Agfa Gevaert Nv

Agfa-gevaert

Agfa-gevaert Ag

Agfa-gavaert N.v.

Agfa-gevaert Aktiengsellschaft

Herman J Uytterhoeven

Wolfgang Podszun

Yvan K Gilliams

Johan August Loccufier

Geert H Defieuw

Carlo A Uyttendaele

August M Marien

Walter F De Winter

Luc H Leenders

Paul R Callant

Luc Bastiaens

Rolf Wehrmann

Joan T Vermeersch

Wilhelmus Janssens

Geert Deroover

Robert Horst Bloodworth

John W Goossens

Sabine Emmers

Luc Vissers

Marc Irene Van Damme

Carlhans Suling

Wolfgang Ebert

Jean-Marie O Dewanckele

Daniel M Timmerman

Michael Muller

Bartholomeus Cyriel Horsten

Leo Oelbrandt

Jan A Van Den Bogaert

Ronny De Clercq

Noel J De Volder

Wolfgang Richter

Roland F Beels

Philippe J Teyssie

Luc E Leemans

Gunther Hoffarth

Walter De Winter

Roger M Fayt

Christian Lindner

Horst Berneth

Luc J Vanmaele

Hans-Josef Laas

Harald Blum

Karl-Erwin Piejko

Serge M Tavernier

Roderich Raue

Marcel J Monbaliu

Ivan Hoogmartens

Walter Schafer

Josef Witte

Siegfried Korte

Etienne A Van Thillo

Rita Torfs

Stephan Michaelis

Hubert Vandenabeele

Emiel A Verdonck

Jan Gilleir

Karin Hassenruck

Hans Schulze

Peter Roschger

Nikolaas C De Jaeger

Guy Denis Jansen

Rafael P Samijn

Yves L Verburgh

Bart Horsten

Robert Cyriel Van Haute

Rudolf Van Den Bergh

Michael M Uller

Guy Michel Van Ackere

Rolf Dheim

Chris Van Roost

Jan A Van Der Bogaert

Emil Verdonck

A process for preparing a photothermographic material with increased photosensitivity, the photothermographic material comprising a support and a photo-addressable thermally developable element, exclusive of a compound R&#x2014;S(M)wherein R is an aliphatic hydrocarbon, aryl or heterocyclic group, M is a hydrogen atom, or cation, and letter n is a number determined so as to render the molecule neutral and also exclusive of a compound capable of releasing a mobile dye corresponding to or inversely corresponding to the reduction of silver halide to silver at elevated temperatures, the photo-addressable thermally developable element containing a photosensitive agent in catalytic association with a light-insensitive organic silver salt, a reducing agent for the light-insensitive organic silver salt in thermal working relationship therewith and a binder, comprising the steps of: (i) increasing the photosensitivity of a photosensitive silver halide by chemical sensitisation with a chemical sensitising merocyanine dye containing a thione group in a non-oxidative aqueous medium, optionally in the presence of the light-insensitive organic silver salt, thereby producing the photosensitive agent; (ii) coating the support with one or more aqueous solutions or dispersions together containing the light-insensitive organic silver salt, the photosensitive agent, the reducing agent and the binder; (iii) drying the coating or coatings thereby producing the photo-addressable thermally developable element.

Method for preparation of a photothermographic material with increased photosensitivity

A preparation process for a first aqueous dispersion comprising an ex-situ photosensitive silver halide and a substantially light-insensitive silver salt of an organic carboxylic acid, comprising the steps of: separately preparing a second aqueous dispersion comprising the ex-situ photosensitive silver halide and a third aqueous dispersion comprising the substantially light-insensitive silver salt of an organic carboxylic acid; and mixing the second aqueous dispersion with the third aqueous dispersion to produce a mixture thereof, characterized in that the first aqueous dispersion thereby produced is substantially free of a water-soluble metal or ammonium salt of an aliphatic carboxylic acid with greater than 12 carbon atoms and the process further comprises a step selected from the group consisting of: increasing the pH of the second aqueous dispersion to a value of at least 8.0 prior to mixing with the third aqueous dispersion; increasing the pH of the third aqueous dispersion to a value of at least 8.0 prior to mixing with the second aqueous dispersion; and increasing the pH of the mixture to a value of at least 8.0; the first aqueous dispersion obtainable therewith; and the use thereof in preparing a photo-addressable thermally developable element of a photothermographic material. A preparation process for a fourth aqueous dispersion is also provided.

