Patent Description:
According to statistics from the U. Fish and Wildlife Service, nearly one billion birds die every year because of accidental striking on a glass curtain wall in the United States and Europe. The European Animal Protection Association call upon the government to make it mandatory for the glass curtain wall to have a function of preventing birds from striking. At present, in Germany, a spider web structure is mainly used to prevent birds from striking the glass, and a conventional method is to stick raptor decal or place birds' natural enemy molds on the glass to prevent birds from striking the glass. However, it is difficult for these measures to address people's aesthetic problem and popularization in a large area. Examples of optical films known in the art can be found in for example <CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT> and <CIT>.

A purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a birdstrike avoidance optical flexible film, a preparation method and application thereof.

A first aspect of the invention is as disclosed in claim <NUM>. Optional features are as disclosed in dependent claims <NUM> and <NUM>. A second aspect of the invention is as disclosed in claim <NUM>. Optional features are as disclosed in claim <NUM>. A third aspect of the invention is as disclosed in claim <NUM>. Optional features are as disclosed in claim <NUM>.

It should be understood that, technical features of the present disclosure described above and technical features specifically described in the following (such as in the embodiment) can be combined with each other to form a new or preferred technical solution, within the scope of the present disclosure. Due to the limitation of space, further description is omitted here for brevity.

After long-term and in-depth researches, the applicant found an optical film with excellent visible light transmission and ultraviolet light reflection (i.e., a birdstrike avoidance optical flexible film) and its preparation method by optimizing composition, a structure and a preparation process of the film. The optical film with excellent optical selectivity can be applied to buildings and vehicles to achieve effects of being visually transparent to human and being visible to the birds, thus achieving effects of no influence on human aesthetic, birdstrike avoidance and popularization in a large area, with profound significance for harmony between humans and birds. On this basis, the applicant completed the present disclosure.

It has been found that some animals can see ultraviolet light, or colors that humans can't, which makes their vision completely different from that of humans. Birds, for example, can see ultraviolet light, so a peacock's mate is not as green and blue as proud as a peacock's rainbow seen by humans, but instead brighter feather colors may be presented in peacock's vision.

At present, there are few reports about using a transparent optical film to prevent birds from striking on the building. This disclosure starts with visual difference between humans and the birds, and prepares an optical film that is invisible to humans but visible to the birds. It can prevent the birds from striking on a glass building, does not affect aesthetic of the building at the same time, and is a convenient method to use.

In order to prevent the birds from striking on the building and build a living environment where humans and the birds coexist harmoniously, there is provided a method for birdstrike avoidance in the disclosure, which is applied to various buildings and vehicles, and specifically relates to a visible-light-transparent and ultraviolet-light-reflective film which is insensitive to humans but sensitive to the birds. The visible-light-transparent and ultraviolet-light-reflective film has advantages of simple preparation process, high production efficiency, low cost and easy use.

A preparation method and application of a birdstrike avoidance optical flexible film is provided in this disclosure, which relates to the field of an optical film, in particular to a preparation method of a visible-light-transparent and ultraviolet-light-reflective optical film. The optical film at least includes following layers: a substrate layer, a visible-light-transparent and ultraviolet-light-reflective layer, a protective layer, an adhesive layer and a release layer. The visible-light-transparent and ultraviolet-light-reflective layer mainly refers to one or more layers of liquid crystal coating, in particular to a polymerizable cholesteric liquid crystal coating, which can realize effects of being visually transparent to humans and being visible to the birds, so as to prevent the birds from striking on various buildings, vehicles and other objects without affecting human vision. The birdstrike avoidance optical flexible film according to the disclosure has a simple preparation process, high production efficiency, and does not hinder visual effect in human observation of objects, which can be widely applied to buildings, airports, and vehicles (such as automobiles, airplanes, high-speed trains, etc.) that prevent the birds from striking.

Specifically, a visible-light-transparent and ultraviolet-light-reflective optical film is provided in the disclosure, which sequentially includes a protective layer, a reflective layer, a substrate layer, an adhesive layer and a release layer.

A coating for preparing the reflective layer includes following components:.

The reflective layer is more than one layers of a polymerizable cholesteric liquid crystal coating.

The polymerizable liquid crystal material is mainly composed of a rigid benzene ring and a flexible acrylic segment, and can be bifunctional, monofunctional or multifunctional.

The polymerizable liquid crystal material is selected from a group consisting of a compound of formula I, a compound of formula II, or a combination thereof;
<CHM>
<CHM>.

In another preferred embodiment, R is selected from a group consisting of halogen and C1- C6 alkyl.

In another preferred embodiment, R is selected from a group consisting of fluorine and methyl.

It should be understood that in the present disclosure, for the polymerizable liquid crystal material, an expression "bifunctional" refers to a case where both ends of a main chain of the polymerizable liquid crystal material are with acrylate groups; an expression "monofunctional" refers to a case where only one end of the main chain of the polymerizable liquid crystal material is with the acrylate group; or an expression "multifunctional" refers to both ends of the main chain of the polymerizable liquid crystal material are with acrylic double bond functional groups.

In the present disclosure, a torque value (HTP, in µm-<NUM>) of the chiral agent is more than <NUM>, preferably more than <NUM>, more preferably more than <NUM>, preferably is between <NUM> and <NUM>.

In the present disclosure, the chiral agent is left-handed or right-handed, preferably selected from a group consisting of a chiral agent <NUM>, a chiral agent <NUM>, a chiral agent <NUM>, a chiral agent <NUM>, a chiral agent <NUM>, or combination thereof, or other materials with a chiral structures.

In another preferred embodiment, the photoinitiator is a common kind of photoinitiator, preferably selected from a group consisting of <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, TPO, or a combination thereof.

In another preferred embodiment, the solvent is a common organic solvent, preferably selected from a group consisting of ester solvents (such as ethyl acetate and butyl acetate), benzene solvents (such as toluene and xylene), ketone solvents (acetone, butanone, cyclopentanone and cyclohexanone), or combinations thereof.

A thickness of the reflective layer is <NUM> to <NUM>.

The reflective layer has a structure of one or more layers (such as <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> layers).

In another preferred embodiment, the reflective layer mainly refers to a reflective layer which is transparent to visible light and reflective for ultraviolet light (preferably within a UVA(<NUM> to <NUM>) band sensitive to birds, more preferably within a band ranging from <NUM> to <NUM>) under human vision.

In another preferred embodiment, the substrate layer is a flexible and transparent plastic film, preferably a flexible and transparent film selected from a group consisting of PE, PET, PP, PMMA, EVA, PVC, PU, TPU, PI, preferably a commonly used plastic film made of PET, PE, TPU, etc., more preferably a film made of high-definition and high-transparency PET substrate, with an optical haze value of lower than <NUM>%, preferably lower than <NUM>%, and transmittance of higher than <NUM>%, preferably higher than <NUM>%.

In another preferred embodiment, a thickness of the substrate layer is <NUM> to <NUM>, preferably <NUM> to <NUM>, more preferably <NUM> to <NUM>.

In another preferred embodiment, the protective layer is a material selected from a group consisting of UV resin, thermosetting resin, or a combination thereof.

In another preferred embodiment, the protective layer is a hardened layer, preferably selected from a group consisting of a UV hardened layer (or UV cured layer), a thermal cured layer (a silicone coating, a two-component polyurethane coating), preferably a UV hardened layer.

In another preferred embodiment, a thickness of the protective layer is <NUM> to <NUM>, preferably <NUM> to <NUM>, more preferably <NUM> to <NUM>.

In another preferred embodiment, hardness of the protective layer is <NUM> to <NUM>.

In another preferred embodiment, the adhesive layer is with conventional acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive or polyurethane adhesive.

In another preferred embodiment, the release layer is a conventional PET or PE release film.

A total thickness of the protective layer, the reflective layer and the substrate layer is <NUM> to <NUM>, and preferably <NUM> to <NUM>, and more preferably <NUM> to <NUM>.

In another preferred embodiment, visible light transmittance of the optical film is higher than <NUM>%, preferably higher than <NUM>%.

In another preferred embodiment, ultraviolet light reflectivity of the optical film is higher than <NUM>%, preferably higher than <NUM>%, and more preferably higher than <NUM>%.

In another preferred embodiment, a transmittance/reflectance ratio of the optical film to visible light (with a wavelength of <NUM> to <NUM>) is <NUM> to <NUM>, preferably <NUM> to <NUM>, more preferably <NUM> to <NUM>.

In another preferred embodiment, the transmittance/reflectance ratio of the optical film to ultraviolet light (with a wavelength of <NUM> to <NUM>) is <NUM> to <NUM>, preferably <NUM> to <NUM>, more preferably <NUM> to <NUM>.

In another preferred embodiment, a ratio of transmittance of the optical film to the visible light (with the wavelength of <NUM> to <NUM>) to transmittance of the optical film to the ultraviolet light (with the wavelength of <NUM> to <NUM>) is <NUM> to <NUM>, preferably <NUM> to <NUM>, more preferably <NUM> to <NUM>.

In another preferred embodiment, a ratio of reflectivity of the optical film to the ultraviolet light (with the wavelength of <NUM> to <NUM>) to reflectivity of the optical film to the visible light (with a wavelength of <NUM> to <NUM>) is <NUM> to <NUM>, preferably <NUM> to <NUM>, more preferably <NUM> to <NUM>.

In another preferred embodiment, the optical film has excellent optical selectivity, and can transmit the visible light and reflect the ultraviolet light with high selectivity, thus realizing colorless and transparent appearance under human vision.

In another preferred embodiment, a haze value of the optical film is less than or equal to <NUM>%, preferably less than or equal to <NUM>%, more preferably less than or equal to <NUM>%.

The optical film according to the present disclosure can be prepared by conventional methods in the art, and all of used raw materials can be available commercially.

The optical film according to the present disclosure is prepared as follows.

In another preferred embodiment, in step <NUM>), a dispersion speed for the dispersing at the high speed is <NUM> to <NUM> rpm, preferably <NUM> to <NUM> rpm.

In another preferred embodiment, in step <NUM>), dispersion time of the dispersing at the high speed is <NUM> to <NUM>, preferably <NUM> to <NUM>.

In another preferred embodiment, the step <NUM>) further comprises a following step in which the transparent coating obtained in the step <NUM>) is filtered.

In another preferred embodiment, a filter paper used in filtering is of polytetrafluoroethylene.

In another preferred embodiment, a temperature for the drying is <NUM> to <NUM>, preferably <NUM> to <NUM>, more preferably <NUM> to <NUM>.

In another preferred embodiment, duration for the drying is <NUM> to <NUM>, preferably <NUM> to <NUM>, more preferably <NUM> to <NUM>, and most preferably <NUM> to <NUM>.

In another preferred embodiment, the curing is performed by using xenon lamp irradiation, and power of the xenon lamp is <NUM> to <NUM> KW, preferably <NUM> to <NUM> KW, more preferably <NUM> to <NUM> kW.

Irradiation time in the curing is <NUM> to <NUM>, preferably <NUM> to <NUM>.

In another preferred embodiment, in step <NUM>), the protective layer is coated and then cured.

There is provided a usage of the optical film as a birdstrike avoidance protective film for one selected from a group consisting of a building, an airport and a vehicle.

Specifically, the optical film is adhered to an article selected from a group consisting of the following to realize protection of the article and/or birds: buildings, airports and vehicles.

In another preferred embodiment, the vehicle is selected from a group consisting of automobiles, airplanes and high-speed rails.

Compared with the prior art, the disclosure has following main advantages.

The disclosure will be further explained with reference to following specific embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are only used to illustrate the disclosure but not intended to limit scope of the disclosure. In the following embodiments, experimental methods without specific conditions are usually carried out according to conventional conditions or conditions suggested by a manufacturer. Unless otherwise stated, percentages and parts are calculated by weight.

Unless otherwise defined, all professional and scientific terms used herein have same meanings as those familiar to those skilled in the art. In addition, any methods and materials similar or equal to those described can be used in the method according to the present disclosure. Preferred implementations and materials described in this document are for illustration only.

The transmittance and reflectivity were measured on a UV-VIS-NIR spectrophotometer (with a model of U-<NUM>, <NUM> to <NUM>) produced by Hitachi, Japan.

The haze value of the film was characterized by using a portable haze meter from Yingjianda Co.

Step (<NUM>), a visible-light-transparent and ultraviolet-light-reflective transparent coating is prepared.

<NUM> parts of a polymerizable liquid crystal material (which is bifunctional, with R being F element), <NUM> parts of a chiral agent, <NUM> parts of a photoinitiator (<NUM>) and <NUM> parts of toluene are disposed into a stainless steel container and are pre-dispersed in a high-speed shear disperser at <NUM> r/min for <NUM> minutes so as to obtain a transparent solution, which is then filtered by using a polytetrafluoroethylene filter paper to obtain a transparent coating solution.

Step (<NUM>), a visible-light-transparent and ultraviolet-light-reflective flexible optical film is prepared.

The prepared solution was coated on a surface of a <NUM> PET film using a <NUM> precision wire bar, and then baked in an oven at <NUM> for <NUM> seconds to fully volatilize the solvent. Then, the coated PET film was cured under a xenon lamp with a power of <NUM> KW, so as to obtain a visible-light-transparent and ultraviolet-light-reflective coating. Finally, a UV curing layer (with a brand of UV935/ hardness of <NUM>) was coated on a surface of the coating, and then a protective layer with a surface hardness of <NUM> was obtained after curing. After that, the other side of the PET film is coated with installation glue for adhering a layer of PET release protective film, so that the visible-light-transparent and ultraviolet-light-reflective PET optical film can be obtained.

Step (<NUM>): an optical test is carried out, and an optical spectrum of the visible-light-transparent ultraviolet-light-reflective film prepared above is shown in <FIG>.

<NUM> parts of a polymerizable liquid crystal material (which is monofunctional, with R being CH3), <NUM> parts of a chiral agent, <NUM> parts of a photoinitiator (<NUM>) and <NUM> parts of butyl acetate are disposed into a stainless steel container and are pre-dispersed in a high-speed shear disperser at <NUM> r/min for <NUM> minutes so as to obtain a transparent solution, which is then filtered by using a polytetrafluoroethylene filter paper to obtain a transparent coating solution.

The prepared solution was coated on a surface of a <NUM> PET film using a <NUM> precision wire bar, and then baked in an oven at <NUM> for <NUM> seconds to fully volatilize the solvent. Then, the coated PET film was cured under a xenon lamp with a power of <NUM> KW, so as to obtain a visible-light-transparent and ultraviolet-light-reflective coating. Finally, a UV curing layer (with a brand of UV935/ hardness of <NUM>) was coated on a surface of the coating, and then a protective layer with a surface hardness of <NUM> was obtained after curing. After that, the other side of the PET film is coated with installation glue for adhering a layer of PET release protective film, so that a resulting visible-light-transparent and ultraviolet-light-reflective PET optical film can be obtained.

<NUM> parts of a polymerizable liquid crystal material (which is monofunctional, with R being CH3), <NUM> parts of a chiral agent, <NUM> parts of a photoinitiator (<NUM>) and <NUM> parts of cyclohexanone are disposed into a stainless steel container and are pre-dispersed in a high-speed shear disperser at <NUM> r/min for <NUM> minutes so as to obtain a transparent solution, which is then filtered by using a polytetrafluoroethylene filter paper to obtain a transparent coating solution.

<NUM> parts of a polymerizable liquid crystal material (which is bifunctional, with R being CH3), <NUM> parts of a chiral agent, <NUM> parts of a photoinitiator (<NUM>), <NUM> parts of toluene and <NUM> parts of butyl acetate are disposed into a stainless steel container and are pre-dispersed in a high-speed shear disperser at <NUM> r/min for <NUM> minutes so as to obtain a transparent solution, which is then filtered by using a polytetrafluoroethylene filter paper to obtain a transparent coating solution.

<NUM> parts of a polymerizable liquid crystal material (which is bifunctional, with R being CH3), <NUM> parts of a chiral agent, <NUM> parts of a photoinitiator (<NUM>) and <NUM> parts of toluene are disposed into a stainless steel container and are pre-dispersed in a high-speed shear disperser at <NUM> r/min for <NUM> minutes so as to obtain a transparent solution, which is then filtered by using a polytetrafluoroethylene filter paper to obtain a transparent coating solution.

<NUM> parts of a polymerizable liquid crystal material (which is monofunctional, with R being CH3), <NUM> parts of a chiral agent, <NUM> parts of a photoinitiator (TPO) and <NUM> parts of cyclohexanone are disposed into a stainless steel container and are pre-dispersed in a high-speed shear disperser at <NUM> r/min for <NUM> minutes so as to obtain a transparent solution, which is then filtered by using a polytetrafluoroethylene filter paper to obtain a transparent coating solution.

<NUM> parts of a polymerizable liquid crystal material (in which a ratio of a monofunctional component and a bifunctional component is <NUM>: <NUM>,with R being CH3), <NUM> parts of a chiral agent, <NUM> parts of a photoinitiator (TPO) and <NUM> parts of toluene are disposed into a stainless steel container and are pre-dispersed in a high-speed shear disperser at <NUM> r/min for <NUM> minutes so as to obtain a transparent solution, which is then filtered by using a polytetrafluoroethylene filter paper to obtain a transparent coating solution.

The prepared solution was coated on a surface of a <NUM> PET film using a <NUM> precision wire bar, and then baked in an oven at <NUM> for <NUM> seconds to fully volatilize the solvent. Then, the coated PET film was cured under a xenon lamp with a power of <NUM> KW, so as to obtain a visible-light-transparent and ultraviolet-light-reflective coating. Finally, the coating according to Embodiment <NUM> was recoated with the same method, and then a visible-light-transparent ultraviolet-light-reflective coating (with a total thickness of the reflective layer being <NUM>) can be obtained, and then a UV curing layer (with a brand of UV935/ hardness of <NUM>) was coated on a surface of the coating, and then a protective layer with a surface hardness of <NUM> was obtained after curing. After that, the other side of the PET film is coated with installation glue for adhering a layer of PET release protective film, so that a resulting visible-light-transparent and ultraviolet-light-reflective PET optical film can be obtained.

The prepared solution was coated on a surface of a <NUM> PET film using a <NUM> precision wire bar, and then baked in an oven at <NUM> for <NUM> seconds to fully volatilize the solvent. Then, the coated PET film was cured under a xenon lamp with a power of <NUM> KW, so as to obtain a visible-light-transparent and ultraviolet-light-reflective coating. Finally, the coating according to Embodiment <NUM> was recoated so as to add ultraviolet light reflection (with a total thickness of the reflective layer being <NUM>) can be obtained, and then a UV curing layer (with a brand of UV935/ hardness of <NUM>) was coated on a surface of the coating, and then a protective layer with a surface hardness of <NUM> was obtained after curing. After that, the other side of the PET film is coated with installation glue for adhering a layer of PET release protective film, so that a resulting visible-light-transparent and ultraviolet-light-reflective PET optical film can be obtained.

Performance parameters of the optical films obtained in Embodiments <NUM> to <NUM> are shown in Table <NUM>.

In summary, the visible-light-transparent ultraviolet-light-reflective film flexible optical film according to the disclosure has advantages of excellent optical selectivity, a simple preparation method, an innovative preparation process, easy subsequent processing and the like, and opens up a new road for practical application of the birdstrike avoidance film.

Compared with Embodiment <NUM>, difference lies in that: firstly, an alignment layer is prepared with a commercially available polyimide solution, which is coated with a <NUM> wire bar and then dried at <NUM> for <NUM>. A preparation process of a reflective layer is similar, and the reflectivity and haze value of the obtained optical film are worse than those of Embodiment <NUM>, and optical leveling property of this film is also poor.

Compared with Embodiment <NUM>, difference lies in that: firstly, an alignment layer is prepared with a commercially available polyvinyl alcohol solution, which is coated with a <NUM> wire bar and then dried at <NUM> for <NUM>. A preparation process of a reflective layer is similar, and the reflectivity and haze value of the obtained optical film are worse than those of Embodiment <NUM>, and optical leveling property of this film is also poor.

The comparative embodiments do not meet actual requirements for use of a window film, because the optical haze value is too large.

Claim 1:
A birdstrike avoidance optical flexible film, comprising:
<NUM>) a protective layer;
<NUM>) a reflective layer;
<NUM>) a substrate layer;
<NUM>) an adhesive layer; and
<NUM>) a release layer; wherein a coating for preparing the reflective layer comprises following components:
<NUM> to <NUM> parts by weight of a polymerizable liquid crystal material,
<NUM> to <NUM> parts by weight of a chiral agent,
<NUM> to <NUM> parts by weight of a photoinitiator, and
<NUM> to <NUM> parts by weight of a solvent; wherein the polymerizable liquid crystal material is selected from a group consisting of a compound of formula I, a compound of formula II, or a combination thereof;
<CHM>
<CHM>
where R is independently selected from a group consisting of (CH<NUM>=CH)-COO-(CH2)m-, halogen, C1- C10 alkyl, and halogenated C1- C10 alkyl;
m is selected from a group consisting of <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>;
wherein the reflective layer is more than one layers of polymerizable cholesteric liquid crystal coating;
wherein a total thickness of the protective layer, the reflective layer, and the substrate layer is <NUM> to <NUM>;
wherein a thickness of the reflective layer is <NUM> to <NUM>.