JP5076331B2 - Organic EL panel - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an organic EL panel.

  In general, a self-luminous EL element uses an EL (electroluminescence) phenomenon, and therefore hardly generates heat, and is lightweight and thin. In particular, an organic EL element is more than an inorganic EL element. It has various advantages such as easy color selection, low driving voltage and power saving.

  Incidentally, in recent years, an organic EL panel has been demanded as a surface-emitting light source for illuminating a large area. In this organic EL panel, a transparent electrode such as ITO, an organic light emitting layer, and a reflective electrode made of a metal film are sequentially laminated on a transparent substrate to constitute an organic EL panel. A voltage is applied to cause the organic light emitting layer to emit light, and part of the light is emitted from the transparent electrode through the substrate, and the remaining light is reflected by the reflective electrode and emitted through the transparent electrode and the substrate.

  When such an organic EL panel has a large area for illumination, a transparent electrode such as ITO has a large resistance component. Therefore, when a power supply line is simply connected to one end of the transparent electrode, the vicinity of the terminal portion to which the power supply line is connected And a potential difference at each position on the light emitting surface away from the potential increases. As a result, the voltage applied to the organic light-emitting layer sandwiched between the transparent electrode and the reflective electrode varies depending on the position of the light-emitting surface, resulting in uneven brightness in the EL element panel and uniform illumination. It causes a problem that it cannot be done.

Therefore, in the conventional technique, a large number of auxiliary electrodes made of aluminum or the like having a lower resistance than the transparent electrode are formed between the substrate on the light emission side and the transparent electrode in a grid shape or stripe shape, and power is supplied to the transparent electrode. There has been proposed one that suppresses the occurrence of luminance unevenness by preventing potential difference from occurring as much as possible between a portion close to the terminal portion and a portion away from the terminal portion (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-14128

  However, as described in Patent Document 1 above, when a large number of auxiliary electrodes are formed in a lattice shape or stripe shape between the substrate on the light emission side and the transparent electrode, the occurrence of uneven brightness can be suppressed. Even if possible, these auxiliary electrodes block most of the light emitted from the organic light-emitting layer, which causes a problem of lowering the luminance when viewed as a whole light source.

  In particular, when the transmissive liquid crystal panel described in Patent Document 1 is not used as a light source for a backlight, but is used as an organic EL panel for illumination with a large area, the brightness of the entire panel is reduced. Is not desirable.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides an organic EL panel capable of suppressing the occurrence of luminance unevenness even when the area is increased and simultaneously suppressing the decrease in luminance. Objective.

In order to achieve the above object, the organic EL panel according to the first aspect of the present invention is an organic EL panel in which a transparent electrode, an organic light emitting layer, and a reflective electrode are sequentially laminated on a transparent substrate. The layer and the reflective electrode are formed in a quadrangle whose substantially entire surfaces overlap each other, while the transparent electrode has a power supply terminal portion that supplies power to positions corresponding to the corners and the central portion of the organic light emitting layer and the reflective electrode, respectively. The transparent electrode is formed in a quadrangle that substantially overlaps the entire surface of the organic light emitting layer and the reflective electrode, and the quadrangle has four corners made of a triangle and one central part made of a quadrangle. is partitioned, each corner portions partitioned of the feeding terminal portion the transparent electrode, which current flows to each central portion, the feeding terminal portion and four corners of the transparent electrode formed in a rectangular shape, little Both provided at the corners of the central portion of one of the transparent electrodes, each power-supply-terminal portion is characterized in that the feed line is connected.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, power can be supplied to positions corresponding to the corners and the center of the organic light emitting layer and the reflective electrode of the transparent electrode, respectively, so that only one end of the transparent electrode as in the prior art. Compared with the case of supplying power, the potential at each position of the light emitting surface on the transparent electrode becomes more uniform, and the voltage applied to the organic light emitting layer is also made uniform at the position of the light emitting surface. Therefore, even when the area of the light emitting surface is increased, the occurrence of uneven brightness can be suppressed. For this reason, it is not necessary to provide a light diffusion filter on the light emitting surface. In addition, since much of the light emitted from the organic light emitting layer is not blocked, a decrease in luminance can be suppressed when viewed as the entire light source.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[Embodiment 1]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the organic EL panel according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention along the order of manufacturing steps.

