Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Fluid or fluid source handling means
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-06
2004-05-04
Meier, Stephen D. (Department: 2853)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Fluid or fluid source handling means
C347S105000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06729718
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for obtaining an image having outstanding coloring ability and uniformity of color by applying an ink containing a coloring material and a liquid composition containing fine particles to a recording medium using an ink-jet system etc.
2. Related Background Art
The ink-jet recording method conducts recording by ejecting ink to apply the ink onto a recording medium such as paper. It is easy to realize a head having high-density multiple orifices, and that forms high-resolution and high-quality images at high speed by using an ink jet recording method where an ink droplet is ejected by the action of a bubble formed in the ink by applying thermal energy to the ink by using an electrothermal converter as an ejection-energy supply means as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 61-59911, 61-59912 and 61-59914.
In general, conventional inks for ink-jet recording contain water as a principal component, and in addition, a water-soluble solvent of a high boiling point such as glycol to prevent drying and clogging at orifices. When such an ink is used for recording on a recording medium, sometimes there arises problems such as insufficient fixation, and uneven image presumably due to the uneven distribution of a filler and/or a size on the surface of the recording medium such as paper. Besides, image quality as high as the silver salt photograph has recently become required for ink-jet recording, leading to intense technical demands for high image density, wide color reproduction range and enhanced color evenness on ink-jet recording.
Under such circumstances, various proposals have heretofore been made to stabilize the ink-jet recording process and to enhance the quality of articles recorded by the ink-jet recording process. One of the proposals on the recording medium is to coat the surface of a base paper of the recording medium with a filler and/or a size. For example, there has been disclosed a technique to form an ink receiving layer on the base paper by applying porous fine particles that adsorb a coloring material on the base paper as a filler. Recording media produced by using these techniques are now on market as the ink-jet coating paper etc.
Under such circumstances, in order to aim at stabilizing an ink-jet recording method, and improving quality of a recorded article by ink-jet recording method, various proposals have been made until now. Some of the typical examples will be summarized below.
(1) A method in which a volatile solvent and a penetrating solvent are added into an ink;
a method is disclosed in which a compound increasing penetrating property of a surface active agent etc. is added into an ink as means accelerating fixing ability of the ink to a recording medium in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 55-65269. Moreover, use of an ink comprising a volatile solvent as a main component is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 55-66976.
(2) a method in which an ink and a liquid composition reacting with the ink are mixed on a recording medium;
a method is disclosed in which a liquid composition increasing quality of an image is applied on a recording medium before or after ejection of the ink for forming a recording image for enhancing image density of an image, for improving water proof property, and further for controlling bleeding.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-60783 discloses a method in which a liquid composition containing a basic polymer is applied to a recording medium, and an ink containing an anionic dye is then applied thereto, thereby conducting recording. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-22681 discloses a recording method in which a first liquid composition containing a reactive chemical species and a second liquid composition containing a compound reactive with the chemical species are mixed on the recording medium. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-299971 discloses a method in which a liquid composition containing an organic compound having two or more cationic groups per molecule is applied to the recording medium, and recording is then conducted with an ink containing an anionic dye. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-9279 discloses a method in which an acidic liquid composition containing succinic acid or the like is applied to a recording medium, and recording is then conducted with an ink containing an anionic dye.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-63185 discloses a method in which a liquid composition that can insolubilize dyestuff is applied to paper prior to application of an ink. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-224955 discloses a method in which a liquid composition containing cationic substances different in molecular weight distribution range from each other is used together with an ink containing anionic compound. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-72393 discloses a method in which a liquid composition containing a cationic substance and finely ground cellulose is used together with an ink. In both publications, it is shown that the obtained image is excellent in image density, character quality, water fastness, color reproducibility and bleeding problem. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 55-150396 discloses a method in which recording is conducted with a dye ink on a recording medium, and a water-proofing agent that forms a color lake with the dye is then applied to make the resulting recorded image water proof.
(3) A method in which an ink and a liquid composition containing fine particles are mixed on a recording medium;
in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-259590, a method is disclosed in which a nonaqueous recording liquid is adhered after a colorless liquid containing colorless fine particles comprising an inorganic material is applied on a recording medium, and in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-92010, a method is disclosed in which an ink containing pigments, water soluble resins, and water soluble solvents and water is applied on a recording medium after a solution containing fine particles or a solution containing fine particles and binder polymer. Both of the examples indicate that an image that exhibits a good printing quality and a good coloring ability is obtained not depending on the type of paper.
The present inventors has conducted repeated examinations for various kinds of the above described ink-jet recording technology, and as a result, found that in some case an excellent effect for each technical subject was confirmed, but other ink-jet recording characteristics were deteriorated in exchange for it. For example, it is well known that the above-described recording medium obtained by coating the surface of the base paper of the recording medium with a filler and/or a size (hereinafter referred to as coated paper) enables formation of high-quality images.
In general, in order to obtain an image of high saturation, it is known that the coloring material should be maintained in a monomolecular film state without aggregation on the surface of the recording medium, for which purpose the porous fine particles on the coated paper serve. However, in order to obtain images of both high density and high saturation with a given ink containing a coloring material, it is indispensable to form an ink-receiving layer as thick as the paper substrate is, covered with a large amount of the porous fine particles for a coloring matter, thus leading to the loss of the texture of the base paper. The present inventors thought that the reason why such a thick ink-receiving layer is required is that the coloring matter is not effectively adsorbed on the porous fine particles.
The following explanation is made assuming coated paper having one ink-receiving layer.
FIG. 9
schematically illustrates a section of a coated paper in the vicinity of the surface thereof. In
FIG. 9
, reference numerals
901
and
903
indicate a base paper and an ink-receiving layer,
Goto Fumitaka
Kato Masao
Nakazawa Koichiro
Shirota Katsuhiro
Tomioka Hiroshi
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