11 or may include a plurality of first electrode layer regions 11 .
[0050] The second electrode layer 20 may include one or more second electrode layer regions 21 , that is, may include one second electrode layer region 21 or may include a plurality of second electrode layer regions 21 .
[0051] The first electrode layer region 11 and the second electrode layer region 21 are respectively used to connect signal lines, that is, each first electrode layer region 11 is connected to a signal line, and each second electrode layer region 21 is connected to a signal line, so that the signal line can be used to input or provide electrical signals to the first electrode layer region 11 and the second electrode layer region 21. It can be seen that the total number of signal lines connected to the first electrode layer 10 and the second electrode layer 20 is equal to the total number of the first electrode layer regions 11 and the second electrode layer regions 21, that is, the total number of wirings of the first electrode layer 10 and the second electrode layer 20 is equal to the total number of the first electrode layer regions 11 and the second electrode layer regions 21.
[0052] The edges of the first electrode layer region 11 and the second electrode layer region 21 may be connected to a signal line. The signal line may be a flexible printed circuit (FPC) or other signal line that can transmit electrical signals.
[0053] In some embodiments, the electrochromic device may further include a separation zone. The first electrode layer 10 may be separated into a plurality of first electrode layer regions 11 by the separation zone, and / or the second electrode layer 20 may be separated into a plurality of second electrode layer regions 21 by the separation zone. The separation zone is an insulator. Since different electrode layer regions are separated by the insulator, mutual interference or influence between different electrode layer regions can be avoided.
[0054] In some embodiments, the first electrode layer 10 may include a plurality of spaced first electrode layer regions 11, and / or the second electrode layer 20 may include a plurality of spaced second electrode layer regions 21. Since different electrode layer regions are spaced apart, mutual interference or influence between different electrode layer regions can be avoided.
[0055] It can be seen that the electrode layer can be isolated into a plurality of electrode layer regions by a separation zone, or an electrode layer including a plurality of electrode layer regions spaced apart from each other can be directly prepared.
[0056] It should be understood that in the case where the electrode layer includes an electrode layer region, the electrode layer is a whole.
[0057] In the case where the first electrode layer 10 includes a first electrode layer region 11 and the second electrode layer 20 includes a second electrode layer region 21, the electrochromic functional layer 30 cannot be divided into two or more regions by the first electrode layer 10 and the second electrode layer 20. Therefore, the number of first electrode layer regions 11 and / or the number of second electrode layer regions 21 is greater than 1, so that the electrochromic functional layer 30 can be divided into M electrochromic regions 31 by one or more first electrode layer regions 11 and one or more second electrode layer regions 21. M is an integer greater than 1.
[0058] It should be understood that the electrochromic functional layer 30 is divided into M electrochromic regions 31, which does not mean that the electrochromic functional layer 30 is actually divided into M electrochromic regions 31, and the electrochromic functional layer 30 is still a whole. The electrochromic functional layer 30 needs to apply an electric field on both sides for color change. Since the first electrode layer 10 and / or the second electrode layer 20 located on both sides of the electrochromic functional layer 30 include multiple electrode layer regions, the position of the electric field applied on both sides of the electrochromic functional layer 30 can be controlled by the electric signal provided by the signal line connecting the first electrode layer region 11 and the second electrode layer region 21, so that the M electrochromic regions 31 can be divided into different regions for color change, that is, only one electrochromic region 31 has an electric field applied on both sides at the same time, that is, only one electrochromic region 31 changes color at the same time.
[0059] The number of the electrochromic regions 31 is the number of the electrode layer regions after the one or more first electrode layer regions 11 and the one or more second electrode layer regions 21 are superimposed.
[0060] In the case where the first electrode layer 10 includes multiple first electrode layer regions 11 and the second electrode layer 20 includes multiple second electrode layer regions 21, if each of the multiple first electrode layer regions 11 has a completely overlapping second electrode layer region 21, then the number of electrochromic regions 31, the number of first electrode layer regions 11 and the number of second electrode layer regions 21 are the same, and the total number of signal lines connecting the first electrode layer 10 and the second electrode layer 20 is 2*M.
