摘要:
A fluid supply includes a container, a bag within the container and a cap. The cap provides a fluid interface in communication with an interior of the bag and a pressurization interface in communication with an interior of the container adjacent an exterior of the bag. The pressurization interface has a channel that concentrically extends about the fluid interface.
摘要:
A method is provided for enhancing and accelerating wetting of hydrophobic foams for use as ink reservoirs in ink-jet printer pens. First, the foam is placed in a prewet bath, having already been compressed to expel air. The prewet bath contains an aqueous solution with a low molecular weight alcohol additive, such as n-propanol, ranging in concentration from about 3 to 10 wt. %. Second, the foam is repeatedly compressed and allowed to expand while in the prewet bath, thereby promoting the foam's absorbance of prewetting solution and further improving foam wettability. Finally, the foam is removed from the prewet bath and is compressed to expel excess prewetting solution. The foam retains residual alcohol from the prewet bath that subsequently becomes a constituent of the ink stored in the foam. In addition to improving the wetting process for hydrophobic foam, the alcohol additive prevents orifice plugging within ink-jet pens by becoming a residual constituent of the ink and wetting pen parts through ink usage.
摘要:
An ink-jet ink for ink-jet printers is provided, comprising: (a) an aqueous-based vehicle; and (b) an anionic dye complexed with a polyamine in an amount sufficient to form a pH-insensitive, water-soluble, dye:polyamine complex that acts like a cationic dye. Further, a method of converting the anionic dye to the cationic dye for formulating the ink-jet ink having a desired pH is provided. The method comprises adding a sufficient amount of the polyamine to form the dye:polyamine complex. The dye:polyamine complex is a complex of the dye and the polyamine polymer, which is cationic. Consequently, this complex behaves as a cationic dye. These ink-jet inks show remarkable waterfastness on a variety of common office papers and are pH-insensitive and even in some cases, completely pH-independent. These inks are thus stable over a wide pH range. In addition, the ink-jet inks exhibit superior ink-to-ink bleed when printed next to a drop of another color ink which contains an anionic polymer or carboxylated colorant and resist crusting or drying in ink-jet nozzles.
摘要:
A labyrinth seal structure includes a gland structure for providing a fluid seal between a first surface and a second surface, and redundant labyrinth fluid flow paths between a first side of the seal structure and a second side of the seal structure.
摘要:
An ink-jet ink composition and a method for printing are provided which involve the use of tetrafluoropropanol (TFP), and preferably 2,2,3,3-TFP, as a co-solvent to impart improved bleed control, dot gain, and edge acuity characteristics to the ink as well as to reduce the dry time upon printing onto a print medium. Preferably, the ink-jet ink composition comprises a dye, 2,2,3,3-TFP, 2-ethyl-2-hydroxymethyl-1,3-propanediol, sodium alginate, and water. In an ink-jet ink set in which the color inks are dye-based ink-jet inks compositions formulated to include 2,2,3,3-TFP in accordance with the invention, but when the black ink is a pigment-based suspension without 2,2,3,3-TFP, black to color bleed may be controlled by further adding any one of calcium nitrate, magnesium nitrate, tetraethylenepentamine, or polyethylenimine to the color dye-based inks.
摘要:
A method of increasing the water fastness and print quality of an ink employed in ink-jet printers is provided. The method involves providing a reactive species that reacts with a component in the substrate (i.e., paper) to form a polymer that binds the dye in the ink to the polymeric lattice. Alternatively, a separate reactive component may be deposited on the substrate on the same location as the reactive species which causes a polymeric reaction to occur. In this case, the ink may be in one or the other or both reactive components. An ink-jet printer having indexed orifices permits registration of deposited droplets of ink and reactive species to form the desired product.
摘要:
A set of thermal ink-jet inks and method for formulating the same are provided in which the cyan, magenta, and yellow inks contain a combination of surfactants and inorganic salts designed to reduce both color to color bleed as well as black to color bleed. In general, the present cyan, magenta, and yellow inks each comprise about 0.1 to 4 wt. % of at least one dye; about 3 to 20 wt. % of at least one diol; 0 to about 5 wt. % of at least one glycol ether; about 3 to 9 wt. % of 2-pyrrolidone; up to about 4 wt. % of at least one component selected from the group consisting of biocides and buffers; and water. To achieve a reduction in color to color and black to color bleed, the cyan, magenta, and yellow inks are formulated to further comprise the following combination of surfactants and inorganic salts: (a) a surfactant component comprising about 1 to 4 wt. % of a first surfactant consisting essentially of at least one secondary alcohol ethoxylate surfactant predominantly having 4 to 8 ethoxylated units and an aliphatic chain having about 12 to 18 carbon atoms; and (b) about 3 to 6 wt. % of at least one inorganic salt component.
摘要:
A water-soluble ink-jet dye for use in ink-jet printing is designed to undergo a reaction, initiated by the loss of water and natural neutralization, as the ink dries on paper, causing the dye to (1) change and lose solubility and (2) bind to the paper. The dye comprises a polymeric chain, to which one or more chromophores are attached. Also attached to the chain are a plurality of hydroxyl or amine groups, up to approximately one-half of which are converted to carboxyl groups. The ink containing the dye is maintained at a basic pH. Upon printing on a print substrate, the dye is neutralized, causing lactone (from hydroxyl groups) or lactam (from amine groups) ring formation. The resulting reacted dye is substantially totally waterfast on the print substrate.