Kao Corporation

Think Laboratory Co., Ltd.

Yuta Matsumoto

Yasufumi Ueda

Tatsuo Shigeta

Ryuma Mizushima

Kazuki Watanabe

Azusa Kuroda

Takahiro Sato

Daniel Sandker

Todd Tritcak

Kazuki Ishida

An inkjet ink that includes (A) a terpene resin made from α-pinene and (B) methyl ethyl ketone, which is characterized by extended decap times as well as quick drying properties when applied onto a substrate. A printed article including the inkjet ink in dried form, and a method of forming a printed image with a thermal inkjet printhead are also provided.

Inkjet inks

An inkjet ink that includes (A) a terpene phenol resin having a hydroxyl value of 46 to 150 mgKOH/g, (B) ethanol, and (C) 1-propanol. A printed article including the inkjet ink in dried form, and a method of forming a printed image with a thermal inkjet printhead are also provided.

The present invention relates to a water-based ink containing a pigment (A), a water-soluble organic solvent (C), a surfactant (D) and water, in which a content of water in the water-based ink is not less than 40% by mass and not more than 65% by mass, a boiling point of the water-soluble organic solvent (C) is not higher than 230&#xb0; C., and a content of a high-boiling point organic solvent having a boiling point of not lower than 250&#xb0; C. in the water-based ink is not more than 4% by mass, and the surfactant (D) contains a silicone-based surfactant (d-1) and an acetylene glycol-based surfactant (d-2) which satisfy the following conditions 1 and 2: Condition 1: [(content of component (d-1))/(content of component (C))]&#xd7;100=0.15 to 4; and Condition 2: [(content of component (d-2))/(content of component (C))]&#xd7;100=0.35 to 1.65. In accordance with the present invention, it is possible to form ink dots having a complete circular shape and produce a printed material that is excellent in solid image fillability, image quality and rub fastness even when printed on a low-liquid absorbing printing medium.

Water-based ink

The present invention relates to an ink-jet printing method of overprinting a first ink and a second ink on a low-liquid absorbing printing medium, in which the first ink and the second ink are respectively in the form of a water-based ink containing a colorant (A), a polymer (B), an organic solvent (C) and water, and satisfy the following formulae (1) and (2), said ink-jet printing method including the steps of forming characters or images using at least one ink as the first ink, and then forming a background image using the second ink such that the background image is superimposed on at least a part of the characters or images formed by the first ink: [T&#x2212;T]&#x3c;0 mN/m (1); and [V&#x2212;V]&#x2265;1.0 mPa&#xb7;s (2) wherein Tis the static surface tension of the second ink; Tis the static surface tension of the first ink; Vis the viscosity of the second ink as measured at 32&#xb0; C.; and Vis the viscosity of the first ink as measured at 32&#xb0; C. According to the method of the present invention, it is possible to obtain good printed characters or images that are excellent in uniformity of solid image printing and suffer from less intercolor bleeding.

Inkjet recording method

The present invention relates to an ink-jet printing method that is capable of obtaining good printed characters or images which are free of occurrence of white lines or streaks irrespective of irradiation with an active energy ray. The present invention provides an ink-jet printing method including the steps of ejecting at least one ink A selected from the group consisting of a black ink and chromatic inks onto a low-liquid absorbing printing medium and then ejecting a white ink thereonto, in which the ink A contains at least one pigment selected from the group consisting of a black pigment and chromatic pigments, and a polymer dispersant containing a constitutional unit derived from a polyalkylene glycol (meth)acrylate; and the white ink contains titanium oxide and a polymer dispersant containing a constitutional unit derived from a polyalkylene glycol (meth)acrylate.

The present invention relates to [1] a process for producing a printed material, including step 1 of subjecting an image-bearing surface of a printed recording medium 1' on which characters or images are formed by analog printing to discharge treatment under specific conditions to obtain a printed recording medium 1, and step 2 of further forming characters or images on the image-bearing surface of the printed recording medium 1 by ink-jet printing using a water-based ink to obtain the printed material, [2] an ink-jet printing method including the step of ejecting a water-based ink onto a printed recording medium 1 by an ink-jetting method to form characters or images thereon, in which the printed recording medium 1 has an image-bearing surface on which characters or images are formed by analog printing, and the image-bearing surface is subjected to discharge treatment under the specific conditions, [3] a recording medium for ink-jet printing, including an image-bearing surface on which characters or images are formed by analog printing and which is subjected to discharge treatment, in which a surface free energy of the image-bearing surface after being subjected to the discharge treatment is not less than 30 mN/m, and [4] a printed material including an image-bearing surface on which characters or images are formed by analog printing and then on at least a part of which characters or images are further formed by ink-jet printing using a water-based ink, in which the image-bearing surface after forming the characters or images thereon by the analog printing is subjected to discharge treatment, and a surface free energy of the image-bearing surface after being subjected to the discharge treatment is not less than 30 mN/m.

