Radiation imagery chemistry: process – composition – or product th – Radiation sensitive product – Identified backing or protective layer containing
Reexamination Certificate
2003-05-30
2004-07-13
Chea, Thorl (Department: 1752)
Radiation imagery chemistry: process, composition, or product th
Radiation sensitive product
Identified backing or protective layer containing
C430S531000, C430S533000, C430S534000, C430S535000, C430S536000, C430S944000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06762014
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the field of graphic arts and medical treatment, there have been concerns in processing of photographic film with respect to effluent produced from wet-processing of image-forming materials, and recently, reduction of the processing effluent is strongly demanded in terms of environmental protection and space saving. In view of the foregoing, there has been desired a system using no processing solution. For example, techniques of thermographic image-forming materials comprising light-insensitive organic silver salt and a reducing agent are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,887,378, 4,013,473, 5,416,058, 5,582,953, 5,587,350, 5,734,411, 5,734,412, 5,759,752, 5,817,598, 6,093,528, 6,211,116, 6,244,766 and 6,313,965. Onto these image-forming materials, digital recording can be conducted in response to image signals, using a thermal head and light-to-heat convertible laser light.
There is known a thermally developable photographic materials comprising on a support an organic silver salt, light-sensitive silver halide and a reducing agent, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,152,904 and 3,487,075, and D. H. Klosterboer, “Dry Silver Photographic Materials” in Handbook of Image-forming Materials page 48 (Marcel Dekker, 1991). These image-forming materials render possible formation of distinct black images exhibiting high sharpness, enabling efficient exposure by means of a laser imager or a laser image setter.
The foregoing image-forming materials provide a simply and environment-friendly system for users, without using any processing solution. However, in any of the image-forming materials, imagewise heating or heat development often causes bleed-out of compounds such as an organic acid formed from an organic silver salt, on the surface of the image-forming material, thereby producing problems such as staining of rolls or filters installed in the interior of a thermal printer or laser image and white powder adhesion onto finger of users employing this image-forming material.
To improve defects described above, various compositions for a protective layer and image-forming materials having various layer arrangements have been proposed in thermographic materials, as described in European Patent 0,614,769 and 0,726,852; U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,350,561, and 6,352,819, 6,352,820, and image-forming materials containing light-sensitive silver halide, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,350,561, 6,352,820; and JP-A Nos. 2000-267226, 2000-284416, 2000-292883, 2000-347339 and 2001-13624) hereinafter, the term, JP-A refers to Japanese Patent Application Publication).
However, bleeding-out of compounds on the surface was not completely prevented in the foregoing image-forming materials.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to an image-forming material improved in bleed-out of a compound on the surface, caused in imagewise heating or heat development after imagewise exposure, and an image-forming method by use the same.
The foregoing object can be accomplished by the following constitution:
An image-forming material comprising a support having thereon an image-forming layer containing a light-insensitive organic silver salt and a reducing agent and a protective layer in that order, wherein the image-forming layer or protective layer comprises a binder having a structure unit represented by the following formula (1) or (2):
wherein Z represents a divalent linkage group, R
1
represents hydroxyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group containing a hydroxyl group, or a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group containing a hydroxyl group.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
One embodiment of this invention concerns an image-forming material comprising a support having thereon an image-forming layer containing a light-insensitive organic silver salt and a reducing agent, and a protective layer in that order.
Further, another embodiment of this invention concerns an image-forming material comprising a support having thereon an image-forming layer containing a light-sensitive silver halide, a light-insensitive organic silver salt and a reducing agent, and a protective layer in that order.
Next, embodiments of this invention will be described. One aspect of this invention is directed to an image-forming material comprising a support having thereon an image-forming layer containing a light-insensitive organic silver salt and a reducing agent, and a protective layer in this order, wherein at least one of the image-forming layer and the protective layer contains at least one binder resin comprising a structural unit represented by the foregoing formula (1) or (2), as a structure unit (or repeating unit).
In the formula (1), Z represents a divalent linkage group; in the formula (2), R
1
represents hydroxyl group, an alkyl group containing a hydroxyl group, which may be substituted, or an aryl group containing a hydroxyl group, which may be substituted.
The alkyl group represented by R
1
is a straight chain, branched or cyclic alkyl group, preferably having 1 to 30 carbon atoms, and more preferably 1 to 20 carbon atoms. The alkyl group may be substituted and any substituent giving no adverse effect in the imaging process relating to this invention can be introduced. Examples of such a substituent include a halogen atom, alkenyl group, alkynyl group, aryl group, heterocyclic group (including a N-substituted nitrogen-containing heterocyclic group, such as morpholine group), alkoxycarbonyl group, aryloxycarbonyl group, carbamoyl group, imino group, N-substituted imino group, carbazoyl group, cyano group, thiocarbamoyl group, aryloxy group, heterocyclic-oxy group, acyloxy group, (alkoxy- or aryloxy-)carbonyloxy group, sulfonyloxy group, acylamido group, sulfonamido group, ureido group, thioureido group, imido group, (alkoxy- or aryloxy-)carbonylamino group, sulfamoylamino group, semicarbazide group, thiosemicarbazide group, (alkyl- or aryl-)sulfonylureido group, nitro group, (alkyl- or aryl-)sulfonyl group, sulfamoyl group, group having a phosphoric acid amide or phosphoric acid ester structure, and silyl group. These substituents may further be substituted.
The aryl group represented by R
1
may be a single ring or condensed ring aryl group, preferably having 6 to 24 carbon atoms, and more preferably 6 to 20 carbon atoms. Examples thereof include phenyl, naphthyl, anthracenyl, naphthacenyl and triphenylenyl. The aryl group may be substituted and any substituent giving no adverse effect in the imaging process relating to this invention can be used. Examples of such a substituent include a halogen atom, alkenyl group, alkynyl group, aryl group, heterocyclic group (including a N-substituted nitrogen-containing heterocyclic group, such as morpholine group), alkoxycarbonyl group, aryloxycarbonyl group, carbamoyl group, imino group, N-substituted imino group, carbazoyl group, cyano group, thiocarbamoyl group, aryloxy group, heterocyclic-oxy group, acyloxy group, (alkoxy- or aryloxy-)carbonyloxy group, sulfonyloxy group, acylamido group, sulfonamido group, ureido group, thioureido group, imido group, (alkoxy- or aryloxy-)carbonylamino group, sulfamoylamino group, semicarbazide group, thiosemicarbazide group, (alkyl- or aryl-)sulfonylureido group, nitro group, (alkyl- or aryl-)sulfonyl group, sulfamoyl group, group having a phosphoric acid amide or phosphoric acid ester structure, and silyl group. These substituents may further be substituted.
The binder resin comprising a structural unit represented by formula (2) can be obtained by polymerization of a monomer having the following structure. However, embodiments of this invention is not limited to these and any binder resin having a structural unit falling the scope of this invention is usable in this invention.
A binder resin obtained from monomers described above may be a homopolymer obtained by polymerizing a single monomer or a coploymer obtained by alternating polymerization, random polymerization or block polymerization with other monomers. Such other monomers containing an unsaturated double
Chea Thorl
Konica Corporation
Muserlian Lucas and Mercanti
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