Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Fluid or fluid source handling means
Reexamination Certificate
2001-11-13
2004-01-06
Meier, Stephen (Department: 2853)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Fluid or fluid source handling means
C347S096000, C106S031130, C523S160000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06672717
ABSTRACT:
Copending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/007,728, filed concurrently herewith, entitled “Ink Jet Printing with Inks Containing Cyclic Siloxanes,” with the named inventor Thomas W. Smith, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an ink composition comprising a liquid ink vehicle, a colorant, and a cyclic siloxane monomer composition capable of undergoing a ring-opening polymerization process upon contact with an anionic base. Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a process which comprises (a) providing (1) a first ink comprising water and at least one cyclic siloxane monomer composition; and (2) a second ink comprising a liquid ink vehicle and an anionic base capable of causing the cyclic siloxane monomer to polymerize upon contact therewith, wherein at least one of the first ink and the second ink further comprises a colorant; (b) incorporating into an ink jet printing apparatus at least one of the first ink and the second ink; (c) applying the first ink onto a substrate; and (d) applying the second ink onto the substrate; wherein at least one of the first ink and the second ink is ejected from the ink jet printing apparatus in an imagewise pattern onto the substrate; and wherein the process results in at least some portions of the substrate bearing images formed from both the first ink and the second ink, said portions forming a printed image containing a polysiloxane and the colorant.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to ink jet printing processes. More specifically, the present invention is directed to ink jet printing processes that enable rapid drying and fixation of marking fluids to recording substrates. One embodiment of the present invention is directed to a process which comprises (a) incorporating into an ink jet printing apparatus (1) a first ink comprising water and at least one anionic monomer; and (2) a second ink comprising water and at least one cationic monomer, wherein the anionic monomer and the cationic monomer are selected so that upon contact of the anionic monomer with the cationic monomer, spontaneous polymerization or copolymerization of at least one of the anionic monomer or the cationic monomer occurs, and wherein at least one of the first ink and the second ink further comprises a colorant; (b) causing droplets of the first ink to be ejected in an imagewise pattern onto the substrate, and (c) causing droplets of the second ink to be ejected in an imagewise pattern onto the substrate; wherein the process results in at least some portions of the substrate bearing images formed from both the first ink and the second ink, said portions forming a printed image containing the colorant and a polymer formed from at least one of the anionic monomer or the cationic monomer. Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a process which comprises (a) incorporating into an ink jet printing apparatus (1) a first ink comprising water and monomeric N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate, and (2) a second ink comprising water and p-toluene sulfonic acid, wherein upon contact of the monomeric N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate with the p-toluene sulfonic acid, spontaneous polymerization of the monomeric N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate occurs, and wherein at least one of the first ink and the second ink further comprises a colorant, (b) causing droplets of the first ink to be ejected in an imagewise pattern onto the substrate; and (c) causing droplets of the second ink to be ejected in an imagewise pattern onto the substrate, wherein the process results in at least some portions of the substrate bearing images formed from both the first ink and the second ink, said portions forming a printed image containing the colorant and a polymer formed from the monomeric N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate. Yet another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a process which comprises (a) incorporating into an ink jet printing apparatus (1) a first ink comprising water and monomeric acrylamide; and (2) a second ink comprising water and a multivalent metal nitrate salt, wherein the multivalent metal nitrate salt is selected so that upon contact of the monomeric acrylamide with the multivalent metal nitrate salt, spontaneous polymerization of the monomeric acrylamide occurs, and wherein at least one of the first ink and the second ink further comprises a colorant; (b) causing droplets of the first ink to be ejected in an imagewise pattern onto the substrate; and (c) causing droplets of the second ink to be ejected in an imagewise pattern onto the substrate, wherein the process results in at least some portions of the substrate bearing images formed from both the first ink and the second ink, said portions forming a printed image containing the colorant and a polyacrylamide polymer formed from the monomeric acrylamide. Still another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a process which comprises (a) incorporating into an ink jet printing apparatus (1) a first ink comprising water and monomeric 5-vinyl tetrazole; and (2) a second ink comprising water and an amine base, wherein the amine base is selected so that upon contact of the monomeric 5-vinyl tetrazole with the amine base, spontaneous polymerization of the monomeric 5-vinyl tetrazole occurs, and wherein at least one of the first ink and the second ink further comprises a colorant; (b) causing droplets of the first ink to be ejected in an imagewise pattern onto the substrate; and (c) causing droplets of the second ink to be ejected in an imagewise pattern onto the substrate; wherein the process results in at least some portions of the substrate bearing images formed from both the first ink and the second ink, said portions forming a printed image containing the colorant and a polymer formed from the monomeric 5-vinyl tetrazole.
Ink jet printing systems generally are of two types: continuous stream and drop-on-demand. In continuous stream ink jet systems, ink is emitted in a continuous stream under pressure through at least one orifice or nozzle. The stream is perturbed, causing it to break up into droplets at a fixed distance from the orifice. At the break-up point, the droplets are charged in accordance with digital data signals and passed through an electrostatic field which adjusts the trajectory of each droplet in order to direct it to a gutter for recirculation or a specific location on a recording medium. In drop-on-demand systems, a droplet is expelled from an orifice directly to a position on a recording medium in accordance with digital data signals. A droplet is not formed or expelled unless it is to be placed on the recording medium.
Since drop-on-demand systems require no ink recovery, charging, or deflection, the system is much simpler than the continuous stream type. There are two types of drop-on-demand ink jet systems. One type of drop-on-demand system has as its major components an ink filled channel or passageway having a nozzle on one end and a piezoelectric transducer near the other end to produce pressure pulses. The relatively large size of the transducer prevents close spacing of the nozzles, and physical limitations of the transducer result in low ink drop velocity. Low drop velocity seriously diminishes tolerances for drop velocity variation and directionality, thus impacting the system's ability to produce high quality copies. Drop-on-demand systems which use piezoelectric devices to expel the droplets also suffer the disadvantage of a slow printing speed.
Another type of drop-on-demand system is known as thermal ink jet, or bubble jet, and produces high velocity droplets and allows very close spacing of nozzles. The major components of this type of drop-on-demand system are an ink filled channel having a nozzle on one end and a heat generating resistor near the nozzle. Printing signals representing digital information originate an electric current pulse in a resistive layer within each ink passageway near the orifice or nozzle, causing the ink in the immediate vicinity to e
Byorick Judith L.
Meier Stephen
Shah Manish
Xerox Corporation
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