# US 10,945,499 B2 · Decorative composite body having a transparent, electrically conductive layer and a solar cell

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- Number: US 10,945,499 B2
- Document ID: US10945499B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/066,443
- Filed: 2016-12-19
- Published: 2019-01-10
- Granted: 2021-03-16
- Earliest claimed: 2016-01-05
- Assignees: D. Swarovski & Co.
- Applicants: D. Swarovski KG
- Inventors: Christof Gapp; Martin Scholz; Annemarie Leber; Mathias Mair; Franz Lexer; Ernst Altenberger
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10945499B2

## CPC

- A44C 15/0015: {Illuminated or sound-producing jewellery}
- G06F 3/044: by capacitive means
- G06F 3/04883: for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
- H02S 99/00: Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
- H03K 17/962: {Capacitive touch switches}
- H10F 19/00: Integrated devices, or assemblies of multiple devices, comprising at least one photovoltaic cell covered by group H10F10/00, e.g. photovoltaic modules
- H10F 77/219: {Arrangements for electrodes of back-contact photovoltaic cells}
- H10F 77/244: {made of transparent conductive layers, e.g. transparent conductive oxide [TCO] layers}
- H10F 77/484: {Refractive light-concentrating means, e.g. lenses}
- H10F 77/492: {Spectrum-splitting means, e.g. dichroic mirrors}
- G06F 2203/04103: Manufacturing, i.e. details related to manufacturing processes specially suited for touch sensitive devices
- H10F 71/138: {Manufacture of transparent electrodes, e.g. transparent conductive oxides [TCO] or indium tin oxide [ITO] electrodes}
- Y02E 10/52: PV systems with concentrators
- A44C: PERSONAL ADORNMENTS, e.g. JEWELLERY; COINS
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- H02S: GENERATION OF ELECTRIC POWER BY CONVERSION OF INFRARED RADIATION, VISIBLE LIGHT OR ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT, e.g. USING PHOTOVOLTAIC [PV] MODULES (obtaining electrical energy from radioactive sources G21H1/12; light sensitive inorganic semiconductor devices H10F; light sensitive organic semiconductor devices H10K30/00; thermoelectric devices H10N10/00; pyroelectric devices H10N15/00)
- H03K: PULSE TECHNIQUE (measuring pulse characteristics G01R; modulating sinusoidal oscillations with pulses H03C; transmission of digital information H04L; discriminator circuits detecting phase difference between two signals by counting or integrating cycles of oscillation H03D3/04; automatic control, starting, synchronisation or stabilisation of generators of electronic oscillations or pulses where the type of generator is irrelevant or unspecified H03L; coding, decoding or code conversion, in general H03M)
- H10F: INORGANIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES SENSITIVE TO INFRARED RADIATION, LIGHT, ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION OF SHORTER WAVELENGTH OR CORPUSCULAR RADIATION
- Y02E: REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION

## 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

### Claim 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.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

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

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

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

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

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.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

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.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

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.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

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

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

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.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

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.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

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.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

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°.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

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, Cr2O3, Ni, NiCr, Fe, Fe2O3, Al, Al2O3, Au, SiOx, Mn, Si, Si3N4, TiOx, Cu, Ag, Ti, CeF3, MgF2, Nb2O5, Ta2O5, SnO2, ZnO2, MgO, CeO2, WO3, Pr2O3, Y2O3; BaF2, CaF2, LaF3, NdF3, YF3; ZrO2, HfO2, ZnS, Oxynitrides of Al, Si, and SnZnO, or any combination of these compounds in any sequence of layers.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

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

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

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

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

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