Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Medium and processing means
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-10
2002-04-02
Nghiem, Michael P. (Department: 2861)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Medium and processing means
Reexamination Certificate
active
06364477
ABSTRACT:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
Reference is made to commonly-assigned, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/114,022, filed Jul. 10, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,045,917.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an ink jet recording element, more particularly to an inkjet recording element which contains particles.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In a typical ink jet recording or printing system, ink droplets are ejected from a nozzle at high speed towards a recording element or medium to produce an image on the medium. The ink droplets, or recording liquid, generally comprise a recording agent, such as a dye or pigment, and a large amount of solvent. The solvent, or carrier liquid, typically is made up of water, an organic material such as a monohydric alcohol, a polyhydric alcohol or mixtures thereof.
An inkjet recording element typically comprises a support having on at least one surface thereof an ink-receiving or image-forming layer, and includes those intended for reflection viewing, which have an opaque support, and those intended for viewing by transmitted light, which have a transparent support.
While a wide variety of different types of image-recording elements for use with ink jet devices have been proposed heretofore, there are many unsolved problems in the art and many deficiencies in the known products which have severely limited their commercial usefulness. The requirements for an image recording medium or element for ink jet recording are very demanding.
It is well known that in order to achieve and maintain photographic-quality images on such an image-recording element, an ink jet recording element must:
Be readily wetted so there is no puddling, i.e., coalescence of adjacent ink dots, which leads to nonuniform density
Exhibit no image bleeding
Exhibit the ability to absorb high concentrations of ink and dry quickly to avoid elements blocking together when stacked against subsequent prints or other surfaces
Provide a high level of gloss and avoid differential gloss
Exhibit no discontinuities or defects due to interactions between the support and/or layer(s), such as cracking, repellencies, comb lines and the like
Not allow unabsorbed dyes to aggregate at the free surface causing dye crystallization, which results in bloom or bronzing effects in the imaged areas
Have an optimized image fastness to avoid fade from contact with water or radiation by daylight, tungsten light, or fluorescent light
U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,131 relates to an ink jet recording element comprising a support having thereon an ink-retaining layer and an ink transporting layer. The ink transporting layer is porous and contains particles in a large amount. This layer is designed to allow ink to be transported through it to the ink retaining-layer. However, there is a problem with this element in that it is a reverse-viewing element. In other words, the support has to be transparent in order to view the image through it. Opaque supports such as paper are therefore excluded by this technique.
EP 0 888 902 relates to an ink jet recording element comprising an ink sorptive layer which contains up to 15% by weight of polymer particles. However, there is a problem with this element in that the surface layer is not smooth and scatters light.
It is an object of this invention to provide an ink jet recording element which does not require a transparent support. It is another object of this invention to provide an ink jet recording element that has a glossy surface. It is another object of this invention to provide an ink jet recording element that has an improved waterfastness.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This and other objects are provided by the present invention comprising an ink jet recording element comprising a support having thereon, in the order recited, a base layer comprising a hydrophilic material and a non-porous, ink-receptive top layer comprising a binder, mordant and polymeric particles, the particles having a particle size of less than about 0.5 &mgr;m and being present in an amount of from about 20 to about 50% by weight of the ink-receptive top layer.
Another embodiment of the invention relates to an ink jet printing process comprising:
a) providing an ink jet recording element as described above, and
b) applying liquid ink droplets thereon in an image-wise manner.
By use of the invention, ink jet recording elements are obtained which do not require a transparent support, have a glossy surface and improved waterfastness.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The polymeric particles useful in the top layer of the ink jet recording element of the invention may be made from virtually any polymer and can be synthesized, for example; from the following monomers: alkyl esters of acrylic or methacrylic acid such as methyl methacrylate, ethyl methacrylate, butyl methacrylate; the hydroxyalkyl esters of the same acids such as 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate, and the nitrile and amides of the same acids such as acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, and butyl acrylamide, vinyl acetate, vinylidene chloride, vinyl chloride, and vinyl aromatic compounds such as styrene, ethyl vinyl benzene, vinyl toluene, dialkyl maleates, dialkyl itaconates, dialkyl malonates, isoprene, and butadiene. Crosslinking and grafting monomers which may be used together with the foregoing monomers to crosslink the polymeric particles are polyfunctional with respect to the polymerization reaction, and may include, for example, esters of unsaturated monohydric alcohols with unsaturated monocarboxylic acids, such as allyl methacrylate, and vinyl methacrylate, esters of saturated glycols or diols with unsaturated monocarboxylic acids, such as ethylene glycol diacrylate, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, and polyfunctional aromatic compounds such as divinyl benzene.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the polymeric particles are made from acrylic or styrenic monomers, such as poly(methyl methacrylate) or polystyrene. In another preferred embodiment, the polymeric particles are crosslinked.
Following are examples of polymeric particles which may be used in the invention:
Particle Size
Particle
Polymer
(&mgr;m)
P-1
Poly(methyl methacrylate)
0.107
P-2
Polystyrene
0.110
P-3
Poly(methyl methacrylate-co-ethyleneglycol
0.142
dimethacrylate)
The addition of the mordant to the top layer does not degrade other performance features such as dry time, lightfastness, coalescence, bleeding, adhesion of the layers, waterfastness, and gloss when printed with a variety of ink jet inks.
Preferred mordant polymers used in the invention comprise units having the formula:
wherein:
A represents units of an addition polymerizable monomer containing at least two ethylenically unsaturated groups;
B represents units of a copolymerizable, &agr;,&bgr;-ethylenically unsaturated monomer;
Q is nitrogen or phosphorous;
R
1
, R
2
and R
3
each independently represents a carbocyclic or alkyl group;
M
−
is an anion;
x is from about 0.25 to about 5 mole percent;
y is from about 0 to about 90 mole percent; and
z is from about 10 to about 99 mole percent.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, A is a repeating unit of an addition polymerizable monomer containing at least two ethylenically unsaturated groups, such as vinyl groups generally having the following structure:
wherein:
n is from 1 to about 10, preferably 2 or 3;
each R
4
independently represents hydrogen or methyl; and
R
5
is a linking group comprising one or more condensation linkages such as amide, sulfonamide, esters such as sulfonic acid ester, arylene etc., or a condensation linkage and an organic nucleus such as alkylene, e.g., methylene, ethylene, trimethylene, arylene, etc.
Suitable monomers from which the repeating units of A are formed include divinylbenzene, allyl acrylate, allyl methacrylate, N-allylmethacrylamide, etc.
B in the above formula is a unit of a copolymerizable &agr;,&bgr;-ethylenically unsaturated monomer (including two, three or more repeating units), such as ethylene, propylene, 1-butene, isobutene, 2-methylpentene, etc. A preferred class of ethylenically unsaturat
Missell Gregory E.
Muehlbauer John L.
Smith Dennis E.
Cole Harold E.
Eastman Kodak Company
Nghiem Michael P.
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