U.S. patent application number 16/680316 was filed with the patent office on 2020-03-12 for electrochromic device assemblies.
The applicant listed for this patent is Kinestral Technologies, Inc.. Invention is credited to John Gallipeo, Ken Higashihara.
Application Number | 20200081310 16/680316 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 57984133 |
Filed Date | 2020-03-12 |
View All Diagrams
United States Patent
Application |
20200081310 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Higashihara; Ken ; et
al. |
March 12, 2020 |
ELECTROCHROMIC DEVICE ASSEMBLIES
Abstract
An electrochromic device is provided. The device includes a
first substrate and a second substrate. The device includes
electrochromic material, with the first substrate, the
electrochromic material and the second substrate forming a
laminate, the first substrate offset in a lateral direction from
the second substrate along at least a portion of an edge of the
electrochromic device. The device includes a plurality of terminals
coupled to the electrochromic material, with at least two of the
plurality of terminals exposed on the first substrate by the first
substrate being offset in the lateral direction from the second
substrate. A method of manufacturing an electrochromic device is
also provided.
Inventors: |
Higashihara; Ken; (Hayward,
CA) ; Gallipeo; John; (Hayward, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Kinestral Technologies, Inc. |
Hayward |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
57984133 |
Appl. No.: |
16/680316 |
Filed: |
November 11, 2019 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
15230157 |
Aug 5, 2016 |
10473997 |
|
|
16680316 |
|
|
|
|
62202517 |
Aug 7, 2015 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G02F 1/13458 20130101;
B32B 17/10788 20130101; B32B 17/10513 20130101; G02F 1/153
20130101; B32B 17/10055 20130101; G02F 1/163 20130101; B32B
17/10706 20130101; B32B 17/1077 20130101; B32B 17/10761 20130101;
G02F 1/13452 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G02F 1/153 20060101
G02F001/153; G02F 1/163 20060101 G02F001/163 |
Claims
1. An electrochromic device, comprising: a first substrate; a
second substrate; electrochromic material, with the first
substrate, the electrochromic material and the second substrate
forming a laminate, the first substrate offset in a lateral
direction from the second substrate along at least a portion of an
edge of the electrochromic device; and a plurality of terminals
coupled to the electrochromic material, with at least two of the
plurality of terminals exposed on the first substrate by the first
substrate being offset in the lateral direction from the second
substrate.
2. The electrochromic device of claim 1, further comprising: a
first pane of glass or plastic; and the electrochromic device
attached to the first pane of glass as a further laminate.
3. The electrochromic device of claim 2, wherein the first pane of
glass comprises strengthened soda lime glass having a thickness in
the approximate range of about 3.0 mm to about 6.0 mm and wherein
the first and second substrates comprise low CTE borosilicate glass
having a thickness of about 0.5 mm.
4. The electrochromic device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of
terminals includes two bus bars and at least one sense terminal,
for sensing a voltage of the electrochromic device, the at least
one sense terminal distinct from the two bus bars, and wherein the
at least two of the plurality of terminals includes one of the two
bus bars and the at least one sense terminal.
5. The electrochromic device of claim 1, further comprising: a flex
circuit coupled to the plurality of terminals and disposed on the
first substrate, inward of or flush with the edge of the
electrochromic device.
6. The electrochromic device of claim 1, further comprising: a
first pane with the laminate including the first pane; and a second
pane spaced from the laminate, the first pane, the laminate and the
second pane forming an integrated glazing unit (IGU).
7. The electrochromic device of claim 1, further comprising: a
sequestration terminal coupled to the electrochromic device,
wherein the at least two of the plurality of terminals includes the
sequestration terminal.
8. The electrochromic device of claim 1, further comprising: a
controller; wiring, coupling the controller to the plurality of
terminals; and a housing, having the controller therein, the
housing and the wiring disposed along the edge of the
electrochromic device, inward of or flush with the edge of the
electrochromic device.
9. An integrated glazing unit (IGU), comprising: a first substrate;
a first transparent conductive layer on the first substrate; a
first bus bar applied to the first substrate and the first
transparent conductive layer; a second substrate; a second
transparent conductive layer on the second substrate; a second bus
bar applied to the second substrate and the second transparent
conductive layer; at least one layer of electrochromic material;
and the first substrate, the at least one layer of electrochromic
material, and the second substrate form a laminated assembly, with
at least a portion of a first edge of the second substrate recessed
relative to at least a portion of a first edge of the first
substrate, exposing at least a portion of the first bus bar for
electrical connection.
10. The integrated glazing unit of claim 9, further comprising: a
first pane attached to the laminated assembly; a second pane
attached by a spacer to the laminated assembly; and a controller
assembly located within a volume defined by the laminated assembly,
the second pane, and the spacer, and flush with or recessed from an
edge of the first pane or the second pane.
11. The integrated glazing unit of claim 9, further comprising: a
flex circuit, coupled to the at least a portion of the bus bar as
the electrical connection, and located along the at least a portion
of the first edge of the first substrate, inward of an edge of the
integrated glazing unit.
12. The integrated glazing unit of claim 9, further comprising: one
or more sense terminals coupled to the first transparent conductive
layer or the second transparent conductive layer and exposed for
electrical connection where the at least a portion of the first
edge of the second substrate is recessed relative to the at least a
portion of the first edge of the first substrate.
13. The integrated glazing unit of claim 9, further comprising: one
or more charge sequestration terminals coupled to the first
transparent conductive layer or the second transparent conductive
layer and exposed for electrical connection where the at least a
portion of the first edge of the second substrate is recessed
relative to the at least a portion of the first edge of the first
substrate.
14. The integrated glazing unit of claim 9, wherein both of the
first bus bar and the second bus bar include a solder line, and
wherein the exposed at least a portion of the first bus bar
includes a portion of the solder line of the first bus bar.
15. The integrated glazing unit of claim 9, further comprising: one
or both of the first substrate and the second substrate having a
plurality of tabs with terminals of an electrochromic device
thereupon, wherein the at least a portion of the first bus bar is a
terminal of the electrochromic device on one of the plurality of
tabs, and wherein at least two of the plurality of tabs are at
least partially exposed by the first edge of the second substrate
recessed relative to the at least a portion of the first edge of
the first substrate.
16. The integrated glazing unit of claim 9, further comprising: a
first pane of glass or plastic attached to the second substrate of
the laminated assembly; and a second pane of glass or plastic
attached by a spacer to the first pane of glass or plastic; wherein
the first pane of glass or plastic is offset in a lateral direction
from the first edge of the second substrate, such that the first
pane of glass or plastic and the second pane of glass or plastic
are not offset in any lateral direction on any edge.
17. The integrated glazing unit of claim 9, further comprising: a
third substrate; a third transparent conductive layer on the first
substrate; a third bus bar applied to the first substrate and the
first transparent conductive layer; a fourth substrate; a fourth
transparent conductive layer on the second substrate; a fourth bus
bar applied to the second substrate and the second transparent
conductive layer; at least a second layer of electrochromic
material; the third substrate, the at least the second layer of
electrochromic material, and the fourth substrate form a second
laminated assembly, with at least a portion of a first edge of the
third substrate recessed relative to at least a portion of a first
edge of the fourth substrate, exposing at least a portion of the
third bus bar for electrical connection; the laminated assembly and
the second laminated assembly are attached such that the second and
fourth substrates are attached and the first and fourth substrates
are facing outwards; a first pane of glass or plastic attached to
the first substrate; a second pane of glass or plastic attached to
the fourth substrate; and a third pane of glass or plastic attached
by a spacer to the second pane.
18. The integrated glazing unit of claim 9, wherein the second pane
of glass or plastic and the third pane of glass or plastic are not
offset in any lateral direction on any edge.
19. A laminated glass unit (LGU), comprising: a first substrate; a
first transparent conductive layer on the first substrate; a first
bus bar applied to the first substrate and the first transparent
conductive layer; a second substrate; a second transparent
conductive layer on the second substrate; a second bus bar applied
to the second substrate and the second transparent conductive
layer; at least one layer of electrochromic material; the first
substrate, the at least one layer of electrochromic material, and
the second substrate form a laminated assembly, with at least a
portion of a first edge of the second substrate recessed relative
to at least a portion of a first edge of the first substrate,
exposing at least a portion of the first bus bar for electrical
connection a third substrate; a third transparent conductive layer
on the first substrate; a third bus bar applied to the first
substrate and the first transparent conductive layer; a fourth
substrate; a fourth transparent conductive layer on the second
substrate; a fourth bus bar applied to the second substrate and the
second transparent conductive layer; at least a second layer of
electrochromic material; the third substrate, the at least the
second layer of electrochromic material, and the fourth substrate
form a second laminated assembly, with at least a portion of a
first edge of the third substrate recessed relative to at least a
portion of a first edge of the fourth substrate, exposing at least
a portion of the third bus bar for electrical connection; and the
laminated assembly and the second laminated assembly are attached
such that the second and fourth substrates are attached and the
first and fourth substrates are facing outwards, wherein the second
and fourth substrates are not offset in any lateral direction on
any edge.
20. A method of making an electrochromic integrated glazing unit
(IGU), comprising: offsetting a second substrate of an
electrochromic device from a first substrate of the electrochromic
device in a lateral direction; attaching the electrochromic device
to one or more panes of transparent or translucent material to form
an integrated glazing unit; and coupling one or more wires to the
one or more terminals of the electrochromic device.
21. The method of claim 20, wherein attaching the electrochromic
device to one or more panes of transparent or translucent material
comprises: attaching the electrochromic device to a first pane of
glass and a second pane of glass, with a spacer, wherein the
offsetting the second substrate from the first substrate creates a
recess inward from an edge of the integrated glazing unit.
22. The method of claim 20, further comprising: attaching a
controller assembly to the integrated glazing unit, flush with or
recessed from an edge of the integrated glazing unit, in a recessed
region created at least in part by the offsetting the second
substrate from the first substrate; and coupling the one or more
wires to the controller assembly.
23. The method of claim 20, wherein the offsetting comprises:
cutting the second substrate to a shorter dimension in the lateral
direction than the first substrate; and exposing one or more
terminals of the electrochromic device.
24. The method of claim 20, wherein the offsetting comprises:
assembling the second substrate and the first substrate together
with electrochromic material therebetween and with at least a
portion of an edge of the second substrate displaced in the lateral
direction from at least a portion of an edge of the first
substrate.
25. The method of claim 20, further comprising: forming a plurality
of tabs and notches on an edge of the one or both of the first
substrate and the second substrate, so that each of the one or more
terminals of the electrochromic device project outward on one or
more of the plurality of tabs.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] Electrochromic devices, which change in optical
transmissivity as a result of applied voltage and current, are in
use today in electrochromic windows and in automotive mirrors.
Windows for buildings are often made as integrated glazing units
(IGUs), which provide thermal insulation for the building and have
an inner pane of glass and an outer pane of glass held apart by a
spacer. A secondary seal typically surrounds the spacer. This works
well for integrated glazing units of ordinary windows without
electrochromic devices, with the spacer and the secondary seal
hermetically sealing the two panes of glass and preventing moisture
condensation in the inner space between the two panes. Electrical
connections to bus bars of electrochromic devices pose design
challenges, in an integrated glazing unit that should maintain
hermetic sealing.
[0002] Electrochromic devices that are deposited as multiple thin
layers on a single glass or plastic substrate require certain
elements to make the necessary electrical connections. For example,
physical vapor deposition (e.g., sputtering) can be used to deposit
conductive and electrochromic layers to create an entire
electrochromic device stack (e.g., bottom transparent conductor,
electrochromic materials, ion conductor, top transparent conductor)
on a single substrate. In some cases, vias are etched through one
or more of the upper layers of the stack to expose the contacts to
the lower layers of the stack that are buried beneath the upper
layers in the stack so that all necessary electrical contacts are
exposed. In other cases, masks are used during the deposition of
the upper layers of the stack to expose the contacts to the lower
layers of the stack so that all necessary electrical contacts are
exposed.
