Electroluminescent lamp and electrode preform for use therewith
AssigneeMinnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
InventorArthur D. Dickson
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Abstract
A flexible electroluminescent device and a preform for use therein, in which the device includes a body of electroluminescent particles in a flexible resin sandwiched between electrode layers, one of which is substantially transparent. The substantially transparent electrode is provided as a preform comprising a transparent polymeric substrate, a transparent conductive thin-film, preferably including transmission enhancing dielectric layers, a conductive film extending along the length of a narrow portion of the transparent thin-film and a contact means which also extends along the length of the conductive film.
Claims11
A substantially continuous preform adapted to be wound upon itself in roll form for use in forming an electroluminescent device comprising
- a web of transparent polymeric material,
- a substantially transparent electrically conducting thin-film layer extending over and secured coextensively to one surface of the web,
- a continuous electrically conductive metal film in intimate contact with and extending the length of a narrow portion of the thin-film layer, the conductive film exhibiting a surface resistivity not greater than one ohm per square, and
- electrical contact means adhesively secured to and extending the length of the conductive film such that an electrical potential applied to the contact means is distributed through the conductive film and substantially uniformly distributed throughout the transparent thin-film layer.
In a flexible electroluminescent device comprising a light transmitting flexible resin body having opposing faces and finely divided electroluminescent phosphor particles embedded therein sandwiched between and bonded to electrically conducting electrode layers, one of which electrode layers is substantially transparent, the improvement wherein the substantially transparent electrode layer comprises a transparent polymeric substrate, a substantially transparent electrically conducting thin-film layer extending over and secured coextensively to one surface of the substrate, and a continuous electrically conductive metallic film in intimate contact with and extending the length of a narrow portion of the thin-film layer, the conductive film exhibiting a surface resistivity not greater than one ohm per square, and where the device further includes an electrically conducting means adhesively secured to and extending along said substantial length in an electrically conducting relationship to the conductive film, and a layer of electrically insulating tape adhesively secured between an exposed surface of the electrically conducting means and the surface of the resin body which is elsewhere bonded to the thin-film layer to uniformly distribute an electrical potential applied to the electrically conducting means through the conductiive film and substantially uniformly throughout the transparent thin-film layer, while insulating said potential from the electrode layer on the opposite side of the resin body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.