[0061] It can be seen that when there are completely overlapping first electrode layer regions 11 and second electrode layer regions 21 in one or more first electrode layer regions 11 and one or more second electrode layer regions 21, the number of electrochromic regions 31 will decrease, while the number of connected signal lines will increase.
[0062] Therefore, in order to reduce the number of connected signal lines, that is, to reduce the number of wirings or routings, there are no completely overlapping first electrode layer regions 11 and second electrode layer regions 21 in one or more first electrode layer regions 11 and one or more second electrode layer regions 21, so that the sum of the first electrode layer regions 11 and the second electrode layer regions 21 is less than 2*M, which can minimize the number of wirings while maximizing the number of electrochromic regions 31.
[0063] In some embodiments, the first electrode layer 10 may include N first electrode layer regions 11 , and the second electrode layer 20 may include K second electrode layer regions 21 , where N and K are integers greater than 1 and less than M.
[0064] The N first electrode layer regions 11 may be completely identical, partially identical and partially different, or completely different. Similarly, the K second electrode layer regions 21 may be completely identical, partially identical and partially different, or completely different. Different electrode layer regions being identical may be understood as the shapes, sizes, directions, etc. of different electrode layer regions being all identical. Different electrode layer regions being different may be understood as the shapes, sizes, directions, etc. of different electrode layer regions being different.
[0065] In one case, the first electrode layer 10 may include N longitudinal first electrode layer regions 11. The second electrode layer 20 may include K transverse second electrode layer regions 21. Exemplarily, Figure 2 It is a top view schematic diagram of a first electrode layer and a second electrode layer provided in an embodiment of the present application.
[0066] In another case, the first electrode layer 10 may include N transverse first electrode layer regions 11 , and the second electrode layer 20 may include K longitudinal second electrode layer regions 21 .
[0067] It should be understood that the above is an exemplary description of the N first electrode layer regions 11 included in the first electrode layer 10 and the K second electrode layer regions 21 included in the second electrode layer 20, and is not intended to be limiting.
[0068] The electrochromic functional layer 30 can be divided into N*K electrochromic regions 31 by N first electrode layer regions 11 and K second electrode layer regions 21 at most. Therefore, the number of electrochromic regions 31 is greater than the larger value of K and N, and less than or equal to N*K.
[0069] Exemplarily, the first electrode layer 10 may include two longitudinal first electrode layer regions 11, the second electrode layer 20 may include two transverse second electrode layer regions 21, and the electrochromic functional layer 30 is divided into four electrochromic regions 31 by the two first electrode layer regions 11 and the two second electrode layer regions 21. Figure 3 It is a schematic top view of a first electrode layer 10, a second electrode layer 20 and an electrochromic functional layer 30 provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 4 1 is a side view schematic diagram of a first electrode layer 10, a second electrode layer 20 and an electrochromic functional layer 30 provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 4 As shown, the first electrode layer 10 and the second electrode layer 20 need to be connected to 4 signal lines in total, that is, 4 wirings are required, which is half less than 8 signal lines.
[0070] Exemplarily, the first electrode layer 10 may include three longitudinal (or transverse) first electrode layer regions 11, the second electrode layer 20 may include three transverse (or longitudinal) second electrode layer regions 21, and the electrochromic functional layer 30 may be divided into nine electrochromic regions 31 by the three first electrode layer regions 11 and the three second electrode layer regions 21. The first electrode layer 10 and the second electrode layer 20 need to be connected to a total of six signal lines, which is much less than 18 signal lines.
[0071] In some embodiments, the first electrode layer 10 may include M first electrode layer regions 11, and the second electrode layer 20 may include one second electrode layer region 21. The first electrode layer 10 may include one first electrode layer region 11, and the second electrode layer 20 may include M second electrode layer regions 21.
