Eastman-kodak Company

Kenneth J Ruschak

William D Devine

Lori J Shaw-Klein

Rukmini B Lobo

Terry C Schultz

Steven J Weinstein

James E Conroy

Elizabeth A Gallo

Bruce C Campbell

Lixin Chu

Barry A Fitzgerald

Christine M Vargas

Thomas P Nicholas

David A Wakefield

Douglas B Humby

Andrew Clarke

Andrew M Howe

Marcus Stephen Bermel

Douglas S Finnicum

Robert J Deprez

Terence D Blake

Charles R Salerno

Mark R Kurz

Robin D Wesley

Richard A Gilkey

Steven P McKeown

Charles Leo Bauer

Lisa Baxter Todd

Daniel J Suter

Solomon T Korokeyi

David W Gruszczynski, Ii

F Miguel Joos

Kurt S Hardenbrook

Jess A Anderson

Charles B Salerno

Jeffrey K Kroon

Terry Carl Schultz

Lori Jeanne Shaw-Klein

Thomas Peter Nicholas

Robin David Wesley

Andrew Michael Howe

Bruce Crinean Campbell

An inkjet printing system, comprises an inkjet printer, an ink composition, and an inkjet recording media comprising a support, and coated on the support in order from the support, a porous base layer and a porous uppermost layer, each with particular limitations The inkjet recording media and printer system is manufacturable using low-cost materials in an efficient process requiring only a single coating and drying step and that gives images with excellent gloss, color density, and image quality.

Inkjet recording media with cationically-modified clay particles

An inkjet printing system, comprises an inkjet printer, an ink composition, and an inkjet recording media comprising a support, and coated on the support in order from the support, a porous base layer, a porous intermediate layer, and a porous uppermost layer, each with particular limitations. The inkjet recording media and printer system is manufacturable using low-cost materials in an efficient process requiring only a single coating and drying step and that gives images with excellent gloss, color density and image quality.

An inkjet recording element comprising an absorbent support, a porous base layer nearest the support and comprising precipitated calcium carbonate, a porous ink-receiving intermediate layer above the base layer and comprising hydrated alumina, and a porous ink-receiving upper layer above the intermediate layer and comprising a mixture of hydrated and fumed alumina. Also disclosed is an advantageous method of making such inkjet recording materials.

Glossy inkjet recording element on absorbent paper

An inkjet recording element comprising an absorbent support, a porous base layer nearest the support, a porous ink-receiving intermediate layer above the base layer, and a porous ink-receiving upper layer above the intermediate layer. The base layer and intermediate layers are each present in an amount of at least 25 g/mand the total dry weight coverage of the base layer, the intermediate layer, and the upper layer is 60 to 130 g/min order to handle high fluxes of ink compositions during printing and to provide high gloss upon calendering. Also disclosed is an advantageous method of making such inkjet recording materials.

Glossy inkjet recording element on absorbent paper and capable of absorbing high ink flux

The invention relates generally to the field of inkjet recording media and inkjet printing methods. More specifically, the invention relates to a porous base layer of an inkjet recording element, the base layer comprising precipitated calcium carbonate having scalenohedral morphology.

Inkjet recording media comprising precipitated calcium carbonate

An apparatus and method for improving the uniformity of a liquid curtain in a coating system comprising a lip of a slide die wherein the lip includes a front surface on which a liquid composition flows by gravity. The apparatus comprises a ledge having a first, second, and third surface portion. The first surface portion is disposed intermediate the second and third surface portions, and is substantially horizontal. The second surface portion is contiguous with the first surface portion and upwardly inclined. The third surface portion is contiguous with the first surface portion and downwardly inclined away from the first and second surface portions. The apparatus further includes a positioning device for positioning the ledge and lip relative to each other (1) in a first orientation wherein the lip is disposed proximate the first surface portion whereby the liquid composition flows from the slide die onto the first surface portion, and (2) in a second orientation wherein the lip and the ledge are spaced from each other whereby the liquid composition forms a vertical liquid curtain in free fall.

Lip preparation apparatus and method for improving the uniformity of a liquid curtain in a curtain coating system

An ink jet recording element having a support having thereon an image-receiving layer of a polymeric network formed by a chemical reaction between a wet-strength polymer, amino-functionalized inorganic particles and a hydrophilic polymer other than a wet-strength polymer.

Ink jet recording element

A method and apparatus is disclosed for gravure coating a liquid reactive with the atmosphere onto a web. The gravure apparatus comprises an engraved gravure cylinder, an impression roller backing the web and pressing it onto the gravure cylinder to form a nip, a curtain or jet formation means to wet the surface of the gravure cylinder, and a doctor blade means for wiping excess coating liquid from the surface of the gravure cylinder prior to the nip. A shroud encompassing the gravure cylinder and the curtain or jet formation means creates a first zone between the nip and a partitioning baffle extending from the shroud, a second zone between the partitioning baffle and the doctor blade means, and a third zone between the doctor blade means and the nip. A gas non-reactive with the coating liquid is supplied to each zone by a gas distribution means such that the reaction rate of the coating liquid with the atmosphere is greatly reduced and the curtain or jet is not disrupted. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the gravure apparatus and shroud are enclosed by solid walls and doors.