[0003] Electrochromic devices that utilize electrochromic material
contained within a chamber, which is defined by glass or plastic
substrates with conductive layers and a peripheral edge seal,
require different elements to make the necessary electrical
connection. In some cases, metal clips are used to make electrical
contact to the device. For example, electrochromic devices for
automobile mirrors can use metal clips which function as both
electrical connection and to improve the mechanical connection
between the glass or plastic substrates of the device.
[0004] Electrochromic device assemblies can also be attached or
laminated to additional pieces of glass or plastic to incorporate
into different types of products. For example, an electrochromic
device fabricated on a single sheet of glass, which is not heat
strengthened or tempered, can be laminated to a second piece of
tempered glass, and that laminated glass assembly can be attached
to a glass lite via a spacer and secondary seal to form an IGU.
Laminating a device substrate, which is not heat strengthened or
tempered, to a piece of to the tempered glass increases the
strength of the IGU to tolerate the required stresses experienced
in operation. By way of further example, an electrochromic device
with electrochromic materials disposed between two pieces of glass,
which are not heat strengthened or tempered, can be laminated to a
third piece of tempered glass, and that three piece of glass
assembly can be attached to a glass lite using a spacer and
secondary seal to form an IGU.
[0005] It is within this context that the embodiments arise.
SUMMARY
[0006] In some embodiments, an electrochromic device is provided.
The device includes a first substrate and a second substrate. The
device includes electrochromic material, with the first substrate,
the electrochromic material and the second substrate forming a
laminate, the first substrate offset in a lateral direction from
the second substrate along at least a portion of an edge of the
electrochromic device. The device includes a plurality of terminals
coupled to the electrochromic material, with at least two of the
plurality of terminals exposed on the first substrate by the first
substrate being offset in the lateral direction from the second
substrate.
[0007] In some embodiments, an integrated glazing unit (IGU) or
laminated glazing unit (LGU) is provided. The unit includes a first
substrate, a first transparent conductive layer on the first
substrate, a first bus bar applied to the first substrate and the
first transparent conductive layer, a second substrate, a second
transparent conductive layer on the second substrate, a second bus
bar applied to the second substrate and the second transparent
conductive layer, and at least one layer of electrochromic
material. The first pane, the first substrate, the at least one
layer of electrochromic material, and the second substrate are
provided as a laminated assembly, with at least a portion of a
first edge of the second substrate recessed relative to at least a
portion of a first edge of the first substrate, exposing at least a
portion of the first bus bar for electrical connection.
[0008] In some embodiments, a method of making an electrochromic
integrated glazing unit (IGU) or laminated glazing unit (LGU) is
provided. The method includes offsetting a second substrate of an
electrochromic device from a first substrate of the electrochromic
device in a lateral direction and attaching the electrochromic
device to one or more panes of transparent or translucent material
to form an integrated glazing unit. The method includes coupling
one or more wires to the one or more terminals of the
electrochromic device.
[0009] Other aspects and advantages of the embodiments will become
apparent from the following detailed description taken in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way
of example, the principles of the described embodiments.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] The described embodiments and the advantages thereof may
best be understood by reference to the following description taken
in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. These drawings in no
way limit any changes in form and detail that may be made to the
described embodiments by one skilled in the art without departing
from the spirit and scope of the described embodiments.
[0011] FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of an integrated
glazing unit (IGU), showing layers and other aspects of an
electrochromic device, a spacer, seals, and a driver or controller
assembly in accordance with some embodiments.
[0012] FIG. 2 is a perspective exploded view of the driver or
controller assembly from the integrated glazing unit of FIG. 1 in
accordance with some embodiments.
[0013] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the assembled integrated
glazing unit with the driver or controller assembly flush with or
recessed from an edge of the integrated glazing unit in accordance
with some embodiments.
[0014] FIG. 4A is a perspective view of one corner of the
integrated glazing unit, showing terminals of the electrochromic
device in a region where one substrate of the electrochromic device
is offset from another substrate of the electrochromic device to
expose the terminals in accordance with some embodiments.
[0015] FIG. 4B is a perspective exploded view of the corner of the
integrated glazing unit shown in FIG. 4A in accordance with some
embodiments.
[0016] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another corner of the
integrated glazing unit, showing an exposed terminal of the
electrochromic device in accordance with some embodiments.
[0017] FIG. 6A is a schematic cross-section of a multi-layer
electrochromic device in accordance with some embodiments.
[0018] FIG. 6B is a top-down view of an electrochromic device in
accordance with some embodiments.
[0019] FIG. 6C is a cross-section view of an electrochromic device
in accordance with some embodiments.
[0020] FIG. 7A is a top-down view of an electrochromic device in
accordance with some embodiments.
[0021] FIG. 7B is a side view of an electrochromic device in
accordance with some embodiments.
[0022] FIG. 8 is a top-down view of an electrochromic device,
showing the circuit board and electrical connections to different
terminals in accordance with some embodiments.
[0023] FIG. 9 is a perspective exploded view of an integrated
glazing unit (IGU), showing an electrochromic device and carrier
glass, flex circuit, spacer, sealant, and glass lite in accordance
with some embodiments.
[0024] FIG. 10A is a cross-section view of an electrochromic device
assembly (in this case, an integrated glass unit) along cut-line
A-A in FIG. 7A, showing an electrochromic device, carrier glass,
flex circuit, spacer, sealant, and glass lite in accordance with
some embodiments.
[0025] FIG. 10B is a cross-section view of an electrochromic device
assembly (in this case (an integrated glass unit) along cut-line
B-B in FIG. 7A, showing the electrochromic device, carrier glass,
spacer, sealant, and a glass lite in accordance with some
embodiments.
[0026] FIG. 11A is a top-down view of an electrochromic device
assembly in accordance with some embodiments.
[0027] FIG. 11B is a side view of an electrochromic device assembly
in accordance with some embodiments.
[0028] FIG. 12A is a cross-section view of an electrochromic device
assembly (in this case, an integrated glass unit) along cut-line
A-A in FIG. 11A, showing two electrochromic devices, carrier glass,
flex circuit, spacer, sealant, and glass lite in accordance with
some embodiments.
[0029] FIG. 12B is a cross-section view of an electrochromic device
assembly (in this case, an integrated glass unit) along cut-line
B-B in FIG. 11A, showing two electrochromic devices, carrier glass,
spacer, sealant, and a glass lite in accordance with some
embodiments.
[0030] FIG. 13A is a cross-section view of an electrochromic device
assembly (in this case, a laminated glass unit) along cut-line A-A
in FIG. 11A, showing two electrochromic devices, and two pieces of
carrier glass in accordance with some embodiments.
[0031] FIG. 13B is a cross-section view of an electrochromic device
assembly (in this case, a laminated glass unit) along cut-line B-B
in FIG. 11A, showing two electrochromic devices, and two pieces of
carrier glass in accordance with some embodiments.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0032] Electrochromic device assemblies, including integrated
glazing units (IGUs) and laminated glass units (LGUs), with
electrochromic devices are described with details of connections to
terminals of the electrochromic devices, in various embodiments.
Two substrates of an electrochromic device can be laterally offset
with respect to one another, forming a shelf or overhang that
exposes some or all of the terminals of the electrochromic device.
For purposes of explanation, a lateral direction is considered
parallel to a plane of, or tangent to, a main body of the
electrochromic device assembly, and a vertical direction is
considered perpendicular to the main body of the electrochromic
device assembly, e.g., through a thickness of the electrochromic
device assembly and/or extending perpendicular to a major surface
of the electrochromic device assembly.
Electrochromic Device Integrated Glazing Unit (IGU)
Construction
[0033] FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of an integrated
glazing unit (IGU) 100, showing layers 106, 108, 110, 114 118 120,
122 and other aspects of an electrochromic device, a spacer 124,
seals 126, 128, and a driver or controller assembly 148. Like many
ordinary, non-electrochromic integrated glazing units, the present
integrated glazing unit 100 is thermally insulative and has an
outer pane 102, and an inner pane 130, each of which could be glass
or plastic or other transparent or translucent material. Other
terms of art for integrated glazing unit include integrated glass
unit and insulated glass unit, each of these terms of art are
interchangeable. In addition to the outer pane 102 and the inner
pane 130, the integrated glazing unit 100 has an electrochromic
device disposed between these panes 102, 130. Placing the
electrochromic device closer to the outer pane 102 than the inner
pane 130 allows the adjustable tinting of the electrochromic device
to shade the inner pane 130 and the space between the panes 102,
130, which decreases heating of the argon, nitrogen, air or other
gas between the panes 102, 130 as compared to having the
electrochromic device closer to the inner pane 130. However, this
is not meant to be limiting as various embodiments could have the
first pane 102 as an outer pane or an inner pane, and the second
pane 130 could be an inner pane or an outer pane, relative to an
interior space of a building in which the integrated glazing unit
100 is installed. Although present embodiments are depicted as
flat, further embodiments of the integrated glazing unit 100 could
use curved surfaces and materials, or angled surfaces, etc., and
apply the mechanisms and arrangements described below.
[0034] In some embodiments, the electrochromic devices are composed
of various layers of electrochromic material on a single substrate,
which is then bonded to a single pane, which could be either the
outer pane 102 or the inner pane 130 of an integrated glazing unit.
The embodiment depicted in FIG. 1 has an electrochromic device with
two substrates 106, 122 sandwiching multiple layers of
electrochromic material. These substrates 106, 122 may be a thin
glass or flexible substrate, where the substrate has a thickness of
1.0 mm or less and more particularly 0.5 mm or less. The substrates
106, 122 may be glass, plastic, or other transparent or translucent
material. The layers of electrochromic material include a first
transparent conductive oxide layer 108 deposited on or otherwise
attached to a first substrate 106, a cathode layer 110, an ion
conductor layer 114, an anode layer 118, and a second transparent
conductive oxide layer 120 deposited on or otherwise attached to a
second substrate 122. These layers could be fabricated or assembled
in various ways, or variations could be devised. For example, the
cathode layer 110 could be deposited onto the first transparent
conductive oxide layer 108, and the anode layer 118 deposited onto
the second transparent conductive oxide layer 120, with the ion
conductor layer 114 or electrolyte applied to either the cathode
layer 110 or the anode layer 118. Then, the two substrates 106, 122
could be brought together with the ion conductor layer 114 in the
middle, to form the electrochromic device. In this example, the
anode layer 118 and the cathode layer 110 may be applied by a wet
process such as a sol-gel process or by the deposition of an ink
containing electrochromic particles and the ion conductor layer 114
may be a viscous polymer. A sealant 112 is applied, in some
embodiments, as a ring around the edges of the electrochromic
device, to seal the first substrate 116 and the second substrate
122 together and protect the electrochromic material from
degradation due to exposure to moisture or atmosphere. In some
embodiments, poly isobutylene (PIB) is utilized as the sealant. It
should be appreciated that other suitable sealant material may be
integrated with the embodiments as PIB is one example of a sealant
material. The seal created by the spacer 124 and the sealant 112
may be referred as a primary seal in some embodiments.
[0035] In some embodiments, the electrochromic device is attached
to a carrier glass. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1,
electrochromic device is attached to the outer pane 102 which
serves as the carrier glass in this embodiment, using a film layer
104, which could be an ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) layer,
polyvinyl butyral (PVB), polyurethane (PU), an ultraviolet
activated adhesive, or other transparent or translucent bonding
material. It is to be understood that the electrochromic device may
alternatively be laminated to the inner pane 103 where the inner
pane 103 serves as the carrier glass. The spacer 124 is attached to
the second substrate 122, for example with a poly isobutylene (PIB)
layer. The secondary seal 126 surrounds the spacer 124 laterally.
Completing the integrated glazing unit lamination, the inner pane
130 is attached to the spacer 124 and the secondary seal 126. Thus,
the electrochromic device is a laminate, the electrochromic device
and the outer pane 102 are a laminate, and the outer pane 102, the
electrochromic device and the inner pane 130 are a laminate, or
laminated structure or laminated device. A gap or inner space
between the second substrate 122 and the inner pane 130 can be
filled with argon, nitrogen, dry air or other gas, to provide
thermal insulation as a general characteristic of integrated
glazing units. A tertiary seal 128 surrounds the secondary seal 126
and provides further sealing for the integrated glazing unit 100.