Aqueous dispersion comprising photosensitive silver halide and a substantially light-insensitive silver salt of an organic carboxylic acid

A photothermographic recording material comprising a photo-addressable thermally developable element coatable from aqueous media comprising a substantially light-insensitive organic silver salt, photosensitive silver halide in catalytic association with the substantially light-insensitive organic silver salt and a reducing agent in thermal working relationship with the substantially light-insensitive organic silver salt and a binder, characterized in that the binder comprises a water-soluble polymer, a water-dispersible polymer or a mixture of a water-soluble polymer and a water-dispersible polymer and particles of the photosensitive silver halide are non-aggregating in the photo-addressable thermally developable element and are uniformly distributed over and between particles of the substantially light-insensitive organic silver salt, at least 80% by number of the particles having a diameter, determined by transmission electron microscopy, of &lE;40 nm; and a recording process therefor.

Photothermographic recording material

A process for producing an aqueous dispersion comprising: preparing a dispersion of photosensitive silver halide and a binder or a surfactant in an aqueous medium; and subsequently either (a) adding a first silver salt to the silver halide dispersion and then adding a second silver salt; or (b) adding the second silver salt to the silver halide dispersion and then adding the first silver salt, wherein the aqueous dispersion is substantially free of a water-soluble metal or ammonium salt of an aliphatic carboxylic acid with greater than 12 carbon atoms, the first silver salt is a substantially light-insensitive and substantially water-insoluble silver salt of an organic carboxylic acid, and the second silver salt has a water-solubility greater than 0.1 g in 1 L of water at 20&deg; C.; an aqueous dispersion obtainable therewith; a photothermographic recording material prepared with the aqueous dispersion; and a process for preparing the photothermographic recording material. In addition the use of the second silver salt for increasing the sensitivity of a photothermographic recording material is provided.

Photothermographic materials with increa sed photosensitivity

An aqueous dispersion comprising a binder or a surfactant, a substantially light-insensitive and substantially water-insoluble organic silver salt and a photosensitive silver halide, wherein the aqueous emulsion further comprises a sensitization agent selected from the group consisting of: tin(II) bromide, aminoiminomethane sulfinic acid, water-soluble salts of H PO , water-soluble salts of H PO , water-soluble SO salts and water-soluble HSO salts; and production process for therefor and a photothermographic recording material comprising a support and a photo-addressable thermally developable element, the photo-addressable thermally developable element fulfilling two requirements: (i) the photo-addressable thermally developable element contains a substantially light-insensitive and substantially water-insoluble organic silver salt, a reducing agent for the substantially light-insensitive and substantially water-insoluble organic silver salt and in thermal working relationship therewith, a photosensitive silver halide and a binder; and (ii) the photo-addressable thermally developable element comprises a layer obtainable by coating the above-mentioned aqueous dispersion onto the support.

Photothermographic recording material with increased photosensitivity

A process for preparing monosheet black and white photothermographic recording material, the photothermographic recording material being exclusive of a dye-providing compound and comprising a support and a photo-addressable thermally developable element, the photo-addressable thermally developable element being thermally developable under substantially water-free conditions and consisting of one or more layers, the layers together comprising photosensitive silver halide, a substantially light-insensitive organic silver salt, a reducing agent therefor in thermal working relationship therewith and a binder, comprising the steps of: (i) coating at least one of the one or more layers of the photo-addressable thermally developable from an aqueous medium; (ii) drying the layer or layers coated in step (i); and (iii) heating the photothermographic recording material at a temperature of at least 35&deg; C. in the dark for a period of at least 3 days; and a photothermographic recording material obtainable therewith.

