Transparency-Adjustable Film Using Compressive Strain
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional transparency-adjusting technologies, such as electrochromic and photochromic devices, require complex configurations, are costly, and have durability and stability issues, limiting their application in window systems due to the need for electric fields and slow reaction rates.
Innovation Solution
A transparency-adjustable film using a polymer with a three-dimensionally ordered array of pores that tilt from the vertical direction, allowing for optical modulation through compressive strain adjustment, which can be easily manufactured and controlled using a compressive-strain adjusting apparatus.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional transparency-adjusting technologies (electrochromic, SPD, photochromic devices) are used, then transparency control is achieved, but device complexity and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the scattering units from a complex device environment and integrates them directly into the window glass matrix, eliminating the need for separate electrochromic devices, SPD modules, or other complex transparency-adjusting mechanisms. This extraction principle simplifies the overall system while maintaining transparency control functionality through the photorefractive effect in the glass material itself
Solution Approach 2:
The glass composition serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides the structural base of the window, enables transparency adjustment through photorefractive scattering units, and offers durability without requiring separate mechanical or electrical systems. The glass material itself becomes the transparency-adjusting medium, eliminating the need for additional device layers or components
2Reliability
If photochromic or thermochromic technologies are used, then transparency adjustment is achieved, but durability and stability deteriorate due to chemical changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces chemical-based transparency adjustment mechanisms (photochromic, thermochromic) with a physical photorefractive effect in glass. The scattering units are physically embedded in the glass matrix and their orientation is controlled by light-induced refractive index changes rather than chemical reactions, thereby maintaining chemical composition stability while achieving transparency modulation
Solution Approach 2:
The invention creates a composite glass material containing scattering units distributed within the glass matrix. This composite structure combines the stability of glass with the functionality of scattering particles, achieving both durability and transparency adjustment capability without relying on unstable chemical changes
3Speed
If photochromic or thermochromic devices are used, then transparency control is achieved, but response speed decreases due to slow reaction rates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the fundamental parameter of transparency control from chemical reaction rates to physical light propagation and refractive index changes. The photorefractive effect responds almost instantaneously to light input, eliminating the slow reaction rates inherent in photochromic and thermochromic materials, thereby achieving rapid transparency adjustment
4Illumination intensity
If stretchable optical film with three-dimensional scattering structure is used, then optical modulation performance increases, but tensile force requirement and manufacturing complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of stretching the optical film to create scattering structures (which requires large tensile force), the patent inverts the approach by embedding pre-formed scattering units directly into the glass during manufacturing. The scattering structure is created in-situ through photopolymerization or other fabrication methods, eliminating the need for post-manufacturing stretching and associated high tensile forces
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The film achieves significant optical modulation performance with a simple structure, allowing for easy design of the apparatus and efficient transparency adjustment using compressive strain, reducing the need for tensile force and complex processes.
Implementation Method 1
a light scattering phenomenon at a structural interface, which occurs when light is incident on a scattering structure such as a micro or nano-structure (wrinkle, crack, pillar, hole, particle, etc.)
Implementation Method 2
a compressive-strain adjusting part that adjusts a compressive strain of the transparency-adjustable film in a vertical direction
Data Source
AI summary
A transparency-adjusting apparatus includes a transparency-adjustable film including a polymer and an array of pores that are three-dimensionally ordered and connected to each other, and a compressive-strain adjusting part that adjusts a compressive strain of the transparency-adjustable film in a vertical direction. A transparency of the transparency-adjustable film varies depending on the compressive strain. The pores are arranged to tilt from the vertical direction.