CN113406834A

CN113406834A - Electronic device, housing assembly and color-changing diaphragm

Info

Publication number: CN113406834A
Application number: CN202110610529.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李辉; 王雷; 吴中正
Original assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd
Current assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd
Priority date: 2021-06-01
Filing date: 2021-06-01
Publication date: 2021-09-17
Also published as: WO2022252764A1

Abstract

The application provides an electronic device, a housing assembly and a color changing diaphragm; the first conducting layer and the second conducting layer of the color-changing membrane are arranged on the same surface of the first substrate at intervals; the electrochromic layer is arranged on the first conductive layer; the ion storage layer is arranged on the second conductive layer; the electrolyte layer is simultaneously covered on the electrochromic layer and the ion storage layer; the second substrate is covered on the electrolyte layer; the third conducting layer is arranged on one side of the second substrate, which is far away from the electrolyte layer; the liquid crystal layer is arranged on the third conductive layer; the fourth conducting layer is arranged on the liquid crystal layer; the third substrate is arranged on one side of the fourth conducting layer, which is deviated from the liquid crystal layer. The color-changing film combines the liquid crystal structure with the electrochromic device, and the color-changing film formed by combination can show transparent, non-transparent and transmission effects with various color changes; in addition, the electrochromic layer of the electrochromic structure and the ion storage layer are arranged on the same layer, so that the structure of a conducting area can be omitted, the adverse risk caused by processing is reduced, and the yield of products is favorably improved.

Description

Electronic device, housing assembly and color-changing diaphragm

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of color-changing diaphragm structures, in particular to electronic equipment, a shell assembly and a color-changing diaphragm.

Background

The shell of the existing electronic product such as the smart phone is generally composed of a protective glass cover plate with a built-in decorative membrane or plastic and the like. The color or pattern of the shell is relatively fixed, the effect of various color changes cannot be realized, and the appearance expressive force is not ideal. And the shell has a single function, only plays a role in protecting the mobile phone, cannot realize a dynamic effect along with the change of the mobile phone, and lacks interaction with a user.

Disclosure of Invention

A first aspect of embodiments of the present application provides a color-changing film, including:

a first substrate;

the first conducting layer and the second conducting layer are arranged on the same surface of the first substrate at intervals;

the electrochromic layer is arranged on one side, away from the first substrate, of the first conducting layer;

the ion storage layer is arranged on one side, away from the first substrate, of the second conducting layer;

the electrolyte layer is simultaneously covered on the electrochromic layer and the ion storage layer;

the second substrate is covered on one side, away from the electrochromic layer and the ion storage layer, of the electrolyte layer;

the third conducting layer is arranged on one side, away from the electrolyte layer, of the second substrate;

the liquid crystal layer is arranged on one side, away from the second substrate, of the third conducting layer;

the fourth conducting layer is arranged on one side, away from the third conducting layer, of the liquid crystal layer;

and the third substrate is arranged on one side of the fourth conducting layer, which deviates from the liquid crystal layer.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a housing assembly, where the housing assembly includes a housing and the color-changing diaphragm described in any of the above embodiments, and the color-changing diaphragm is disposed on the housing.

In addition, the embodiment of the application also provides an electronic device, which comprises a display screen module, a control circuit board and the shell assembly in the embodiment; the display screen module is matched with the shell to form an accommodating space, the control circuit board and the color-changing diaphragm are arranged in the accommodating space, and the color-changing diaphragm is arranged on the inner surface of the shell; the control circuit board is electrically connected with the color-changing membrane and is used for controlling the color-changing membrane to change color.

According to the color-changing membrane provided by the embodiment of the application, firstly, a liquid crystal structure is combined with an electrochromic device, and the color-changing membrane formed by combination can show transparent, non-transparent and transmission effects with various color changes; in addition, the electrochromic layer and the ion storage layer of the electrochromic device structure are arranged on the same layer, and a conducting layer structure is eliminated, so that the structure of a conducting area can be omitted, the automatic production is facilitated, the capacity is improved, the adverse risk caused by processing is reduced, and the yield of products is improved; due to the fact that a conducting layer structure is quite omitted, the whole thickness of the color-changing membrane can be greatly reduced, and the application range of the color-changing membrane is wider.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings based on these drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a structural stack of an improved front electrochromic module;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a bonding area of an electrochromic module before modification;

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the structure at A-A in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the overall structure of an embodiment of the color-changing film of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of the structure at the position B-B of the color-changing membrane in the embodiment of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a portion of the structure at C-C in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the overall structure of another embodiment of the color-changing film of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic sectional view of the structure at D-D of the color-changing membrane in the embodiment of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of still another embodiment of a partial structure (electrochromic portion) of an electrochromic film;

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural view of a further embodiment of the color-changing film of the present application;

FIG. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of another embodiment of the color-changing film of the present application;

FIG. 12 is a schematic structural view of an embodiment of the housing assembly of the present application;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a back side structure of an embodiment of the electronic device of the present application;

FIG. 14 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the electronic device of the embodiment of FIG. 13 at E-E;

fig. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a structural composition of an embodiment of an electronic device according to the present application.