Photothermographic recording materials with improved stability

A process for producing an aqueous dispersion I containing particles including a substantially light-insensitive organic heavy metal salt A with a solubility in 100 mL of water of less than 10,g at 20&deg; C. comprising the steps of: (i) producing an aqueous dispersion II containing particles containing a salt B with a solubility in 100 mL of water between 1.5 g and 0.001 g at 20&deg; C.; and (ii) converting the salt B in the particles of the aqueous dispersion II into the organic heavy metal salt A, wherein the organic heavy metal salt A and the salt B have a common cation; and a production process for thermographic and photothermographic materials therewith.

Photothermographic recording material coatable from an aqueous medium

A production method for a photothermographic recording material comprising the steps of: (i) providing a support; (ii) coating the support with a photo-addressable thermally developable element comprising a substantially light-insensitive organic silver salt, photosensitive silver halide in catalytic association with the substantially light-insensitive organic silver salt, a reducing agent in thermal working relationship with the substantially light-insensitive organic silver salt and a binder, characterized in that the photosensitive silver halide is formed by reacting an aqueous emulsion of particles of the substantially light-insensitive organic silver salt with at least one onium salt with halide or polyhalide anion(s) and that the photo-addressable thermally developable element is coated from an aqueous dispersion medium; and a recording process therefor.

Production method for a photothermographic material and a recording process

A photothermographic recording material comprising a support and a photo-addressable thermally developable element comprising photosensitive silver halide in catalytic association with a substantially light-insensitive silver salt of an organic carboxylic acid, an organic reducing agent for the substantially light-insensitive silver salt of an organic carboxylic acid in thermal working relationship therewith and a binder, characterized in that the binder is water soluble or water dispersible and the reducing agent is a non-sulfo-substituted 6-membered aromatic or heteroaromatic ring compound with at least three substituents one of which is a hydroxy group at a first carbon atom and a second of which is a hydroxy or amino-group substituted on a second carbon atom one, three or five ring atoms removed in a system of conjugated double bonds from the first carbon atom in the compound, in which (i) the third substituent may be part of an annelated carbocyclic or heterocyclic ring system; (ii) the third substituent or a further substituent is not an aryl- or oxo-aryl-group whose aryl group is substituted with hydroxy-, thiol- or amino-groups; and (iii) the third substituent or a further substituent is a non-sulfo-electron withdrawing group if the second substiuent is an amino-group and the photo-addressable thermally developable element is coated from an aqueous medium and is capable of producing stable images without a wet-processing step. A process for producing the photothermographic recording material and a photothermographic recording process therefor is also provided.

A production process for a photothermographic recording material thermally developable under substantially water-free conditions comprising the steps of: (i) providing a support; (ii) producing one or more aqueous dispersions or solutions containing together a substantially light-insensitive organic silver salt, photosensitive ex-situ silver halide in catalytic association with the substantially light-insensitive organic silver salt, a reducing agent in thermal working relationship with the substantially light-insensitive organic silver salt and a binder; (iii) coating the one or more aqueous dispersions or solutions onto the support to form layers which upon drying become a photo-addressable thermally developable element; and (iv) drying the layers, wherein the photo-addressable thermally developable element contains between 0.2 and 2.5 moles of in-situ photosensitive silver iodide per mole of ex-situ photosensitive silver halide produced by reacting particles of the substantially light-insensitive organic silver salt in an aqueous dispersion with a source of iodide ion; and a recording process therefor.

