Search

KR-20260065967-A - DISPLAY MATERIAL INCLUDING PATTERNED AREAS OF ENCAPSULATED ELECTROPHORETIC MEDIA

KR20260065967AKR 20260065967 AKR20260065967 AKR 20260065967AKR-20260065967-A

Abstract

A method for forming patterned displays comprising separated portions of an encapsulated electrophoretic medium placed between continuous light-transmitting electrodes. Through the resulting patterned electrophoretic display, a viewer can see through the gaps between the portions of the encapsulated electrophoretic medium, thereby allowing the viewer to visualize a surface or object behind the electrophoretic display.

Inventors

  • 램프론 제니퍼 비
  • 듀체인 에릭 제이
  • 밸리아나토스 피터 제이

Assignees

  • 이 잉크 코포레이션

Dates

Publication Date
20260511
Application Date
20230412
Priority Date
20220413

Claims (20)

  1. As an electrophoretic display, A first continuous light-transmitting electrode (340) disposed on a first light-transmitting substrate (350); A second continuous light-transmitting electrode (310) disposed on a second light-transmitting substrate (320); A first portion (220) of an encapsulated electrophoretic medium disposed between the first continuous light-transmitting electrode (350) and the second continuous light-transmitting electrode (310); and It includes a second portion (240) of an encapsulated electrophoretic medium disposed between the first continuous light-transmitting electrode and the second continuous light-transmitting electrode, and The first portion (220) of the encapsulated electrophoretic medium does not come into contact with the second portion (240) of the encapsulated electrophoretic medium, Electrophoretic display, wherein the application of an electric field between the first continuous light-transmitting electrode and the second continuous light-transmitting electrode (310) causes a change in the optical state of both the first portion (220) of the encapsulated electrophoretic medium and the second portion (240) of the encapsulated electrophoretic medium.
  2. In Article 1, The first portion (220) of the encapsulated electrophoretic medium comprises first type electrophoretic particles (142) and the second portion (240) of the encapsulated electrophoretic medium comprises first type electrophoretic particles (142), an electrophoretic display.
  3. In Article 1, The first portion (220) of the encapsulated electrophoretic medium comprises first type electrophoretic particles (142) and the second portion (240) of the encapsulated electrophoretic medium comprises second type electrophoretic particles (145), and the first and second types of electrophoretic particles (142, 145) have different optical properties, an electrophoretic display.
  4. In any one of paragraphs 1 to 3, An electrophoretic display in which both the first part (220) of the encapsulated electrophoretic medium and the second part (240) of the encapsulated electrophoretic medium contain more than one type of electrophoretic particle (142, 145).
  5. In Article 1, The first portion (220) of the above-mentioned encapsulated electrophoretic medium is encapsulated in microcapsules, and the microcapsules are held together by a polymeric binder, an electrophoretic display.
  6. In Article 5, The above microcapsules are an electrophoretic display comprising gelatin or polyvinyl alcohol.
  7. In Article 6, The above-mentioned polymeric binder comprises polyurethane or acrylate, an electrophoretic display.
  8. In Article 1, The first portion (220) of the above-mentioned encapsulated electrophoretic medium is encapsulated within microcells and sealed with a polymeric sealing layer, an electrophoretic display.
  9. In Article 8, The above microcells are an electrophoretic display comprising an acrylic polymer or a (meth)acrylic polymer.
  10. In Article 1, An electrophoretic display further comprising a light-transmitting semiconductor adhesive (360) disposed between the first continuous light-transmitting electrode and the second continuous light-transmitting electrode.
  11. In Article 10, The above light-transmitting semiconductor adhesive (360) comprises polyurethane doped with an inorganic salt, an electrophoretic display.
  12. In Article 11, The above light-transmitting semiconductor adhesive (360) comprises polyurethane doped with an inorganic salt at a concentration between 2% (wt:wt) and 0.05% (wt:wt), for an electrophoretic display.
  13. In any one of paragraphs 10 to 12, The light-transmitting semiconductor adhesive (360) separates the first portion (220) of the encapsulated electrophoretic medium and the second portion (240) of the encapsulated electrophoretic medium, in an electrophoretic display.
  14. In Article 1, The first portion (220) of the encapsulated electrophoretic medium and the second portion (240) of the encapsulated electrophoretic medium are separated by a distance of at least 5 mm when measured parallel to the first continuous light-transmitting electrode and the second continuous light-transmitting electrode, in an electrophoretic display.
  15. As a method for manufacturing an electrophoretic display, A step of providing an encapsulated electrophoretic medium layer (130) disposed between a first release sheet (110) and a first adhesive layer (115) and a second release sheet (120) and a second adhesive layer (125); A step of cutting the first release sheet (110), the first adhesive layer (115), and the encapsulated electrophoretic medium layer (130) to pattern the encapsulated electrophoretic medium layer (130) in order to create a first portion (220) and a second portion (240) of the encapsulated electrophoretic medium; A step of placing the first part (220) of the encapsulated electrophoretic medium and the second part (240) of the encapsulated electrophoretic medium between a first continuous light-transmitting electrode (340) placed on a first light-transmitting substrate (350) and a second continuous light-transmitting electrode (310) placed on a second light-transmitting substrate (320) so that the first part (220) of the encapsulated electrophoretic medium does not come into contact with the second part (240) of the encapsulated electrophoretic medium. A method for manufacturing an electrophoretic display comprising
  16. In Article 15, A method for manufacturing an electrophoretic display, wherein a light-transmitting semiconductor adhesive (360) is disposed between the first continuous light-transmitting electrode (340) and the second continuous light-transmitting electrode (310), and the first portion (220) of the encapsulated electrophoretic medium is separated from the second portion (240) of the encapsulated electrophoretic medium.
  17. In Article 15 or Article 16, A method for manufacturing an electrophoretic display, wherein the first portion (220) of the encapsulated electrophoretic medium and the second portion (240) of the encapsulated electrophoretic medium are separated by a distance of at least 5 mm when measured parallel to the first continuous light-transmitting electrode (340) and the second continuous light-transmitting electrode (310).
  18. In Article 15, A method for manufacturing an electrophoretic display, wherein the patterning includes cutting the second release sheet (120) and the second adhesive layer (125).
  19. In Article 15 or Article 18, A method for manufacturing an electrophoretic display in which patterning is performed using a laser, scissors, a knife, or a die.
  20. In Article 15, A method for manufacturing an electrophoretic display, wherein the patterning step further comprises making a residual portion (250) of the encapsulated electrophoretic medium, and the method further comprises removing the residual portion (250) of the encapsulated electrophoretic medium from the encapsulated electrophoretic medium layer (130).