[0072] It can be seen that one of the first electrode layer 10 and the second electrode layer 20 includes M electrode layer regions, and the other electrode layer includes one electrode layer region, that is, the conductivity of the entire electrode layer is maintained. Therefore, when manufacturing an electrochromic device, only one electrode layer needs to be isolated or partitioned, which can reduce the complexity of manufacturing the electrochromic device. The first electrode layer 10 and the second electrode layer 20 need to be connected to M+1 signal lines.
[0073] For example, Figure 5 FIG. 1 is a top view schematic diagram of another first electrode layer 10, a second electrode layer 20 and an electrochromic functional layer 30 provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 5 As shown, when M is 4, one of the first electrode layer 10 and the second electrode layer 20 includes four electrode layer regions, and the other electrode layer includes one electrode layer region, the electrochromic functional layer 30 is divided into four electrochromic regions 31, and the first electrode layer 10 and the second electrode layer 20 need to be connected to a total of five signal lines, which is less than eight signal lines.
[0074] In some embodiments, Figure 6 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of another electrochromic device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 6 As shown, the electrochromic device may further include a substrate 40 and an optical component 50 .
[0075] The first electrode layer 10 may be located between the substrate 40 and the electrochromic functional layer 30. The second electrode layer 20 may be located between the optical component 50 and the electrochromic functional layer 30.
[0076] It should be understood that the second electrode layer 20 may also be located between the substrate 40 and the electrochromic functional layer 30. The first electrode layer 10 may also be located between the optical component 50 and the electrochromic functional layer 30.
[0077] The substrate 40, as an electrochromic carrier, has the characteristics of high light transmittance and transparency. The substrate 40 can be formed or made of a flexible material, or can be formed or made of other transparent materials with high light transmittance. Since the substrate 40 is transparent, the substrate 40 does not affect the transmission of light, and the color and color change of the electrochromic functional layer 30 can be presented through the substrate 40.
[0078] The first electrode layer 10 and the second electrode layer 20 have transparent conductive properties and can be formed of transparent conductive materials. Since the first electrode layer 10 and the second electrode layer 20 are transparent, the first electrode layer 10 and the second electrode layer 20 do not affect the transmission of light, and do not affect the color and color change of the electrochromic functional layer 30. The specific type of transparent conductive material forming the first electrode layer 10 and the second electrode layer 20 is not particularly limited. The material of the first electrode layer 10 and the second electrode layer 20 can be a metal oxide film, nanosilver, etc. The metal oxide film can be at least one of indium tin oxide, indium zinc oxide, and indium tin zinc oxide film. It can be seen that the first electrode layer 10 and the second electrode layer 20 have good conductivity and high transparency.
[0079] The optical component 50 can detect light, that is, can detect ambient light. There is no limitation on the material forming the optical component 50. The material used for the optical component 50 can be a transparent material such as glass.
[0080] The electrochromic functional layer 30 can be electrochromic. When an electric field is applied to the first electrode layer 10 and the second electrode layer 20, the electrochromic functional layer 30 can be changed from transparent to opaque.
[0081] Since the electrode layer is directly on the optical component 50, it is only necessary to plate the electrode layer on the back or on the top of the optical component 50, and there is no need to glue another substrate and the optical component 50 and another substrate, which can reduce the manufacturing cost of the electrochromic device, and reduce the manufacturing complexity of the electrochromic device and the hidden dangers of its manufacturing extension. In addition, since a layer of glue and a layer of substrate are reduced, the thickness of the electrochromic device can be reduced.
[0082] In some embodiments, Figure 7 FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of another electrochromic device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 7 As shown, the electrochromic device may further include a sealing layer 60 .
[0083] The sealing layer 60 may be located between the first electrode layer 10 and the second electrode layer 20, and surround the electrochromic functional layer 30. That is, the sealing layer 60 surrounds the electrochromic functional layer 30. It can be seen that the sealing layer 60 can cover the electrochromic functional layer 30, fix and protect it from external influences, thereby improving the stability of the electrochromic device.
