Decorative composite body having a transparent, electrically conductive layer and a solar cell

Abstract

Proposed is a decorative element containing (a) a transparent gemstone with a faceted surface comprising convex curved regions, (b) a transparent electrically conductive layer applied to said faceted surface comprising convex curved regions, (c) a wavelength-selective layer applied (c1) to the planar side opposite to the faceted curved surface, or (c2) to the photovoltaic cell (d); (d) a photovoltaic cell; and (e) a touch-sensitive electronic circuitry.

Claims

1. A decorative element, for use as an energy source and an input interface, comprising: (a) a transparent gemstone with a faceted surface comprising convex curved regions, (b) a transparent electrically conductive layer applied to said faceted surface comprising convex curved regions, (d) a photovoltaic cell, (c) a wavelength-selective layer applied (c1) to a planar side opposite to the faceted curved surface, or (c2) to the photovoltaic cell (d); and (e) a touch-sensitive electronic circuitry comprising a capacitor; wherein, in use, touching of the electrically conductive layer changes a capacitance of the capacitor and triggers a signal.

2. The decorative element according to claim 1, characterized in that said gemstone (a) is made of glass or plastic.

3. The decorative element according to claim 1, characterized in that said gemstone (a) has a plano-convex or plano-convex-concave geometry.

4. The decorative element according to claim 1, characterized in that said transparent electrically conductive layer (b) comprises at least one component formed from a compound selected from the group consisting of: Cr, Ti, Zr, indium tin oxide, aluminum-doped zinc oxide, gallium zinc oxide, titanium zinc oxide, fluorine-doped tin oxide, antimony tin oxide, tantalum tin oxide, and titanium niobium oxide, or any combination of these components in any sequence of layers.

5. The decorative element according to claim 1, characterized in that said transparent electrically conductive layer (b) is applied to at least two separate regions of the curved faceted surface.

6. The decorative element according to claim 1, characterized in that said transparent electrically conductive layer is transparent within a range of from 380 to 1200 nm.

7. The decorative element according to claim 1, characterized in that said transparent electrically conductive layer (b) has a transmission of at least 60%.

8. The decorative element according to claim 1, characterized in that said wavelength-selective layer (c) is selected from a wavelength-selective coating or a wavelength-selective film.

9. The decorative element according to claim 8, characterized in that said wavelength-selective coating contains at least one metal, a metal compound, or a metal and a metal compound.

10. The decorative element according to claim 1, characterized in that said wavelength-selective layer (c) reflects a fraction of the light within a range of from 380 to 850 nm.

11. The decorative element according to claim 10, characterized in that said wavelength-selective layer (c) has an average transmission of >80% outside the reflection interval in a range of 400 to 1200 nm, as measured under an incident angle of the light beams of 0.

12. The decorative element according to claim 1, characterized in that said wavelength-selective coating comprises at least one compound selected from the group consisting of Cr, Cr.sub.2O.sub.3, Ni, NiCr, Fe, Fe.sub.2O.sub.3, Al, Al.sub.2O.sub.3, Au, SiO.sub.x, Mn, Si, Si.sub.3N.sub.4, TiO.sub.x, Cu, Ag, Ti, CeF.sub.3, MgF.sub.2, Nb.sub.2O.sub.5, Ta.sub.2O.sub.5, SnO.sub.2, ZnO.sub.2, MgO, CeO.sub.2, WO.sub.3, Pr.sub.2O.sub.3, Y.sub.2O.sub.3; BaF.sub.2, CaF.sub.2, LaF.sub.3, NdF.sub.3, YF.sub.3; ZrO.sub.2, HfO.sub.2, ZnS, Oxynitrides of Al, Si, and SnZnO, or any combination of these compounds in any sequence of layers.

13. The decorative element according to claim 1, characterized in that said photovoltaic cell (d) is a backside-contact solar cell.

14. The decorative element according to claim 1, characterized in that said touch-sensitive electronic circuitry (e) contains a capacitive sensor.

15. Use of the decorative element according to claim 1 for function control and power supply of electronic devices.

Description

(1) In the following, the invention will be illustrated further by means of Examples and Figures without being limited thereto. The Figures show the following objects:

(2) FIG. 1a: Electrically conductive layer in partial areas of the gemstone, and wavelength-selective coating on the planar side opposite the faceting.

(3) FIG. 1b: Electrically conductive layer in partial areas of the gemstone, and wavelength-selective coating on the solar cell.

(4) FIG. 2a: Decorative element and function control by means of input using a finger or stylus.

(5) FIG. 2b: Decorative element with two separated regions of the transparent electrically conductive layer for push-type or slide-type input.

(6) FIG. 2c: Decorative element with four separated regions of the transparent electrically conductive layer for push-type or slide-type input.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

(7) The invention further relates to the use of the decorative element according to the present invention for energy supply and function control, especially of wearable electronic devices, and of objects, especially jewelry, such as rings, necklaces, bracelets and the like, containing at least one decorative element according to the present invention.

EXAMPLES

(8) Preliminary experiments have already been reported in the European Patent Application with the File No. 14 191 386, which is intended to be part of the disclosure of the present application.