In some embodiments, the tertiary seal 128 is applied as a liquid,
gel or semisolid, such as a potting compound, which then cures to a
flexible state. Some embodiments use a thicker first substrate 116
and/or second substrate 122, and omit the outer pane 102 and/or the
inner pane 130. In a further embodiment, the outer pane 102 may be
laminated to a first electrochromic device, and the inner pane 130
may be laminated to a second electrochromic device. In another
embodiment, a first and a second electrochromic device may be
laminated to one another to form a multi-pane electrochromic stack
and then laminated to either the outer pane 102 or the inner pane
103. In this dual pane embodiment the two electrochromic devices
may alternatively be laminated between two carrier glass substrates
where one of the two carrier glass substrates may be the outer pane
102 or the inner pane 130. This arrangement allows lower light
transmission in the fully darkened state, i.e., when both
electrochromic devices are darkened.
[0036] Bus bars 116, 146 are formed on the substrates 106, 122, for
controlling transmissivity of the electrochromic device. For
example, an anode bus bar 116 could be formed along or proximate to
one edge of the second substrate 122 prior to or after depositing
the second transparent conductive oxide layer 120 onto the second
substrate 122. A cathode bus bar 146 could be formed along or
proximate to an opposite edge of the first substrate 106, prior to
or after depositing the first transparent conductive oxide 108 onto
the first substrate 106. One technique for depositing bus bars 116,
146 onto glass is to deposit down molten solder (e.g., a solder
line) onto glass. Then, transparent conductive oxide can be
deposited on to the solder and the glass. Or, transparent
conductive oxide can be deposited to the glass, and then the solder
is deposited on top of the transparent conductive oxide. In the
embodiment shown, the anode bus bar 116 and cathode bus bar 146 are
at or near opposed edges of the electrochromic device, and on
opposed faces of electrochromic material. That is, the bus bars
116, 146 are attached to respective transparent conductive oxide
layers 108, 120 on opposite sides of the thickness of the
combination of the cathode layer 110, the ion conductive layer 114
and the anode layer 118. The bus bars 116, 146 are at or near
opposed edges of the combination of the cathode layer 110, the ion
layer 114 and the anode layer 118 in some embodiments. In further
embodiments, multiple bus bars could be located in various ways,
for example to accommodate different shaped substrates or to
establish multiple zones of control and corresponding multiple
zones of independently controlled tinting of the electrochromic
device.
[0037] In some embodiments, the electrochromic device has pads 136
that may function as charge sequestration pads. The sequestration
pads 136 in the embodiment illustrated by FIG. 1 allow charge of
the electrochromic device to be sequestered in a sequestration
region, controlled by two sequestration terminals which act as bus
bars for the sequestration region, or one sequestration terminal
and one bus bar 116, or other variations as readily devised in
keeping with the teachings herein. In most circumstances, the
device maintains charge neutrality, and charge is merely moved from
one electrode to the other as the device switches. However, certain
degradation mechanisms, can increase or decrease the total
transportable charge in the device (e.g., spurious oxidation). This
excess charge can be periodically eliminated via a sequestration
process, wherein one or more redox elements located at certain
spatial locations of the device would enable excess charge to be
moved from within the device into the redox element. Sequestration
terminals are electrically connected to the redox elements to
enable separate control of the voltage and current applied to the
redox element. Throughout this disclosure, "sequestration terminal"
can include any redox element connected to the sequestration
terminal. Sequestration terminals and redox elements are described
in Publication No. US2016/0202588 and are herein incorporated by
reference.
[0038] In an alternate embodiment the pads 136 are voltage sense
pads. The voltage sense pads 136 allow a voltage of the
electrochromic device to be measured at one or more sense
terminals. A driver is used by the electrochromic device to charge
and discharge the electrochromic device reliably, repeatedly and
without exceeding a safe operating realm for the device. In order
to do so, the driver can monitor a level of electric charge that is
transferred to the electrochromic device, and also ensure that the
potential of the electrochromic device does not exceed a
predetermined safe operating limit. One or more sense voltage
terminals located at certain spatial locations of the device would
provide a measurement of the cell potential (i.e., voltage between
the anode and cathode) of the device at a those spatial locations.
If the sense voltage limit is reached the driver can react to
prevent the device from being damaged. Sense voltage terminals and
driver operation are described in Publication No. US2016/0202590,
and is incorporated by reference. Two sense terminals could be used
to measure sense voltage independently of the bus bars 116, 146 in
some embodiments. One sense terminal could be used to measure sense
voltage in comparison with one of the bus bars 116, 146, e.g.,
voltage across the sense terminal and the bus bar 116 or voltage
across the sense terminal and the bus bar 146. Three or more sense
terminals, or other variations to measure further sense voltages
are readily devised in keeping with the teachings herein. In
various embodiments, and in various combinations, the bus bars 116,
146, one or more sequestration terminals and/or one or more sense
terminals include or are made of solder as described above for the
bus bars 116, 146. Other materials could be used, in further
embodiments.
[0039] In various embodiments, the driver or controller assembly
148 may be mounted to, assembled to, or integrated with the
integrated glazing unit 100. Alternatively the driver or controller
assembly 148 may be placed locally to the integrated glazing unit
100 within a cabinet, the cabinet containing multiple driver or
controller assembly units 148. As illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, the
controller assembly 148 is attached to an edge of the
electrochromic device and the integrated glazing unit 100, but
could be mounted elsewhere. Controller assembly 148 may be referred
to as a driver assembly in some embodiments. An enclosure 140, and
a cover 144, both of which could be made of plastic, metal or other
durable material form a housing. Inside the housing is a controller
board 138 with electronic components for controlling or driving the
electrochromic device. In some embodiments, controller board 138
may be referred to as a driver board. Two circuit boards or flex
circuits 132, 134 or other wiring couple the controller board 138
to the bus bars 116, 146 and, in some embodiments, the
sequestration and/or sense pads 136. A power and communication
cable 142 extends from the housing (i.e., the enclosure 140 and the
cover 144, and through an aperture in one, the other or both), to
couple the controller board 138 to external power and
communications. For example, controller board 138 may couple to a
network connector with power over Ethernet (POE) capability. In
variations, the controller assembly 148 includes a wireless module
and does not require communication through the cable 142. In some
embodiments, the controller assembly 148 uses solar cells, one or
more batteries, or other local power supply, to provide some local
power to supplement the power provided to the cable 142.
Alternatively, the inclusion of solar cells, one or more batteries,
or other local power supply could obviate the need for external
power provided by cable 142. The controller assembly 148 could have
both wireless and local power supply capabilities, and not use a
cable 142 at all in some embodiments.
[0040] FIG. 2 is a perspective exploded view of the controller
assembly 148 of the integrated glazing unit 100 of FIG. 1. To
assemble the controller assembly 148, the controller board 138,
with various electronics components 204, 206, 208, 210 mounted to
the controller board 138, is placed inside the enclosure 140. A
fastener 202 may be used to secure the controller board 138 to the
enclosure 140, or tabs, slots or other mechanical features or
devices could be used. The flex circuits 132, 134, which have
flexible wires on a flexible substrate, are assembled to the
controller board 138, for example with the use of zero insertion
force (ZIF) connectors (e.g., two of the components 204, 210) on
the controller board 138. This could be done before or after the
controller board 138 is placed in the enclosure 140, and before or
after the flex circuits 132, 134 are assembled to terminals of the
electrochromic device or devices. Likewise, the cable 142 could be
assembled, at various times or stages in the assembly process, to
the controller board 138. The cover 144 is assembled to the
enclosure 140, with a fastener 202 or other feature or device such
as snap connection, adhesive, sliding grooves, etc. In some
embodiments, potting compound or other filler is used in place of a
cover 144. Variations on the driver or controller assembly 148 are
readily devised in keeping with the teachings herein. For example,
rigid circuit boards and/or attached wires could be used in place
of the flex circuits.
[0041] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the assembled integrated
glazing unit 100 with the controller assembly 148 flush with or
recessed from an edge of the integrated glazing unit 100. In some
embodiments, the controller assembly 148 is flush with or recessed
from an edge of the electrochromic device. To create sufficient
space for flush or recessed mounting of the controller assembly
148, the secondary seal 126 is recessed from the edge of the
integrated glazing unit 100 in some embodiments. This creates a
recess, e.g., a recessed region or volume, bounded by the spacer
124, the second pane 130, the electrochromic device, and/or the
first pane 102 (see FIGS. 1, 4A, 4B and 5), into which the
controller assembly 148 can be assembled or disposed. The tertiary
seal 128 (see FIG. 1) could be applied after the flex circuits 132,
134 are coupled to the electrochromic device (see FIGS. 4A, 4B and
5), and before or after the controller assembly 148 is seated flush
with or recessed from the edge of the integrated glazing unit 100.
When present in an embodiment, the cable 142 extends from the
controller assembly 148 and from the tertiary seal 128. In other
embodiments, the controller assembly is located in a different
location in the IGU, such as closer to a corner of the IGU or along
a different edge. In other embodiments, the controller assembly is
located in the frame of the IGU and outside of the assembly shown
in FIG. 1. In some embodiments, the controller assembly is located
outside of the IGU, where it may be close to the IGU (e.g., less
than 10 feet away). When located outside of the IGU the controller
assembly may be housed in a cabinet along with the controller
assemblies for other IGU's having electrochromic devices or smart
features. In some embodiments, the controller assembly includes a
local power supply, such as a battery.
[0042] FIG. 4A is a perspective view of one corner of the
integrated glazing unit 100, showing terminals 412, 414 of the
electrochromic device in a region where one substrate 122 of the
electrochromic device is offset from another substrate 106 of the
electrochromic device to expose the terminals 412, 414. This view
is upside down, in comparison with the view shown in FIG. 1, and
can be visualized as taking the materials shown in FIG. 1, and
assembling them, then rotating the resultant assembly along a
horizontal axis extending diagonally from top left to lower right
in FIG. 1. Thus, the illustration in FIG. 4A is showing the far
left corner, formerly the far right corner at the top of FIG. 1.
One of the flex circuits 132 is shown split into four wires 402,
404, 406, 408, which couple, respectively, to terminals 416, 414,
412, 410 of the electrochromic device, although other arrangements
of wires or a flex circuit could be devised in variations.
[0043] There are multiple embodiments for how the substrate 122 is
offset from the other substrate 106 (and equivalently, vice versa).
The two substrates 122, 106 could be laterally displaced, one
relative to the other, and then assembled together as a lamination.
For example, the first substrate 106 could be moved rightward
relative to the second substrate 122 in FIG. 1 or leftward relative
to the second substrate 122 in FIG. 4A in some embodiments. The
second substrate 122 could be moved leftward relative to the first
substrate 106 in FIG. 1 or rightward relative to the first
substrate 106 in FIG. 4A in some embodiments. The second substrate
122 could be laser cut or otherwise cut before or after assembly to
the first substrate 106. The two substrates 106, 122 could be cut
to differing dimensions, e.g., the second substrate 122 shorter
than the first substrate 106. In some embodiments, the edge of the
second substrate 122 is shaped in a series of notches and tabs,
with the terminals 410, 412, 414, 416 (and also the terminal 502
shown in FIG. 5) extending laterally outward from the main body of
the second substrate 122 as the tabs or portions of the tabs, as
shown in the ghost line 415 in FIG. 4A. In variations, this could
be done with the first substrate 106, or both substrates 106, 122.