Detailed Description

The present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples. It is to be noted that the following examples are only illustrative of the present invention, and do not limit the scope of the present invention. Likewise, the following examples are only some but not all examples of the present invention, and all other examples obtained by those skilled in the art without any inventive step are within the scope of the present invention.

Reference herein to "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of the phrase in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. It is explicitly and implicitly understood by one skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein can be combined with other embodiments.

As used herein, an "electronic device" (or simply "terminal") includes, but is not limited to, an apparatus that is configured to receive/transmit communication signals via a wireline connection, such as via a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), a digital cable, a direct cable connection, and/or another data connection/network, and/or via a wireless interface (e.g., for a cellular network, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), a digital television network such as a DVB-H network, a satellite network, an AM-FM broadcast transmitter, and/or another communication terminal). A communication terminal arranged to communicate over a wireless interface may be referred to as a "wireless communication terminal", "wireless terminal" or "mobile terminal". Examples of mobile terminals include, but are not limited to, satellite or cellular telephones; a Personal Communications System (PCS) terminal that may combine a cellular radiotelephone with data processing, facsimile and data communications capabilities; PDAs that may include radiotelephones, pagers, internet/intranet access, Web browsers, notepads, calendars, and/or Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers; and conventional laptop and/or palmtop receivers or other electronic devices that include a radiotelephone transceiver. A cellular phone is an electronic device equipped with a cellular communication module.

Referring to fig. 1 to 3 together, fig. 1 is a schematic structural layer diagram of an improved front electrochromic module, fig. 2 is a schematic structural layer diagram of a bonding region of the improved front electrochromic module, and fig. 3 is a schematic structural sectional view at a-a in fig. 2. Wherein, in the technical scheme before improving, its electrochromic module includes range upon range of setting in proper order: the solar cell comprises an upper substrate 1, an upper ITO 2, a discoloring layer 3, an electrolyte layer 4, an ion storage layer 5, a lower ITO 6, a lower substrate 7, an upper metal wire 8 and a lower metal wire 9; in addition, for the convenience of wire leading (binding), the upper metal trace 8 and the lower metal trace 9 are generally connected through a silver paste 95 (not shown), that is, the lower metal trace 9 is guided to one side of the upper metal trace 8, so as to achieve the purpose of single-side wire leading. The current loop of the whole electrochromic membrane is as follows: the power supply positive electrode (or negative electrode) -FPC 83-upper metal wiring leading-out end 81-upper metal wiring 8-upper ITO 2-EC layer (discoloration layer 3) -electrolyte layer 4-IC layer (ion storage layer 5) -lower ITO 6-lower metal wiring 9-lower metal wiring lap joint end 91-silver paste 95-lower metal wiring leading-out end 94-FPC 83-power supply negative electrode (or positive electrode). In the figure, reference numeral 92 denotes a spacing groove formed on the upper ITO 2, so as to form an isolation region 93, and the lower metal trace lead-out terminal 94 is disposed on the isolation region 93.

The main defects of the above technical solutions are concentrated on the problems in the aspects of process, design, performance, etc. caused by the conducting area (i.e. the area where the upper and lower metal traces are conducted). Wherein, the processing steps of the upper and lower sheets of the conducting area are generally as follows: firstly, cutting a conducting part (namely, the lower metal wire overlapping end 91 in fig. 2 and fig. 3), then uncovering the conducting part, wiping off a color-changing material located below the conducting part, then, dotting silver paste 95, conducting the metal wires on the upper side and the lower side, and finally, solidifying the silver paste 95. The above process is generally manual operation, and automation cannot be realized, so that the productivity is low and the cost is high.

Based on the above problems, the embodiments of the present application provide a technical solution for a color-changing film. Referring to fig. 4 and 5 together, fig. 4 is a schematic overall structure diagram of an embodiment of the color changing diaphragm of the present application, and fig. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional structure diagram at a position B-B of the color changing diaphragm in the embodiment of fig. 4; it should be noted that the color-changing membrane in the present application may be used in a housing of an electronic device, where the electronic device in the present application may include a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a wearable device, and the like. The color changing membrane 100 in the present embodiment includes a first substrate 101, a first conductive layer 102, an electrochromic layer 1031, an ion storage layer 1032, an electrolyte layer 1033, a second conductive layer 104, a second substrate 105, a third conductive layer 106, a liquid crystal layer 107, a fourth conductive layer 108, and a third substrate 109. It should be noted that the terms "comprises" and "comprising," and any variations thereof, in the embodiments of the present application, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not limited to only those steps or elements listed, but may alternatively include other steps or elements not listed, or may alternatively include other steps or elements inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