[0084] For example, Figure 8 Schematic diagram of a process for forming an electrochromic device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 8 As shown, the second electrode layer 20 can be first formed on the back or top of the optical component 50, and then the electrochromic functional layer 30 can be formed on the second electrode layer 20, and then the sealing layer 60 can be formed around the electrochromic functional layer 30 on the second electrode layer 20, and then the first electrode layer 10 can be formed on the electrochromic functional layer 30 and the sealing layer 60, and then the substrate 40 can be formed on the first electrode layer 10.
[0085] The connection portion of the second electrode layer region 21 can be formed when the second electrode layer 20 is formed, or after the substrate 40 is formed. Similarly, the connection portion of the first electrode layer region 11 can be formed when the first electrode layer 10 is formed, or after the substrate 40 is formed.
[0086] In some embodiments, Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of an electrochromic functional layer 30 provided in an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 9 As shown, the electrochromic functional layer 30 may include an ion storage layer 32 , an electrolyte layer 33 , and an electrochromic layer 34 arranged in sequence.
[0087] The electrochromic functional layer 30 may be in liquid state or in solid state.
[0088] The electrochromic layer 34 is a light-adjusting dominant layer, and the transmittance changes when ions are embedded and extracted, corresponding to the colored state and the transparent state respectively. The electrochromic layer 34 can be formed of an organic electrochromic material or an inorganic electrochromic material. The electrochromic material forming the electrochromic layer 34 can be a conductive polymer. The electrochromic layer 34 can be formed by electropolymerization, thermal polymerization, coating, photopolymerization, etc.
[0089] The ion storage layer 32 and the electrochromic layer 34 form a counter electrode, which can form complementary colors and is used to store and provide ions required by the electrochromic material.
[0090] The electrolyte layer 33 provides mobile ions between the electrochromic layer 34 and the ion storage layer 32 .
[0091] Fig.10 Schematic diagram of the structure of an electrochromic device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Fig.10 As shown, the electrochromic device may include a microcontroller (Micro Controller Unit, MCU), a plurality of control devices and the above-mentioned electrochromic device.
[0092] The plurality of control devices correspond one to one with one or more first electrode layer regions 11 and one or more second electrode layer regions 21. That is, the number of control devices is equal to the sum of the number of first electrode layer regions 11 and the number of second electrode layer regions 21, and each first electrode layer region 11 uniquely corresponds to one control device, and each second electrode layer region 21 uniquely corresponds to one control device. Exemplarily, the first electrode layer 10 includes three first electrode layer regions 11, and the second electrode layer 20 includes two second electrode layer regions 21, then the number of control devices is five, and these five control devices correspond one to one with the three first electrode layer regions 11 and the two second electrode layer regions 21, respectively.
[0093] The control device may include a control terminal, an input terminal and an output terminal. The input terminal and the control terminal of the control device may be connected to a microcontroller respectively. The output terminal of the control device may be connected to a corresponding electrode layer region, that is, connected to a corresponding first electrode layer region 11 or a second electrode layer region 21.
[0094] Fig.11 Schematic diagram of a control device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Fig.11 As shown, the control device can be a three-state buffer (Buffer), a switch device, a three-state NOT gate + NOT gate, or other devices with equivalent functions. Fig.10 The control device is a tri-state buffer as an example for explanation. The switch device can be a MOS tube, an IGBT tube, or other switch devices with equivalent functions.
[0095] The microcontroller can control the working states of the multiple control devices by outputting control signals to the control terminals of the multiple control devices and outputting voltage signals to the input terminals of the multiple control devices, so as to control the M electrochromic regions 31 to change color in sequence.
[0096] In order to ensure that the M electrochromic regions 31 change color in sequence, only one of the control devices connected to the first electrode layer 10 is in operation at the same time, and only one of the control devices connected to the second electrode layer is in operation.
[0097] When the control signal output by the microcontroller to the control end of the three-state buffer is at a low level, no matter how much the voltage signal output by the microcontroller to the input end of the control device is, the output end of the three-state buffer outputs high impedance, that is, the output end of the three-state buffer is open. When the control signal output by the microcontroller to the control end of the three-state buffer is at a high level, the microcontroller can control the voltage value output by the output end of the three-state buffer to the electrode layer area by controlling the value of the voltage signal output to the input end of the control device. The output of the input end of the control device controlled by the microcontroller can be a sinusoidal signal or other signals.
