Ink composition and ink - jet recording method

• US 20030232902A1
• Filed: 12/18/2002
• Published: 12/18/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 01/18/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co Limited (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co Limited (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Ishii, Yoshio, Takahashi, Osamu, Yabuki, Yoshiharu, Deguchi, Yasuaki
• Application Number:
  US10/321,512
• Publication Number:
  US 20030232902A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 523/160
• CPC Class Codes: B41M 7/00 After-treatment of prints, e.g. heating, irradiating, setting of the ink, protection of the printed stock pre-treatment or treatment during printing B41M5/0011; printers for treating or overcoating copy materials before, during or after printing B41J11/0015
• CPC Class Codes: C09D 11/30 Inkjet printing inks
• CPC Class Codes: C09D 11/328 characterised by dyes
• CPC Class Codes: C09D 11/40 Ink-sets specially adapted for multi-colour inkjet printing

Abstract

An ink composition containing colored particles produced by mixing together a solution containing a hydrophobic dye, a hydrophobic polymer, an organic solvent with a high boiling point and a water solubility of 4 g or below, and an auxiliary solvent with a boiling point of 200° C. or below and a water solubility below 25 g, and an aqueous medium for emulsification and dispersion, and subsequently removing the auxiliary solvent, where the mean particle size of the colored particles is 0.01 to 0.5 μm with a coefficient of variation of the particle size within 45%, and a specific gravity thereof is 0.9 to 1.2. Also, the ink-jet recording method comprising: jetting an ink composition containing colored particles which contain at least one hydrophobic dye and at least one hydrophobic polymer on as image-receiving material to record images and subjecting the colored particles to a heating process and/or pressurizing process to melt and fix the colored particles.

Claims

1. An ink composition containing colored particles produced by mixing together a solution containing at least one hydrophobic dye, at least one hydrophobic polymer, at least one organic solvent with a high boiling point and a water solubility of 4 g or below, and at least one auxiliary solvent with a boiling point of 200°

C. or below and a water solubility of 25 g or below, and an aqueous medium for emulsification and dispersion, and subsequently removing the auxiliary solvent, where in the mean particle size of the colored particles is 0.01 to 0.5 μ

m with a coefficient of variation of the particle size within 45%, and the specific gravity thereof is 0.9 to 1.2.

2. The ink composition according to claim 1, where in the hydrophobic dye contains at least one compound selected from the group consisting of compounds represented by the following general formula I, compounds represented by the following general formula II, compounds represented by the following general formula Y-I, compounds represented by the following general formula M-I, and compounds represented by the following general formula C-I;

14. The ink-jet recording method according to claim 4, wherein the ink composition is the ink composition of claim 1.

15. The ink-jet recording method according to claim 4, wherein the ink composition is the ink composition of claim 2.

16. The ink-jet recording method according to claim 5, wherein the ink composition is the ink composition of claim 1.

17. The ink-jet recording method according to claim 5, wherein the ink composition is the ink composition of claim 2.

18. The ink-jet recording method according to claim 7, wherein the ink composition is the ink composition of claim 1.

19. The ink-jet recording method according to claim 9, wherein the ink composition is the ink composition of claim 1.

20. An ink-jet recording method according to claim 11, wherein the ink composition is the ink composition of claim 1.

3. An ink-jet recording method comprising:

jetting an ink composition containing colored particles which contain at least one hydrophobic dye and at least one hydrophobic polymer on as image-receiving material to record images; and

subjecting the colored particles to a heating process and/or pressurizing process to melt and fix the colored particles.

4. The ink-jet recording method according to claim 3, where the hydrophobic dye contains at least one compound selected from the group consisting of compounds represented by the following general formula I, compounds represented by the following general formula II, compounds represented by the following general formula Y-I, compounds represented by the following general formula M-I, and compounds represented by the following general formula C-I;

5. The ink-jet recording method according to claim 3, the method including jetting an ink composition containing colored particles which contain at least one hydrophobic dye and at least one hydrophobic polymer, on the image-receiving material, which possesses at least one porous resin layer containing a thermoplastic hydrophobic polymer particles on a support to record images and subsequently subjecting the colored particles and the porous resin layer to a heating process and/or a pressurizing process to fuse and fix the colored particles.

6. The ink-jet recording method according to claim 4, the method including recording on the image-receiving material which possesses at least one porous resin layer containing a thermoplastic hydrophobic polymer particle on a support, using an ink composition containing a colored particle with at least one hydrophobic dye and at least one hydrophobic polymer, the method further including forming an image on the image-receiving material by jetting the ink composition and subsequently subjecting the colored particle and the porous resin layer to a heating process and/or a pressurizing process to fuse and fix the colored particle.

7. The ink-jet recording method according to claim 5, wherein the mean particle size of the thermoplastic hydrophobic polymer particles is larger than the mean particle size of the colored particles.

8. The ink-jet recording method according to claim 6, wherein the mean particle size of the thermoplastic hydrophobic polymer particles is larger than the mean particle size of the colored particles.

9. The ink-jet recording method according to claim 7, wherein the relation between the mean particle size d₁ (μ

m) of the colored particles and the mean particle size d₂ (μ

m) of the thermoplastic hydrophobic polymer particles is 2<

d₂/d₁<

100.

10. The ink-jet recording method according to claim 8, wherein the relation between the mean particle size d₁ (μ

m) of the colored particles and the mean particle size d₂ (μ

m) of the thermoplastic hydrophobic polymer particles is 2<

d₂/d₁<

100.

11. The ink-jet recording method according to claim 5, wherein the thermoplastic hydrophobic polymer particles and the hydrophobic polymer contained in the colored particles have at least one monomer unit in common.

12. The ink-jet recording method according to claim 7, wherein the thermoplastic hydrophobic polymer particles and the hydrophobic polymer contained in the colored particles have at least one monomer unit in common.

13. The ink-jet recording method according to claim 9, wherein the thermoplastic hydrophobic polymer particles and the hydrophobic polymer contained in the colored particles have at least one monomer unit in common.