Photothermographic recording material with in-situ and ex-situ photosensitive silver halide and a substantially light-insensitive organic salt

A photothermographic recording material comprising a support and a photo-addressable thermally developable element comprising photosensitive silver halide in catalytic association with a substantially light-insensitive organic silver salt, an organic reducing agent for the substantially light-insensitive organic silver salt in thermal working relationship therewith and a water-soluble or water-dispersible binder, characterized in that the substantially light-insensitive organic silver salt is a silver salt of an organic carboxylic acid, the photo-addressable thermally developable element further comprises a non-ionic or anionic surfactant and the photo-addressable thermally developable element is coatable from an aqueous medium and is capable of producing stable images without a wet-processing step; a process for producing the photothermographic recording material and a photothermographic recording process therefor.

Photothermographic recording material coatable from an acqueous medium

A process for producing a photothermographic recording material having a support and a photo-addressable thermally developable element containing photosensitive silver halide in catalytic association with a substantially light-insensitive silver salt of an organic carboxylic acid, an organic reducing agent for the substantially light-insensitive silver salt of an organic carboxylic acid in thermal working relationship therewith and a binder including a water-soluble binder, a water-dispersible binder or a mixture of a water-soluble binder and a water-dispersible binder, comprising the steps of: (i) producing an aqueous dispersion or aqueous dispersions containing photosensitive silver halide, a substantially light-insensitive silver salt of an organic carboxylic acid, an organic reducing agent for the substantially light-insensitive silver salt of an organic carboxylic acid and a binder including a water-soluble binder, a water-dispersible binder or a mixture of a water-soluble binder and a water-dispersible binder; (ii) coating the aqueous dispersion or aqueous dispersions onto a support thereby forming a photo-addressable thermally developable element on the support, wherein at least 80 mol % of the photosensitive silver halide is silver iodide and the aqueous dispersion further contains or the aqueous dispersions further contain a diazine compound.

A photothermographic recording material comprising a support and a photo-addressable thermally developable element comprising photosensitive siver halide in catalytic association with a substantially light-insensitive silver salt of an organic carboxylic acid, an organic reducing agent for the substantially light-insensitive silver salt of an aliphatic carboxylic acid in thermal working relationship therewith and a binder, characterized in that the binder comprises a non-proteinaceous water-soluble binder, a non-proteinaceous water-dispersible binder (preferably a comprising a diene, styrene, an acrylate or a methacrylate monomer) or a mixture of a non-proteinaceous water soluble binder and a non-proteinaceous water-dispersible binder and the photo-addressable thermally developable element is capable of being coated from an aqueous medium and is capable of producing images stable to light without a wet-processing step; a process for producing the photothermographic recording material and a photo-thermographic recording process therefor.

Photothermographic recording material coated from an aqueous medium

A thermographic recording material is provided by the present invention comprising on the same side of a support, called the heat-sensitive side, a thermosensitive element and a outermost layer which contains a cured polymer or cured polymer composition and colloidal silica, wherein the colloidal silica is substantially present in its acidified form and the outermost layer further contains a buffer with a pH between 2 and 7 consisting of at least one acid and at least one non-metallic salt of an acid; a method of recording an image therewith and a production process therefor.

Thermographic recording material comprising an outermost layer suitable

A photothermographic recording material comprising a photo-addressable thermally developable element including a substantially light-insensitive organic silver salt, photosensitive silver halide in catalytic association with the substantially light-insensitive organic silver salt, in a quantity of 0.1 to 35 mol % relative to the organic silver salt and spectrally sensitized to infra-red light with a dye, a supersensitizer for the dye, a reducing agent in thermal working relationship with the substantially light-insensitive organic silver salt and a binder, wherein the binder comprises a water soluble polymer, a water-dispersible polymer or a water soluble polymer and a water-dispersible polymer and the dye is represented by formula (I): ##STR1## wherein Z.sup.1 and Z.sup.2 independently represent S, O or Se; R.sup.1 and R.sup.17 are independently each an alkyl or sulfo-alkyl group which may be substituted with at least one fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine or an alkoxy-, aryloxy- or ester-group; and X represents an anion.

Photothermographic material comprising an infra-red sensitizer

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Bonheiden, Belgium

Herman J Uytterhoeven