Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Web or sheet containing structurally defined element or... – Weight per unit area specified
Reexamination Certificate
1993-06-22
2001-03-13
Schwartz, Pamela R. (Department: 1774)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Web or sheet containing structurally defined element or...
Weight per unit area specified
C428S195100, C428S342000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06200676
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording medium suitable for use in ink-jet recording and an ink-jet recording method making use of this medium.
2. Related Background Art
As recording media for ink-jet recording, there have hitherto been used recording paper as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-26665, which comprises a base paper web and a coating layer provided on the base paper web and containing finely powdered silica and a water-soluble binder such as polyvinyl alcohol, glossy paper as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-25352, which comprises a cast-coated paper web and a film formed on the cast-coated paper web and containing polyvinyl alcohol having a saponification degree of from 50 to 90 mole % and a crosslinking agent, and a recording sheet for OHP as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-13993, which comprises a polyester film and a hydrophilic film provided on the polyester film and composed of a mixture of water-soluble polyvinyl alcohol, water-insoluble polyvinyl alcohol and a water-dispersed polyester.
With the improvement in performance of ink-jet recording apparatus, such as speeding up of recording and multi-coloring of images, recording media for ink-jet recording are also required to have improved properties. More specifically, they are required to satisfy simultaneously, for example, the following properties:
(1) having high ink absorptivity (absorbing capacity being great, and absorbing time being short);
(2) providing dots high in optical density and clear in periphery;
(3) providing dots having a substantially round shape and a smooth periphery;
(4) undergoing minimal changes in the properties even at varied temperatures and humidities and with no curling;
(5) undergoing no blocking; and
(6) being able to stably store images thereon for a long period of time without deteriorating them.
These properties are often in a relation of trade-off. It has hence been impossible to satisfy them at the same time by the conventionally known techniques. For example, the exemplified recording media of the prior art have comparable performance in dot shape and blocking resistance, but are poor in ink absorptivity. Therefore, they cause image smearing and unevenness of color strength due to running-out of ink at areas high in image density, i.e., areas on which many ink droplets have been jetted. In addition, they cause color muddiness due to mixing of colors at boundaries between different colors, particularly, in the case of color printing.
With the progress of speeding up of recording, and increasing of image density and coloring of images, reduction in image quality due to defective ink fixing has become a serious problem.
A recording sheet described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-29596 and having an ink-receiving layer composed principally of polyvinyl pyrrolidone is relatively good in ink absorptivity at normal temperature and humidity, but is extremely slow in drying of ink at high temperature and humidity and hence tends to cause blocking. The sheet also has a drawback that its recording surface is low in mechanical strength and hence liable to flaw.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording medium which satisfies the above-described properties at the same time in a well-balanced relation, and an ink-jet recording method making use of this recording medium.
The above object can be achieved by the present invention described below.
In a first aspect of the present invention, there are thus provided a recording medium comprising a base material, the surface of which is coated with a composition comprising, as an essential component, a polymer (hereinafter called “Component A”) having a weight average molecular weight of not less than 20,000 which is obtained by reacting a polyvalent carboxylic acid, or anhydride or lower alkyl ester thereof with a polyhydroxyl compound having a weight average molecular weight of not less than 1,000 obtained by adding ethylene oxide and/or propylene oxide to a compound having 2 to 4 active hydrogen atoms, and an ink-jet recording method comprising ejecting an ink on the recording medium described above from an orifice of a recording head in accordance with a recording signal.
In a second aspect of the present invention, there are also provided a recording medium comprising a base material, the surface of which is coated with a composition comprising, as an essential component, a polymer (Component A) having a weight average molecular weight of not less than 20,000 which is obtained by reacting a polyvalent carboxylic acid, or anhydride or lower alkyl ester thereof with a polyhydroxyl compound having a weight average molecular weight of not less than 1,000 obtained by adding ethylene oxide and/or propylene oxide to a compound having 2 to 4 active hydrogen atoms, and at least one polymer (hereinafter called “Component B”) selected from polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl acetal and derivatives thereof, and an ink-jet recording method comprising ejecting an ink on the recording medium described above from an orifice of a recording head in accordance with a recording signal.
In a third aspect of the present invention, there are further provided a recording medium comprising a base material, the surface of which is coated with a composition comprising, as an essential component, a polymer (Component A) having a weight average molecular weight of not less than 20,000 which is obtained by reacting a polyvalent carboxylic acid, or anhydride or lower alkyl ester thereof with a polyhydroxyl compound having a weight average molecular weight of not less than 1,000 obtained by adding ethylene oxide and/or propylene oxide to a compound having 2 to 4 active hydrogen atoms, and at least one polymer (hereinafter called “Component C”) selected from celluloses and derivatives thereof, and an ink-jet recording method comprising ejecting an ink on the recording medium described above from an orifice of a recording head in accordance with a recording signal.
In the recording medium according to the present invention, the proportion of Component A to Component B or Component C in the composition may be in a range of from 1:49 to 49:1, preferably, from 1:19 to 19:1 by weight, and the base material may be a paper web.
In the ink-jet recording method according to the present invention, which comprises ejecting an ink on the recording medium from an orifice of a recording head in accordance with a recording signal, a liquid medium component in the ink may be composed principally of water and a water-miscible glycol or glycol ether, the recording may be conducted with cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks, and the ink may be ejected by thermal energy.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4517244 (1985-05-01), Kobayashi et al.
patent: 5139868 (1992-08-01), Mori et al.
patent: 5185213 (1993-02-01), Fujita et al.
patent: 5518821 (1996-05-01), Sakaki et al.
patent: 5570120 (1996-10-01), Sakaki et al.
patent: 54-59936 (1979-05-01), None
patent: 58-160316 (1983-09-01), None
patent: 2-137764 (1990-05-01), None
patent: 3-13993 (1991-02-01), None
patent: 3-25352 (1991-04-01), None
patent: 3-26665 (1991-04-01), None
patent: 3-29596 (1991-04-01), None
Chiba Masahiro
Kaneko Tomomi
Matsubara Miyuki
Ohta Tokuya
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
Fitzpatrick ,Cella, Harper & Scinto
Schwartz Pamela R.
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