Specifically, the first conductive layer 102 and the second conductive layer 104 are disposed at an interval on the same surface of the first substrate 101, that is, the first conductive layer 102 and the second conductive layer 104 are disposed in a coplanar manner. A gap 1024 is formed between the first conductive layer 102 and the second conductive layer 104, and an insulating filler may be disposed in the gap 1024, which is not limited herein.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the material of the first substrate 101 and the second substrate 105 is a flexible transparent resin material, so that the entire structure of the color-changing film 100 is in a flexible and bendable structural form. The first substrate 101 and the second substrate 105 function to support and protect internal structures. In some embodiments, the first substrate 101 and the second substrate 105 may be made of PET (Polyethylene terephthalate, PET or PEIT, polyester resin, or a condensation polymer of terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol), PMMA (poly (methyl methacrylate), PMMA (PMMA), or acryl, Acrylic, or organic glass), PC (Polycarbonate, PC) is a polymer containing carbonate in a molecular chain, PI (Polyimide), and the like. Further material types for the first substrate 101 and the second substrate 105 are not listed and detailed herein within the understanding of those skilled in the art. The forming method of the first conductive layer 102 and the second conductive layer 104 may be Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD), specifically including vacuum evaporation, sputtering, ion plating (hollow cathode ion plating, hot cathode ion plating, arc ion plating, reactive ion plating, radio frequency ion plating, direct current discharge ion plating), and the like.

The thicknesses of the first conductive layer 102 and the second conductive layer 104 may be between 100nm and 300nm, and may be, for example, 100nm, 120nm, 150nm, 200nm, 280nm, 300nm, and the like. The first conductive layer 102 and the second conductive layer 104 are made of transparent conductive materials. The transparent conductive material can be Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), zinc aluminum oxide (AZO), tin oxide doped with Fluorine (FTO), graphene film or the like.

Optionally, an electrochromic layer 1031 (i.e. an EC layer) is provided on the first conductive layer 102, i.e. the electrochromic layer 1031 is provided on a side of the first conductive layer 102 facing away from the first substrate 101; an ion storage layer 1032 (i.e., an IC layer) is disposed on the second conductive layer 104, i.e., on a side of the second conductive layer 104 facing away from the first substrate 101. The electrolyte layer 1033 covers the electrochromic layer 1031 and the ion storage layer 1032 at the same time, and the absorption condition of light is changed through the migration of electrons (charged particles) in the electrolyte layer 1033, so that the color change effect of the color change membrane is realized. Wherein the electrochromic layer 1031 is disposed coplanar with the ion storage layer 1032. The shape of the projection of the electrochromic layer 1031 on the first substrate 101 is adapted to the shape of the projection of the first conductive layer 102 on the first substrate 101, in particular, the projection of the electrochromic layer 1031 on the first substrate 101 at least partially covers the projection of the first conductive layer 102 on the first substrate 101; the shape of the projection of the ion storage layer 1032 on the first substrate 101 is adapted to the shape of the projection of the second conductive layer 104 on the first substrate 101, and specifically, the projection of the ion storage layer 1032 on the first substrate 101 at least partially covers the projection of the second conductive layer 104 on the first substrate 101. Here, the term "to be fitted to the shape" means that the shape and the area are the same or substantially the same.

Optionally, the electrochromic layer 1031 may specifically be a solid or gel state material. The material of the electrochromic layer 1031 may be selected from organic polymers (including polyaniline, polythiophene, etc.), inorganic materials (prussian blue, transition metal oxides such as tungsten trioxide), and organic small molecules (viologen), etc. In the embodiment of the present application, the electrochromic layer 1031 is exemplified as an organic polymer. Alternatively, the ion storage layer 1032 and the electrochromic layer 1031 may be formed on the conductive layer by doctor blade coating, and the electrolyte layer 1033 may be formed by doctor blade coating or drip irrigation, etc., which will not be described in detail herein within the understanding of those skilled in the art.

Optionally, the second substrate 105 is covered on the electrolyte layer 1033, that is, the second substrate 105 is covered on a side of the electrolyte layer 1033 facing away from the electrochromic layer 1031 and the ion storage layer 1032. The first frame 110 surrounds the electrochromic layer 131, the ion storage layer 132, and the electrolyte layer 133.

Optionally, the third conductive layer 106 is disposed on a side of the second substrate 105 facing away from the electrolyte layer 1033; a fourth conductive layer 108 is provided on the third substrate 109, and a liquid crystal layer 107 is provided between the third conductive layer 106 and the fourth conductive layer 108. That is, the liquid crystal layer 107 is disposed on a side of the third conductive layer 106 facing away from the second substrate 105, the fourth conductive layer 108 is disposed on the liquid crystal layer 107, that is, the fourth conductive layer 108 is disposed on a side of the liquid crystal layer 107 facing away from the third conductive layer 106, and the third substrate 109 is disposed on a side of the fourth conductive layer 108 facing away from the liquid crystal layer 107. Wherein a projection of the liquid crystal layer 107 on the first substrate 101 at least partially covers a projection of the electrochromic layer 1031 and the ion storage layer 1032 on the first substrate 101. I.e. the liquid crystal layer 107 may completely cover the entire color-changing area.

