Granted Patent B2

US 7,919,543 · App. 11/353,754 · Granted Apr 5, 2011

Abstract

Claims (42)

1. An inkjet ink composition, comprising:

a) a nitrocellulose polymer in an amount between about 0.1% to about 10% by weight of the inkjet ink composition;

b) ethyl lactate in an amount between about 10% to about 90% by weight of the inkjet ink composition;

c) at least one organic pigment dispersion, wherein the total amount of the pigment present in the inkjet ink composition is no greater than about 10% by weight of the inkjet ink composition;

d) a plurality of additives present in the composition comprising a wetting agent or a surfactant, and a UV absorption agent or a light stabilizing agent, wherein the total amount of additive in the ink composition is no greater than about 10% by weight of the inkjet ink composition:

e) at least one reactant in an amount no greater than 70% by weight of the inkjet ink composition, the reactant selected from the group consisting of a triacrylate, diacrylate, triacrylate ester and diacrylate ester; and

f) at least one photoinitiator selected from the group consisting of substituted or unsubstituted ketone and phosphine oxide,

wherein the inkjet ink composition has a viscosity of about 5 cP to about 20 cP at a jetting temperature in the range of about 40° C. to about 50° C.;

wherein the inkjet ink composition has a surface tension below 30 dynes/cm at about 25° C.

2. An inkjet ink composition, comprising:

a) a nitrocellulose polymer in an amount between about 0.1% to about 10% by weight of the inkjet ink composition;

b) ethyl lactate between about 10% to about 90% by weight of the inkjet ink composition; and

c) a plurality of additives present in the inkjet ink composition in an amount between about 0% to about 10% by weight of the inkjet ink composition, the additives comprising:

a surface tension modifying agent;

an ultraviolet light absorption agent;

a gloss agent selected from the group consisting of consisting of:

aminobenzoates,

secondary amines,

silicones,

waxes, and

morpholine adducts; and

a stabilizer comprising at least one of a heat stabilizer, an ultra-violet stabilizer, or a free-radical scavenger;

d) at least one reactant present in the ink jet ink composition in an amount no greater than 70% by weight of the ink composition, the reactant selected from the group consisting of a reactive monomer and a reactive oligomer, and

e) an organic pigment dispersion, wherein the total amount of the pigment present in the inkjet ink composition is no greater than about 30% by weight of the inkjet ink composition;

wherein the inkjet ink composition has a viscosity of about 5 cP to about 20 cP at a jetting temperature in the range of about 40° C. to about 50° C.;

wherein the inkjet ink composition has a surface tension below 30 dynes/cm at about 25° C.

3. The inkjet ink composition of claim 1 , wherein the at least one reactant is selected from the group consisting of a reactive dimer, a reactive trimer, a reactive oligomer having more than three functional groups, and a reactive hyper-branched monomer.

4. The inkjet ink composition of claim 2 , wherein the reactant is selected from the group consisting of triacrylate, diacrylate, triacrylate ester and diacrylate ester.

5. The inkjet ink composition of claim 2 , further comprising at least one photoinitiator.

6. The inkjet ink composition of claim 5 , wherein the total amount of photoinitiator present in the inkjet ink composition is no greater than about 25% by weight of the inkjet ink composition.

7. The inkjet ink composition of claim 2 , wherein the total amount of pigment present in the inkjet ink composition is no greater than about 15% by weight of the inkjet ink composition.

8. The inkjet ink composition of claim 2 , further comprising at least one additive selected from the group consisting of a defoaming agent, a deaerating agent, a wetting agent, a dispersing agent, an anticrater additive, and a light stabilizing agent.

9. A method of applying indicia to a substrate, comprising the steps of:

a) applying a stream of ink droplets to a substrate, using the inkjet ink composition of claim 2 ; and

b) electronically controlling application of the stream so that the ink droplets form at least one printed image on the substrate;

thereby applying indicia to the substrate.

10. The method of claim 9 , where the inkjet ink composition further comprises at least one photoinitiator.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the total amount of photoinitiator present in the inkjet ink composition is no greater than about 25% by weight of the inkjet ink composition.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the inkjet ink composition further comprises at least one additive selected from the group consisting of a defoaming agent, a deaerating agent, a wetting agent, a dispersing agent, an anticrater additive, a surface tension modifying agent, and a light stabilizing agent.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the total amount of additive present in the inkjet ink composition is no greater than about 10% by weight of the inkjet ink composition.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein a portion of the substrate on which the indicia is applied is constructed of glass, a polymer, paper, fabric, metal, or wood.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the substrate on which the indicia is applied is selected from the group consisting of polyethylene terephthalate glycol, polycarbonate, acrylic, polyester, polystyrene, polypropylene, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, and polyvinyl chloride.

Assignments (8)