[0098] When the first electrode layer 10 includes M first electrode layer regions 11 and the second electrode layer 20 includes one second electrode layer region 21, the microcontroller can control the three-state buffer connected to the second electrode layer region 21 to always be in a working state, and can realize the M electrochromic regions 31 changing color in sequence by controlling the three-state buffers connected to the M first electrode layer regions 11 to work in sequence.
[0099] For example, Figure 5 As shown, the four first electrode layer regions 11 can be identified as electrode layer region 1, electrode layer region 2, electrode layer region 3 and electrode layer region 4 respectively, and the microcontroller can control the three-state buffer connected to the second electrode layer region 21 to be in a working state, and can first control the three-state buffer connected to electrode layer region 1 to be in a working state, and the three-state buffer connected to electrode layer region 2, electrode layer region 3 and electrode layer region 4 to be in an open circuit state, and then the three-state buffer connected to electrode layer region 2 can be controlled to be in a working state, and the three-state buffer connected to electrode layer region 1, electrode layer region 3 and electrode layer region 4 can be in an open circuit state, and then the three-state buffer connected to electrode layer region 3 can be controlled to be in a working state, and the three-state buffer connected to electrode layer region 1, electrode layer region 2 and electrode layer region 4 can be in an open circuit state, and then the three-state buffer connected to electrode layer region 4 can be controlled to be in a working state, and the three-state buffer connected to electrode layer region 1, electrode layer region 2 and electrode layer region 3 can be in an open circuit state, so that the four electrochromic regions 31 corresponding to the four first electrode layer regions 11 can change color in sequence.
[0100] When the first electrode layer 10 includes N first electrode layer regions 11 and the second electrode layer 20 includes K second electrode layer regions 21, the microcontroller can respectively control the three-state buffers connected to a first electrode layer region 11 and a second electrode layer region 21 in the overlapping area to be in a working state, and control the three-state buffers connected to other first electrode layer regions 11 and other second electrode layer regions 21 to be in an open state, so as to realize the color change of M electrochromic regions 31 in sequence.
[0101] For example, Figure 3As shown, the two first electrode layer regions 11 can be identified as the first electrode layer region 1 and the first electrode layer region 2, respectively, and the two second electrode layer regions 21 can be identified as the second electrode layer region 1 and the second electrode layer region 2, respectively. The microcontroller can first control the three-state buffer connected to the first electrode layer region 1 and the second electrode layer region 1 to be in a working state, and the three-state buffer connected to the first electrode layer region 2 and the second electrode layer region 2 to be in an open state. Then, the three-state buffer connected to the first electrode layer region 1 and the second electrode layer region 2 can be controlled to be in a working state, and the three-state buffer connected to the first electrode layer region 2 and the second electrode layer region 1 can be in an open state. Then, the three-state buffer connected to the first electrode layer region 2 and the second electrode layer region 1 can be controlled to be in a working state, and the three-state buffer connected to the first electrode layer region 1 and the second electrode layer region 2 can be in an open state. Then, the three-state buffer connected to the first electrode layer region 2 and the second electrode layer region 2 can be controlled to be in a working state, and the three-state buffer connected to the first electrode layer region 1 and the second electrode layer region 1 can be in an open state, thereby realizing the four electrochromic regions 31 changing color in sequence.
[0102] It should be understood that the above is an exemplary description of the microcontroller controlling the working states of multiple control devices to control the M electrochromic regions 31 to change color in sequence, and is not intended to be limiting.
[0103] In some embodiments, when the first electrode layer 10 includes N first electrode layer regions 11 and the second electrode layer 20 includes K second electrode layer regions 21, the coloring time (i.e., the total coloring time) of the electrochromic functional layer 30 may include N cycles or K cycles. Accordingly, the voltage signal output by the microcontroller to the input terminals of the plurality of control devices may include N cycles or K cycles.