The third substrate 109 may also be made of a flexible transparent resin material, so that the entire structure of the color-changing film 100 is a flexible structure, and the specific material selection may be the same as or similar to that of the first substrate 101 and the second substrate 105 (e.g., PET, PMMA, PI, etc.). The third conductive layer 106 and the fourth conductive layer 108 are also made of transparent conductive material. The transparent conductive material can be Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), zinc aluminum oxide (AZO), tin oxide doped with Fluorine (FTO), graphene film or the like. The liquid crystal layer 107 may be a polymer liquid crystal layer (called PDLC, polymer dispersed liquid crystal, which is a liquid crystal dispersed in a micron-sized droplet in an organic solid polymer matrix, and since the optical axis of the droplet composed of liquid crystal molecules is in a free orientation, its refractive index does not match the refractive index of the matrix, and light is strongly scattered by the droplet to an opaque milky white state or a translucent state when passing through the matrix.

The second frame 111 surrounds the liquid crystal layer 107. It should be noted that, in some other embodiments, the second glue frame 111 and the first glue frame 110 may also be an integral structure, and surround the side edge of each laminated structure (including the first substrate 101, the first conductive layer 102, the electrochromic layer 1031, the ion storage layer 1032, the electrolyte layer 1033, the second conductive layer 104, the second substrate 105, the third conductive layer 106, the liquid crystal layer 107, the fourth conductive layer 108, and the third substrate 109) in the color-changing membrane, and detailed structural features of this part are within the understanding range of those skilled in the art, and will not be further described herein.

Optionally, the color-changing membrane 100 in this embodiment of the application further includes a metal trace 180, where the metal trace 180 includes a first metal trace 181, a second metal trace 182, a third metal trace 183, and a fourth metal trace 184; the first metal trace 181 is disposed on the first conductive layer 102 and electrically connected to the first conductive layer 102; the second metal trace 182 is disposed on the second conductive layer 104, and is electrically connected to the second conductive layer 104; the third metal wire 183 is disposed on the third conductive layer 106 and electrically connected to the third conductive layer 106; the fourth metal trace 184 is disposed on the fourth conductive layer 108, and electrically connected to the fourth conductive layer 108. The metal trace 180 includes but is not limited to a multi-layer trace structure such as a silver paste line, a copper plated layer, an aluminum plated layer, or a molybdenum aluminum molybdenum layer. In order to make the discoloration film 100 have a faster discoloration speed, the sheet resistances of the first conductive layer 102, the second conductive layer 104, the third conductive layer 106, and the fourth conductive layer 108 may be set to 10 to 150 ohms, such as specific values of 10 ohms, 20 ohms, 40 ohms, 50 ohms, 80 ohms, 100 ohms, 120 ohms, 150 ohms, and the like; the sheet resistance of the metal trace 180 may be 0.05-2 ohms, and specifically may be 0.05 ohms, 0.06 ohms, 0.1 ohms, 1.2 ohms, 1.5 ohms, 2 ohms, and the like, which is not limited herein. It should be noted that the terms "first", "second" and "third" in the embodiments of the present application are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first," "second," or "third" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the feature. In the description of the present invention, "a plurality" means at least two, e.g., two, three, etc., unless specifically limited otherwise.

Optionally, referring to fig. 5, in this embodiment, the metal trace 180 is embedded in the rubber frame, so as to realize physical isolation between the metal trace 180 and the electrochromic layer 1031, the ion storage layer 1032, the electrolyte layer 1033, and the liquid crystal layer 107, and prevent the electrochromic layer 1031, the ion storage layer 1032, the electrolyte layer 133, and the liquid crystal layer 107 from chemically corroding the metal trace 180.

Optionally, referring to fig. 4 and fig. 6 together, fig. 6 is a schematic partial sectional view at C-C in fig. 4; only the bonding scheme of the first metal trace 181 and the second metal trace 182 is illustrated in the figure. The color-changing film 100 in this embodiment further includes a flexible circuit board 183, the flexible circuit board 183 is connected to the first trace leading-out end 1811 of the first metal trace 181 and the second trace leading-out end 1821 of the second metal trace 182, and the flexible circuit board 183 is configured to implement connection between an electrochromic portion of the color-changing film and a control circuit board (specifically, a control circuit board of an electronic device or a self-contained chip structure, which is not specifically limited here). In some other embodiments, the color changing membrane 100 may also be a structure that does not include metal traces, and the first conductive layer 102 and the second conductive layer 104 are directly connected to the control circuit board through the flexible circuit board. In addition, it should be noted that, in the figure, only the binding structure of the first metal trace 181 and the second metal trace 182 with the control circuit board through the flexible circuit board 183 is illustrated.

