JP2019028387A - Light control film - Google Patents

Abstract

A transparent resin film having a transparent conductive film formed on a transparent resin film and having a transparent conductive film on its inner surface, the end face obtained by cutting a light control film having a liquid crystal layer laminated with the conductive surface on the inside can be stably sealed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a means capable of suppressing the short circuit problem of a film. A light control film 10 in which a liquid crystal light control layer 2 is laminated with the conductive surfaces 4 and 4-1 of two transparent conductive films 1 and 1-1 having a transparent conductive film formed on a transparent resin film inside. The end portion obtained by cutting the light control film is provided with a sealing agent 3 that covers the side end surface of the end portion, and the surface of the end portion 7 of one transparent conductive film and the surface of the sealing agent on the side end surface And an end sealing member 5 for covering the end surface of the other transparent conductive film via an adhesive layer, and at the end of the light control film provided with the end sealing member Is a light control film, wherein the conductive surface of one conductive film and the conductive surface of the other conductive film are separated from each other. [Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a light control film. More specifically, the present invention relates to a technique for treating an end face when a light control film in which a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal layer or the like is laminated with two transparent conductive films is cut into a desired size.

  The light control film can be switched between a transparent state and a state in which light is not scattered by passing an appropriate electric field on / off of the polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer or the like. Utilizing this fact, electronic blinds that are installed in indoor partitions or windows and used as blinds have been put into practical use.

  The structure of the light control film is, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, conductive surfaces 4, 4-1 of two conductive films 1, 1-1 (transparent conductive film formed on the surface of a transparent resin film). The light control layer 2 is laminated so that the surface of the transparent resin film on which the transparent conductive film is formed faces each other. The light control film 10 ′ is used by cutting the laminate thus produced into a desired shape and size. In order to prevent the liquid crystal material constituting the dimming layer 2 from flowing out from the cut end face, and to prevent moisture from entering the liquid crystal material from the outside, a sealant 3 ′ is applied to the cut end face using a dispenser or the like. It seals by apply | coating (refer Fig.4 (a)).

  The light control film 10 ′ has a problem in that when the light control film 10 ′ is cut, the conductive surface 4 made of the transparent conductive film disposed facing each other causes a short circuit. In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 4, defects such as chipping, protrusion, and transfer (see FIG. 4B) that are not formed on the cut end surface sealing agent 3 ′, are attached to unnecessary portions. This also causes a problem that the stability of the sealing performance is low.

  As a result of investigating the prior art that solves such problems, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for improving the sealing property of the end face of the light control film. Patent Document 1 discloses a means for stably forming a sealing agent on the end face of a trimmed light control film, and a means for adhering a tape having an adhesive layer formed on the sealing agent. Yes. However, no consideration is given to the short-circuit problem of the transparent conductive film.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-54040

  In view of the above circumstances, the present invention stably seals the end face obtained by cutting a light control film in which a liquid crystal layer is laminated with the conductive surfaces of two transparent conductive films formed on a transparent resin film on the inside. It is an object of the present invention to provide a means that can be stopped and that can suppress a short-circuit problem of a transparent conductive film.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention has a liquid crystal light control layer laminated with the conductive surfaces of two transparent conductive films formed by forming a transparent conductive film on a transparent resin film inside. A light control film,
The edge part which cut | disconnected the light control film is equipped with the sealing agent which coat | covers the side end surface of an edge part, and the end part surface of one transparent conductive film, the surface of the sealing agent of a side end surface, and the other side An end sealing member that covers the end surface of the transparent conductive film via an adhesive layer is provided,
In the edge part of the light control film provided with the edge part sealing member, the electrically conductive surface of one electrically conductive film and the electrically conductive surface of the other electrically conductive film are spaced apart from each other.

  Further, the invention according to claim 2 is an adhesive tape in which the end sealing member has an elastic force capable of separating the one transparent conductive film and the conductive surface of the other transparent conductive film. It is characterized by being.

  According to the light control film of the present invention, the end portion of the cut light control film is provided with the sealing agent that covers the side end surface, and the end surface of one of the transparent conductive films and the seal that covers the side end surface Since the edge part sealing member which coat | covers the surface of an agent and the edge part surface of the other transparent conductive film through an adhesive layer is provided, reliable sealing performance can be exhibited.

  Moreover, in the edge part of the light control film provided with the edge part sealing member, since the conductive surface of one conductive film and the conductive surface of the other conductive film are separated from each other, one transparent film Since the conductive surface of the conductive film does not contact the conductive surface of the other transparent conductive film, it is possible to suppress the short-circuit problem of the transparent conductive film.

The overhead view which shows an example of the light control film of this invention. The schematic sectional drawing which shows an example of the manufacturing process of the light control film of this invention. The overhead view which shows an example of the sealing means of the edge part of the conventional light control film. It is explanatory drawing explaining the problem of the sealing means of the edge part of the conventional light control film, Comprising: (a) is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the formation method of a sealing agent, (b) is the edge part of a light control film It is explanatory drawing which showed the example of the defect of the sealing agent formed in.