[0104] In the case where the first electrode layer 10 includes N first electrode layer regions 11 and the second electrode layer 20 includes K second electrode layer regions 21, the total coloring time of the electrochromic functional layer 30 can be divided into several cycles because the fading of the electrochromic material takes time. The coloring time of the electrochromic functional layer 30 can be divided into N cycles, or the coloring time of the electrochromic functional layer 30 can be divided into K cycles. For example, Fig.12 Schematic diagram of voltage signal division provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 3 and Fig.12 As shown, when N and K are 2, the coloring time of the electrochromic functional layer 30 can be divided into 2 periods, and each period can correspond to a first electrode layer region 11 or a second electrode layer region 21 .
[0105] When the coloring time of the electrochromic functional layer 30 includes N cycles, each cycle completes the coloring of one first electrode layer region 11. When the coloring time of the electrochromic functional layer 30 includes K cycles, each cycle completes the coloring of one second electrode layer region 21.
[0106] In some embodiments, when the coloring time of the electrochromic functional layer 30 includes N cycles, each of the N cycles includes K sub-cycles. When the coloring time of the electrochromic functional layer 30 includes K cycles, each of the K cycles includes N sub-cycles.
[0107] When the electrochromic functional layer 30 is divided into N*K electrochromic regions 31 by N first electrode layer regions 11 and K second electrode layer regions 21, the corresponding area of each first electrode layer region 11 in the electrochromic functional layer 30 can be divided into K regions by K second electrode layer regions 21, and the corresponding area of each second electrode layer region 21 in the electrochromic functional layer 30 can be divided into N regions by N first electrode layer regions 11.
[0108] In some embodiments, when the coloring time of the electrochromic functional layer 30 includes N cycles, each of the N cycles may include K sub-cycles. When the coloring time of the electrochromic functional layer 30 includes K cycles, each of the K cycles may include N sub-cycles.
[0109] For example, Figure 3 As shown, the coloring time of the electrochromic functional layer 30 may include two cycles, each of the two cycles may include two sub-cycles, and each sub-cycle may correspond to one electrochromic region 31 among the four electrochromic regions 31 .
[0110] In some embodiments, the duration of the sub-cycle is shorter than the fading time of the electrochromic functional layer 30 , that is, the duration of each sub-cycle is shorter than the fading time of the electrochromic functional layer 30 .
[0111] The duration of each sub-cycle should be shorter than the fading time of the electrochromic functional layer 30 , so as to avoid the situation where the previously colored electrochromic region 31 has faded while another electrochromic region 31 has not yet been colored.
[0112] In some embodiments, when the first electrode layer includes M first electrode layer regions 11 and the second electrode layer includes one second electrode layer region 21; or when the first electrode layer includes one first electrode layer region 11 and the second electrode layer includes M second electrode layer regions 21, the coloring time of the electrochromic functional layer 30 may include M cycles.
[0113] The coloring times of different cycles can be the same or different.
[0114] In one case, regardless of whether the area of the electrochromic region 31 corresponding to each cycle is the same, the coloring time of each cycle is the same.
[0115] In another case, the area of the electrochromic region 31 is different, and the required coloring time is different. Therefore, the coloring time of the corresponding cycle can be determined according to the area size of the electrochromic region 31 corresponding to each cycle.
[0116] For example, Fig.13 This is a schematic diagram of a partition color change provided in an embodiment of the present application. Fig.14 It is a schematic diagram of a full-area color change provided in an embodiment of the present application. It can be seen that the zone color change is a region-by-region color change, while the full-area color change is the color change of the entire region together.
[0117] For example, the results of the partition color change and the full area color change can be shown in Table 1:
[0118]
[0119] Table 1
[0120] As shown in Table 1, under the same input voltage, the smaller the area ratio of the electrochromic region 31 is, the smaller the stable current is, and the shorter the coloring time is, thereby reducing power consumption and improving color change efficiency.
[0121] In some embodiments, the electrochromic device may further include a plurality of control chips, wherein input ends of the plurality of control chips are connected to the microcontroller, and output ends of the plurality of control chips are connected to a plurality of control devices.