In this embodiment, the current sequence of the electrochromic part is: the power supply positive electrode (or negative electrode) -FPC 183-first wire leading-out end 1811-first metal wire 181-first conductive layer 102-electrochromic layer 1031-electrolyte layer 1033-ion storage layer 1032-second conductive layer 104-second metal wire 182-second wire leading-out end 1821-FPC 183-power supply negative electrode (or positive electrode). The stacked structure of the electrochromic part adopts a coplanar design, and the current loop also becomes a transverse flow. In order to prevent the device from being broken, the conducting layer structure needs to be divided into two independent areas (the second conducting layer 104 and the first conducting layer 102) from the middle partition, the upper substrate (namely the second substrate 150) only plays a protection role and does not need to be provided with the conducting layer structure any more, compared with the technical scheme before improvement, the stacking structure of the electrochromic part is characterized in that the electrochromic layer and the ion storage layer are arranged in the same layer, the thickness of the conducting layer structure is eliminated, the structure of a conducting area can be omitted, the automatic production is facilitated, the productivity is improved, the adverse risk caused by processing can be reduced, and the yield of products is facilitated to be improved; in addition, the thickness of a conducting layer structure is eliminated in the whole stacking direction (namely the thickness direction), so that the whole thickness of the color-changing membrane can be reduced by 50-100 μm.

The third metal trace 183 and the fourth metal trace 184 can be respectively bound to the control circuit board, and details of the structural features of these parts are within the understanding range of those skilled in the art and are not described herein again. The third conductive layer 106, the fourth conductive layer 108 and the liquid crystal layer 107 sandwiched between the third conductive layer 106 and the fourth conductive layer 108 together form a liquid crystal part structure, and the part can be independently driven and controlled by a control circuit board, that is, the part is independent from the driving control of the electrochromic part structure and does not interfere with each other.

According to the color-changing film provided by the embodiment of the application, the liquid crystal structure is combined with the electrochromic device, and the color-changing film formed by combination can show transparent, non-transparent and various color-changing transmission effects.

Among them, the first conductive layer 102 (including the electrochromic layer 1031 provided thereon) and the second conductive layer 104 (including the ion storage layer 1032 provided thereon) in the foregoing embodiments are provided on the left and right portions of the first substrate 101 in the drawing, and may have an effect of a single left-side color change, a single right-side color change, or a left-side and right-side alternate color change. In still other embodiments, the first conductive layer 102 and the second conductive layer 104 may have other relative positions.

Referring to fig. 7 to 9, fig. 7 is a schematic overall structure diagram of another embodiment of the color changing diaphragm of the present application, and fig. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional structure diagram of a position D-D of the color changing diaphragm in the embodiment of fig. 7; fig. 9 is a schematic view of still another embodiment of a partial structure (electrochromic portion) of an electrochromic film. The structure of the liquid crystal portion may be the same as that of the foregoing embodiment (the third conductive layer 106 is disposed on the side of the second substrate 105 away from the electrolyte layer 1033; the fourth conductive layer 108 is disposed on the third substrate 109, and the liquid crystal layer 107 is disposed between the third conductive layer 106 and the fourth conductive layer 108; wherein the projection of the liquid crystal layer 107 on the first substrate 101 covers the projection of the electrochromic layer 1031 and the ion storage layer 1032 on the first substrate 101; that is, the liquid crystal layer 107 may completely cover the entire color-changing region), please refer to the related description of the foregoing embodiment specifically.

Unlike the previous embodiments, in the embodiment shown in fig. 8, the first conductive layer 102 is at least partially disposed around the second conductive layer 104. In the embodiment shown in fig. 9, the second conductive layer 104 is at least partially disposed around the first conductive layer 102. Wherein a shape of the electrochromic layer 1031 projected on the first substrate 101 is adapted to a shape of the first conductive layer 102 projected on the first substrate 101; specifically, a projection of the electrochromic layer 1031 on the first substrate 101 may at least partially cover a projection of the first conductive layer 102 on the first substrate 101; the shape of the projection of the ion storage layer 1032 on the first substrate 101 is adapted to the shape of the projection of the second conductive layer 104 on the first substrate 101, and specifically, the projection of the ion storage layer 1032 on the first substrate 101 at least partially covers the projection of the second conductive layer 104 on the first substrate 101.

Here, the electrochromic portion in the embodiments of fig. 8 and 9 may be discolored in a ring shape (in fig. 8, the first conductive layer 102 located at the outer periphery and the region corresponding to the electrochromic layer 1031), and may also be discolored in a large area in the middle (in fig. 9, the first conductive layer 102 located at the middle and the region corresponding to the electrochromic layer 1031). Of course, in some other embodiments, there may be other corresponding relationships between the first conductive layer 102 and the second conductive layer 104, so as to form different color-changing regions and effects, and those skilled in the art can design the color-changing regions and effects by themselves under the technical guidance of the present application, and they are not listed and described in detail herein. The color-changing membrane 100 includes a first substrate 101, a first conductive layer 102, an electrochromic layer 1031, an ion storage layer 1032, an electrolyte layer 1033, a second conductive layer 104, a second substrate 105, a third conductive layer 106, a liquid crystal layer 107, a fourth conductive layer 108, and a third substrate 109.