The offset creates an overhang or shelf, with one edge of the
second substrate 122 recessed from one edge of the first substrate
106 and terminals 412, 414 that are exposed, i.e., not covered or
otherwise obscured by the second substrate 122. The overhang or
shelf is an exposed portion of the first substrate 106, e.g., with
the first transparent conductive oxide layer 108 (see FIG. 1)
showing. In some embodiments, the cathode layer 110, ion conductor
layer 114, and anode layer 118 are absent on the overhang or shelf,
either by trimming these materials back or otherwise removing them
from, or not depositing them in the first place on, the overhang or
shelf region, so that access to the terminals 410, 412, 414, 416
(and terminal 502) is readily available without obscuring material
in the electrochromic device. The overhang or shelf could include
an entire edge of the electrochromic device, or a portion of an
edge, one or two corners (and a portion or entirety of an edge), or
more than one edge, etc. Further, the overhang or shelf contributes
to defining the recess described above with reference to FIG. 3,
with the inward displacement of the edge of the second substrate
122 contributing to the volume of the recess.
[0044] There are multiple embodiments for how the wires 402, 404,
406, 408 couple to the terminals 416, 414, 412, 410. The two
terminals 412, 414 that are exposed by the offset of the second
substrate 122 relative to the first substrate 106 could each have a
wire 406, 404 soldered to them, manually, or with an automated
soldering device, or with solder reflow. In some embodiments, these
terminals 412, 414 are a sequestration terminal and a sense
terminal. Terminals 116 and 416 are deposited on the second
substrate 122. The flex circuit 132 is reflow soldered to these
terminals prior to assembling the second substrate 122 and the
first substrate 106 together, in one embodiment. On first substrate
106, terminals 412 and 414 are deposited so that the terminals are
exposed on the step (also referred to as the shelf or overhang) of
first substrate 106 and extend some distance under the second
substrate 122. The flex circuit 132 traces that overlap terminals
412 and 414 are then reflow soldered together as the traces
overlapping the terminals are exposed on the shelf or overhang. In
FIG. 4A, the anode bus bar 116 (or, in further embodiments this
could be a cathode bus bar) is shown as a line of solder along or
near an edge of a back or downward face of the second substrate 122
(or front, upward face of the second substrate 122 in FIG. 1), with
the bus bar 116 and the second substrate 122 covered by the second
transparent conductive oxide layer 120. That is, from top to bottom
in FIG. 4A, the second substrate 122 is followed by the bus bar 116
(seen through the second substrate 122) and then the transparent
conductive oxide layer 120 (see FIG. 1). The wire 408 could be
attached to the bus bar 116 by removing a portion of the
transparent conductive oxide layer 120 to expose a portion of the
bus bar 116 as the terminal 410, or the transparent conductive
oxide layer 120 could be deposited so as to leave a portion of the
bus bar 116 exposed as the terminal 410. Then, the wire 408 could
be attached to the bus bar 116 by manual soldering, automated
soldering or solder reflow. Similarly, the wire 402 could be
attached to the terminal 416, a further sense terminal in this
embodiment, by exposing a portion of the terminal 416. An
electrically insulative material could be applied, or various
layers of the electrochromic device suitably dimensioned or
arranged, so that the first transparent conductive layer 108 does
not electrically short to the second transparent conductive layer
120 during soldering operations. In variations, other electrical
connection materials or mechanisms could be applied for connecting
wires to terminals. In embodiments where the transparent conductive
oxide layer 108 is first applied to the second substrate 122 prior
to laying down the bus bar 116, the corresponding wire 408 is
readily attached to the bus bar 116 without need of removing or
further dimensioning of the transparent conductive oxide layer
108.
[0045] FIG. 4B is a perspective exploded view of the corner of the
integrated glazing unit 100 shown in FIG. 4A. Notches in the flex
circuit 132 expose portions of wires 402, 404, 406, 408. The
exposed portions of the wires 402, 404, 406, 408 are available for
connection to the respective terminals 416, 414, 412, 410 of the
electrochromic device. In the embodiment shown, these terminals
410, 412, 414, 416 include or are made of solder. A reflow process
(using applied heat) melts the solder, which then electrically and
physically bonds the wire to the terminal, for each wire and
terminal pair in some embodiments. This process takes place in the
shelf or overhang region created by the offset of the second
substrate 122 relative to the first substrate 106. In some
embodiments, the connections to the terminals 410 and 416 are made
before the first substrate 106 and second substrate 122 are paired,
and these connections are embedded within the device. In such
embodiments, the process in the shelf or overhang region applies to
the terminals 412 and 414. It should be appreciated that FIG. 4B is
an exploded view for illustrative and explanation purposes and in
most embodiments the terminals 410 and 416 are closer to substrate
122 and terminals 412 and 414 are closer to substrate 106, as
illustrated in FIG. 4A.
[0046] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another corner of the
integrated glazing unit 100, showing an exposed terminal 502 of the
electrochromic device. This corner can be visualized as the near
left companion to the corner shown in FIG. 4A, and viewed upside
down from the near right corner of the integrated glazing unit 100,
depicted on the right side of FIG. 1. In this embodiment, the
terminal 502 is a bus bar terminal of the cathode bus bar 146, but
could be a terminal of an anode bus bar in further embodiments, or
some other terminal. Similar to the terminals 412, 414, the
terminal 502 is exposed by the offset of the second substrate 122
relative to the first substrate 106. It should be appreciated that
the cathode layer 110, ion conductor layer 114 and anode layer 118
are absent on this portion of the overhang or shelf, and the first
transparent conductive oxide layer 108 is either removed from or is
beneath (relative to the drawing orientation) the solder line at
the portion of the solder line that forms the terminal 502. Various
combinations of these, in various embodiments, expose the terminal
502 for connection. A wire of the flex circuit 132 is connected to
the terminal 502 by soldering as described above. The shelf or
overhang region described above provides ample space for connection
of the flex circuit 132, 134 to various terminals of the
electrochromic device. In comparison, an electrochromic device with
no shelf or overhang region, and two substrates with no offset,
offers no such area for connection to terminals of the
electrochromic device. Attempting to insert wires or a flex circuit
between the two substrates, for example by prying apart the two
substrates, could damage the electrochromic device and/or the
substrates. Connecting wires or a flex circuit to terminals of an
electrochromic device and then attempting to sandwich two
substrates together might result in a gap between the two
substrates as a result of the thickness of the wires or the flex
circuit. A solder reflow process might be difficult or impossible
when the solder lines are trapped between two substrates and not
exposed as the shelf or overhang region allows.
Electrochromic Device Circuitry
[0047] An electrochromic device is described herein with details of
connections to terminals of the electrochromic device, in various
embodiments. In many of the embodiments described herein, two
substrates of the electrochromic device are laterally offset with
respect to one another, forming a shelf or overhang that exposes
some or all of the terminals of the electrochromic device. FIGS.
6A-8 describe such an electrochromic device and provide greater
detail around the electronics and wiring of the device. In this
specification, embodiments of this electrochromic device are
described as part of an integrated glazing unit (IGU) (FIGS. 1-5,
and 9-12B) and as part of a laminated glazing unit (LGU) (FIGS. 13A
and 13B.) These embodiments provide different configurations of
electrochromic devices that have been laminated to one or more
pieces of carrier glass as well as embodiments where multiple
electrochromic devices have been laminated to one another.
[0048] FIG. 6A depicts a cross-sectional structural diagram of
electrochromic device 1 according to an embodiment of the present
disclosure. Moving outward from the center, electrochromic device 1
comprises an ion conductor layer 10. First electrode layer 20 is on
one side of and in contact with a first surface of ion conductor
layer 10, and second electrode layer 21 is on the other side of and
in contact with a second surface of ion conductor layer 10. In
addition, at least one of first and second electrode layers 20, 21
comprises electrochromic material; in one embodiment, first and
second electrode layers 20, 21 each comprise electrochromic
material. The central structure, that is, layers 20, 10, 21, is
positioned between first and second electrically conductive layers
22 and 23 which, in turn, are arranged against "outer substrates"
24, 25. Elements 22, 20, 10, 21, and 23 are collectively referred
to as an electrochromic stack 28. In some embodiments, substrate 24
can also be referred to as the lower substrate, and substrate 25
can be referred to as the upper substrate to aid in the further
description of the invention. The terms upper and lower are not
meant to be limiting and it is to be understood that the "outer
substrates" 24 and 25 may have any orientation.
[0049] Electrically conductive layer 22 is in electrical contact
with one terminal of a power supply (not shown) via bus bar 26 and
electrically conductive layer 23 is in electrical contact with the
other terminal of a power supply (not shown) via bus bar 27 whereby
the transmissivity of the electrochromic stack 28 may be changed by
applying a voltage pulse to electrically conductive layers 22 and
23. The pulse causes electrons and ions to move between first and
second electrode layers 20 and 21 and, as a result, electrochromic
material in the first and/or second electrode layer(s) change(s)
optical states, thereby switching electrochromic stack 28 from a
more transmissive state to a less transmissive state, or from a
less transmissive state to a more transmissive state. In one
embodiment, electrochromic stack 28 is transparent before the
voltage pulse and less transmissive (e.g., more reflective or
colored) after the voltage pulse or vice versa.
[0050] It should be understood that the reference to a transition
between a less transmissive and a more transmissive state is
non-limiting and is intended to describe the entire range of
transitions attainable by electrochromic materials to the
transmissivity of electromagnetic radiation. For example, the
change in transmissivity may be a change from a first optical state
to a second optical state that is (i) relatively more absorptive
(i.e., less transmissive) than the first state, (ii) relatively
less absorptive (i.e., more transmissive) than the first state,
(iii) relatively more reflective (i.e., less transmissive) than the
first state, (iv) relatively less reflective (i.e., more
transmissive) than the first state, (v) relatively more reflective
and more absorptive (i.e., less transmissive) than the first state
or (vi) relatively less reflective and less absorptive (i.e., more
transmissive) than the first state. Additionally, the change may be
between the two extreme optical states attainable by an
electrochromic device, e.g., between a first transparent state and
a second state, the second state being opaque or reflective
(mirror). Alternatively, the change may be between two optical
states, at least one of which is intermediate along the spectrum
between the two extreme states (e.g., transparent and opaque or
transparent and mirror) attainable for a specific electrochromic
device. Unless otherwise specified herein, whenever reference is
made to a less transmissive and a more transmissive, or even a
bleached-colored transition, the corresponding device or process
encompasses other optical state transitions such as
non-reflective-reflective, transparent-opaque, etc. Further, the
term "bleached" may refer to an optically neutral state, e.g.,
uncolored, transparent or translucent. Still further, unless
specified otherwise herein, the "color" of an electrochromic
transition is not limited to any particular wavelength or range of
wavelengths. As understood by those of skill in the art, the choice
of appropriate electrochromic and counter electrode materials
governs the relevant optical transition.
[0051] In some embodiments, the upper substrate is coated with an
electrically conductive layer and an electrode, the lower substrate
is coated with an electrically conductive layer and an electrode,
and then the upper and lower substrates are laminated together to
form the electrochromic stack using the polymeric ion conductor
layer between the substrates, forming a structure such as the one
shown in the example in FIG. 6A. The electrically conductive layers
can be scribed to electrically isolate different regions of the
device, such as the sense voltage terminal regions, sequestration
regions, and a primary device region. In some embodiments, the
electrically conductive layers are scribed using mechanical
scribing, laser scribing, or masking (e.g., via lithography)
followed by chemical etching. The electrically conductive layers
can also be selectively deposited to electrically isolate different
regions of the device, such as the sense voltage terminal regions,
sequestration regions, and a primary device region.
