Microblinds and a method of fabrication thereof
First Claim
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1. A microblind system comprising:
- an array of microblinds, each comprising a stressed conductive layer having an anchor portion attached a substrate in the form of a window, illuminated panel, or supporting layer to be applied to a window or illuminating panel, and an overhanging mobile portion;
said stressed conductive layer being naturally in a curled configuration and being responsive to electrostatic forces to mutate between a deployed configuration wherein said overhanging mobile portion obscures the substrate and said curled configuration wherein said overhanging mobile portion exposes the substrate; and
a transparent conductive layer for applying an electric field to said microblinds, andwherein said anchor portions are in the form of a region comprising said stressed layers interdiffused with a remnant of a sacrificial layer.
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Abstract
A microblind system has an array of overhanging stressed microblinds, each having an anchor portion attached a substrate and a mobile portion. The microblinds are responsive to electrostatic forces to mutate between a deployed configuration wherein the mobile portion obscure the substrate and a curled configuration wherein the mobile portion exposes the substrate. A transparent conductive layer permits the application of an electric field to the microblinds.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A microblind system comprising:
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an array of microblinds, each comprising a stressed conductive layer having an anchor portion attached a substrate in the form of a window, illuminated panel, or supporting layer to be applied to a window or illuminating panel, and an overhanging mobile portion; said stressed conductive layer being naturally in a curled configuration and being responsive to electrostatic forces to mutate between a deployed configuration wherein said overhanging mobile portion obscures the substrate and said curled configuration wherein said overhanging mobile portion exposes the substrate; and a transparent conductive layer for applying an electric field to said microblinds, and wherein said anchor portions are in the form of a region comprising said stressed layers interdiffused with a remnant of a sacrificial layer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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8. A microblind system comprising:
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an array of stressed microblinds, each having an anchor portion attached a substrate in the form of a window, illuminated panel, or supporting layer to be applied to a window or illuminating panel, and an overhanging mobile portion; said microblinds being responsive to electrostatic forces to mutate between a deployed configuration wherein said overhanging mobile portion obscures the substrate and a curled configuration wherein said overhanging mobile portion exposes the substrate; and a transparent conductive layer for applying an electric field to said microblinds, and wherein the microblinds are arranged in subarrays, and groups of microblinds within each subarray have anchor portions with different resistivities.
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13. A method of making a microblind system, comprising:
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depositing a sacrificial release layer over a substrate in the form of a window, illuminated panel, or supporting layer to be applied to a window or illuminating panel and having a transparent conductive layer; depositing a conductive stressed layer on to said sacrificial release layer while controlling the deposition conditions to induce stress in said stressed layer; patterning an array of microblinds on said conductive stressed layer; and selectively etching away said sacrificial release layer under a major portion of said stressed layer to leave said microblinds with a curled overhanging mobile portion and an anchor portion, and wherein said microblinds are responsive to electrostatic forces to mutate between a deployed configuration wherein said overhanging mobile portion obscures the substrate and said curled configuration wherein said mobile portion exposes the substrate. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 32)
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26. A method of controlling the light transmission from a window or illuminated panel, comprising:
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providing an array of microblinds on said window or illuminated panel, said microblinds being responsive to electrostatic forces to mutate between a deployed configuration wherein said overhanging mobile portion obscures the window or illuminated panel and a curled configuration wherein said overhanging mobile portion exposes the window or illuminated panel; applying an electric field to said microblinds to control light transmission through said window or from said illuminated panel, wherein said electric field is rapidly switched between on and off states to create and intermediate state where the window or illuminated panel partial transmission exhibits partial transmission between the on and off states. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification