The present disclosure relates generally to the problem of achieving fast drying of a thermal inkjet ink on various substrates. There is currently a need for inkjet ink that dries quickly on non-porous and semi-porous materials.
Most of the thermal inkjet inks developed to date are designed to offer superior print quality on porous materials, such as paper (swellable and porous media) and cardboard, among others. These inks are fluids based predominantly in water, in combination with other specialty components, which include surfactants, biocides, humectants, and either a pigment or dye colorant or mixtures of both.
The drying mechanism of most water-based inkjet inks can be regarded as penetration driven, especially when applied to porous media. In contrast, the drying mechanism of inkjet inks on non-porous media is predominantly by evaporation of the ink components.
The use of aqueous-based inks for printing on porous, non-porous and semi-porous materials has been evaluated for industrial applications. Such industrial applications require the use of high speed printing and fast drying of the ink to meet the demands stemming from the high throughput required by the industrial situation. These can efficiently remove water from the printed media and consequently decrease the drying time of the ink. However, the heat radiators are expensive due to high energy costs. Furthermore, the heat has a negative impact on the properties of the media.
It has been found that media properties are altered when exposed to high heat conditions. For example, the media can lose its gloss, the paper can turn yellow, and the media can become deformed.
Fast drying ink compositions based on volatile ingredients have been reported using non-thermal inkjet technology. These include such inkjet technologies as piezoelectric inkjet (PIJ) and continuous inkjet (CIJ). Common ingredients found in these ink compositions include ketones (acetone, methylethylketone), esters (ethyl-, butyl- acetate), lower aliphatic chain alcohol (methanol), cyclic ethers (THF) and other highly volatile components used as the main solvent. However, the vast majority of these components has been regulated and has their use limited due to environmental considerations. Such environmental considerations relate to volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions and other environmental awareness initiatives. Furthermore, those skilled in the art recognize that the use of these types of ingredients in combination with thermal inkjet ink may have poor performance issues associated with poor drive bubble formation, decap-affected performance, materials compatibility problems, etc. Thus, inkjet inks compatible with thermal inkjet which are based on fast evaporating components have been unknown.
Features and advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure will become apparent by reference to the following detailed description and drawings, in which like reference numerals correspond to similar, though perhaps not identical, components.
The present inventors have found a need for a thermal inkjet ink that meets the demands of the industrial segment. Specifically, this ink should work well in high speed printing, have good print quality, and be fast drying without the need for using heat radiators.
As such, the present inventors disclose herein a fast drying inkjet ink technology based on a drop-on-demand (DOD) fluid dispenser, such as, in a non-limiting example, a thermal inkjet (TIJ) dispenser or a piezo inkjet (PIJ) dispenser, as opposed to non-drop-on-demand systems such as continuous inkjet (CIJ). Such drop on demand systems dispense inks having formulations including organic solvents and only a negligible amount of water. The water content in the presently described ink is absorbed by the solvent during bottling or storage and is considered not to exceed 5% by weight. The ink composition disclosed herein is substantially composed of a base solvent, a propellant, a decap additive, a surfactant, and a solvent-compatible colorant. A polymeric binder resin can also be included.