(9) Materials

(10) Different decorative elements of different materials and geometries were examined. The decorative elements were assembled from solar cells and optical elements. The Examples according to the invention were additionally provided with a wavelength-selective layer.

(11) Solar Cells.

(12) Solar cells of the type Sunpower C60 (10 mm10 mm) were used.

(13) Gemstones.

(14) The optical elements of glass were produced by methods known to the skilled person from commercially available Chessboard Flat Back 2493 elements (30 mm30 mm) of the company Swarovski.

(15) The optical elements of Pleximid TT70 were produced by plastic injection molding methods in a mold prefabricated for this purpose. For this method, an injection molding machine of the company Engel of the type e-victory 80/50 was used; temperature of barrel: 210 C. increasing to 280 C., nozzle 280 C.; temperature of mold: 180 nozzle side, 140 ejector side; injection pressure limit: 1200 bar; injection speed: about 15 cm.sup.3/s; embossing pressure: about 800 bar; no solvents.

(16) Geometry.

(17) The optical elements according to C2-C5 are faceted solids with 12 mm edge length and a square base area with slightly rounded corners. A chamfer at an angle of 45 is provided on the base area, so that the actually remaining base area is 10 mm10 mm. The faceted upper part with 25 facets in a square arrangement forms a ball segment. The total height of the solid is 5.56 mm, the corner edge height is 1.93 mm.

(18) Example According to the Invention

(19) An example according to the invention with a solar cell, an optical element, a wavelength-selective layer, a transparent electrically conductive layer and an evaluation sensor system was prepared.

(20) Solar Cell:

(21) The solar cell was of the type Sunpower C60. The Sunpower C60 was reduced in size to 29.3 mm29.3 mm. The methods of size reduction are adequately familiar to the skilled person.

(22) Gemstone:

(23) The non-mirrored Chessboard Flat Back 2493 (30 mm30 mm) of the company D. Swarovski KG was used as an optical element of glass.

(24) Geometry:

(25) The optical element of glass was a faceted solid with 30 mm edge length and a square base area with slightly rounded corners. The faceted upper part included convex curved areas. The total height of the solid was 8 mm, the corner edge height was 2.7 mm.

(26) Wavelength-Selective Layer:

(27) A wavelength-selective coating was applied to the optical element of glass on the planar side opposite the faceting in the PVD facility BAK1101 of the company Evatec. The layer structure was the same as the structure described in Table 1. The faceted surface region, which should not be coated, was covered during the coating.

(28) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Layer structure of the wavelength-selective coating N Material Physical layer thickness [nm] 1 TiO.sub.2 23.9 2 SiO.sub.2 43.2 3 TiO.sub.2 64.8 4 SiO.sub.2 28.7 5 TiO.sub.2 61.5 6 SiO.sub.2 33.7 7 TiO.sub.2 57.7 8 SiO.sub.2 37.5 9 TiO.sub.2 66.1 10 SiO.sub.2 30.5 11 TiO.sub.2 42.6 12 SiO.sub.2 141.4
Transparent Electrically Conductive Layer:

(29) Indium tin oxide was applied to the curved faceted surface of the gemstone as a transparent electrically conductive layer. The coating process was performed by sputtering with the PVD plant FHRline 400 of the company FHR. The planar side, which should not be coated, was covered.

(30) In order to improve the electrical and chemical properties and the mechanical abrasion resistance, the optical element was first treated by ion etching in the plant FHRline 400. Thereafter, the sample was heated at a temperature of about 550 C. for about 30 minutes in the same plant FHRline 400. This was followed by the coating of the optical element with indium tin oxide in the same plant FHRline 400, wherein the mixed oxide had a customary ratio of about 90% In.sub.2O.sub.3 to about 10% SnO.sub.2. The pressure was about 3.3.Math.10.sup.3 mbar, and the discharge power was about 1 kW. The layer thickness varied as a function of the surface geometry from about 140 nm to about 190 nm. The coating process was effected with using a protective gas of argon and 5 sccm O.sub.2. Subsequently, the coated optical element was heated at a temperature of about 550 C. for about 20 minutes in the same plant FHRline 400.

(31) Evaluation Sensor System and Structure of the Decorative Element:

(32) The coated optical element of glass was connected with the solar cell on the planar side opposite the faceting by means of a commercially available UV-curable transparent adhesive. The solar cell, which was provided with electric contacts on the back side, was contacted with the circuit board Kingboard KB-6160 FR-4Y KB 1.55, and joined to positive and negative contacts. The lateral facets adjacent to the wavelength-selective layer and coated with the transparent electrically conductive layer were connected with the circuit board in an electrically conductive way by means of the conductive rubber Z-Wrap from the company Z-Axis. Through the back side of the circuit board, the electric connection with the touch controller IQS228AS from the company Azoteq (Pty) Ltd. was generated by means of a conducting path. The touch controller was soldered with the circuit board. A multi-pole cable was connected with the back side of the circuit board in order to supply the touch controller IQS228AS with power through a conducting path connection, and to be able transmit the signal from the touch controller IQS228AS through another conducting path connection and the current from the solar cell through an additional conducting path connection. The structure was surrounded by a plastic housing of polycarbonate. The multi-pole cable was led out of the housing through an opening in the housing.