Granted Patent B2

US 12,656,650 · App. 18/695,612 · Granted Jun 16, 2026

Inventors: Florence Jacques (Herzogenrath, DE); Li-Ya Yeh (Herzogenrath, DE); Michael Labrot (Herzogenrath, DE)

Assignee: SAINT-GOBAIN SEKURIT FRANCE

G02F1/155

Abstract

Claims (28)

1 . A functional element having electrically controllable optical properties with a plurality of side edges at least comprising a first carrier film having a first flat electrode and a second carrier film having a second flat electrode and an active layer arranged flat between the first flat electrode and the second flat electrode, wherein

a first bus bar and a second bus bar are arranged on at least one first side edge,

the first carrier film has at least one first recess and the second carrier film has at least one second recess, and

wherein

the first bus bar is arranged on a surface of the second carrier film facing away from the second flat electrode and in a region of at least one second recess passes through the latter and contacts the first flat electrode electrically conductively,

the second bus bar is arranged on the surface of the first carrier film facing away from the first flat electrode and in a region of at least one first recess passes through the latter and contacts the second flat electrode electrically conductively, and

the first bus bar is divided into at least one first section and at least one second section, which can be controlled independently of one another and/or the at least one second bus bar is divided into at least one first section and at least one second section, which can be controlled independently of one another, and

the first recesses and the second recesses are arranged alternatingly with respect to one another.

2 . The functional element according to claim 1 , wherein at least one further first bus bar and/or second bus bar is arranged at least on a second side edge of the functional element.

3 . The functional element according to claim 1 , wherein a first bus bar and a second bus bar are each arranged on a first side edge, a second side edge, a third side edge and a fourth side edge of the plurality of side edges.

4 . The functional element according to claim 1 , wherein the first flat electrode and/or the second flat electrode comprise at least one separating line which divides the functional element into regions which can be switched independently of one another.

5 . The functional element according to claim 1 , wherein active layer is an electrochromic layer.

6 . The functional element according to claim 1 , wherein the first bus bars and the second bus bars comprise an electrically conductive structure and have a thickness of 5 μm to 40 μm.

7 . The functional element according to claim 6 , wherein the electrically conductive structure contains silver.

8 . The functional element according to claim 1 , wherein the first flat electrode and the second flat electrode contain at least one metal, a metal alloy, or a transparent conductive oxide and have a thickness of 10 nm to 2 μm.

9 . The functional element according to claim 8 , wherein the first flat electrode and the second flat electrode contain a transparent conductive oxide.

10 . A composite pane at least comprising a functional element according to claim 1 , a thermoplastic intermediate layer, a first pane and a second pane, wherein the thermoplastic intermediate layer has a first thermoplastic composite film which is arranged between the functional element and the first pane, and a second thermoplastic composite film which is arranged between the functional element and the second pane.

11 . A method for switching a functional element according to claim 1 , comprising applying a first electrical voltage U 1 , which corresponds to the switching voltage of the functional element, at least between a first section of the first bus bar and a first section of the second bus bar, and applying a second electrical voltage U 2 , an absolute value of which is lower than absolute value of the voltage U 1 , between a second section of the first bus bar and a second section of the second bus bar.

12 . The method according to claim 11 , wherein the second electrical voltage U 2 is increased to absolute value of the first electrical voltage U 1 .

13 . The method according to claim 12 , wherein a third voltage U 3 , absolute value of which is lower than absolute value of the voltage U 1 , is applied between a third section of the first bus bar and a third section of the second bus bar.

14 . The method according to claim 11 , wherein

a) between an n-th section of the first bus bar and an n-th section of the second bus bar, a first electrical voltage U 1 is applied which corresponds to the switching voltage of the functional element,

b) a second electrical voltage U 2 is applied between an (n+1)-th section of the first bus bar and a (n+1)-th section of the second bus bar,

c) the electrical voltage between the (n+1)-th section of the first bus bar and the (n+1)-th section f the second bus bar is increased to absolute value of the first electrical voltage U 1 ,

d) a second electrical voltage U 2 is applied between an (n+2)-th section of the first bus bar and an (n+2)-th section of the second bus bar,

e) the steps c) and d) are repeated until a first electrical voltage U 1 is applied between all sections of the first bus bar and associated sections of the second bus bar.

15 . The method according to claim 11 , wherein the second electrical voltage U 2 is between 10% and 80% of the first electrical voltage U 1 .

16 . The method according to claim 15 , wherein the second electrical voltage U 2 is between 20% and 50% of the first electrical voltage U 1 .

Assignments (2)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (20)