Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Ink jet stock for printing – Gelatin ink receptive layer
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-21
2004-04-13
Hess, B. Hamilton (Department: 1774)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Ink jet stock for printing
Gelatin ink receptive layer
C428S032240, C428S032380
Reexamination Certificate
active
06720043
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to an ink receptor for ink jet printers, and more particularly, to ink receptor containing a combination of gelatin binder and a saccharide as additive agent to improve glossiness.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Ink jet printing has become increasingly popular, particularly for so-called “desk-top publishing”, because of its capability to produce small volumes of printed matter from digital input at high throughput speeds. Recent equipment developments have led to the introduction of multi-color ink jet printers that integrate colored graphics and text. To some extent, however, the applications of ink jet printing have been limited due to the demanding requirements the ink receptors must meet in order to provide high quality text and graphics.
Glossiness is associated with the capacity of a surface to reflect more light in some directions than in others and is defined as the quantity of reflected light measured at a predetermined angle (generally at 20°, 60° or 85°) respect to incident light and is expressed in percentage.
JP Patent Application 5-16517, 2-289375 and 6-64306, DE Patent Application 2,234,823, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,804 disclose methods in which gelatin is used in ink-receiving layers of ink-jet receiving sheets. From these, it has become clear that gelatin has an advantageous function for the absorption of ink solvents. The gelatin is to improve smudge resistance and increase definition quality.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,599 discloses a receiving material for ink-jet printing including a polyolefin coated base paper and an ink receiving layer applied on the front face thereof, and the receiving layer containing a mixture of gelatin and starch of a grain size of less than about 20 &mgr;m, and wherein the ratio of gelatin to starch ranges from 1:1 to 10:1. The receiving material so produced has a glossy surface achieved by as few work processes as possible, avoiding the necessity for additional smoothing processes. One of the forms preferred for the ink receiving layer additionally contains a copolymer containing polar groups such as an acrylate copolymer containing carboxyl groups, metal combined carboxyl groups and/or nitrile groups or a carboxylized vinylidene copolymer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,804,320 discloses a receiving medium which comprises an ink-receiving layer comprising a pigment and an alkali-process gelatin, wherein said gelatin has no sol-gel reversibility at room temperature and has an average molecular weight within the range from 50,000 to 150,000. High image density and resolution, sharp color tone and good ink absorptivity are obtained.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,254,403 describes a receiving sheet which comprises a substrate and an image receiving layer comprising a mixture of (a) a polymer (b) a polysaccharide; and (c) a polymer containing oxyalkylene monomers to provide receiving sheets that enable the formation of images with high optical density with minimum intercolor bleed.
EP Patent Application 667,245 describes receiving sheets for ink jet printing containing monosaccharides, oligosaccharides or alcohols, having rapid drying times and being resistant to curling.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,843 discloses an ink receiving sheet forming quick-drying, water-resistant, light-stable ink prints with aqueous inks. The material comprises a support such as a polyester film and a coated layer containing a water-soluble mordant that forms insoluble compounds with and immobilizes the dyestuffs of the inks and a hardened polymer, preferably, hardened gelatin, which contains polymeric beads that protrude from the layer. A highly preferred hardenable polymer is gelatin. Other preferred polymers include chitosan and 100% hydrolyzed polyvinyl alcohol. Chitosan is a linear biopolymer, specifically a polysaccharide which comprises two monosaccharides, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and D-glucosamine linked by &bgr;-glycosidic bonds. Said polymers can yield a finished surface of high gloss.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,930 discloses a thermosensitive receiving material containing a mono-, oligo- or polysaccharide and a catalyst in one or more binder layers arranged on a transparent support. A black-and-white image with high optical density, good gray step reproduction, great sharpness and good stability is formed when the material is heated imagewise, e.g. by means of a thermohead.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an ink jet receiving sheet comprising a support and at least one ink receiving layer, wherein said ink receiving layer comprises a binder selected from the group consisting of gelatin and gelatin derivatives and at least one saccharide derivative selected from the group consisting of mono-, oligo-, or poly-saccharides as additive agent to improve glossiness.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A first essential element of the ink jet receiving sheet according to the present invention is the use of gelatin or gelatin derivatives as binder component of the ink receiving layer(s).
Any gelatin made from animal collagen can be used, but gelatin made from pig skin, cow skin or cow bone collagen is preferable. The kind of gelatin is not specifically limited, but lime-processed gelatin, acid processed gelatin, amino group inactivating gelatin (such as acetylated gelatin, phthaloylated gelatin, malenoylated gelatin, benzoylated gelatin, succinoylated gelatin, methyl urea gelatin, phenylcarbamoylated gelatin, and carboxy modified gelatin), or gelatin derivatives (for example, gelatin derivatives disclosed in JP Patent Publications 38-4854/1962, 39-5514/1964, 40-12237/1965, 42-26345/1967 and 2-13595/1990, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,525,753, 2,594,293, 2,614,928, 2,763,639, 3,118,766, 3,132,945, 3,186,846 and 3,312,553 and GB Patents 861,414 and 103,189) can be used singly or in combination.
The gelatin binder is preferably added to the ink receiving layer(s) in a total amount of from 1 to 20 g/m
2
, and more preferably from 2 to 10 g/m
2
. When preparing the ink jet receiving sheet by coating a plurality of ink receiving layers, each ink receiving layer comprises an amount of gelatin binder ranging from 0.5 to 10 g/m
2
.
The second essential element according to the present invention is the use of mono-, oligo-, and poly-saccharides as additive agents to improve glossiness in the ink receiving layer(s). The saccharide derivatives can comprise a recurring unit comprising five or six carbon atoms. The saccharide derivatives can be hydrogenated or non-hydrogenated. Preferred recurring units include, for example, glucose, xylose, mannose, arabinose, galactose, sorbose, fructose, fucose, adonitol, arbitol, inositol, xylitol, dulcitol, iditol, lactitol, mannitol, sorbitol, and the like. The average molecular weight of the saccharide derivatives ranges from 1,000 to 500,000, preferably from 1,000 to 30.000.
Hydrogenated and non-hydrogenated saccharide derivatives useful in the present invention are commercially available, for example, under the trade designation POLYSORB™ or GLUCIDEX™, from Roquette, Lille, France. The preparation of hydrogenated and non-hydrogenated saccharides usually starts from natural products (such as starch, agar, tragacanth gum, xanthan gum, guar gum, and the like) by means of enzymatic processes (to reduce the average molecular weight) and of reducing processes (to saturate the molecule, in case of hydrogenated saccharides).
The above mentioned saccharide derivatives are added to the ink receiving layer(s) in an amount ranging from 0.1 to 5 g/m
2
, preferably from 0.5 to 3 g/m
2
. When preparing the ink jet receiving sheet by coating a plurality of ink receiving layers, each ink receiving layer comprises an amount of saccharide derivatives ranging from 0.05 to 2.5 g/m
2
.
Examples of suitable polysaccharides as additive agents to improve glossiness include (1) cellulose ester salts, such as sodium salts of cellulose phosphate ester (including those available from James River Chemicals), cellulose phosphate, available from CTC organics, sodium cellulose sulfate, available from Janssen Chimica, cellulose carbonate, available fro
Loviglio Giuseppe
Marinelli Domenico
Novelli Andrea
Sismondi Alain Dominique
Ferrania S.p.A.
Hess B. Hamilton
Mark A. Litman & Assoc. P.A.
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