[0052] In some cases, an electrochromic device of this disclosure
also has one or more electrically conductive layers that have
spatially varying properties. In some cases, an electrochromic
device of this disclosure has one or more electrically conductive
layers, where the properties (for example resistivity and/or doping
density) or structure (for example thickness and/or ablated
pattern) of one or more of the electrically conductive layers are
varying in such a way to cause a spatially varying sheet
resistance, or non-linear resistance as a function of distance
along the sheet. The electrically conductive layers may be one or
more transparent conductive layer materials where the spatially
varying properties of the transparent conductive layer is achieved
through the use of a gradient in one or more of the transparent
conductive layer materials. Examples of transparent conductive
layer materials include transparent conductive oxides, transparent
conductive polymers, metal grids, carbon nanotubes, graphene,
nanowire meshes, and ultra thin metal films. Examples of
transparent conductive oxides include indium tin oxide (ITO),
fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO), or doped zinc oxide. In one
particular embodiment the electrochromic device substrates may have
a first transparent conductive layer having a gradient pattern
formed over the electrochromic device substrate and a second
transparent conductive layer that is continuous (does not have a
gradient pattern) formed over the first transparent conductive
layer having a gradient pattern. In one embodiment the first
transparent conductive layer may be indium tin oxide (ITO) and the
second transparent conductive layer may be tantalum pentaoxide
doped tin oxide (TTO.) The gradient in the transparent conductive
layers of the electrochromic device may be formed by different
techniques such as by creating a gradient in the composition of the
transparent conductive layer or by patterning the materials with a
scribe or etchant to effectively create an "electron maze."
Regardless of the technique used, the gradients on opposing
transparent conductive layers may have an inverse symmetry to one
another. The gradient transparent conductive layer allows for the
use of electrochromic devices in panels used for large scale
applications such as architectural windows or in transportation
applications such as buses and trains or automotives. This is
because with a gradient transparent conductive oxide there is not a
drop in effective voltage across the electrochromic device once the
voltage is applied to the electrochromic device at the bus bars
which provides for a uniform transition between tint states across
all dimensions of the electrochromic panel. More details on
gradient transparent conductive layers and different embodiments
applicable to the electrochromic devices described in this
specification can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 8,717,658 entitled
Electrochromic Multi-Layer Devices With Spatially Coordinated
Switching (incorporated herein by reference), U.S. Pat. No.
9,091,895 Electrochromic Multi-Layer Devices With Composite
Electrically Conductive Layers (incorporated herein by reference),
U.S. Pat. No. 9,091,868 Electrochromic Multi-Layer Devices With
Composite Current Modulating Structure (incorporated herein by
reference), and patent application number US 2014/0043668
Electrochromic Multi-Layer Devices With Current Modulating
Structure (incorporated herein by reference.) The gradient
transparent conductive layers 520 and 522 not only remove the "iris
effect" problem that larger scale electrochromic devices have by
enabling the uniform transition between states across the entire
surface of the electrochromic panel, but enables the fast
transition between tint states and in particular from the clear
state to the dark state and vice versa.
[0053] A driver is used by the electrochromic device to charge and
discharge the electrochromic device reliably, repeatedly and
without exceeding a safe operating realm for the device. In order
to do so, the driver can monitor a level of electric charge that is
transferred to the electrochromic device, and also ensure that the
potential of the electrochromic device does not exceed a
predetermined safe operating limit. One or more sense voltage
terminals located at certain spatial locations of the device would
provide a measurement of the cell potential (i.e., voltage between
the anode and cathode) of the device at a those spatial locations.
If the sense voltage limit is reached the driver can react to
prevent the device from being damaged. Sense voltage terminals and
driver operation are described in Publication No. US2016/0202590,
and is incorporated by reference.
[0054] In most circumstances, the device maintains charge
neutrality, and charge is merely moved from one electrode to the
other as the device switches. However, certain degradation
mechanisms, can increase or decrease the total transportable charge
in the device (e.g., spurious oxidation). This excess charge can be
periodically eliminated via a sequestration process, wherein one or
more redox elements located at certain spatial locations of the
device would enable excess charge to be moved from within the
device into the redox element. Sequestration terminals are
electrically connected to the redox elements to enable separate
control of the voltage and current applied to the redox element.
Throughout this disclosure, "sequestration terminal" can include
any redox element connected to the sequestration terminal.
Sequestration terminals and redox elements are described in
Publication No. US2016/0202588 and are herein incorporated by
reference.
[0055] The bus bars (e.g., elements 26 and 27 in FIG. 6A), sense
voltage terminals, and sequestration terminals can be connected to
a circuit board. The circuit board can include connector leads,
which interface with a connector. The connector, in turn, provides
the electrical connection to the controller assembly, driver and/or
the power supply through a cable harness.
[0056] In some embodiments, the bus bars, sense voltage terminals,
and sequestration terminals are directly connected to the circuit
board. Some examples of direct connections between the bus bars,
sense voltage terminals, and sequestration terminals and the
circuit board are soldered connections, ultrasonic welds, or
conductive adhesive. In some embodiments, the bus bars, sense
voltage terminals, and sequestration terminals can be connected to
a conductive member, which is connected to the circuit board. Some
examples of conductive members connecting the bus bars, sense
voltage terminals, and sequestration terminals to the circuit board
are metallic ribbon, copper ribbon, flexible ribbon cables, and
conductive wires. Some examples of how the conductive members can
be connected to the bus bars, sense voltage terminals,
sequestration terminals, and the circuit boards are soldered
connections, ultrasonic welds, or conductive adhesive.
[0057] The circuit boards described herein can be rigid or
flexible. The circuit board substrate can be made from a rigid
material such as woven fiberglass cloth impregnated with an epoxy
resin, cotton paper impregnated with resin, aluminum, alumina,
matte glass and polyester, or other rigid polymeric materials. Some
examples of materials used in rigid circuit boards are FR-2, FR-4,
G-10, CEM-1, CEM-2, PTFE, aluminum, and alumina. The circuit board
substrate can be made from a flexible material such as, polyimide
foil, polyimide-fluoropolymer composite foil, or other flexible
polymeric materials. Some examples of materials used in flexible
circuit boards Kapton and Pyralux.
[0058] In some embodiments, there is a connector between the
circuit board and the cable harness. The connector between the
circuit board and the cable harness can be a standard connector or
a custom connector. Some examples of standard connector are ZIF
connectors (zero insertion force connectors), hot bar solder
connectors, and other types of flat flexible cable connectors. In
some embodiments, the connector between the circuit board and the
cable harness can be designed to fit in between the upper and lower
substrate of the electrochromic device after assembly. The
connector between the circuit board and the cable harness can be
less than 5 mm thick, less 3 mm thick, or less than 1 mm thick.
[0059] FIG. 6B shows an electrochromic device from the top-down, in
an embodiment. The figure shows the bus bar connected to the
electrode on the upper substrate (i.e., the upper bus bar) 603, the
bus bar connected to the electrode on the lower substrate (i.e.,
the lower bus bar) 604, the sense voltage terminal on the upper
substrate (i.e., the upper sense voltage terminal) 605, the sense
voltage terminal on the lower substrate (i.e., the lower sense
voltage terminal) 606, the sequestration terminal on the upper
substrate (i.e., the upper sequestration terminal) 607, and the
sequestration terminal on the lower substrate (i.e., the lower
sequestration terminal) 608. The use of the terms "upper" and
"lower" are to aid in the description of the invention and are not
meant to be limiting. The components described in the figures may
be referred to as upper and lower, but it is to be understood that
any orientation of the components with respect to one another is
possible. In this particular embodiment, the upper substrate 601,
is smaller than the lower substrate 602 in one dimension, and the
upper substrate 601 is offset in a lateral direction from the lower
substrate 602 along one edge of the electrochromic device. In this
embodiment, the lower bus bar 604, lower sense voltage terminal 606
and lower sequestration terminal 608 are exposed by the upper
substrate 601 being offset in the lateral direction from the lower
substrate 602.
[0060] In other embodiments, the upper substrate can be larger than
the lower substrate in one dimension, and the bus bars, sense
voltage terminals, and sequestration terminals on the upper
substrate can be exposed by the lower substrate being offset in the
lateral direction from the lower substrate.
[0061] In other embodiments, the upper substrate and lower
substrate can be different sizes in more than one dimension, and be
offset in more than one lateral direction. In other embodiments,
the upper substrate and lower substrate can be the same dimensions,
and be offset in one or more lateral dimensions, thereby creating
one or more overhangs on both the upper and lower substrates.
[0062] In embodiments where the offset between upper and lower
substrates exposes the bus bars, sense voltage terminals, and
sequestration terminals on one of the substrates, the circuit board
can make contact with these exposed elements. The circuit board can
extend in between the two substrates to make contact to the
unexposed elements (i.e., bus bars, sense voltage terminals, and
sequestration terminals on the substrate that is not exposed). In
some cases, a conductive member can be also be used to make contact
to the unexposed elements (i.e., bus bars, sense voltage terminals,
and sequestration terminals on the substrate that is not exposed),
and the conductive member can be electrically connected to the
circuit board.
[0063] Referring again the embodiment in FIG. 6B, the bus bars,
sense voltage terminals, and sequestration terminals on the lower
substrate are exposed and can be contacted after the upper and
lower substrates are laminated together. The circuit board 609
extends between the upper and lower substrate, allowing the circuit
board 609 to make contact with the unexposed upper sense voltage
terminal 605 and upper sequestration terminal 607. The circuit
board 609 also extends beyond the edge of the upper substrate,
allowing a connector to make electrical contact to the circuit
board 609 after the upper and lower substrates are assembled
together.
[0064] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6B, all of the connections
between the circuit board 609 and the bus bars 603 and 604, sense
voltage terminals 605 and 606, and sequestration terminals 607 and
608, can be direct electrical connections (i.e., do not require a
conductive member between the circuit board and the bus bars, sense
voltage terminals, and sequestration terminals). In other
embodiments, some of these connections could also require a
conductive member between the circuit board and one or more of the
bus bars, sense voltage terminals, and sequestration terminals.
[0065] FIG. 6C shows a cross-section of the embodiment structure
shown in FIG. 6B, where the upper substrate 601 is offset the
lateral direction from the lower substrate 602. The cross-section
of the embodiment in FIG. 6C shows that the upper bus bar 603 is
unexposed after the upper and lower substrates are assembled
together with the electrochromic stack (e.g., element 28 in FIG.
6A) between them, and the lower bus bar 604 is exposed after the
upper and lower substrates are assembled together. The circuit
board 609 is shown extending between the upper and lower substrates
in order to make contact to the unexposed upper bus bar 603.
[0066] FIG. 6C also shows that the circuit board can have two
surfaces, an upper surface 610, and a lower surface 611. The
circuit board upper surface 610 can make electrical contact with
the upper bus bar 603, and the circuit board lower surface 611 can
make electrical contact with the lower bus bar 604.
[0067] For clarity in FIG. 6C, the upper and lower sense voltage
terminals and the upper and lower sequestration terminals are not
shown, but it should be understood that they can make connection to
the upper and lower surfaces of the circuit board 609 in a similar
configuration as the upper and lower bus bars. Referring back to
FIG. 6B, it is clear that the upper and lower sense voltage
terminals, and the upper and lower sequestration terminals, can
connect to the circuit board 609 in a similar configuration as the
upper and lower bus bars.
[0068] In some embodiments, before the substrates are laminated
together, the circuit board 609 is electrically connected to the
elements that will be unexposed after the substrates are laminated
together. In the embodiment in FIG. 6C, the circuit board 609 can
be electrically connected to the upper bus bar 603 on the upper
substrate 601 before the upper substrate 601 and lower substrate
602 are assembled together. Then, after the upper substrate 601 and
lower substrate 602 are assembled together, the circuit board 609
can be connected to the lower bus bar 604.
[0069] FIG. 7A shows a top-down view of an electrochromic device
(e.g., element 1 in FIG. 6A), in an embodiment. In this embodiment,
the electrochromic device is approximately a rectangle with
dimensions 833 cm.times.1343 cm, but this is not mean to be
limiting. The electrochromic device can have a shape other than a
rectangle, or be a rectangle of many other dimensions. FIG. 7A also
shows a cable harness 701, which is a cable that is electrically
connected to the circuit board. In some cases, the cable harness
can be terminated on one end with a connector that is electrically
connected to the circuit board. The cable harness 701 can connect
the circuit board to the controller assembly, driver and/or power
supply to control and provide power to the electrochromic device.
FIG. 7B shows a side view of an electrochromic device in an
embodiment. FIGS. 7A and 7B show cut-lines A-A, B-B and C-C, which
will be referred to in subsequent figures.