The first substrate 101 and the second substrate 105 are made of flexible transparent resin materials, so that the entire structure of the color-changing film 100 is flexible and bendable. The first substrate 101 and the second substrate 105 function to support and protect internal structures. In some embodiments, the first substrate 101 and the second substrate 105 may be made of PET (Polyethylene terephthalate, PET or PEIT, polyester resin, or a condensation polymer of terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol), PMMA (poly (methyl methacrylate), PMMA (PMMA), or acryl, Acrylic, or organic glass), PC (Polycarbonate, PC) is a polymer containing carbonate in a molecular chain, PI (Polyimide), and the like. Further material types for the first substrate 101 and the second substrate 105 are not listed and detailed herein within the understanding of those skilled in the art. The forming method of the first conductive layer 102 and the second conductive layer 104 may be Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD), specifically including vacuum evaporation, sputtering, ion plating (hollow cathode ion plating, hot cathode ion plating, arc ion plating, reactive ion plating, radio frequency ion plating, direct current discharge ion plating), and the like.

Optionally, an electrochromic layer 1031 (i.e. an EC layer) is provided on the first conductive layer 102, i.e. the electrochromic layer 1031 is provided on a side of the first conductive layer 102 facing away from the first substrate 101; an ion storage layer 1032 (i.e., an IC layer) is provided on the second conductive layer 104. The electrolyte layer 1033 covers the electrochromic layer 1031 and the ion storage layer 1032 at the same time, and the absorption condition of light is changed through the migration of electrons (charged particles) in the electrolyte layer 1033, so that the color change effect of the color change membrane is realized. Wherein the electrochromic layer 1031 is disposed coplanar with the ion storage layer 1032.

Optionally, the second substrate 105 is covered on the electrolyte layer 1033, that is, the second substrate 105 is covered on a side of the electrolyte layer 1033 facing away from the electrochromic layer 1031 and the ion storage layer 1032.

The first frame 110 surrounds at least one of the electrochromic layer 131, the ion storage layer 132 and the electrolyte layer 133. The different positions enclosed by the first glue frame 110 are shown in fig. 5, 8 and 9, respectively.

Optionally, the third conductive layer 106 is disposed on a side of the second substrate 105 facing away from the electrolyte layer 1033; a fourth conductive layer 108 is provided on the third substrate 109, and a liquid crystal layer 107 is provided between the third conductive layer 106 and the fourth conductive layer 108. That is, the liquid crystal layer 107 is disposed on the third conductive layer 106, the fourth conductive layer 108 is disposed on the liquid crystal layer 107, and the third substrate 109 is disposed on a side of the fourth conductive layer 108 facing away from the liquid crystal layer 107. Wherein a projection of the liquid crystal layer 107 on the first substrate 101 at least partially covers a projection of the electrochromic layer 1031 and the ion storage layer 1032 on the first substrate 101. I.e. the liquid crystal layer 107 may completely cover the entire color-changing area.

Optionally, the color-changing membrane 100 in this embodiment of the application further includes a metal trace 180, where the metal trace 180 includes a first metal trace 181, a second metal trace 182, a third metal trace 183, and a fourth metal trace 184; the first metal trace 181 is disposed on the first conductive layer 102 and electrically connected to the first conductive layer 102; the second metal trace 182 is disposed on the second conductive layer 104, and is electrically connected to the second conductive layer 104; the third metal wire 183 is disposed on the third conductive layer 106 and electrically connected to the third conductive layer 106; the fourth metal trace 184 is disposed on the fourth conductive layer 108, and electrically connected to the fourth conductive layer 108. The metal trace 180 includes but is not limited to a multi-layer trace structure such as a silver paste line, a copper plated layer, an aluminum plated layer, or a molybdenum aluminum molybdenum layer. In order to make the discoloration film 100 have a faster discoloration speed, the sheet resistances of the first conductive layer 102, the second conductive layer 104, the third conductive layer 106, and the fourth conductive layer 108 may be set to 10 to 150 ohms, such as specific values of 10 ohms, 20 ohms, 40 ohms, 50 ohms, 80 ohms, 100 ohms, 120 ohms, 150 ohms, and the like; the sheet resistance of the metal trace 180 may be 0.05-2 ohms, and specifically may be 0.05 ohms, 0.06 ohms, 0.1 ohms, 1.2 ohms, 1.5 ohms, 2 ohms, and the like, which is not limited herein.

In this embodiment, the metal trace 180 is embedded in the rubber frame, so that the metal trace 180 is physically isolated from the electrochromic layer 1031, the ion storage layer 1032, the electrolyte layer 1033 and the liquid crystal layer 107, and the metal trace 180 is prevented from being chemically corroded by the electrochromic layer 1031, the ion storage layer 1032, the electrolyte layer 133 and the liquid crystal layer 107.

Optionally, referring to fig. 10, fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of another embodiment of the color-changing film of the present application, in which the color-changing film 100 of the present embodiment is provided with a water-oxygen barrier layer 170 at least one of an outer surface of the first substrate 101 facing away from the first conductive layer 102 and an outer surface of the third substrate 109 facing away from the fourth conductive layer 108. In the illustration of the present embodiment, a water and oxygen barrier layer 170 is disposed on an outer surface of the first substrate 101 facing away from the first conductive layer 102 for illustration, and certainly, in some other embodiments, the water and oxygen barrier layer 170 may be disposed on both an outer surface of the third substrate 109 facing away from the fourth conductive layer 108 and an outer surface of the first substrate 101 facing away from the first conductive layer 102.