<Light control film>
The light control film of this invention is demonstrated using drawing. FIG. 1 is a schematic overhead view illustrating the light control film 10 of the present invention.
The light control film 10 of this invention laminated | stacked the liquid crystal light control layer 2 with the conductive surfaces 4 and 4-1 of the two transparent conductive films 1 and 1-1 which formed the transparent conductive film in the transparent resin film inside. This is the light control film 10.

  The end portion 7 obtained by cutting the light control film 10 is provided with a sealing agent 3 that covers the side end surface of the end portion 7. And the surface of the edge part 7 of one transparent conductive film 1, the surface of the sealing agent 3 formed in the side edge surface of the edge part 7, and the edge part 7 surface of the other transparent conductive film 1-1 are adhere | attached. An end sealing member 5 is provided to cover through a layer (not shown).

  In the edge part 7 of the light control film 10 provided with the edge part sealing member 5, the conductive surface 4 of one transparent conductive film 1 and the conductive surface 4-1 of the other transparent conductive film 1-1 are. Are separated from each other.

  As an example of the end sealing member 5, an elastic force capable of separating the conductive surface 4 of one transparent conductive film 1 of the light control film 10 and the conductive surface 4-1 of the other transparent conductive film 1-1. The adhesive tape provided with can be mentioned.

  Here, the elastic force is defined by (elastic modulus of adhesive tape) × (thickness of adhesive tape). In other words, it is a restoring force within the range of elastic deformation of the adhesive tape that occurs when the adhesive tape is bent and adhered to the end portion 7. Since this restoring force acts as a force that separates the conductive surface 4 and the conductive surface 4-1 at the end 7 of the light control film 10, the conductive surface 4 and the conductive surface 4-1 are separated and separated. Even if the conductive surface 4 and the conductive surface 4-1 are in contact with each other by cutting the light control film 10, an adhesive tape having an elastic force capable of separating the conductive surface 4 and the conductive surface 4-1 is bonded. By doing so, it is possible to prevent a short circuit.

(Transparent resin film)
The transparent resin film is not particularly limited, and any transparent resin film including PET (polyethylene terephthalate) can be used.

(Transparent conductive film)
As the transparent conductive film, a transparent conductive film mainly composed of ITO (Indium Tin Oxide), tin oxide, zinc oxide or the like can be used. As a means for forming the transparent conductive film on the surface of the transparent resin film, direct current magnetron sputtering is used from the viewpoint of adhesion of the transparent conductive film to the transparent resin film, density of the formed thin film, electrical resistance, production stability, etc. A film forming method using an apparatus can be suitably used, but other film forming means such as vacuum deposition and ion plating may be used.

(Liquid crystal light control layer)
As the liquid crystal light control layer 2 of the light control film of the present invention, a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal conventionally used can be preferably used.

<Manufacturing process of light control film>
The light control film of this invention can be manufactured using the manufacturing process of the conventional light control film. Specifically, first, a laminate in which the liquid crystal light control layer 2 is laminated is manufactured in a state where the conductive surfaces 4 and 4-1 of the two transparent conductive films 1 and 1-1 are inside each other.
The method of laminating is not particularly limited. For example, first, the liquid crystal light control layer 2 is applied on the conductive surface 4 of the transparent conductive film 1 by screen printing, and then the other transparent conductive film. The conductive surface 4-1 of 1-1 can be laminated by facing the liquid crystal light control layer 2 and laminating using a laminator. The application method is not limited to screen printing, and various application methods such as a roll coater, a die coater, and a gravure coater can be employed.

(Cutting the light control film and sealing the cut end)
Next, FIG. 2 shows a laminate which is a light control film produced by the method described above, cut into a desired size and shape, and the end of the light control film formed by cutting or the like is used as a sealing agent. It is explanatory drawing of the process sealed with.

  First, a step of cutting the laminated body to a predetermined size defined according to the applied product or the like is executed. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2A, cutting means is installed in the vicinity of the cutting position determined according to a predetermined size. In this embodiment, a press die is used as the cutting means, but the present invention is not limited to this.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 2 (b), the laminate is cut at the cutting position by pushing down the press die.

In this way, the cut portion 8 is formed as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG.2 (c), the cutting part 8 is in the state deform | transformed compared with the other area | region by the cutting process using a press die. Due to this deformation, both the conductive surfaces 4 and 4-1 may come into contact with each other. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the end surfaces are sealed as described below, and at the same time, the conductive surfaces 4 and 4-1 are separated from each other in the vicinity of the end surfaces.

  Since the liquid crystal light control layer is a fluid liquid crystal material, it is necessary to seal and seal the cutting portion 8 with a sealing agent for the purpose of preventing outflow from the cutting portion 8 and preventing the ingress of moisture. . Therefore, as shown in FIG.2 (d), as the edge part sealing member 5, the end of an adhesive tape is affixed on the transparent conductive film 1-1 side of the cutting part 8 of a laminated body.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 2 (e), the adhesive tape is bent and the other end is attached to the transparent conductive film 1. When affixing the adhesive tape, it is affixed so that the conductive surfaces 4 and 4-1 of the light control film are separated at the end 7 by the elastic force of the adhesive tape. Specifically, it bonds so that the space which the side end surface of a light control film and the part which the adhesive tape curved formed may become small. By doing in this way, the restoring force by the elastic force of an adhesive tape becomes strong.