  In the organic EL panel according to the first embodiment, a transparent substrate 1 made of a glass plate, a transparent electrode 2 made of ITO, ZnO or the like, an organic light emitting layer 3, and a reflective electrode 4 made of a metal film are sequentially laminated. . In this case, the transparent electrode 2, the organic light emitting layer 3, and the reflective electrode 4 are formed in a quadrangle whose substantially entire surfaces overlap each other.

  As a feature of the first embodiment, a diamond-shaped auxiliary electrode 5 made of aluminum or the like having a lower resistance than the transparent electrode 2 is provided on the substrate 1. Therefore, the auxiliary electrode 5 is interposed between the substrate 1 and the transparent electrode 2, and the transparent electrode 2 is divided into triangular corners 2 a and a diamond central part 2 b by the diamond-shaped auxiliary electrode 5. It is in a partitioned state. The pair of left and right top portions of the auxiliary electrode 5 are exposed to the outside without being covered with the transparent electrode 2, the organic light emitting layer 3, and the reflective electrode 4, and the exposed top portion serves as a power supply terminal portion 5a. One power supply line 7 is connected to the portion 5a. The other feeder line 8 is connected to one end of the reflective electrode 4.

Therefore, when power is supplied to the auxiliary electrode 5 via the power supply line 7, the current flows to each corner 2 a and the center 2 b of the transparent electrode 2 further divided by the auxiliary electrode 5 via the low-resistance auxiliary electrode 5. Therefore, the potential at each position of the light emitting surface on the transparent electrode 2 becomes more uniform and the area of the light emitting surface is increased compared to the case where power is supplied to only one end of the transparent electrode 2 as in the prior art. Also, the occurrence of uneven brightness can be suppressed. For this reason, it is not necessary to provide a light diffusion filter on the light emitting surface.

  At this time, the auxiliary electrode 5 is in a non-light emitting state, but since many auxiliary electrodes 5 are not formed in a lattice shape or a stripe shape as in the prior art, a large amount of light emitted from the organic light emitting layer 3 by the auxiliary electrode 5 is obtained. Light is not blocked, and a reduction in luminance when viewed as the whole panel can be suppressed. Further, when the light emitting surface is viewed through the substrate 1, the difference in light emission amount between the light emitting regions defined by the auxiliary electrode 5 becomes inconspicuous, and the auxiliary electrode 5 only appears as a pattern defining the light emitting surface, and there is no sense of incongruity. Will not occur.

In the first embodiment, the auxiliary electrode 5 is interposed between the substrate 1 and the transparent electrode 2. However, the auxiliary electrode 5 may be interposed between the transparent electrode 2 and the organic light emitting layer 3. Thus, the same effect can be obtained.
[Embodiment 2]
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the organic EL lighting device according to the second embodiment of the present invention along the order of the manufacturing steps, and the same reference numerals are given to the components corresponding to those in the first embodiment shown in FIG. .

  The feature of the organic EL panel in the second embodiment is that the transparent electrode 2 formed on the substrate 1 is not a single unit formed integrally, but each of the triangular corners 2a and the rhombus center 2b. It is divided into five parts.

  A rectangular organic light emitting layer 3 and a reflective electrode 4 are formed on the transparent electrode 2 so as to cover the whole. However, a part of each corner portion 2a and central portion 2b is exposed to the outside without being covered with the organic light emitting layer 3 and the reflective electrode 4, and these exposed portions serve as power supply terminal portions. One power supply line 7 is connected to the terminal portion. The other feeder line 8 is connected to one end of the reflective electrode 4.