[0122] Multiple control chips can correspond to multiple control devices one by one, that is, each control chip can uniquely control one control device. The control end and input end of the control device are respectively connected to the corresponding control chip. It can be seen that separate control of different control devices can be achieved.
[0123] The electrochromic device may include two control chips, one control chip may be connected to the control terminals of multiple control devices, and the other control chip may be connected to the input terminals of multiple control devices. It can be seen that one control chip controls whether the control device works or not, and the other control chip controls the input voltage of the input control device.
[0124] The number of control chips is less than the number of control devices, and one control chip can control some control devices.
[0125] The electrochromic device can be AR glasses, rearview mirrors on vehicles, smart windows, smart glasses, or other devices that require color change.
[0126] The technical features of the above embodiments may be combined arbitrarily. To make the description concise, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this application.
[0127] The above-described embodiments only express several implementation methods of the present application, and the descriptions thereof are relatively specific and detailed, but they cannot be understood as limiting the scope of the present application. It should be pointed out that, for a person of ordinary skill in the art, several variations and improvements can be made without departing from the concept of the present application, and these all belong to the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the attached claims.
Claims
1. An electrochromic device, characterized in that: It includes a first electrode layer, a second electrode layer, and an electrochromic functional layer arranged between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer; The first electrode layer includes one or more first electrode layer regions, the second electrode layer includes one or more second electrode layer regions, and the first electrode layer regions and the second electrode layer regions are respectively used to connect signal lines; The number of the first electrode layer regions and / or the number of the second electrode layer regions is greater than 1, so that the electrochromic functional layer is divided into M electrochromic regions by the one or more first electrode layer regions and the one or more second electrode layer regions, where M is an integer greater than 1; There are no completely overlapping first electrode layer regions and second electrode layer regions among the one or more first electrode layer regions and the one or more second electrode layer regions, so that the sum of the first electrode layer regions and the second electrode layer regions is less than 2*M.
2. The electrochromic device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first electrode layer includes N first electrode layer regions, and the second electrode layer includes K second electrode layer regions, where N and K are integers greater than 1 and less than M.
3. The electrochromic device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first electrode layer includes M first electrode layer regions, and the second electrode layer includes one second electrode layer region; or The first electrode layer includes one first electrode layer region, and the second electrode layer includes M second electrode layer regions.
4. The electrochromic device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The electrochromic device also includes a substrate and an optical component; The first electrode layer is located between the substrate and the electrochromic functional layer; The second electrode layer is located between the optical component and the electrochromic functional layer.
5. The electrochromic device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The electrochromic device further comprises a sealing glue layer; The sealing glue layer is located between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer, and surrounds the electrochromic functional layer.
6. The electrochromic device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The electrochromic functional layer includes an ion storage layer, an electrolyte layer and an electrochromic layer which are arranged in sequence.
7. An electrochromic device, characterized in that: The device comprises a microcontroller, a plurality of control devices and the electrochromic device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the plurality of control devices correspond one-to-one to the one or more first electrode layer regions and the one or more second electrode layer regions, wherein: The input end and the control end of the control device are connected to the microcontroller respectively, and the output end of the control device is connected to the corresponding first electrode layer area or second electrode layer area; The microcontroller is used to control the working states of the multiple control devices by outputting control signals to the control ends of the multiple control devices and outputting voltage signals to the input ends of the multiple control devices, so as to control the M electrochromic regions to change color in sequence.
8. The electrochromic device according to claim 7, characterized in that: In the case where the first electrode layer includes N first electrode layer regions and the second electrode layer includes K second electrode layer regions, the coloring time of the electrochromic functional layer includes N cycles or K cycles.
9. The electrochromic device according to claim 8, characterized in that In the case where the coloring time of the electrochromic functional layer includes N cycles, each of the N cycles includes K sub-cycles; In the case where the coloring time of the electrochromic functional layer includes K periods, each of the K periods includes N sub-periods.
10. The electrochromic device according to claim 9, characterized in that The duration of the sub-period is shorter than the fading time of the electrochromic functional layer.