Description

Display material including patterned areas of encapsulated electrophoretic media Related applications This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/330,751 filed April 13, 2022. All patents and patent applications disclosed herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. Technology field The present invention relates to the field of electrophoretic displays and color-changing materials made using an electrophoretic medium. Historically, the electrophoretic display medium within an electro-optical display has been contiguous and sandwiched between control electrodes. For example, if the control electrodes are also contiguous, the resulting (optional flexible) sheet materials can be cut to produce complex designs that can be electronically switched between optical states (e.g., E INK PRISM™). Alternatively, the contiguous electrophoretic medium may span multiple electrodes, as in active matrix electrophoretic display modules, where a contiguous encapsulation layer of the electrophoretic medium is coated over the active matrix of the pixel electrodes. These assemblies are typically integrated into eReaders such as the Amazon KINDLE®. Alternatively, the contiguous encapsulation layer of the electrophoretic medium may be encapsulated within sealed microcells and laminated onto the active matrix backplane, as in the display modules of the E INK SPECTRA™ line. Previously, it was not disclosed that a display is formed by intentionally cutting parts of an electrophoretic medium to create segments, intentionally separating these segments from one another, and then arranging multiple electrophoretic segments that do not touch each other between identical continuous upper and lower electrodes. The present invention relates to electro-optics and related devices and methods for manufacturing such devices. The present invention is particularly for displays comprising an electrophoretic medium, but is not limited thereto. As applied to materials, displays, or devices, the term “electro-optics” in this specification is used to refer to a material having different first and second display states in at least one optical property in its conventional sense in the field of imaging, wherein the material changes from its first display state to its second display state by the application of an electric field to the material. The optical property is typically a color perceptible to the human eye, but may be other optical properties such as light transmission, reflection, or emission, or, in the case of a display intended for machine reading, a pseudo-color in the sense of a change in reflectance of electromagnetic wavelengths outside the visible range. In this specification, the term “gray state” is used to refer to a state between two extreme optical states of a pixel in its conventional sense in the field of imaging, and does not necessarily imply a black-to-white transition between these two extreme states. For example, several E Ink patents and published applications mentioned below describe electrophoretic displays in which the extreme states are white and deep blue, so that the intermediate “gray state” is actually pale blue. In fact, as previously mentioned, a change in optical state may not be a change in color at all. The terms “black” and “white” may be used below to refer to the two extreme optical states of the display and should be understood to generally include extreme optical states that are not strictly black and white, such as the aforementioned white and dark blue states. The term “monochrome” may be used below to denote a drive scheme that drives pixels only to their two extreme optical states without any intervening gray states. In this specification, the terms “bistable” and “bistableness” are used to refer to a display comprising display elements having first and second display states having at least one optical property different, in their conventional meanings in the art, wherein any given element is driven by an addressing pulse of a finite duration, and after one of its first or second display states is taken, after the addressing pulse is terminated, the state persists for at least several times, e.g., at least four times, the minimum duration of the addressing pulse required to change the state of the display element. It is indicated in U.S. Patent No. 7,170,670 that some grayscale-capable particle-based electrophoretic displays are stable in their extreme black and white states as well as in their intermediate gray states, and that this is also true for other types of electro-optical displays. Although it is more appropriate to call this type of display "multistable" rather than "bistable," for convenience, the term "bistable" may be used in this specification to cover both bistable and multistable displays. Various types of electro-optical displays are known. One type of electro-optical display is a rotational dichromatic element type as described, for example, in U.S.