[0070] FIG. 8 shows a top-down view along cut-line C-C in FIG. 7B,
that is rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise from the orientation
shown in FIG. 7B. The circuit board and connections in FIG. 8 are
similar to those shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, but shows a different
embodiment of the circuit board, terminals and electrical
connections. The embodiment in FIG. 8 shows that the upper
substrate is offset in a lateral direction from the lower substrate
along one edge of the electrochromic device. In this embodiment,
the lower bus bar terminal 802, lower sense voltage terminal 804
and lower sequestration terminal 806 are exposed by the upper
substrate being offset in the lateral direction from the lower
substrate.
[0071] In the embodiment in FIG. 8, the circuit board 800 extends
in between the upper and lower substrates and beyond one edge of
the upper substrate. Since the circuit board extends in between the
upper and lower substrates, the circuit board 800 can make direct
electrical contact to the upper sense voltage terminal 803 and the
upper sequestration terminal 805, even though they are unexposed
after the upper and lower substrates are assembled together. In
some embodiments, the circuit board is long enough to make direct
contact to all of the terminals. However, in the embodiment shown
in FIG. 8, the circuit board 800 is not long enough to make a
direct connection to the upper bus bar terminal 801, or the lower
sequestration terminal 806. Furthermore, since the upper bus bar
terminal is unexposed after the upper and lower substrates are
assembled together, in this embodiment an additional conductive
member 808 (a copper ribbon) is used to extend the upper bus bar
801 beyond the edge of the upper substrate. In this embodiment,
therefore, a conductive member 807 is required to connect the upper
bus bar copper ribbon 808 and the lower sequestration terminal 806
to the circuit board 800. In this embodiment, the conductive member
807 is a pair of flexible ribbon cables making independent
connections between the upper bus bar copper ribbon 808 and the
circuit board 800, and between the lower sequestration terminal 806
and the circuit board 800. The ribbon cables making up conductive
member 807 are stacked on top of one another, and therefore in FIG.
8, the flexible ribbon cable connecting the upper bus bar copper
ribbon 808 and the circuit board 800 is visible, and the flexible
ribbon cable connecting the lower sequestration terminal 806 and
the circuit board 800 is hidden. The two flexible ribbon cables
making up the conductive member 807 are electrically isolated from
each other so that the upper bus bar and the lower sequestration
terminal can be independently addressed.
[0072] FIG. 8 shows an embodiment where the circuit board 800 has
an upper surface and a lower surface with electrical connections
made on the upper surface and lower surface. In this embodiment,
there are conductive wires, which are considered to be part of the
circuit board, and there are notches in the insulative material of
the circuit board, which expose portions of some of the wires so
that electrical connections can be made on the upper surface and
the lower surface of the circuit board. In this embodiment, the
lower bus bar 802 and the lower sense voltage terminal 804 are
electrically connected to the lower surface of the circuit board
800, and the upper sense voltage terminal 803, the upper
sequestration terminal 805, and the flexible ribbon cables making
up the conductive member 807, are electrically connected to the
upper surface of the circuit board.
[0073] FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of the circuit board 800, showing
the connector leads 809. The connector leads are configured to
connect to a connector of a cable harness (as shown in element 701
in FIG. 7A). The circuit board 800 has a number of conductive
traces 810 connecting the bus bar terminals, sense voltage
terminals, and sequestration terminals to the connector leads 809,
such that each of the bus bar terminals, sense voltage terminals,
and sequestration terminals can be independently addressed by the
driver. The conductive traces 810 on the circuit board 800
connecting the bus bar terminals 802 and 801 to the connector leads
are wider than the conductive traces 810 between the sense voltage
terminals 803 and 804 and sequestration terminals 805 and 806 and
the connector leads 809 because the bus bars supply high currents
required to switch the electrochromic device, while the sense
voltage terminals and sequestration terminals carry lower currents.
In some embodiments, the connector leads 809 are configured to
interface with a standard connector (e.g., a ZIF connector) and
multiple leads are tied together in order to carry the current
required by the electrochromic device bus bars. The circuit board
can be designed to supply current to the bus bars of the
electrochromic device that are greater than 200 mA, or greater than
500 mA, or greater than 1000 mA, or greater than 1500 mA, or
greater than 2000 mA, or greater than 2500 mA, or greater than 3000
mA, or from 200 mA to 5000 mA, or from 200 mA to 3000 mA, or from
500 mA to 3000 mA, or from 500 mA to 2000 mA.
[0074] FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of the circuit board, where there
are a number of test pads 811 that remain exposed after the upper
substrate and lower substrate are assembled together. These test
pads enable electrical probing of the unexposed connections for
testing purposes after the upper and lower substrates are assembled
and after the circuit board and other conductive members are
assembled and connected.
Electrochromic Device Assemblies with Carrier Glass
[0075] FIG. 9 shows an embodiment of an integrated glazing unit
(IGU) 900. Some of the elements of the IGU are shown in the figure
including the electrochromic device and carrier glass 901, circuit
board or flex circuit 902, spacer 903, sealant 904 and the glass
lite 905. In the embodiment shown the electrochromic device is
attached to a carrier glass.
[0076] The carrier glass can be laminated to the electrochromic
device, and can provide increased strength. In some embodiments,
the substrateused as the substrate for the electrochromic device
can be a type of glass that lacks the strength necessary for
certain applications, and laminating or otherwise attaching the
electrochromic device to one or more pieces of stronger carrier
glass can increase the strength of the assembly and enable the
electrochromic device to be used in various applications (e.g.,
windows in buildings or interior partitions). In such cases, one or
both substrates of the electrochromic device could be laminated to
annealed, strengthened, or tempered carrier glass to increase the
strength of the electrochromic device and carrier glass laminate.
In some embodiments, one or both electrochromic device substrates
are laminated to carrier glass and one or both electrochromic
device substrates have a greater than 90% probability of
withstanding a thermal stress or withstand a thermal edge stress
less than 100 MPa, or less than 80 MPa, or less than 60 MPa, or
less than 50 MPa, or less than 40 MPa, or less than 35 MPa, or less
than 30 MPa, or less than 25 MPa, or less than 20 MPa, or less than
15 MPa, or less than 10 MPa, or from 5 to 100 MPa, or from 5 to 80
MPa, or from 5 to 60 MPa, or from 5 to 50 MPa, or from 5 to 40 MPa,
or from 5 to 30 MPa, or from 5 to 25 MPa, or from 5 to 20 MPa, or
from 5 to 15 MPa.
[0077] In some embodiments, the carrier glass enables the use of
various materials and manufacturing methods for producing the
electrochromic device. For example, the glass for the substrate of
the electrochromic device could not be heat strengthened or
tempered, and therefore lack the strength (or edge strength)
necessary for use in some applications. Alternatively, the
electrochromic device could be on a non-glass flexible substrate
such as a polymer or plastic. In some embodiments, one or both
electrochromic device substrates are glass with sodium oxide (e.g.,
Na.sub.2O) mole fraction less than 0.1%, or less than 1%, or less
than 5%, or less than 10%, or from 0.0001% to 1%, or from 0.0001%
to 5%, or from 0.0001% to 10%. In some embodiments one or both of
the electrochromic device substrates are annealed glass with sodium
oxide (e.g., Na.sub.2O) mole fraction less than 0.1%, or less than
1%, or less than 5%, or less than 10%, or from 0.0001% to 1%, or
from 0.0001% to 5%, or from 0.0001% to 10%. In some embodiments one
or both of the electrochromic device substrates are glass with a
boron oxide (e.g., B.sub.2O.sub.3) mole fraction greater than 0.1%,
or greater than 1%, or greater than 5%, or from 0.1% to 20%, or
from 0.1% to 15%, or from 0.1% to 10%. In some embodiments, one or
both electrochromic device substrates are annealed glass with boron
oxide (e.g., B.sub.2O.sub.3) mole fraction greater than 0.1%, or
greater than 1%, or greater than 5%, or from 0.1% to 20%, or from
0.1% to 15%, or from 0.1% to 10%. In some embodiments, one or both
electrochromic device substrates are glass or strengthened glass
(such as annealed or tempered) with a coefficient of thermal
expansion (between about 20.degree. C. and 300.degree. C.) less
than 8 ppm/K, or less than 7 ppm/K, or less than 6 ppm/K, or less
than 5 ppm/K, or less than 4 ppm/K, or from 2 to 8 ppm/K, or from 2
to 7 ppm/K, or from 2 to 6 ppm/KL, or from 3 to 6 ppm/K. In some
embodiments, one or both electrochromic device substrates are
thinner than 4 mm, or thinner than 3 mm, or thinner than 2 mm, or
thinner than 1.5 mm, or thinner than 1.25 mm, or thinner than 1 mm,
or thinner than 0.8 mm, or thinner than 0.6 mm, or from 0.3 mm to 4
mm, or from 0.3 mm to 3 mm, or from 0.3 mm to 2 mm, or from 0.3 mm
to 1.5 mm, or from 0.3 mm to 1 mm, or from 0.5 mm to 4 mm, or from
0.5 mm to 3 mm, or from 0.5 mm to 2 mm, or from 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm,
or from 0.5 mm to 1 mm. In one particular embodiment, the
substrates used for the electrochromic device may be a low CTE
(coefficient of thermal expansion) borosilicate glass having a
density of approximately 2.2 g/cu-cm and has a thickness of less
than about 1.0 mm, and may have a thickness of less than about 0.5
mm.
[0078] One or both substrates of the electrochromic device could be
laminated to thicker annealed, strengthened, or tempered carrier
glass to increase the strength of the electrochromic device and
carrier glass laminate. The thickness of the carrier glass may be
greater than 1.0 mm, or within a range of about 0.5 mm to 10 mm.
For most residential applications the thickness of the carrier
glass may be approximately 3.0 mm and for most commercial
applications the thickness of the carrier glass may be
approximately 6.0 mm. In some embodiments, the first pane of glass
comprises strengthened soda lime glass having a thickness in the
approximate range of about 3.0 mm to about 6.0 mm.
[0079] FIGS. 10A and 10B show cross-sections along different
cut-lines of an embodiment of an electrochromic device integrated
glazing unit (IGU) with carrier glass. The dimensions in FIG. 10A
is in millimeters, and are exemplary of one specific example and
therefore not meant to be limiting. In other embodiments, the
dimensions can change without impacting the concepts in this
disclosure. This embodiment shows one electrochromic device 1004
laminated to two pieces of carrier glass 1002 and 1006 in an IGU.
In another embodiment, the electrochromic device 1004 could be
laminated to one piece of carrier glass 1002 in an IGU, and the
other piece of carrier glass 1006 can be omitted. In another
embodiment, the electrochromic device 1004 could be laminated to
one piece of carrier glass 1006 in an IGU, and the other piece of
carrier glass 1002 can be omitted.
[0080] FIG. 10A shows a cross-section along cut-line A-A in FIG. 7A
of an embodiment of one electrochromic device 1004 incorporated
into an integrated glazing unit. In this embodiment, the
electrochromic device is laminated to two pieces of carrier glass
1002 and 1006. In this embodiment, the electrochromic device is
laminated to the carrier glass with polyvinyl butyral (PVB) layers
1003 and 1005. In other embodiments, different materials can be
used to laminate the electrochromic device to the carrier glass,
such as ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA)) layer, polyurethane (PU), an
ultraviolet activated adhesive, or other transparent or translucent
bonding material.
[0081] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 10A, the device and carrier
glass (e.g., 901 in FIG. 9) are incorporated in the IGU with a
spacer 1009 and a secondary sealant 1010. The spacer 1009 and the
secondary sealant 1010 serve to connect the electrochromic device
and carrier glass to the glass lite 1007, while maintaining a
thermally insulating space in between. The secondary sealant in
this example is silicone although the secondary sealant may be any
sealant material with low water permeability
[0082] FIG. 10B shows a cross-section of the same embodiment of an
electrochromic device 1004 incorporated into an integrated glazing
unit shown in FIG. 10A, but along cut-line B-B in FIG. 7A.
