Compositions: coating or plastic – Coating or plastic compositions – Marking
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-02
2004-11-23
Bell, Mark L. (Department: 1755)
Compositions: coating or plastic
Coating or plastic compositions
Marking
C106S031600
Reexamination Certificate
active
06821328
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique of providing images excellent in coloring property and homogeneity of color, and particularly to a liquid composition, which is most suitable for use in the formation of images making good use of an ink-jet recording system, and an ink set using the liquid composition, and a method of forming a colored portion on a recording medium and an ink-jet recording apparatus using this ink set.
2. Related Background Art
An ink-jet recording method is a system in which recording is conducted by ejecting an ink to apply the ink to a recording medium such as paper. For example, according to the ink-jet recording method disclosed in JP 61-59911 B, JP 61-59912 B and JP 61-59914 B, in which an electrothermal converter is used as an ejecting-energy supply means to apply thermal energy to an ink so as to generate bubbles, thereby ejecting droplets of the ink, the formation of a high-density multi-orifice in a recording head can be realized with ease, and high-resolution and high-quality images can be recorded at high speed.
However, the conventional inks used in the ink-jet recording method generally comprise water and a colorant as principal components, and include additionally a water-soluble high boiling solvent such as glycol for the purpose of preventing drying of the inks within nozzles, clogging at orifices, and the like. When such an ink has been used to conduct recording on a recording medium, therefore, there have been brought about problems that fixability cannot be sufficiently achieved, and image irregularity occurs, which appears to be attributed to the uneven distribution of a filler and a sizing agent on the surface of recording paper as the recording medium. On the other hand, in recent years, there has been an increasing demand for high image quality for ink-jet recording articles on the same level as that of silver halide photography, and thus, technical requirements for increasing the image density of an ink-jet recorded image, broadening the color reproduction range and further increasing the homogeneity of color of recorded articles have been becoming higher.
Under the circumstances, various proposals have been made with a view to stabilizing an ink-jet recording method and improving the quality of recorded articles obtained by an ink-jet recording method. One of the proposals for the recording medium is a method of coating the surface of the base paper of a recording medium with fillers or sizing agents. For example, a technique of coating a base paper with porous fine particles that adsorb a colorant as a filler to form an ink-receiving layer comprising the porous fine particles has been disclosed and a coated paper for ink-jet printing has been put on the market as a recording material utilizing such techniques.
In order to stabilize an ink-jet recording method and increase the quality of recorded articles obtained by an ink-jet recording method, various proposals have been heretofore made. Some of typical examples thereof have been classified and summarized as described below.
(1) Method of Internally Adding a Volatile Solvent or a Penetrating Solvent to an Ink
JP 55-65269 A discloses the addition of a compound capable of enhancing penetrability, such as a surfactant, into inks as a means for facilitating fixability of the inks. Besides, JP 55-66976 A discloses the use of inks comprising a volatile solvent as a principal component.
(2) Method of Mixing a Liquid Composition that Reacts with an Ink on a Recording Medium
In order to improve image density and water resistance and inhibit bleeding, there have been proposed methods in which a liquid composition, which can make the quality of images better, is applied to a recording medium prior to or after the jetting of an ink for forming recording images. For example, JP 63-60783 A discloses a method in which after a liquid composition containing a basic polymer is applied to a recording medium, an ink containing an anionic dye is applied thereto, thereby conducting recording. JP 63-22681 A discloses a recording method in which a first liquid composition containing a reactive chemical species and a second liquid composition containing a compound reacting with the reactive chemical species are mixed on a recording medium. Further, JP 63-299971 A discloses a method in which a liquid composition containing an organic compound having two or more cationic groups per molecule is applied to a recording medium, and recording is then conducted with inks containing an anionic dye. JP 64-9279 A discloses a method in which after an acidic liquid composition containing succinic acid or the like is applied to a recording medium, an ink containing an anionic dye is applied thereto, thereby conducting recording.
Further, JP 64-63185 A discloses a method in which a liquid composition, which insolubilizes dyes, is applied to a paper prior to application of an ink. Further, JP 8-224955 A discloses a method in which a liquid composition containing cationic substances having different molecular weight distribution regions is used in combination with an ink containing anionic compound. JP 8-72393 A discloses a method in which a liquid composition containing a cationic substance and finely divided cellulose is used in combination with an ink. They each describe that images having high image density, good printing quality and water resistance, and also good color reproducibility and inhibition of bleeding can be obtained. In addition, JP 55-150396 A discloses a method in which after recording with a dye ink on a recording medium is performed, a water resistance imparting agent that forms a lake with the dye is provided, imparting water resistance to recorded images.
(3) Method of Mixing an Ink with a Fine-particle-containing Liquid Composition on a Recording Medium
JP 4-259590 A discloses a method in which after imparting a colorless liquid containing colorless fine particles composed of an inorganic substance onto a recording medium, a non-aqueous recording liquid is applied to the recording medium. JP 6-92010 A discloses a method in which after imparting a solution containing fine particles or a solution containing fine particles and a binder polymer onto a recording medium, an ink containing a pigment, a water-soluble resin, a water-soluble solvent and water is applied thereto. JP 2000-34432 A discloses a recording material that includes a liquid composition containing water-insoluble fine particles and an ink. They each describe that images with good printing quality and coloring property can be obtained.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The inventors of the present invention have made extensive studies on various types of ink-jet recording techniques such as those as described above and as a result they have found that although the above-mentioned techniques exhibit excellent effects for respective technical problems, in some cases other ink-jet recording properties will be traded away. For example, a recording medium obtained by coating a surface of the base paper of a recording medium (hereinafter, referred to as “coated paper”) with fillers or sizing agents has been recognized as a technique capable of forming images with high quality.
Generally, in order to obtain images with high saturation, it is known that the colorant must remain on the surface of a recording medium in a monomolecular state without forming aggregates. The porous fine particles of a coated paper have such a function. However, to provide high image density and high saturation of image, it is essential to form an ink-receiving layer thick enough to shield the base paper with a large amount of porous fine particles relative to the colorant in the ink. This causes a problem that the texture of the base paper will be lost. The inventors supposed that the necessity of an ink-receiving layer so thick as to cause loss of the texture of the base paper would be attributable to inefficient adsorption of the colorant on the porous fine particles.
Taking an example of a coated paper having
Endo Makiko
Kato Masao
Kurabayashi Yutaka
Tomioka Hiroshi
Bell Mark L.
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
Faison Veronica F.
Fitzpatrick ,Cella, Harper & Scinto
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