Compositions: coating or plastic – Coating or plastic compositions – Marking
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-29
2001-01-16
Klemanski, Helene (Department: 1755)
Compositions: coating or plastic
Coating or plastic compositions
Marking
C106S031270, C106S031580, C106S031600, C106S031750, C106S031860
Reexamination Certificate
active
06174355
ABSTRACT:
PENDING APPLICATIONS AND PATENTS
Inks are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,312, U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,568, U.S. Pat. No. 5,700,316, U.S. Pat. No. 5,747,554, U.S. Pat. No. 5,844,020 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,695, and in copending patent applications U.S. Ser. No. 08/641,866 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,932,630, U.S. Ser. No. 08/935,929 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,931,995, U.S. Ser. No. 08/935,889 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,902,390, U.S. Ser. No. 08/935,639 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,922,117, U.S. Ser. No. 08/933,914 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,958,119, U.S. Ser. No. 09/300,210 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,661, U.S. Ser. No. 09/300,193 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,096,124, U.S. Ser. No. 09/300,373 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,066,200, U.S. Ser. No. 09/300,298 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,106,601, U.S. Ser. No. 09/300,331 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,110,265, U.S. Ser. No. 09/300,333 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,071,333, U.S. Ser. No. 09/300,332 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,096,125, and U.S. Ser. No. 09/362,673, the disclosures of each of these applications are totally incorporated herein by reference.
The appropriate components and processes of the above pending applications and patents may be selected for the present invention in embodiments thereof.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to ink compositions, and more specifically, the present invention relates to aqueous inks especially useful for ink jet processes, reference U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,695, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, thermal ink jet, acoustic ink printing, processes and apparatuses thereof, reference for example, the above recited copending patent applications, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,141, U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,220, U.S. Pat. No. 5,128,726, U.S. Pat. No. 5,371,531, U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,384 and U.S. Ser. No. 08/176,381, now abandoned the disclosures of which are totally incorporated herein by reference, including especially acoustic ink processes as illustrated in some of the aforementioned copending applications and patents, such as an acoustic ink printer for printing images on a record medium.
More specifically, the present invention is directed to ink compositions, especially aqueous inks wherein there can be generated with such inks excellent developed images with acceptable image permanence, excellent projection efficiency on transparencies, superior waterfastness characteristics, for example waterfastness values of about 95 to about 100 percent, and excellent crease resistance, and wherein the inks need not contain salts and moreover wherein the inks reduce or minimize corrosion of for example ink jet heads. Moreover, in embodiments of the present invention, there are provided inks that enable the elimination, or minimization of undesirable paper curl. The inks of the present invention in embodiments thereof are comprised of a vehicle, and optionally a noncolored vehicle, reference U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,312, U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,568, U.S. Pat. No. 5,700,316, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,747,554, the disclosures of each being incorporated herein by reference.
PRIOR ART
In acoustic ink printing, the printhead generates about 2.2 picoliter droplets by an acoustic energy process. The ink under these conditions should display a melt viscosity of about 25 centipoise or less at the jetting temperature. Furthermore, once the ink is jetted onto the paper, the ink image should be of excellent crease property, nonsmearing, waterfast, of excellent transparency and excellent fix qualities. In selecting an ink for such applications, it is desirable that the vehicle display a low melt viscosity, such as from about 1 centipoise to about 20, and preferably about 10 centipoise in the acoustic head.
Ink jet printing processes that utilize inks that are solid at room temperature and liquid at elevated temperatures are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,490,731, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an apparatus for dispensing certain solid inks for printing on a substrate such as paper. The ink dye vehicle is selected to have a melting point above room temperature so that the ink which is melted in the apparatus will not be subject to evaporation or spillage during periods of nonprinting. The vehicle is also selected to have a low temperature to permit the use of the solid ink in a thermal ink jet printer. In thermal ink jet printing processes employing hot melt inks, the solid ink is melted by a heater in the printing apparatus and utilized as a liquid in a manner similar to that of conventional thermal ink jet printing. Upon contact with the printing substrate, the molten ink solidifies rapidly, enabling the dye to remain on the surface instead of being carried into the paper by capillary action, thereby attempting to enable higher print density than is generally obtained with liquid inks.
Ink compositions for ink jet printing are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,674, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an ink composition which comprises a major amount of water, an organic solvent selected from the group consisting of tetramethylene sulfone, 1,1,3,3-tetramethyl urea, 3-methyl sulfolane, and 1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidone, which solvent has permanently dissolved therein spirit soluble dyes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,006,170 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,187, the disclosures of each of which are totally incorporated herein by reference, disclose hot melt ink compositions suitable for ink jet printing which comprise a colorant, a binder, and a propellant such as hydrazine, cyclic amines, ureas, carboxylic acids, sulfonic acids, aldehydes, ketones, hydrocarbons, esters, phenols, and the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,036 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,124,718 disclose, for example, an ink for ink jet recording which comprises a liquid composition essentially comprising a coloring matter, a volatile solvent having a vapor pressure of 1 millimeter Hg or more at 25° C., and a solid material at room temperature.
While known compositions and processes are suitable for their intended purposes, a need remains for ink compositions suitable for ink jet printing. In addition, there is a need for ink compositions which are compatible with a wide variety of plain papers. Further, there is a need for aqueous ink compositions which generate high quality, waterfast images on plain papers. There is also a need for ink jet ink compositions, which generate high quality, fast-drying images on a wide variety of plain papers at low cost, with high quality text and high quality graphics. Further, there is a need for ink jet ink compositions which exhibit minimal feathering. Additionally, there is a need for ink jet ink compositions which exhibit minimal intercolor bleed. There is also a need for hot melt ink jet ink compositions which exhibit excellent image permanence. Further, there is a need for ink jet ink compositions which are especially suitable for use in aqueous acoustic ink jet printing processes. There is also a need for ink compositions suitable for ink jet printing wherein high optical densities can be achieved with relatively low dye concentrations. A need also remains for ink compositions suitable for ink jet printing wherein curling of the substrate subsequent to printing is minimized, or avoided.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Examples of features of the present invention include for example:
It is a feature of the present invention to provide ink compositions with many of the advantages illustrated herein.
It is another feature of the present invention to provide aqueous ink compositions suitable for acoustic ink jet printing.
It is yet another feature of the present invention to provide ink compositions which are compatible with a wide variety of plain papers.
It is still another feature of the present invention to provide ink compositions which generate high quality images on plain papers.
Still another feature of the present invention is to provide ink jet ink compositions which exhibit minimal intercolor bleed.
It is another feature of the present invention to provide ink jet ink compositions which exhibit excellent image permane
Breton Marcel P.
Foucher Daniel A.
Lesani Fereshteh
Mayo James D.
Klemanski Helene
Palazzo E. O.
Xerox Corporation
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