  Therefore, in the case of the second embodiment as well, since currents flow in positions corresponding to the respective corners 2a and the central part 2b constituting the transparent electrode 2, the power is supplied only to one end of the transparent electrode 2 as in the conventional case. As compared with the above, the potential at each position of the light emitting surface on the transparent electrode 2 becomes more uniform, and the occurrence of uneven brightness can be suppressed even when the area of the light emitting surface is increased.

  In addition, in the second embodiment, since each corner portion 2a and the central portion 2b can be fed from the portions where the respective corner portions 2a and the central portion 2b are exposed to the outside as power feeding terminal portions, it is possible to easily connect the feeding wires to the transparent electrode 2. it can.

Since other configurations and operational effects are the same as those of the first embodiment, detailed description thereof is omitted here.
[Embodiment 3]
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the organic EL panel according to the third embodiment of the present invention in the order of the manufacturing process, and the same reference numerals are given to the components corresponding to those in the first embodiment shown in FIG.

  The feature of the organic EL panel of the third embodiment is that the transparent electrode 2 formed on the substrate 1 is a single unit that is integrally formed without being divided into parts as in the second embodiment.

  When the transparent electrode 2 is virtually divided into triangular corner portions 2a and a diamond central portion 2b, the virtually divided corner portions 2a and the central portion 2b are locally external. A rectangular organic light-emitting layer 3 and a reflective electrode 4 are formed so as to cover the entire transparent electrode 2 except for the exposed portion. In this case, a portion where each of the corner portions 2a and the central portion 2b virtually divided of each transparent electrode 2 is exposed to the outside is defined as a feeding terminal portion, and one feeding line 7 is provided in each feeding terminal portion. It is connected. The other feeder line 8 is connected to one end of the reflective electrode 4.

  Therefore, in the case of the third embodiment as well, current flows through each of the virtually divided corner portions 2a and the central portion 2b of the transparent electrode 2, so that power is supplied only to one end portion of the transparent electrode 2 as in the prior art. As compared with the above, the potential at each position of the light emitting surface on the transparent electrode 2 becomes more uniform, and the occurrence of uneven brightness can be suppressed even when the area of the light emitting surface is increased.

  Moreover, in the third embodiment, since the corner portions 2a and the central portion 2b virtually partitioning the transparent electrode 2 can be fed from here as feeding terminal portions, the transparent electrode 2 is supplied with an auxiliary electrode. 5 or the transparent electrode 2 need not be divided, and the manufacture of the organic EL panel becomes easy.

  Since other configurations and operational effects are the same as those of the first embodiment, detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the structure of said Embodiment 1-3, In the range which does not deviate from the meaning of this invention, a various deformation | transformation is possible.

It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the organic electroluminescent illuminating device in Embodiment 1 of this invention along order of a manufacturing process. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the organic electroluminescent illuminating device in Embodiment 2 of this invention along order of a manufacturing process. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the organic electroluminescent illuminating device in Embodiment 3 of this invention along a manufacturing process order.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Board | substrate 2 Transparent electrode 2a Corner | angular part 2b Center part 3 Organic light emitting layer 4 Reflective electrode 5 Auxiliary electrode 5a Feed terminal part 7 Feed line 8 Feed line

Claims (1)

In an organic EL panel in which a transparent electrode, an organic light emitting layer, and a reflective electrode are sequentially laminated on a transparent substrate, the organic light emitting layer and the reflective electrode are formed in a quadrangular shape that substantially overlaps the entire surface, while the transparent electrode Are provided with power supply terminal portions for supplying power to positions corresponding to the corners and the central portion of the organic light emitting layer and the reflective electrode, respectively, and the transparent electrode substantially overlaps with the organic light emitting layer and the reflective electrode. The quadrangle is further divided into four corners made of a triangle and one central part made of a quadrangle. It is intended to flow a current to the power supply terminal portions, and four corners of the transparent electrode formed in a rectangular shape, provided on the corners of the central portion of the at least one transparent electrode, the feed line to the power supply terminal portions contact The organic EL panel which is characterized in that it is.

Images