Method for manufacturing printed matter

The present invention relates to an ink-jet printing method that is capable of obtaining good printed characters or images which are free of thermal deformation of a low-liquid absorbing printing medium as well as occurrence of mottling or color bleeding. The present invention provides an ink-jet printing method including the step of printing characters or images on a low-liquid absorbing printing medium using an ink-jet printing apparatus equipped with an ink-jet print head that is capable of ejecting water-based inks onto the low-liquid absorbing printing medium, in which the water-based inks each contain a colorant (A), an organic solvent (C) and water; the ink-jet printing apparatus is loaded with the two or more kinds of water-based inks which are different in static surface tension from each other; the printing medium is heated to a temperature of from 30 to 75&#xb0; C.; and the water-based inks are ejected in the sequential order from the water-based ink having a higher static surface tension.

Ink-jet recording method

Provided is a gravure printing method by which high printing density and excellent highlight suitability are obtained, even if a gravure plate having high resolution and reduced thickness is used. The gravure printing method comprises: using an aqueous ink having a Zahn cup #3 viscosity at 20&#xb0; C. of 11.0 seconds or more and 20.0 seconds or less, and having an evaporation rate of 30 mass % or less in a drying test, the drying test involving drying 1 g of the ink at a temperature of 40&#xb0; C. and an air flow of 1,400 L/min for 30 minutes; and transferring 1 ml/mor more and 7 ml/mor less of the ink onto a printing medium.

Gravure printing method

Provided is an aqueous gravure ink that is environmentally friendly, allows high-resolution printing by virtue of its excellent highlight suitability, and is excellent in drying property. The aqueous gravure ink comprises: a pigment; a polymer; a water-soluble organic solvent; a surfactant; and water, in which the water-soluble organic solvent has a boiling point of 100&#xb0; C. or more and 260&#xb0; C. or less, in which a content of the water-soluble organic solvent in the aqueous gravure ink is 10 mass % or more and 35 mass % or less, and in which a content of the water in the aqueous gravure ink is 50 mass % or more and 70 mass % or less.

Aqueous gravure ink

The present invention relates to an ink-jet printing method that is capable of obtaining good printed materials that are free of occurrence of color migration and deformation of a printing medium even when printed on a transparent resin printing medium using a water-based ink containing a white ink, and a black or chromatic ink. The present invention provides an ink-jet printing method including the step of ejecting a water-based ink onto a printing medium using a printing apparatus to print characters or images on the printing medium, said printing apparatus including an ink-jet printing head that ejects the water-based ink onto the printing medium that is transported in a feeding direction thereof; and an drying mechanism that is disposed on a downstream side in a feeding direction of the printing medium, in which the printing medium is in the form of a transparent resin printing medium, and the water-based ink includes a white ink, and a black or chromatic ink, and in which the drying mechanism blows a superheated steam that is heated to a temperature of 100 to 180&#xb0; C. onto at least one of a printing surface and an opposite surface of the printing medium.

Ink jet recording method

The present invention relates to an ink-jet printing method that is capable of obtaining good printed materials that are free of occurrence of color migration and deformation of a printing medium even when printed on a resin printing medium. The present invention provides an ink-jet printing method using a water-based ink containing a black ink, a chromatic ink and a white ink which each contain a pigment (A), an organic solvent (C) having a boiling point of not lower than 90&#xb0; C. and lower than 250&#xb0; C., and water, said method including step 1 of ejecting at least one water-based ink selected from the group consisting of the black ink and the chromatic ink onto a transparent resin printing medium to print an image 1 on the printing medium; step 2 of ejecting the white ink onto the resulting image 1 to print a white image that covers the image 1 on the printing medium; and step 3 of heating and drying the resulting printed material from a side of a surface of the printing medium on which the white image is formed, using an infrared heater.

The present invention relates to an ink-jet printing apparatus that is capable of obtaining printed materials that are free of occurrence of color migration and have good appearance even when printed on a resin printing medium using a water-based ink, and an ink-jet printing method. The present invention provides an ink-jet printing apparatus including an ink-jet printing head that ejects a water-based ink onto a resin printing medium that is transported in a feeding direction thereof, and an under heater that heats the printing medium from a rear side surface of the printing medium opposed to a front side surface thereof which faces to the ink-jet printing head, in which the under heater is disposed at a position spaced at a distance of from 0.05 to 3.0 mm apart from the rear side surface of the printing medium upon printing, and an ink-jet printing method using the ink-jet printing apparatus.

Ink jet recording device

The present invention relates to an ink-jet printing apparatus that is capable of obtaining printed materials having good appearance while maintaining high quality of printed characters or images even when printed on a resin printing medium using a water-based ink, and an ink-jet printing method. The present invention provides an ink-jet printing apparatus in which when setting a plurality of measuring positions of a printing medium including a position of the printing medium at which the printing medium is wound into a web roll in a web roll heating/supporting mechanism and positions of the printing medium which are respectively located just below a plurality of ink-jet printing heads, a plurality of temperature measuring devices measure temperatures of a surface of the printing medium at the plurality of measuring positions, respectively, and a heating amount control device controls a heating amount of the web roll heating/supporting mechanism and heating amounts of under heaters on the basis of the plural measured temperatures such that a difference between the temperatures measured in a portion of the printing medium to which a tension force is applied falls within the range of 10&#xb0; C., and an ink-jet printing method using the ink-jet printing apparatus.

Growing community of inventors

Cincinnati, OH, United States of America

Yuta Matsumoto