[0083] The embodiment shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B have a number of
layers, summarized below. The first carrier glass 1002 is attached
to the electrochromic device laminated assembly 1004 by a layer of
PVB 1003. The electrochromic device 1004 is attached to the second
carrier glass 1006 by a layer of PVB 1005. The first carrier glass
1002, electrochromic device laminated assembly 1004, second carrier
glass 1006 assembly is attached to the glass lite 1007 of the IGU
by a spacer 1009 and a silicone secondary sealant 1010. In other
embodiments, the layers of silicone and/or PVB can be other
materials used to laminate or attach the layers to one another. The
electrochromic device laminated assembly 1004 also has a number of
layers including a first substrate, a first transparent conductive
layer on the first substrate, a first bus bar making electrical
contact to the first transparent conductive layer, a second
substrate, a second transparent conductive layer on the second
substrate, a second bus bar making electrical contact to the second
transparent conductive layer, and at least one layer of
electrochromic material. In some embodiments, there is a first
electrochromic material applied to the first transparent conductive
layer on the first substrate, a second electrochromic material
applied to the second transparent conductive layer on the second
substrate, and an ion conducting layer between the electrochromic
materials. In some embodiments, the ion conducting layer is used to
laminate the first substrate, transparent conducting layer and
electrochromic material to the second substrate, transparent
conducting layer and electrochromic material to form the
electrochromic device laminated assembly. In some embodiments of
the electrochromic device laminated assembly, a portion of a first
edge of the second substrate is recessed relative to at least a
portion of a first edge of the first substrate, exposing at least a
portion of the first bus bar for electrical connection. The circuit
board or flex circuit 800 is used to make connection to the first
and second bus bars of the electrochromic device. In some
embodiments, the circuit board or flex circuit 800 is also used to
make electrical connection to other terminals (e.g., sense voltage
and sequestration terminals) of the electrochromic device.
[0084] In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the two
substrates of the electrochromic device 1004 are offset from one
another in one lateral direction. This offset exposes the contacts
on one of the substrates of the electrochromic device and allows a
circuit board (or, flex circuit 800) to connect to the exposed
contacts.
[0085] In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the carrier
glass 406 that is attached to the glass lite 1007 with the spacer
1009 and the secondary sealant 1010 and the glass lite are offset
from each other in one lateral direction. This makes it necessary
for the spacer and/or secondary sealant to contact more surfaces
than the surface of the carrier glass 1006. In the embodiment shown
in FIG. 10A, the secondary sealant contacts at least one surface of
the carrier glass 1006 and the surface of carrier glass 1002. In
the embodiment shown in FIG. 10A, the secondary sealant also
contacts the flex circuit 800. In this embodiment, the secondary
sealant also therefore serves the purpose of protecting the circuit
board or flex circuit from the environment. In this case, the
integrated glazing unit has a first pane of glass or plastic (e.g.,
carrier glass 1006 in FIG. 10A) attached to one of the substrates
of the electrochromic device laminated assembly, and a second pane
of glass or plastic (e.g., glass lite 1007 in FIG. 10A) attached by
a spacer to the first pane of glass or plastic, and the first pane
of glass or plastic is not offset in a lateral direction from the
first edge of one or both substrates in the electrochromic device,
such that the first pane of glass or plastic and the second pane of
glass or plastic are offset in a lateral direction on at least one
edge.
[0086] In some embodiments, the carrier glass that is attached to
the glass lite with the spacer and the secondary sealant and the
glass lite (e.g., 1006 and 1007 in FIG. 10A) are laterally aligned
with one another such that the spacer and secondary sealant only
contact one of the carrier glass pieces and the glass lite (and not
both carrier glass pieces and/or the electrochromic device). In
this case, the integrated glazing unit has a first pane of glass or
plastic (e.g., carrier glass 1006 in FIG. 10A) attached to one of
the substrates of the laminated assembly; and a second pane of
glass or plastic (e.g., glass lite 1007 in FIG. 10A) attached by a
spacer to the first pane of glass or plastic, and the first pane of
glass or plastic is offset in a lateral direction from the first
edge of one or both substrates in the electrochromic device, such
that the first pane of glass or plastic and the second pane of
glass or plastic are not offset in any lateral direction on any
edge. In some cases, the spacer and secondary sealant lie on planar
surfaces on both the carrier glass and the glass lite. In some
cases, the spacer and secondary sealant only contact one surface of
the carrier glass and one surface of the glass lite.
[0087] In any of the electrochromic device assemblies in this
disclosure (i.e., IGUs or LGUs), the electrochromic device can be
laminated to one or more pieces of carrier glass, and the one or
more pieces of carrier glass can be patterned with ceramic frit.
The ceramic frit can be applied using a screen printing process,
and then fired within a furnace to fuse the ceramic frit coating to
the glass. The ceramic frit can be colored. The ceramic frit can be
applied in a regular or irregular pattern, or applied around the
border of the electrochromic device assembly. In some embodiments,
the ceramic frit is used to visually obscure the electrical
connections, circuit board and/or controller assembly at the edge
of the assembly. The furnace used to fire the ceramic frit can be a
tempering furnace. The temperature of the firing process can be
greater than 400.degree. C., or greater than 450.degree. C., or
greater than 500.degree. C., or greater than 550.degree. C., or
greater than 600.degree. C., or greater than 650.degree. C., or
greater than 700.degree. C., or from 600.degree. C. to 800.degree.
C., or from 500.degree. C. to 800.degree. C., or from 600.degree.
C. to 800.degree. C., or from 400.degree. C. to 900.degree. C., or
from 500.degree. C. to 900.degree. C., or from 600.degree. C. to
900.degree. C. In some cases, the ceramic frit firing process
reaches a sufficient temperature (e.g., greater than 600.degree.
C.), and a rapid cooling rate is used, and the carrier glass is
annealed, heat strengthened, or tempered in the process.
[0088] In some embodiments, one or more electrochromic devices are
laminated together, and laminated to one or more pieces of carrier
glass, and this entire laminated assembly is symmetric along the
direction perpendicular to the main body of the laminated assembly.
In some embodiments, a symmetric laminated assembly is advantageous
because it may reduce or eliminate bowing during lamination. Not to
be limited by theory, bowing may occur when there are materials
with different coefficients of thermal expansion in an asymmetric
assembly such that the expansion and contraction of one side of the
assembly is different from the opposing side of the assembly
leading to residual stress and bowing.
Multiple Electrochromic Device Integrated Glazing Unit (Igu)
Construction
[0089] FIG. 11A shows a top-down view of an electrochromic device
1, in an embodiment. In this embodiment, the electrochromic device
is approximately a rectangle with dimensions 833 cm.times.1343 cm,
but this is not meant to be limiting. The electrochromic device can
have a shape other than a rectangle, or be a rectangle of many
other dimensions. The embodiment shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B has two
electrochromic devices incorporated into one assembly (e.g., an
IGU). Therefore, FIG. 11A shows two cable harnesses 1101, one of
which is electrically connected to the circuit board on the first
electrochromic device, and the other of which is electrically
connected to the circuit board on the second electrochromic device.
In some cases, the cable harnesses can be terminated with
connectors that are electrically connected to each circuit board.
The cable harnesses 1101 connect the circuit boards to one or more
controller assemblies, drivers and/or power supplies to control and
provide power to the electrochromic devices. FIG. 11B shows a side
view of an electrochromic device in an embodiment. FIGS. 11A and
11B show cut-lines A-A, B-B and C-C, which will be referred to in
subsequent figures.
[0090] FIGS. 12A and 12B show cross-sections along different
cut-lines of an embodiment of an electrochromic device integrated
glazing unit with carrier glass. The dimensions in FIG. 12A is in
millimeters, and are exemplary of one specific example. In other
embodiments, the dimensions can change without impacting the
concepts in this disclosure. This embodiment shows two
electrochromic devices 1204, 1206 laminated to each other, and two
pieces of carrier glass 1202, 1208 in an IGU. In another
embodiment, the electrochromic devices 1204, 1206 could be
laminated to each other and to one piece of carrier glass 1202 in
an IGU, and the other piece of carrier glass 1208 can be omitted.
In another embodiment, the electrochromic devices 1204, 1206 could
be laminated to each other and to one piece of carrier glass 1208
in an IGU, and the other piece of carrier glass 1202 can be
omitted.
[0091] FIG. 12A shows a cross-section along cut-line A-A in FIG.
11A of an embodiment of two electrochromic devices 1204 and 1206
incorporated into an integrated glazing unit. In this embodiment,
the electrochromic devices are laminated to each other and to two
additional pieces of carrier glass 1202 and 1208. In this
embodiment, the electrochromic devices are laminated to each other
and to the carrier glass with polyvinyl butyral (PVB) layers 1203,
1205 and 1207. In other embodiments, different materials can be
used to laminate the electrochromic devices each other and to the
carrier glass, such as ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA)) layer,
polyurethane (PU), an ultraviolet activated adhesive, or other
transparent or translucent bonding material.
[0092] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 12A, the devices and carrier
glass (e.g., 1001 in FIG. 9) are incorporated in the IGU with a
spacer 1211 and a secondary sealant 1212. The spacer 1211 and the
secondary sealant 1212 serve to connect the electrochromic device
and carrier glass to the glass lite 1209, while maintaining a
thermally insulating space in between. The secondary sealant in
this example is silicone. There is also an additional environmental
protection element 1213 protecting the electrochromic devices and
circuit boards, or the electrochromic devices and flex circuits,
from the environment. In this example, the environmental protection
element is made of silicone as well. In other embodiments, the
secondary sealant and/or environmental protection element could be
any material with low water permeability.
[0093] FIG. 12B shows a cross-section of the same embodiment of two
electrochromic devices 1204 and 1206 incorporated into an
integrated glazing unit shown in FIG. 12A, but along cut-line B-B
in FIG. 11A.
[0094] The embodiment shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B have a number of
layers, summarized below. The first carrier glass 1202 is attached
to the first electrochromic device laminated assembly 1204 by a
layer of PVB 1203. The first electrochromic device 1204 is attached
to the second electrochromic device 1206 by a layer of PVB 1205.
The second electrochromic device 1206 is attached to the second
carrier glass 1208 by a layer of PVB 1207. The carrier glass 1202,
first electrochromic device laminated assembly 1204, second
electrochromic device laminated assembly 1206, carrier glass 1208
assembly is attached to the glass lite 1209 of the IGU by a spacer
1211 and a silicone secondary sealant 1212. There is also a
silicone environmental protection element 1213 protecting the
electrochromic device assemblies from the environment. In other
embodiments, the layers of silicone and/or PVB can be other
materials used to laminate or attach the layers to one another. The
electrochromic device laminated assemblies 1204 and 1206 also each
have a number of layers including a first substrate, a first
transparent conductive layer on the first substrate, a first bus
bar making electrical contact to the first transparent conductive
layer, a second substrate, a second transparent conductive layer on
the second substrate, a second bus bar making electrical contact to
the second transparent conductive layer, and at least one layer of
electrochromic material. In some embodiments, there is a first
electrochromic material applied to the first transparent conductive
layer on the first substrate, a second electrochromic material
applied to the second transparent conductive layer on the second
substrate, and an ion conducting layer between the electrochromic
materials. In some embodiments, the ion conducting layer is used to
laminate the first substrate, transparent conducting layer and
electrochromic material to the second substrate, transparent
conducting layer and electrochromic material to form each of the
electrochromic device laminated assemblies. In some embodiments of
each of the electrochromic device laminated assemblies, a portion
of a first edge of the second substrate is recessed relative to at
least a portion of a first edge of the first substrate, exposing at
least a portion of the first bus bar for electrical connection. The
circuit boards or flex circuits 800 are used to make connection to
the first and second bus bars of each electrochromic device. Each
electrochromic device has a separate circuit board or flex circuit
800. In one embodiment, each circuit board can have connections
similar to those shown in FIG. 8, which in this case can depict one
of the circuit boards of one of the devices in the assembly as
viewed along cut-line C-C in FIG. 11B. FIG. 12A shows a
cross-section of a particular embodiment at a particular cut-line
where only one of the flex circuits 800 is visible. In some
embodiments, the circuit boards or flex circuits 800 are also used
to make electrical connection to other terminals (e.g., sense
voltage and sequestration terminals) of each electrochromic
device.