The material of the water-oxygen barrier layer 170 is selected from any one of a dense metal oxide layer, an inorganic non-metal layer, or a composite layer formed by stacking materials and inorganic materials. Such as alumina, silicon oxide, titanium oxide, a synthetic resin material, or a laminated composite structure of a plurality of materials, or the like. The water-oxygen barrier layer 170 may be formed on the surface of the first substrate 110 by spraying, screen printing, physical vapor deposition, or the like. The water oxygen barrier layer 170 is used to isolate external moisture and air, and since the electrochromic materials (the electrochromic layer 1031, the ion storage layer 1032, and the electrolyte layer 1033) in the color change film are very sensitive to water oxygen and easily fail, it is required to be protected by the water oxygen barrier layer 170. The water-oxygen barrier layer 170 in this embodiment has a water vapor transmission rate WVTR of less than 0.02 g/m/day. The water vapor permeation direction of the water oxygen barrier layer 170 in the embodiment of the present application is a physical characteristic that the water oxygen barrier layer 170 permeates from one side surface of the water oxygen barrier layer 170 in the thickness direction to the opposite side surface. The test conditions were ambient temperature 20 ℃ and relative humidity 100%. In addition, in some other embodiments, the water oxygen barrier layer 170 may also be a structure with a substrate and a sprayed water oxygen barrier material disposed on the substrate, and is not limited herein.

Optionally, referring to fig. 11, fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of another embodiment of the color-changing film of the present application, in which an appearance film layer 190 is disposed on at least one of an outer surface of the first substrate 101 facing away from the first conductive layer 102 and an outer surface of the third substrate 109 facing away from the fourth conductive layer 108 of the color-changing film 100 of the present embodiment. In the illustration of the present embodiment, the appearance film layer 190 is disposed on the outer surface of the first substrate 101 away from the first conductive layer 102, that is, on the outer surface of the water-oxygen barrier layer 170.

The appearance film layer 190 may include a carrier plate, and at least one or more of an ink layer, an optical coating layer, a texture layer, and the like stacked on the carrier plate. In some other embodiments, the appearance film layer 190 may be a film layer structure that does not include a carrier plate and is disposed on the outer surface of the water oxygen barrier layer 170, which is not limited herein. The color changing film 100 may exhibit a display effect in which the appearance film layer 190 is overlapped with the color changing material layer. In addition, when the appearance film layer 190 itself can also be of a gradual change effect, and when the appearance film layer 190 itself is of a gradual change effect, the appearance film layer can be overlaid with the color-changing material layer to present a richer appearance effect. It should be noted that all the directional indicators (such as upper, lower, left, right, front and rear … …) in the embodiment of the present application are only used to explain the relative position relationship between the components, the motion situation, etc. in a specific posture (as shown in the drawings), and if the specific posture is changed, the directional indicator is changed accordingly.

In other embodiments, a water oxygen barrier layer and an appearance film layer may be disposed on one side of the third substrate 109, and the water oxygen barrier layer and the appearance film layer may be disposed on the outer surfaces of the third substrate 109 and the first substrate 101, respectively, or the water oxygen barrier layer may be disposed inside the color-changing film laminated structure (e.g., disposed on the second substrate 105).

Referring to fig. 12, fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the housing assembly of the present application, and the housing assembly 10 of the present embodiment includes a color-changing diaphragm 100 and a housing 200. In the illustration of the present embodiment, the housing 200 is attached to the third substrate 109 of the color-changing film 100, and may be specifically bonded by an optical adhesive layer (not shown). The housing 200 may be made of a transparent material such as glass or resin. The housing 200 in the embodiment of the present application generally refers to a rear cover, i.e., a battery cover, of the electronic device. It should be noted that the structure of the color-changing film 100 in this embodiment may be any one of the foregoing embodiments, and only one structure is illustrated in fig. 12.

Further, an electronic device is provided in an embodiment of the present application, please refer to fig. 13 and 14 together, where fig. 13 is a back structure schematic diagram of an embodiment of the electronic device of the present application, and fig. 14 is a cross-sectional structure schematic diagram of the electronic device at a position E-E in the embodiment of fig. 13, and the electronic device in the embodiment includes a display module 30, a housing assembly 10, and a control circuit board 20. The housing assembly 10 may include a color-changing diaphragm 100, a housing 200, and a middle frame 300, among others. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the electronic device is only described in a structure that the electronic device includes the middle frame, and in some other embodiments, the electronic device may not include the middle frame structure, that is, a structure that a rear cover plate (the housing 200) of the housing assembly directly cooperates with the display screen module 30, which is not limited herein.

