Electrochromic devices on non-rectangular shapes

Abstract

Bus bar configurations and fabrication methods for non-rectangular shaped (e.g., triangular, trapezoidal, circular, pentagonal, hexagonal, arched, etc.) optical devices.

1 - 32 . (canceled) 
     
     
         33 . A method of determining a bus bar configuration for an optically switchable device having a non-rectangular shape, the method comprising:
 calculating a summed maximum bus bar distance as a distance of a weakest coloring point on the optically switchable device to the first bus bar and a distance of the centroid to the second bus bar;   calculating a summed minimum bus bar distance of a distance of a strongest coloring point on the optically switchable device to the first bus bar and a distance of the strongest coloring point to the second bus bar; and   determining lengths of a first bus bar segment and a second bus bar segment of a first bus bar and lengths of a third bus bar segment and a fourth bus bar segment of a second bus bar, wherein the lengths are determined to approximately minimize a difference between the summed maximum bus bar distance and the summed minimum bus bar distance.   
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33 , further comprising calculating a centroid of the non-rectangular shape as the weakest coloring point. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 33 , further comprising calculating a minimum distance between the first bus bar and the second bus bar as the strongest coloring point. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein determining the lengths of the first, second, third, and fourth bus bar segments includes adjusting the lengths until the difference between the summed maximum bus bar distance and the summed minimum bus bar distance reaches convergent lengths for each of the first, second, third, and fourth bus bar segments. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 36 , further comprising determining one or more sets of acceptable values of the first, second, third, and fourth bus bar segments based on the convergent lengths. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the acceptable values are less than 10 inches or 20 inches from the convergent lengths. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 38 , wherein the acceptable values are also more than a minimum length. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 39 , wherein the minimum length is about 0.50 inches. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein the optically switchable device is an electrochromic device. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 41 ,
 wherein the electrochromic device has a first conductive layer, a second conductive layer, and an electrochromic layer between the first and second conductive layers;   wherein the first bus bar is electrically connected to the first conductive layer; and   wherein the second bus bar is electrically connected to the second conductive layer.   
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein the non-rectangular shape is one of a triangle, a trapezoid, a hexagon, and an octagon. 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein the first bus bar segment and the second bus bar segment are located along a right angle of the non-rectangular optically switchable device. 
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein the first bus bar segment and the second bus bar segment are located along a right angle of the non-rectangular optically switchable device. 
     
     
         46 . A method of determining a bus bar configuration for an optically switchable device having a non-rectangular shape, the method comprising:
 transforming the non-rectangular shape into an effective rectangular shape;   applying a planar bus bar design to the effective rectangular shape to determine lengths of a first bus bar segment and a second bus bar segment of a first bus bar and lengths of a third bus bar segment and a fourth bus bar segment of a second bus bar for the effective rectangular shape; and   inverse transforming the effective rectangular shape with the determined lengths of the first, second, third, and fourth bus bar segments to determine lengths of the first, second, third, and fourth bus bar segments for the non-rectangular shape.   
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 46 , wherein the transformation is affine transformation. 
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 46 , wherein the optically switchable device is an electrochromic device. 
     
     
         49 . The method of  claim 48 ,
 wherein the electrochromic device has a first conductive layer, a second conductive layer, and an electrochromic layer between the first and second conductive layers;   wherein the first bus bar is electrically connected to the first conductive layer; and   wherein the second bus bar is electrically connected to the second conductive layer.   
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 48 , wherein the non-rectangular shape is one of a triangle, a trapezoid, a hexagon, and an octagon. 
     
     
         51 . The method of  claim 48 , wherein the first bus bar segment and the second bus bar segment are located along a right angle of the non-rectangular optically switchable device. 
     
     
         52 . The method of  claim 48 , wherein the first bus bar segment and the second bus bar segment are located along a right angle of the non-rectangular optically switchable device.