Gravure method and apparatus for coating a liquid reactive to the atmosphere

An ink jet printing method having the steps of: A) providing an ink jet printer that is responsive to digital data signals; B) loading the printer with an ink jet recording element having a support having thereon an image-receiving layer of a polymeric network formed by a chemical reaction between a wet strength polymer, amino-functionalized inorganic particles and a hydrophilic polymer other than a wet-strength polymer; C) loading the printer with an ink jet ink composition; and D) printing on the ink jet recording element using the ink jet ink in response to the digital data signals.

Ink jet printing method

An ink jet recording element having a support having thereon a porous image-receiving layer with at least 30% by weight of particles and at least 30% by weight of a binder, the particles being a mixture of a) silica gel particles having an average particle size of greater than about 9 &mgr;m in diameter; and b) silica gel particles having an average particle size of between 1 and about 8 &mgr;m in diameter; wherein the ratio of the a) silica gel particles to the b) silica gel particles is from about 0.5 to about 5.

A catch pan apparatus for starting and stopping coating is disclosed for coating a downwardly moving receiving surface by curtain coating. The catch pan device includes an intercepting pan that intercepts the curtain when coating is stopped and a substantially horizontal intercepting surface that intercepts the curtain only when the catch pan moves to start or stop coating. The intercepting pan and horizontal intercepting surface intersect to create a volume that retains in the catch pan excess liquids that would otherwise spill onto the coating receiving surface as the catch pan is retracted to a non-intercepting position. The catch pan is controllably retracted at high speed through the curtain using linear servomotors such that the releasing edge of the horizontal intercepting surface passes close to the coating receiving surface at the point of curtain release. Flushed edge guides maintaining curtain width are positioned outside the lateral edges of the catch pan. The lateral edges of the intercepting pan have side walls that intercept edge portions of the curtain. The side walls project outward and upward and terminate with horizontal severing edges spaced closely to the edge guides. Edge portions of the curtain are thereby directed partly onto the intercepting pan and partly onto the edge guides for evacuation by the edge guide suction removal means.

Curtain coating startup apparatus

An improved method of thin film coating is taught that uses a multi-slot coating apparatus to apply multiple liquid layers to a moving substrate. The lowermost layer contacting the substrate is comprised of an organic solvent. The lowermost layer may be a single organic solvent or a blend of several organic solvents. Whether comprised of a single organic solvent or a blend of organic solvents, the viscosity of the lowermost layer is less than 1 cp and the wet thickness of the lowermost layer is not more than about 5 &mgr;m. Additional liquid layers are applied to the moving substrate on the top of the lowermost layer. This method allows for application of coatings at high substrate speeds. This method also allows for the reduction of coating artifacts caused by contamination of the surface of the die.

Slide bead coating with a low viscosity carrier layer

A method is taught for that allows for controlling and optimizing the level of adhesion between a multilayer composite applied to a support web. The method comprises the steps of selecting the support web with or without a subbing layer applied thereto; selecting an organic solvent that is substantially free of other constituents as a carrier layer; forming a multilayer composite including the carrier layer, the carrier layer being the lowermost layer thereof; applying the multilayer composite to the support web or the subbing layer; drying the multilayer composite on the support web, the carrier layer evaporating from the multilayer composite; testing the adhesive strength between the support web or subbing layer and the multilayer composite after drying; and repeating these steps until a desired level of adhesion is found.

Coating method for modifying adhesion of thin films to substrates

A versatile, multiple-slot, dual cavity, slide/extrusion hopper for assembling and coating a composite layer comprising a plurality of highly uniform, superposed compositions, and a method for determining the dimensions of the hopper are disclosed. The hopper is suitable for photographic applications and other applications requiring highly uniform layers. The hopper is versatile in that it can accommodate coating compositions that range from Newtonian to substantially shear thinning and in that fewer than the total number of elements may be supplied; the slide offsets between elements are suitable for both merging layers and for the top layer alone. The height of the secondary slot is preferably greater than the height of the primary slot. The method provides optimal cross-sectional shapes for the cavities. Versatility is achieved without greatly increasing the height or thickness of the elements. A formula is provided which gives a straightforward and useful way to determine and scale versatile designs and thereby eliminate much experimentation and reduce the number of coating hoppers required.

Optimized versatile coating hopper

A movable trough is taught for establishing a uniform wetting line on the rear face of a curtain coating hopper lip. The trough can be pivoted or moved linearly into a position such that the hopper lip resides in or proximate to the movable trough. The curtain coating apparatus is then started and the coating solution leaving the hopper lip is intercepted by the trough. The coating solution flowing over the lip fills and floods the movable trough. The flooding of the trough forces the coating solution to substantially wet (to a height on the back side of the lip significantly higher than that of natural product flow) the back side of the hopper lip. The movable trough is then retracted from its position immediately beneath the hopper lip and intercepting the coating solution exiting the hopper lip to thereby allow the free-falling curtain to form and begin impingement on the moving support web to be coated. As the curtain forms, the wetting line on the back of the hopper lip naturally retracts toward the tip of the hopper lip thereby forming a uniform wetting line and a uniform curtain.

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Rochester, NY, United States of America

Kenneth J Ruschak