Optionally, the display screen module 30, the color-changing film 100 of the housing assembly 10, and the housing 200 are respectively disposed on two opposite sides of the electronic device. The display screen module 300 and the housing 200 cooperate to form an accommodating space 1000, the control circuit board 20 and the color-changing film 100 are disposed in the accommodating space 1000, and the color-changing film 100 is disposed on the inner surface of the housing 200. The control circuit board 20 may be electrically connected to the metal trace 180 of the color-changing membrane 100 through the flexible circuit board 183, and the control circuit board 20 is configured to control the color-changing membrane 100 to change color. The detailed technical features of other parts of the electronic device are within the understanding of those skilled in the art, and are not described herein.

Referring to fig. 15, fig. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a structural composition of an embodiment of an electronic device according to the present application, where the electronic device may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a wearable device, and the like, and the embodiment illustrates a mobile phone as an example. The electronic device may include an RF circuit 910, a memory 920, an input unit 930, a display unit 940 (i.e., the display module 30 in the above embodiment), a sensor 950, an audio circuit 960, a wifi module 970, a processor 980 (which may be the control circuit board 20 in the above embodiment), a power supply 990, and the like. Wherein the RF circuit 910, the memory 920, the input unit 930, the display unit 940, the sensor 950, the audio circuit 960, and the wifi module 970 are respectively connected with the processor 980; power supply 990 is operable to provide power to the entire electronic device 10.

Specifically, the RF circuit 910 is used for transmitting and receiving signals; the memory 920 is used for storing data instruction information; the input unit 930 is used for inputting information, and may specifically include a touch panel 931 and other input devices 932 such as operation keys; the display unit 940 may include a display panel 941; the sensor 950 includes an infrared sensor, a laser sensor, etc. for detecting a user approach signal, a distance signal, etc.; a speaker 961 and a microphone 962 are connected to the processor 980 through the audio circuit 960 for emitting and receiving sound signals; the wifi module 970 is used for receiving and transmitting wifi signals, and the processor 980 is used for processing data information of the electronic device. For specific structural features of the electronic device, please refer to the related description of the above embodiments, and detailed descriptions thereof will not be provided herein.

The electronic device in this embodiment has an appearance effect of variable color. Firstly, a liquid crystal structure is combined with an electrochromic device, and the combined color-changing membrane can show transparent, non-transparent and transmission effects of various color changes; in addition, the electrochromic layer and the ion storage layer of the electrochromic device structure are arranged on the same layer, and a conducting layer structure is eliminated, so that the structure of a conducting area can be omitted, the automatic production is facilitated, the capacity is improved, the adverse risk caused by processing is reduced, and the yield of products is improved; due to the fact that a conducting layer structure is quite omitted, the whole thickness of the color-changing membrane can be greatly reduced, and the application range of the color-changing membrane is wider.

The above description is only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, and all equivalent devices or equivalent processes performed by the present invention through the contents of the specification and the drawings, or directly or indirectly applied to other related technical fields, are included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A color changing membrane, said color changing membrane comprising:

a first substrate;

2. The color shifting film of claim 1, wherein the first conductive layer is at least partially disposed around the second conductive layer, and a projection of the electrochromic layer onto the first substrate at least partially overlaps a projection of the first conductive layer onto the first substrate; the projection of the ion storage layer on the first substrate at least partially covers the projection of the second conductive layer on the first substrate.

3. The color shifting film of claim 1, wherein the second conductive layer is at least partially disposed around the first conductive layer, and a projection of the electrochromic layer onto the first substrate at least partially overlaps a projection of the first conductive layer onto the first substrate; the projection of the ion storage layer on the first substrate at least partially covers the projection of the second conductive layer on the first substrate.

4. The color-changing film according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the projection of the liquid crystal layer on the first substrate covers the projection of the electrochromic layer and the ion storage layer on the first substrate.

5. The color-changing membrane according to any one of claims 2 to 3, wherein the color-changing membrane further comprises metal traces, and the metal traces are respectively disposed on the first conductive layer, the second conductive layer, the third conductive layer and the fourth conductive layer.

6. The color-changing film according to claim 5, further comprising a frame surrounding at least one of the electrochromic layer, the ion storage layer, the electrolyte layer, and the liquid crystal layer.

7. The color-changing membrane according to claim 6, wherein at least one of a surface of the first substrate facing away from the first conductive layer and a surface of the third substrate facing away from the fourth conductive layer is provided with a water-oxygen barrier layer.

8. The color-changing membrane according to claim 6, wherein at least one of the outer surface of the first substrate facing away from the first conductive layer and the outer surface of the third substrate facing away from the fourth conductive layer is provided with an appearance film layer.

9. A housing assembly comprising a housing and a color shifting diaphragm according to any one of claims 1 to 8, said color shifting diaphragm being disposed on said housing.

10. An electronic device, comprising a display screen module, a control circuit board, and the housing assembly of claim 9; the display screen module is matched with the shell to form an accommodating space, the control circuit board and the color-changing diaphragm are arranged in the accommodating space, and the color-changing diaphragm is arranged on the inner surface of the shell; the control circuit board is electrically connected with the color-changing membrane and is used for controlling the color-changing membrane to change color.