[0095] In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, the two
substrates of each of the electrochromic devices 1204 and 1206 are
offset from one another in one lateral direction, which exposes the
contacts on one of the substrates of each of the electrochromic
devices and allows a circuit board (or, flex circuit 800) to
connect to the exposed contacts on each device. The two devices are
then oriented in the IGU such that the exposed contacts face one
another. In this case, the exposed contacts of each electrochromic
device face away from the carrier glass attached to the
electrochromic device (either 1202 or 1208), as shown in FIG. 12A.
In some embodiments, the substrates of the electrochromic device
laminated assemblies that are farthest apart (i.e., the substrates
that are not attached or laminated to one another) are laterally
aligned with each other. In some embodiments, the substrates of the
electrochromic device laminated assemblies that are closest
together (i.e., the substrates that are attached or laminated to
one another) are laterally aligned with each other.)
[0096] In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, the carrier
glass 1208 that is attached to the glass lite 1209 with the spacer
1211 and the secondary sealant 1212 and the glass lite are
laterally aligned with one another such that the spacer 1211 and
secondary sealant 1212 only contact carrier glass 1208 and glass
lite 1209. In this case, the integrated glazing unit has a first
pane of glass or plastic (e.g., carrier glass 1208 in FIG. 12A)
attached to one of the substrates of the laminated assembly, and a
second pane of glass or plastic (e.g., glass lite 1209 in FIG. 12A)
attached by a spacer to the first pane of glass or plastic, and the
first pane of glass or plastic is offset in a lateral direction
from the first edge of one or both of the substrates in the
electrochromic device, such that the first pane of glass or plastic
and the second pane of glass or plastic are not offset in any
lateral direction on any edge. In some cases, the spacer 1211 and
the secondary sealant 1212 lie on planar surfaces on both the
carrier glass 1208 and glass lite 1209. In some cases, the spacer
1211 and the secondary sealant 1212 only contact one surface of
carrier glass 1208 and one surface of glass lite 1209.
[0097] In some embodiments, the carrier glass that is attached to
the glass lite with the spacer and the secondary sealant (e.g.,
1208 and 1209 in FIG. 12A) and the glass lite are offset from each
other in one lateral direction. This makes it necessary for the
spacer and/or secondary sealant to contact more surfaces than the
surface of the carrier glass 1208. In such cases, the secondary
sealant can contact at least one surface of the carrier glass 1208
and/or the surface of carrier glass 1202. In some cases, the
secondary sealant also contacts the flex circuit 800. In these
cases, the secondary sealant also serves the purpose of protecting
the circuit board or flex circuit from the environment. In some
cases, the integrated glazing unit can have a first pane of glass
or plastic (e.g., carrier glass 1208 in FIG. 12A) attached to one
of the substrates of the electrochromic device laminated assembly,
and a second pane of glass or plastic (e.g., glass lite 1209 in
FIG. 12A) attached by a spacer to the first pane of glass or
plastic, and the first pane of glass or plastic is not offset in a
lateral direction from the first edge of one or both substrates in
the electrochromic device, such that the first pane of glass or
plastic and the second pane of glass or plastic are offset in a
lateral direction on at least one edge.
Electrochromic Device Laminated Glazing Unit (LGU) Construction
with Carrier Glass
[0098] FIGS. 13A and 13B show cross-sections along different
cut-lines of an embodiment of an electrochromic device laminated
glass unit (LGU) with carrier glass. In this embodiment, two
electrochromic devices 1303, 1306 are laminated to each other and
to two pieces of carrier glass 1302, 1308. In another embodiment,
one electrochromic device 1304 can be laminated to two pieces of
carrier glass 1302, 1308 in an LGU, and the other electrochromic
device 1306 can be omitted.
[0099] FIG. 13A shows a cross-section (analogous to being along
cut-line A-A in FIG. 11A) of an embodiment of two electrochromic
devices 1304 and 1306 incorporated into a laminated glazing unit
(LGU). In this embodiment, the electrochromic devices are laminated
to each other and to two additional pieces of carrier glass 1302
and 1308. In this embodiment, the electrochromic devices are
laminated to each other and to the carrier glass with polyvinyl
butyral (PVB) layers 1303, 1305 and 1307. In other embodiments,
different materials can be used to laminate the electrochromic
devices each other and to the carrier glass, such as ethylene vinyl
acetate (EVA)) layer, polyurethane (PU), an ultraviolet activated
adhesive, or other transparent or translucent bonding material.
[0100] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 13A, the devices and carrier
glass are incorporated in the LGU with the carrier glass 1302 and
1308 forming the outside major surfaces of the LGU. There is also
an environmental protection element 1309 protecting the
electrochromic devices and circuit boards, or the electrochromic
devices and flex circuits, from the environment. In this example,
the environmental protection element is made of silicone. In other
embodiments, the secondary sealant and/or environmental protection
element could be a different material with low water
permeability.
[0101] FIG. 13B shows a cross-section of the same embodiment of two
electrochromic devices 1304 and 1306 incorporated into a laminated
glass unit shown in FIG. 13A, but along cut-line B-B in FIG.
11A.
[0102] The embodiment shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B have a number of
layers, summarized below. The first carrier glass 1302 is attached
to the first electrochromic device laminated assembly 1304 by a
layer of PVB 1303. The first electrochromic device 1304 is attached
to the second electrochromic device 1306 by a layer of PVB 1305.
The second electrochromic device 1306 is attached to the second
carrier glass 1308 by a layer of PVB 1307. There is also a silicone
environmental protection element 1309 protecting the electrochromic
device assemblies from the environment. In other embodiments, the
layers of silicone and/or PVB can be other materials used to
laminate or attach the layers to one another. The electrochromic
device laminated assemblies 1304 and 1306 also each have a number
of layers including a first substrate, a first transparent
conductive layer on the first substrate, a first bus bar making
electrical contact to the first transparent conductive layer, a
second substrate, a second transparent conductive layer on the
second substrate, a second bus bar making electrical contact to the
second transparent conductive layer, and at least one layer of
electrochromic material. In some embodiments, there is a first
electrochromic material applied to the first transparent conductive
layer on the first substrate, a second electrochromic material
applied to the second transparent conductive layer on the second
substrate, and an ion conducting layer between the electrochromic
materials. In some embodiments, the ion conducting layer is used to
laminate the first substrate, transparent conducting layer and
electrochromic material to the second substrate, transparent
conducting layer and electrochromic material to form each of the
electrochromic device laminated assemblies. In some embodiments of
each of the electrochromic device laminated assemblies, a portion
of a first edge of the second substrate is recessed relative to at
least a portion of a first edge of the first substrate, exposing at
least a portion of the first bus bar for electrical connection. The
circuit boards or flex circuits 800 are used to make connection to
the first and second bus bars of each electrochromic device. Each
electrochromic device has a separate circuit board or flex circuit
800. In one embodiment, each circuit board can have connections
similar to those shown in FIG. 8, which in this case can depict one
of the circuit boards of one of the devices in the assembly as
viewed along cut-line C-C in FIG. 11B. FIG. 13A shows a
cross-section of a particular embodiment at a particular cut-line
where only one of the flex circuits 800 is visible. In some
embodiments, the circuit boards or flex circuits 800 are also used
to make electrical connection to other terminals (e.g., sense
voltage and sequestration terminals) of each electrochromic
device.
[0103] In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B, the two
substrates of each of the electrochromic devices 1304 and 1306 are
offset from one another in one lateral direction, which exposes the
contacts on one of the substrates of each of the electrochromic
devices and allows a circuit board (or, flex circuit 800) to
connect to the exposed contacts on each device. The two devices are
then oriented in the LGU such that the exposed contacts face one
another. In this case, the exposed contacts of each electrochromic
device face away from the carrier glass attached to the
electrochromic device (for both carrier glass 1302 and 1308), as
shown in FIG. 13A). In some embodiments, the substrates of the
electrochromic device laminated assemblies that are farthest apart
(i.e., the substrates that are not attached or laminated to one
another) are laterally aligned with each other. In some
embodiments, the substrates of the electrochromic device laminated
assemblies that are closest together (i.e., the substrates that are
attached or laminated to one another) are laterally aligned with
each other.
[0104] In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B, the carrier
glass 1302 that is attached to the first electrochromic device 1304
and the carrier glass 1308 that is attached to the second
electrochromic device 1306 are laterally aligned with one another.
In some embodiments, the carrier glass 1302 that is attached to the
first electrochromic device 1304 and the carrier glass 1308 that is
attached to the second electrochromic device 1306 are offset from
each other in at least one lateral direction.
Additional Considerations
[0105] Detailed illustrative embodiments are disclosed herein.
However, specific functional details disclosed herein are merely
representative for purposes of describing embodiments. Embodiments
may, however, be embodied in many alternate forms and should not be
construed as limited to only the embodiments set forth herein.
[0106] It should be understood that although the terms first,
second, etc. may be used herein to describe various steps or
calculations, these steps or calculations should not be limited by
these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one step or
calculation from another. For example, a first calculation could be
termed a second calculation, and, similarly, a second step could be
termed a first step, without departing from the scope of this
disclosure. As used herein, the term "and/or" and the "/" symbol
includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated
listed items.
[0107] As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are
intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context
clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the
terms "comprises", "comprising", "includes", and/or "including",
when used herein, specify the presence of stated features,
integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do
not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other
features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or
groups thereof. Therefore, the terminology used herein is for the
purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not
intended to be limiting.
[0108] It should also be noted that in some alternative
implementations, the functions/acts noted may occur out of the
order noted in the figures. For example, two figures shown in
succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or
may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the
functionality/acts involved.
[0109] A module, an application, a layer, an agent or other
method-operable entity could be implemented as hardware, firmware,
or a processor executing software, or combinations thereof. It
should be appreciated that, where a software-based embodiment is
disclosed herein, the software can be embodied in a physical
machine such as a controller. For example, a controller could
include a first module and a second module. A controller could be
configured to perform various actions, e.g., of a method, an
application, a layer or an agent.
[0110] Although the method operations were described in a specific
order, it should be understood that other operations may be
performed in between described operations, described operations may
be adjusted so that they occur at slightly different times or the
described operations may be distributed in a system which allows
the occurrence of the processing operations at various intervals
associated with the processing.
[0111] Various units, circuits, or other components may be
described or claimed as "configured to" perform a task or tasks. In
such contexts, the phrase "configured to" is used to connote
structure by indicating that the units/circuits/components include
structure (e.g., circuitry) that performs the task or tasks during
operation. As such, the unit/circuit/component can be said to be
configured to perform the task even when the specified
unit/circuit/component is not currently operational (e.g., is not
on). The units/circuits/components used with the "configured to"
language include hardware--for example, circuits, memory storing
program instructions executable to implement the operation, etc.
Reciting that a unit/circuit/component is "configured to" perform
one or more tasks is expressly intended not to invoke 35 U.S.C.
112, sixth paragraph, for that unit/circuit/component.
Additionally, "configured to" can include generic structure (e.g.,
generic circuitry) that is manipulated by software and/or firmware
(e.g., an FPGA or a general-purpose processor executing software)
to operate in manner that is capable of performing the task(s) at
issue. "Configured to" may also include adapting a manufacturing
process (e.g., a semiconductor fabrication facility) to fabricate
devices (e.g., integrated circuits) that are adapted to implement
or perform one or more tasks.
[0112] The foregoing description, for the purpose of explanation,
has been described with reference to specific embodiments. However,
the illustrative discussions above are not intended to be
exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms
disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in view
of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen and described
in order to best explain the principles of the embodiments and its
practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art
to best utilize the embodiments and various modifications as may be
suited to the particular use contemplated. Accordingly, the present
embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and not
restrictive, and the invention is not to be limited to the details
given herein, but may be modified within the scope and equivalents
of the appended claims.
* * * * *