The term “decap control,” as referred to herein, means the ability of the inkjet ink to readily eject from the print head, upon prolonged exposure to air. The ink decap time is measured as the amount of time that an inkjet printhead may be left uncapped before the printer nozzles no longer fire properly, potentially because of clogging or plugging. Generally, nozzle(s) may become clogged (i.e. impeded, slowed) or plugged (i.e. obstructed, substantially or completely closed) by a viscous plug that forms in the nozzle(s) as a result of water loss, crusting of the ink, and/or crystallization of the dye in and/or around any of the nozzles. If a nozzle has become clogged, ink droplets ejected through the nozzle's orifice may be misdirected, which may adversely affect print quality. When an orifice is plugged, it becomes substantially or completely blocked. As a result of the nozzle being plugged, the ink droplets may not pass through the affected nozzle. Thus, the criteria for measuring failure to fire by a nozzle is that there is a misdirection of ink through the nozzle's orifice to a lesser or greater degree, or a complete blockage, which can be precisely indicated in a printed image on media printed by the nozzle. The clogging and plugging effect on nozzles and their ink printing performance can be tested by various methods. In its simplest form, one method involves printing a given test pattern with the printhead nozzles to verify their working condition. This is followed by exposing the nozzles to the air for a fixed time without printing or spitting the nozzles. Then, all of the nozzles are printed again in the given test pattern for the second time. The test patterns are then compared to determine the number of weak or misdirected nozzles. The specific effects of nozzle clogging and plugging with a particular ink and under particular conditions was tested according to the above procedures as described in Example 4. In the worst case, such nozzle clogging or plugging results in a complete failure to fire by the nozzle.
Suitable base solvents for use with the presently disclosed ink composition include, but are not limited to, ethanol, n-propanol, 2-propanol, 1-butanol, etc. The selection of the base solvents was conducted by evaluating the following thermo-physical properties: heat of vaporization (delta Hvap), boiling point and vapor pressure. Components with a heat of vaporization and boiling temperature closer to the value of water (40.65 kJoules/mole) were found to jet properly from a thermal inkjet printhead. Generally solvents having a heat of vaporization between 30 and 52 kJoules/mole had appropriate jetting qualities from a thermal inkjet printhead. It was found in the case of some components that they did not offer adequate jettability taken alone.
However, when a propellant with both low heat of vaporization and low boiling point was added to the solvent, this adjusted the thermophysical properties of the solvent. Non-limiting examples of such propellants include the following taken either individually or in combination: acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, ethyl acetate, or butyl acetate, The resultant mixture of base solvent and propellant became jettable with thermal inkjet.
Such propellants as linear esters (ethyl-, butyl-acetates), and ketones (e.g., acetone and methyl ethyl ketone), given as non-limiting examples above, have been found to interact with the thermal inkjet printhead materials of a limited number of some older model inkjet printers. Since such interaction and breakdown only occur for such printers when the propellants are used in the ink in proportions exceeding 40 weight %, such propellants are used in the ink at no more than 25 weight %. Therefore, such incompatibility problems no longer occur in any of the inkjet printhead materials tested when the ink has no more than 25 weight % propellant. In addition to the propellants, the ink also has a base solvent. The base solvent is usually present in the ink at a concentration of at least 40 weight %. Lower aliphatic chain alcohols such as ethanol, 2-propanol, n-propanol and 1-butanol showed optimum jettability performance in the present fast drying inkjet inks. They were thus selected, among others, as possible base solvents for the inks. When propellants were present at a percentage weight of between 15 and 25 weight % along with base solvents, the ink showed good effectiveness in drop on demand printing.
Additives to control decap were selected from components having a low to moderate vapor pressure (1-5 mm Hg at 25° C.) and a boiling point larger than the base solvent. Non-limiting examples of good decap-controlling additives include (among others): 1-methoxy-2-propanol, ethyl lactate, tert-butanol, tert-butyl acetate and 1-butanol. A low to moderate vapor pressure ensures that the decap-controlling additives are quickly removed from the printed ink, while maintaining a wet environment in the firing chamber area.
Fast removal by evaporation of the non-colorant ink components from the printed ink ensures that drop coalescence is minimized. Thus, a more uniform ink coverage is obtained particularly for low surface energy substrates (25 mN/m2 or less). If the base solvents/additive system is not removed quickly, the resultant printed image will show poor print quality due to a poor area fill. Surfactants are added to the ink formulations to improve wetting properties and to control surface tension gradients that result from the evaporation of the organic solvents. As surfactants, silicones (such as, for example, Silwet L7200, Silwet L7220 and Dow Corning 67), fluorosurfactants (such as, for example, Novec FC4430, Novec FC4432, Zonyl FSO) and dodecylbenzyl sulfonic acid (DBSA) have been found to be compatible with organic systems such as those described for the presently disclosed inkjet inks.
