Compositions: coating or plastic – Coating or plastic compositions – Marking
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-31
2002-08-20
Klemanski, Helene (Department: 1755)
Compositions: coating or plastic
Coating or plastic compositions
Marking
C106S031890, C106S031580, C106S031860, C106S031750, C106S031430
Reexamination Certificate
active
06436180
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention is directed generally to large format image printers and, more particularly, to color ink jet ink compositions for such printers.
BACKGROUND ART
A large format printer of high throughput requires, among other things, fastdrying glossy media. By “large format” is typically meant graphic art, including photographic prints, printed on media widths ranging from 36 to 60 inches. In some printers, the media width may be varied, while in others, it may be fixed. Examples of such large format printers include Hewlett-Packard's DesignJet series (2000, 2500CP, 2800, 3500CP, 3800, 5000, 500OPS); an example of a glossy media printer includes Hewlett-Packard's Photosmart Printer. The 2K series can print on media widths of 35 inches, the 3K series can print on media widths of 54 inches, and the 5K series can print on media widths of 42 and 60 inches. The Photosmart Printer is not a large format printer, but is a graphic art printer. In any event, the afore-mentioned printers print on glossy media, among others.
While glossy media evidencing fast ink drying are required, such media are porous and poor in light-fastness. To meet the broad range of customer needs, a slowdrying, non-porous media of good light-fastness is also necessary.
A number of inks have been previously disclosed and claimed; see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,851,273, entitled “Dye Set for Improved Ink-Jet Print Quality”, issued on Dec. 22, 1998, to Peter C. Morris et al; U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,754, entitled “Ink-Jet Inks for Improved Image Quality”, issued on Aug. 4, 1998, to Larrie A. Deardurff et al; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,858,075, entitled “Dye-Set for Improved Ink-Jet Image Quality”, issued on Jan. 12, 1999, to Larrie A. Deardurff et al, all assigned to the same assignee as the present application. The inks of the first patent are employed in the DesignJet printer, while the inks of the last two patents are employed in the Photosmart Printer.
The inks disclosed and claimed in the foregoing patents provide excellent image quality on non-porous glossy such as Hewlett-Packard's High Gloss Photopaper C6026A. However, these inks do not perform as well with porous glossy media, nor on hybrid glossy media (a combination of porous and non-porous), such as Hewlett-Packard's Photopaper C6959. Hybrid glossy media exhibit short dry times and good light fastness.
On the other hand, other Hewlett-Packard inks that are good for porous glossy media do not print as well on the non-porous glossy media.
Other issues constantly associated with the ink for imaging are pen material compatibility and puddling. Because aggressive surfactants are needed for better image quality, the ink often causes delamination or detachment of pen headland area. To reduce coalescence on glossy media, a high penetration rate of the ink into the print medium is desired; such a high penetration requires a low viscosity ink. However, low viscosity inks tend to puddle on the pen, specifically, on the pen's orifice plate, through which the ink is ejected onto the print medium. Such puddling on the printhead surface is a big concern for ink jet printing. Problems caused by puddling include drop mis-directionality, massive ink accumulation on the nozzle (orifice) plate, pen service difficulties, and increased ink contact/attack to the cover layer of flex circuit from outside in. The flex circuit provides electrical signals to resistor pads associated with nozzles in the nozzle plate to generate ink bubbles, which are expelled toward the print medium.
Typically, ink flow channel design and firing chamber architecture are designed to modulate puddling. Damped architecture can control puddling by the reduction of ink refill speed. However, that may add a negative effect on firing frequency response. Damped architecture is also more susceptible to starvation and camber angle variation from nozzle to nozzle. In addition, damped architecture could add more difficulties for pen manufacturing.
Another approach is to increase the viscosity of ink. This could be realized by adding a high molecular weight surfactant/oligomer/polymer. Using viscous cosolvent or increasing the total organic content can also raise ink viscosity. However, image quality, defined by ink/media interaction, will not be optimized due to the formulation restriction for puddling control.
Thus, an ink composition is required that eliminates, or at least minimizes, the foregoing problems, while providing improved image quality print on porous, non-porous, and hybrid porous glossy media, consistent with high throughput.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, an ink jet ink composition is provided for large format printers for printing on porous, non-porous, and hybrid glossy media. The ink composition comprises at least one water-soluble dye and a vehicle comprising at least one co-solvent and at least two different surfactants, a non-ionic surfactant and a fluoro-surfactant.
The total surfactant concentration ranges from about 0.1 to 5 wt % of the ink composition. The non-ionic surfactant is present in a range of about 0.05 to 3 wt % of the ink composition, while the fluoro-surfactant is present in a range of about 0.001 to 3 wt % of the ink composition.
The present invention provides an ink formulation that works well with porous, non-porous, and hybrid glossy media. A printer, such as the DesignJet 500OPS that accommodates the hybrid glossy media will provide the customer with substantially fast ink drying while maintaining the light fastness of the ink, compared to prior art inks.
The ink of the present invention evidences excellent image quality. The ink can also pass harsh pen material compatibility tests. The ink does not puddle on the surface of the orifice plate in the default pen, yet has low viscosity (less than 2 cp). The ink is excellent in pen reliability such as long decap time (greater than 30 sec), no decel, no kogation, and good drop directionality. The term “decap time” refers to the time required for ink to crust in the nozzles of the pen; a long decap time is desired. By “decel” is meant that the velocity of ink drops decreases with time during continuous firing of the pen, and is an undesirable property.
BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
The invention described herein is directed to improved inks for printing ink-jet images using commercially-available ink-jet printers such as the DeskJet® family of printers, manufactured by Hewlett-Packard Company, Palo Alto, Calif. The inks of the present invention can produce true colors on a variety of glossy media, whether porous, non-porous, or hybrid, with high throughput and high light fastness.
The inks of the present invention include yellow, cyan, and magenta inks containing a yellow dye, a cyan dye, and one or two magenta dyes, respectively. In particular, the yellow dye is Direct Yellow 132, the cyan dye is Direct Blue 199, and the magenta dye is Magenta 377 (Ilford AG, Switzerland), alone or together with Acid Red 52. These dyes are all anionic dyes and are associated with a sodium counterion.
The present yellow, cyan, and magenta aqueous ink compositions each comprise in general from about 0.1 to 10 wt % of the dye (or dyes) and a vehicle comprising the following components (in wt % of the total ink composition): about 3 to 40 wt %, preferably about 5 to 20 wt %, and most preferably about 13 to 15 wt % of at least one water-miscible organic co-solvent; about 0.1 to 5 wt % of a surfactant mixture comprising at least one non-ionic surfactant and at least one fluoro-surfactant; 0 to about 1.5 wt % of at least one component independently selected from the group consisting of buffers, biocides, and metal chelators; and the balance water. In an alternate embodiment, the surfactant mixture comprises at least three surfactants: the non-ionic surfactant, an anionic surfactant, and the fluoro-surfactant, which may be non-ionic or anionic.
In the practice of the present invention, each ink color, namely, cyan, yellow, and magenta, can comprise more than one dye lo
Canfield Duane G.
Chou Hsin-Chieh
Iu Kai-Kong
Ma Zeying
Stramel Rodney D.
Faison Veronica F.
Hewlett--Packard Company
Klemanski Helene
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