The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 25, 2003
Filed:
Aug. 03, 2001
Charles Edward Akers, Jr., Lexington, KY (US);
Terence Edward Franey, Lexington, KY (US);
Jing X. Sun, Lexington, KY (US);
Carla Marary Butler, Lexington, KY (US);
Lexmark International, Inc., Lexington, KY (US);
Abstract
The present invention relates to graft copolymers, useful as dispersants in ink jet ink compositions, which comprise two structurally distinct segments: a hydrophilic segment and a hydrophobic segment. The preferred hydrophilic segment is comprised preferably of a methacrylic acid polymer, or a copolymer thereof with another monomer, such as styrene sulfonic acid. The preferred hydrophobic segment comprises a polymer or copolymer containing electron rich functional groups comprised of a plurality of methacrylate derivatized monomers, preferably a methacrylate ester monomer, or a substituted methacrylate ester monomer (a methacrylate ester where the alkyl group is replaced with a siloxyl substituent, an oligomeric siloxane). The present invention also relates to aqueous ink compositions which include the polymeric dispersants of the present invention. A further embodiment of the present invention comprises a polymer comprising a monomeric hydrophobic head and a polymeric tail. In a preferred embodiment, the monomeric hydrophobic head is (ethylene glycol) 2,4,6-tris-(1-phenylethyl)phenyl ether.