Compositions: coating or plastic – Coating or plastic compositions – Marking
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-22
2004-04-06
Klemanski, Helene (Department: 1755)
Compositions: coating or plastic
Coating or plastic compositions
Marking
C106S031430, C106S031470, C106S031490, C106S031580
Reexamination Certificate
active
06716277
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink for an ink jet, which has excellent image quality, water resistance and image fastness, and to an ink jet recording method using the ink.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, with the spread of computers, ink jet printers are being widely used for printing paper, film, cloth or the like, not only in offices but also in homes. As inks for ink jets, oil-based, water-based and solid inks are known, and water-based inks are mainly used from the standpoints of production, handling property, odor, safety and the like.
Since most water-based inks use water-soluble dyes which dissolve in a molecular state, on the one hand they have an advantage in that they show high transparency and color density, and on the other hand they have a disadvantage in that they show poor water resistance and thereby cause bleeding when so-called plain papers are printed using these inks, which results in considerably low printing quality. They have a further disadvantage in that they show considerably poor light resistance.
In order to overcome the above drawbacks, various water-based inks using pigments or disperse dyes are suggested, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) Nos. 56-157468, 4-18468, 10-110126 and 10-195355. In the water-based inks disclosed in these applications, water resistance is improved, but not perfectly, and there are still disadvantages, for example, in that the pigment inks in particular show poor color development as compared with the dye inks, and in that these water-based inks easily cause clogging at ink discharge ports because of insufficient preservation stability of dispersed materials.
JP-A No. 58-45272 suggests a method of containing a dye in urethane polymer latex particles. However, this method has a disadvantage in that, when the dye is contained at a desired concentration, color particles having excellent dispersion stability are difficult to obtain. Further, JP-A No. 10-279873 discloses a method of producing color polymer fine particles by dissolving an acrylic polymer and an oil-soluble dye in an organic solvent and by removing the organic solvent after dispersion. However, this method has problems in recorded image quality, particularly in quality when the image is recorded on a photo quality paper medium, and in stability in continuous recording.
Japanese Patent Application Publication (JP-B) No. 5-76977 discloses an ink composition in which an oil-soluble dye is dissolved and dispersed in an organic solvent. However, the specified organic solvent therein generally has a low recording density because of insufficient compatibility with the oil-soluble dye, and thus, it is obvious that the dye may be deposited during preservation and that this results in clogging at nozzles.
Further, the disclosed oil-soluble dye has insufficient color reproducibility because of insufficient color tone, and also has insufficient preservation stability of obtained images.
In order to improve the preservation stability, JP-A No. 1-170674 discloses a recording solution for an ink jet which contains an ultraviolet light absorber and/or an antioxidant. However, the obtained image quality is not sufficient.
In order to prevent deposition of the dye and to secure discharge stability and obtain higher recorded image quality, average particle size of the color particles needs to be decreased, while image preservability requires to be further improved under this condition.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide an ink for an ink jet, which has excellent image quality, water resistance and image fastness; and an ink jet recording method using the ink.
The above object is attained by the following means:
A first aspect of the present invention is an ink for an ink jet, the ink being formed by dispersing in a water-based medium an oil-soluble dye that is dissolved in a high boiling point organic solvent, with the ink containing a compound having in a molecule at least one carbon-carbon unsaturated bond that is different from a phenyl group.
A second aspect of the present invention is an ink jet recording method, the method comprising recording on an image receiving material having an image receiving layer including white inorganic pigment particles on a support, the method using an ink for an ink jet, with the ink being formed by dispersing in a water-based medium an oil-soluble dye that is dissolved in a high boiling point organic solvent, and the ink containing a compound having in a molecule at least one carbon-carbon unsaturated bond that is different from a phenyl group.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Hereinafter, an ink for an ink jet and an ink jet recording method of the present invention will be described.
[Ink for Ink Jet]
An ink for an ink jet of the present invention is formed by dispersing in a water-based medium an oil-soluble dye that is dissolved in a high boiling point organic solvent. The ink contains a compound having in a molecule at least one carbon-carbon unsaturated bond that is different from a phenyl group. Hereinafter, this compound is referred to as a “carbon-carbon unsaturated bond containing compound”.
The ink for the ink jet of the present invention is in a state in which the oil-soluble dye and the high boiling point organic solvent are dispersed in the water-based medium as oil droplets having a fine-particle shape (hereinafter, these oil droplets are referred to as “dispersed particles”), which state is known as an emulsification dispersion state. The “water-based medium” used in the present invention means the one which is formed by adding additives such as a surfactant, a wetting agent, a stabilizer, an antiseptic and the like, as required, to water or a mixture of water and a small amount of water-miscible organic solvent.
As the oil-soluble dye used in the present invention, dyes having any degree of solubility in water can be used.
Carbon-Carbon Unsaturated Bond Containing Compound
When the carbon-carbon unsaturated bond containing compound has a geometrical isomer (for example, a cis-trans isomer), the compound may be a single component or a mixture. The carbon-carbon unsaturated bond containing compound used in the present invention is preferably at least one of the compounds represented by the following general formulae (A) to (H).
In the general formulae (A) to (H), R
21
, R
24
, R
32
and R
33
each independently represents an alkenyl group or an alkynyl group having 2 to 40 carbon atoms, preferably represents an alkenyl group having 2 to 40 carbon atoms, and more preferably represents one of the following alkenyl groups a) to v).
In the general formulae (A) to (H), R
22
, R
23
, R
25
, R
27
, R
28
, R
29
, R
30
, R
34
, R
35
, R
36
, R
37
, R
39
and R
40
each independently represents a hydrogen atom, an aliphatic group having 1 to 40 carbon atoms (for example, methyl, ethyl, i-propyl, t-butyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, benzyl, chloromethyl, trifluoromethyl, butoxyethyl, allyl, vinyl, oleyl, 3-methyl-3-butenyl, 2,7-octadienyl, 2-ethylhexyl, octyl, i-decyl, 3,5,5-trimethylhexyl, i-tridecyl, dodecyl, and 2-hexyldecyl), an aryl group having 6 to 40 carbon atoms (for example, phenyl, 2-naphthyl, 4-methoxyphenyl, 3-methylphenyl, and 2-chlorophenyl), or a heterocyclic group having 1 to 40 carbon atoms (for example, pyrrolidyl, piperidyl, pyridyl, tetrazolyl and imidazolyl); preferably represents a hydrogen atom, an aliphatic group or an aryl group; and more preferably represents a hydrogen atom or an aliphatic group. R
22
, R
23
, R
25
, R
34
and R
35
each still more preferably represents an alkenyl group or an alkynyl group, and particularly preferably represents an alkenyl group. More preferable alkenyl group is the same ones as above-mentioned for R
21
, R
24
, R
32
and R
33
. Further, at least one of R
35
, R
36
and R
37
represents an alkenyl group or an alkynyl group having 2 to 40 carbon atoms.
R
26
, R
38
and R
41
each represents a substituent; preferably repre
Naruse Hideaki
Omatsu Tadashi
Burns Doane Swecker & Mathis L.L.P.
Fuji Photo Film Co. , Ltd.
Klemanski Helene
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