OLED lighting panel and methods for fabricating thereof

• US 9,337,441 B2
• Filed: 02/26/2015
• Issued: 05/10/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/15/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Universal Display Corporation
• Original Assignee: Universal Display Corporation
• Inventors: Ma, Ruiqing
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Kyoung
• Application Number:
  US14/631,990
• Publication Number:
  US 20150295202A1
• Time in Patent Office: 439 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/11 characterised by the electroluminescent [EL] layers
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/81 Anodes
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/82 Cathodes
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/84 Passivation; Containers; Encapsulations
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/841 Self-supporting sealing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/88 Terminals, e.g. bond pads
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/00 Integrated devices, or assemblies of multiple devices, comprising at least one organic light-emitting element covered by group H10K50/00
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/179 Interconnections, e.g. wiring lines or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/84 Parallel electrical configurations of multiple OLEDs
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/86 Series electrical configurations of multiple OLEDs
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 71/00 Manufacture or treatment specially adapted for the organic devices covered by this subclass

Abstract

Described herein are OLED lighting systems and devices, and methods related to fabricating such OLED lighting systems and devices. The methods can be used to produce OLED systems and devices of varying sizes without changing the underlying OLED unit design. In one embodiment, the OLED lighting system includes a cover that connects a plurality of OLED lighting units. The cover includes contacts that are accessible from outside the system, such that each OLED lighting unit connected to the cover can be controlled in series or in parallel.

Claims

1. An OLED device, comprising:

a substrate;

an OLED unit disposed on said substrate, said unit comprising an anode, a cathode, and at least one organic light emitting layer between the anode and cathode;

two or more electrode contacts; and

a cover having an inner surface and an outer surface, wherein the inner surface faces the OLED unit; and

wherein at least one electrode contact is connected to the OLED unit anode and at least one electrode contact is connected to the OLED unit cathode, and each electrode contact is further connected to the cover, such that at least one electrode contact connected to the OLED unit anode and at least one electrode contact connected to the OLED unit cathode are electrically accessible from the outer surface of the cover.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the OLED unit is hermetically sealed.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the cover further comprises a circuit for coupling at least two electrode contacts together.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein at least one electrode contact comprises a z-direction conductive glue.

5. The device of claim 1, further comprising one or more additional OLED units, wherein the cover is disposed over at least a portion of each OLED unit.

6. The device of claim 5, wherein the cover further comprises a circuit for connecting two or more OLED units in series.

7. The device of claim 5, wherein the cover further comprises a circuit for connecting two or more OLED units in parallel.

8. The device of claim 5, wherein each OLED unit is electrically isolated before the cover is applied.

9. A method of fabricating an OLED device, comprising:

providing a substrate,

disposing an OLED unit on the substrate, said unit comprising an anode, a cathode, and at least one organic light emitting layer between the anode and cathode,

providing a cover having an inner surface, an outer surface, one or more anode cover contacts, and one or more cathode cover contacts, and

connecting together the cover and the OLED unit,

wherein the inner surface of the cover faces the OLED unit, and at least one of the one or more anode cover contacts and at least one of the one or more cathode cover contacts are electrically accessible from the outer surface of the cover.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising disposing at least one additional OLED unit on the substrate prior to connecting the cover and the OLED units together.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of dividing the OLED units into panels of one or more OLED units.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of dividing the OLED units into panels is performed prior to connecting the cover to the OLED units.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein each OLED unit is electrically isolated before the cover is applied.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the OLED unit further comprises one or more anode contact points connected to the anode, and one or more cathode contact points connected to the cathode, and

wherein when the cover is connected to the OLED unit, at least one of the one or more anode cover contacts is in contact with an anode contact point on the OLED unit and at least one of the one or more cathode cover contacts is in contact with a cathode contact point on the OLED unit.

15. A cover for an OLED unit, comprising,

A planar member having an inner surface and an outer surface;

and

two or more electrode contacts;

wherein at least one electrode contact is suitable for connecting to an anode on an OLED unit and is electrically accessible from the outer surface, and

at least one electrode contact is suitable for connecting to a cathode on an OLED unit and is electrically accessible from the outer surface.

16. The cover of claim 15, wherein the cover is suitable for connecting to a plurality of OLED units.

17. The cover of claim 16, wherein each OLED unit has a cathode and an anode, and the cover has at least one electrode contact for each OLED unit cathode and at least one electrode contact for each OLED unit anode.

18. The cover of claim 15, wherein the cover is suitable for being disposed over only a portion of an OLED unit.

19. The cover of claim 16, further comprising a circuit for connecting the plurality of OLED units in series.

20. The cover of claim 16, further comprising a circuit for connecting the plurality of OLED units in parallel.