Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Ejector mechanism
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-12
2004-07-13
Nguyen, Lamson (Department: 2861)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Ejector mechanism
C216S094000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06761431
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a polymer film that performs well in terms of stable liquid repellency as well as adhesion to base materials, hardness and abrasion resistance, to a liquid-repellency treatment solution of good film formability highly adapted to forming such high quality film, to a polymeric compound to be used for such a treatment solution and also to a method of manufacturing such a polymeric compound.
The present invention also relates to a surface-modifying method to provide the surface of an article with stable liquid repellency by using a single resin ingredient system, and preferably, to form films that are advantageous in terms of stable liquid repellency as well as adhesion to the base material, hardness and abrasion resistance and also to a surface-modified article.
The present invention additionally relates to an ink-jet recording head for forming an image on a recording medium by ejecting ink droplets highly adapted to form a stably liquid-repellent film (that is, preferably, also highly adherent to the base material, hard and abrasion-resistant), to a method of manufacturing a discharge orifice plate to be used for such an ink-jet recording head and also to an ink-jet recording apparatus. An ink-jet recording head according to the invention can particularly suitably be applied to an ink-jet recording apparatus that uses mechanical energy generated by means of piezoelectric elements or thermal energy obtained by means of an electrothermal converter as energy for ejecting ink droplets and recording dots on the recording medium.
2. Related Background Art
Methods for applying a liquid composition adapted to introduce desired properties onto the surface of a base material are used as an embodiment of the method of modifying the surface of the base material of an article that is devoid of such properties. Articles to the surface of which such a liquid-repelling agent is applied include various goods for daily life, water pipes and so on as well as an ink-jet head of an ink-jet recording apparatus that are adapted to use a liquid-repellent solution for recording images. For instance, as ink accumulates near the discharge orifices on the discharge orifice plane for discharging ink that is arranged on an ink-jet head, there can arise problems including ink slippage along the ink discharge direction on the formed image and clogged discharge orifices. Therefore, it is a general practice to apply a liquid-repelling agent to the discharge orifice plane where the discharge orifices are arranged.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-053639 describes a fluorine type liquid-repelling agent in a liquid state that is a fluorine-containing epoxy resin composition containing (a) a multifunctional epoxy resin having two or more epoxy groups in a molecule and not containing F nor Si by 5 to 80 parts by weight, (b) an epoxy compound having a perfluoro group at the terminal by 5 to 40 parts by weight and (c) a compound having two or more epoxy groups, two or more alcohol groups, two or more carboxylic acid groups and/or two or more amine groups in a molecule and also containing F or Si by 5 to 80 parts by weight.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 08-132614 discloses an electrically insulating resin film formed on the inner wall of the nozzle and the flow path of an ink-jet head that is acryl type electrodeposition resin containing fine particles of a fluorine resin.
However, of the above cited prior art, the electrically insulating resin film disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 08-132614 is composed of a film formed simply by adding liquid-repellent fluorine resins to the film in a mixed state. Therefore, the liquid repellency of the film is gradually reduced and the modified surface of the film gradually loses the uniformity of its advantageous properties if the surface of the resin film is held in an abrasive environment.
On the other hand, while ingredients of the fluorine-containing epoxy resin composition described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-053639 show compatibility in a dissolved state, their distribution can become varied on the applied film depending on the conditions of application to produce a specific distribution pattern of liquid repellency in the applied film. Additionally, the ingredients have to be held in an evenly mixed condition when the composition is in a dissolved state to consequently make it very difficult to control the storage of the solution.
Besides fluorine type liquid-repelling agents in a liquid state, liquid-repelling agents containing silicon are also known. However, silicon is found on the surface of the liquid-repellent film formed by a silicon-containing liquid-repelling agent so that the liquid-repelling effect of the film is reduced if the liquid-repellent film is abraded repeatedly.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
As a result of a series of intensive research efforts looking into the prior art, the inventors of the present invention came to find that the prior art surface-modifying techniques are insufficient for improving the liquid repellency to maintain the liquid-repelling effect of a liquid-repelling agent. Additionally, there is a strong demand not only in the field of ink-jet recording but also in various technological fields for improved surface-modifying methods that can enhance the liquid repellency of the surface to maintain the liquid-repelling effect. For instance, such improved methods will find applications in the field of treating the outer walls of buildings.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel polymer film that is based on a principle totally different from that of the known liquid-repelling agents used with the known surface-modifying methods and can easily modify the properties of the surface of an article, More specifically, such a polymer film can be formed on the surface of an article by application to improve the liquid repellency of the surface of the article to maintain the liquid-repelling effect.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a liquid-repellency treatment solution containing a novel polymeric compound that can be used for forming a polymer film according to the invention and showing an excellent liquid-repelling effect.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a novel macro-monomer that can be used for synthetically producing a polymeric compound that can by turn be used for forming a polymer film according to the invention and showing an excellent liquid-repelling effect and also a method of manufacturing a graft polymeric compound by using such a novel macro-monomer.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a surface-modifying method adapted to provide the surface of an article with a film coat that operates excellently in terms of liquid repellency and film formability as well as adhesion to articles, hardness and abrasion resistance, and also to provide a surface-modified article.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a surface-modifying method adapted to form an excellent film coat, which can be processed by using light energy such as an excimer laser.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an ink-jet recording head having an excellent discharge orifice plane in terms of liquid repellency (and, preferably, adhesion to the base material of the discharge orifice plane as well as hardness and abrasion resistance) prepared by applying a liquid-repelling agent according to the invention, in which the liquid repellency and the like can be maintained without being reduced by use, and also an Ink-jet recording apparatus comprising such an ink-jet recording head.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a discharge orifice plate to be used for an ink-jet recording head to easily obtain the latter having a discharge orifice plane provided with a highly liquid-repellent film coat preferably by using l
Ikegame Ken
Noguchi Hiromichi
LandOfFree
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