Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Methods – Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-20
2002-08-27
Lorengo, J. A. (Department: 1734)
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Methods
Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
C156S240000, C156S247000, C156S277000, C156S289000, C427S148000, C428S480000, C428S481000, C428S913000, C428S914000, C525S437000, C525S444000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06440250
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an process for laminating ink jet prints with a transferable protection layer.
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 ink jet recording element typically comprises a support having on at least one surface thereof a base layer for absorbing fluid and 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.
Ink jet prints prepared by printing onto ink jet recording elements are subject to environmental degradation such as water smearing and light fade. For example, since ink jet dyes are water-soluble, they can migrate from their location in the ink-receiving layer when water comes in contact with the recording element after imaging.
To reduce the vulnerability of prints to degradation and to enhance gloss, ink jet prints are often laminated. Typically, such conventional lamination is a process whereby a continuous polymeric film bearing an adhesive is brought into contact with the surface of the print. Heat and/or pressure is then used to affix the continuous polymeric film to the print surface. The continuous polymeric film then serves as a barrier layer that is impermeable to water and further acts to diminish the fading of the print image caused by light.
However, there is a problem with prior art laminating films since they are typically supplied in roll format and must be cut, or less desirably torn, to separate the laminated print from the continuous roll of laminating film. A requirement to cut adds expense to a laminator design that is required to run in a continuous mode.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,976 discloses an assembly for creating laminated cards which comprises a sheet of card stock with a release coating and a sheet of laminating film adhering to the release coating. A card form is cut into the sheet of card stock, and a lamination strip, which is sufficiently large to fold over so as to laminate both surfaces of the card, is cut into the lamination sheet. After printing, the card and the lamination strip are removed, and the lamination strip folded over to laminate the card. However, there is a problem with this laminating film in that expensive cutting and perforating steps are required to prepare the laminated card.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,387,573 discloses a dye-donor element for thermal dye transfer comprising a support and a transferable protection layer wherein the transferable protection layer is less than about 1 &mgr; thick and contains particles in an amount of up to about 75% of the transferable protection layer. However, there is no disclosure in this patent that the protection layer can be used with ink jet prints.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,087,051 relates to an ink jet recording element containing a protective overcoat layer of an aqueous polyurethane resin or an aqueous polyacryl resin. In addition, there are comparison examples in that patent which use a polyester resin, and the aqueous polyurethane resin and polyacryl resins are said to have advantages over the polyester resin. However, there are problems using a polyurethane resin or an aqueous polyacryl resin in that these resins have to be synthesized from virgin raw materials and the resins cannot be recycled.
It is an object of the invention to provide a process for laminating ink jet prints wherein the protection layer is sufficiently thick to protect ink jet images from degradation by water, and yet can be employed without resort to expensive cutting steps. It is still another object to provide a process that allows for the direct visual distinction between laminated and unlaminated regions of the print.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
These and other objects are provided by the present invention which comprises a process for laminating an ink jet print comprising:
a) providing an ink jet print comprising a support having thereon an ink jet image;
b) contacting the imaged surface of the ink jet print with a transfer laminating element to form a composite, the transfer laminating element comprising a flexible, polymeric support having thereon a protection layer of a water-dispersible, hydrophobic polyester resin having the following general formula:
I
n
-P-A
m
wherein
I is an ionic group;
n is an integer from 1-3;
P is a polyester backbone;
A is an aliphatic group comprising a straight or branched chain fatty acid or triglyceride thereof having from about 6 to about 24 carbon atoms, and
m is an integer from 3-8;
c) applying heat and pressure to the composite to transfer the layer on top of the ink jet image;
d) allowing the composite to cool; and
e) peeling the flexible, polymeric support of the transfer laminating element from the composite to form the laminated ink jet print.
In using the process of the invention, the durability of an ink jet image is improved using the transfer layer described above.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The transfer laminating element employed in the invention comprises a flexible, polymeric support having thereon a protection layer of a water-dispersible, hydrophobic polyester resin as described above.
The flexible, polymeric support used in the invention can be, for example, various plastics including a polyester-type resin such as poly(ethylene terephthalate), poly(ethylene naphthalate), polycarbonate resins, polystyrene resins, polysulfone resins, methacrylic resins, cellophane, acetate plastics, cellulose diacetate, cellulose triacetate, vinyl chloride resins and polyester diacetate. The thickness of the support may be, for example, from about 6 to about 500 &mgr;m, preferably from about 6 to about 50 &mgr;m. In a preferred embodiment, the support is a transparent poly(ethylene terephthalate) film.
The water-dispersible, hydrophobic polyester resin in the protection layer has the formula as illustrated above. The ionic groups I in the above formula which provide the polymer with water-dispersibility are typically derived from a carboxylic acid group which is introduced into the resin by polyacid monomers such as trimellitic anhydride, trimellitic acid, or maleic anhydride or sulfonate groups which come from monomers such as dimethyl 5-sulfoisophthalate, dimethyl 5-sulfo, 1,3-benzenedicarboxylate, sulfoisophthalate ethylene glycol, dihydroxyethyl-5-sulfo-1,3-benzenedicarboxylate, or from sulfonated alkenically unsaturated end groups as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,281,630, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. The weight percent of ionic monomers in the resin is from 1% to 20%, but 1% to 10% is preferred.
The backbone P of the polymer in the above formula is composed of polyester groups. It can be any linear or branched polyester made using polyacids and polyalcohols. The weight percent of the polyester backbone ingredients range from 30-80% of the whole resin, with the most preferred being 50-60% by weight. Examples of aromatic dicarboxylic acids useful in the backbone polyester polymer, P, employed in the invention include, but are not limited to terephthalic, isophthalic, phthalic, and 2,6-naphthoic, succinic, glutaric, adipic, 1,4-cyclohexane dicarboxylic, maleic, fumaric, and azelaic. The polyalcohol component of the polyester can be virtually any dihydroxy functional compound. Aliphatic and alicyclic glycols would be the most useful. Useful glycols include, but are not limited to, ethylene glycol, 1,3-propylene glycol, 1,2-propylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, tripropylene glycol, 1,4-butanediol, 1,5-pentanediol, 1,6-hexanediol, cyclohexanedimethanol, diethylene glycol, and triethylene glycol.
T
Dawson Susan L.
DeMejo Lawrence P.
Romano, Jr. Charles E.
Cole Harold E.
Eastman Kodak Company
Lorengo J. A.
LandOfFree
Process for laminating ink jet print with a... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Process for laminating ink jet print with a..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Process for laminating ink jet print with a... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2929778