  As a method of sealing the end portion 7 with the sealing agent 3, a method of applying the sealing agent 3 immediately after forming the cutting portion 8 shown in FIG. 2C, or a cutting portion shown in FIG. 8 is a method in which the sealing agent 3 is applied immediately after one end of the adhesive tape is applied to the end of the transparent conductive film 1-1 on the lower side of the light control film 8, or other than the adhesive tape shown in FIG. Any method of injecting the sealing agent 3 after attaching the end to the end of the transparent conductive film 1 may be used.

As described above, a light control film having a desired shape and size can be produced.
In the above description, the case where the end sealing member 5 is an adhesive tape has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. If the adhesive tape is not strong in elasticity, the conductive surfaces 4 and 4-1 of the light control film cannot be separated at the end portion 7. The elastic force generated when the adhesive tape is bonded in a curved state needs to be larger than the adhesive force between the conductive surface 4 or the conductive surface 4-1 of the light control film and the liquid crystal light control layer 2 at the end 7. It is.

  Examples of the resin film having a high elastic modulus include Mikutron (registered trademark of Toray Industries, Inc.) manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc. In the case of a resin film having an elastic modulus lower than that of Mictron, for example, PET having an elastic modulus of about 1/2 that of Mictron, an elastic force equivalent to that of Mictron can be obtained by doubling the thickness of the resin film.

  Next, examples of the light control film of the present invention will be described.

<Example 1>
First, as a transparent resin film, an ITO thin film having a thickness of 0.1 μm is formed as a transparent conductive film on a surface of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) having a size of 50 cm × 50 cm and a thickness of 50 μm using a direct current magnetron sputtering apparatus. A film was obtained. After the polymer dispersed liquid crystal was applied to the ITO thin film of the transparent conductive film thus obtained to a thickness of 20 μm by screen printing, the ITO thin film side of the other transparent conductive film was coated with the polymer dispersed type. Lamination was performed using a laminator so as to be in contact with the liquid crystal to obtain a laminate of 51 cm × 50 cm light control films. The thickness was 120 μm. The reason why the light control film of 51 cm × 50 cm was obtained was that when the 50 cm × 50 cm film was laminated, the film was shifted by 1 cm. In this way, the electrode can be taken out.

The laminate of the light control films thus obtained was cut using a press die for cutting into strips of 10 cm × 51 cm. FIG. 2D illustrates one side in the longitudinal direction of the adhesive sheet having a length of 49 cm × 1 cm and a thickness of 100 μm in the cut portion of the 10 cm × 51 cm light control film thus obtained and having a length of 49 cm. As shown in FIG. 2 (e), it is attached to the lower side of the light control film (transparent conductive film 1-1 in FIG. 2 (d)), and as illustrated in FIG. ) Of the transparent conductive film 1). Similarly, the other cut portion of the strip-shaped light control film was sealed with an adhesive sheet.

  By sealing with the adhesive sheet in the cutting part of the light control film, the sealing agent was inject | poured into the closed space formed of the adhesive sheet and the side end surface of the cutting part of the light control film.

  Next, when laminating a 50 cm × 50 cm film, the laminating film is shifted by 1 cm, and in a strip-shaped light control film of 10 cm × 51 cm, a liquid crystal is formed across the width of 10 cm at both ends in the longitudinal direction. A portion where the light control layer is exposed is formed. Since this part was not cut, it was sealed by forming a sealant with a dispenser.

  The light control film produced as described above does not have a step of forming a sealant with a dispenser on the end face of the cut light control film as in the prior art, and the portion where the sealant is formed using the dispenser is 2 Since the step was formed by shifting the transparent conductive film of the sheet, no protrusion, chipping or transfer occurred. Further, since this portion was not cut, no short circuit occurred.

  Moreover, since the edge part which cut | disconnected the light control film adhere | attached with the adhesive sheet, since the sealing agent was inject | poured into the space formed by the side edge surface of the edge part by which the adhesive sheet and the light control film were cut | disconnected, sealing performance is In addition to being good, the conductive surface at the end of the light control film was separated by the restoring force of the adhered adhesive sheet, and no short circuit occurred.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1-1 ... Transparent conductive film 2 ... Liquid crystal light control layer 3, 3 '... Sealing agent 4,4-1 ... Conductive surface 5 ... End part sealing member 6 ... Dispenser 7 ... (of light control film) end 8 ... cutting part 10, 10 '... light control film

Claims (2)

A light control film in which a liquid crystal light control layer is laminated with a conductive surface of two transparent conductive films formed by forming a transparent conductive film on a transparent resin film,
An end sealing member formed so as to cover the entire cut end face of the light control film from the surface near the end of one transparent conductive film to the surface near the end of the other transparent conductive film;
A sealing material filled in a space defined by the cut end surface and the end sealing member inner surface;
The light control film according to claim 1, wherein the end surfaces of the light control film are spaced apart from each other by the elastic force of the end sealing member.   The light control film according to claim 1, wherein the end sealing member is an adhesive tape.