A polymeric resin may also be added to the ink formulation to improve durability of the printed ink.
Suitable colorants compatible with the organic systems include solvent dyes, which were obtained in their solid (powder) form or dissolved in an organic solvent such as n-propanol or a glycol ether mixture. N-propanol liquid dyes are the preferred solutions for the presently disclosed ink. Commercially available dyes sold in the liquid form in n-propanol base include Morfast K 101 and Morfast K DC manufactured by Sunbelt Corporation.
The above-described ink components in the presently disclosed ink compositions offered a drying time of less than 5 seconds in non-absorbent media, such as polypropylene packaging tape, as well as varnished and overcoated substrates (e.g., UV gloss, Aqueous Ni Coat Hi gloss, and others), and as well as other polymeric films such as polystyrene (PS), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), and others.
In addition, solvent removal of the printed ink was accelerated by means of in-line air drying, for example, by using axial cooling fans positioned in the high speed printer immediately following the printing engine. The inclusion of the in-line air drying systems can allow the best inks to be used. The drying tunnel can provide optimum conditions for evaporation of ink components. The drying systems can also maximize positive results with effects related to decap, recovery and coalescence control.
In summary, the presently described inks reflect the combination of current thermal inkjet technology with organic based ink compositions composed of fast evaporating components. These ink compositions offer consistent pen performance and bring long-term compatibility with thermal inkjet printhead materials. The presently described ink compositions provide fast drying (e.g., less than 5 seconds) on non-absorbent substrates. They also offer good print quality and adequate decap control performance and long term inkjet printhead recovery. Additionally, the inclusion of the solvent dyes brings the advantage of improved waterfastness due to the low solubility in water of the dyes. The incorporation of inline air drying via axial cooling fans was shown to accelerate solvent removal and decrease drying time.
Also depicted along with the fluid dispenser 16 in
Clause 1: A fast drying solvent-based inkjet ink composition for inkjet printing, the ink composition comprising at least 40 weight percent base solvent, a solvent-compatible colorant, propellant, a decap-controlling additive, and not more than 5 weight percent water;
To further illustrate embodiment(s) of the present disclosure, examples are given herein. It is to be understood that these examples are provided for illustrative purposes and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosed embodiment(s).
Base solvents were tested for jettability by using energy maps. The energy map is a graph of pulse width vs. applied voltage of a printhead. The energy map can be used to measure TOE (turn on energy). At the same time, it provides additional information regarding drop trajectory, and other issues such as spray and satellites. Good jettability can be associated with the production of uniform, dense blocks along the energy map matrix
The printer used to obtain these data included a 24 inch air-drying tunnel to ensure optimum conditions for the evaporation of the ink components.
In
Using the same printing system as Example 1, other ink mixtures were tested.
Five different fast-drying ink compositions were prepared. The compositions of Inks #1. #2. #3. #4. and #5 are given below in Tables 1 through 5 respectively.
The decap of Ink #3 and Ink #4 (formulations given above in Example 3) were measured to determine the time at which the first printer nozzle becomes weak or misdirected. First, the printhead was wiped off and all the nozzles were printed in a test pattern to verify that they were in working condition. The printhead was exposed to the air for a fixed time without printing or spitting. Then, all the nozzles were printed in a second test pattern. The test patterns before and after slewing were compared to determine the number of weak or misdirected nozzles after the given amount of time. The process was repeated with incrementally increasing time intervals. Inks with longer decap times can be left unused for longer periods of time without plugging the printer nozzles.
The results of this test are shown in
While several embodiments have been described in detail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the disclosed embodiments may be modified. Therefore, the foregoing description is to be considered exemplary rather than limiting.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/US08/79002 | 10/6/2008 | WO | 00 | 4/1/2011 |