JPH08120202A - Water-base ink for ink jet recording - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a water-base ink for ink jet recording which is excellent in dryness and capable of producing printed letters that scarcely cause clogging of nozzles and a method of ink jet recording using the same. CONSTITUTION: This ink comprises a coloring material and a compound of the formula (I): A-O-(BO)n -H(I), (A is a phenyl or benzyl group, B is a 2-5C alkylene group, and n is an integer of 1-10).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a water-based ink for ink-jet recording, and more specifically to a water-based ink for ink-jet recording which is excellent in drying property and less likely to cause clogging, and an ink-jet recording method using the same. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The ink jet recording system is a recording system in which characters and images are obtained by directly ejecting and adhering ink droplets from a very fine nozzle onto a recording member. According to this method, not only has the advantage that the device used is low in noise and has good operability, but it also has the advantage that plain color can be used and plain paper can be used as a recording member.
Widely used in recent years. As the ink ejection method,
A piezoelectric type using a piezoelectric element for a printer head and a thermal jet type using a heater for a heating resistance element are widely used as personal printers.

[0003]

Particularly, in the thermal jet type, a heater of a heating resistance element is incorporated in the printer head, the ink is boiled by its thermal energy, and the ink is ejected as droplets by the pressure of bubbles. Since printing is performed, when the ink is heated and boiled on the heater, the dye or the like in the ink is deteriorated / decomposed, and the insoluble matter may be deposited on the printer head and the nozzle may be clogged. Therefore, the composition of the ink is important in order to prevent such clogging.

In order to prevent the nozzles from being clogged with ink, water and glycols are usually used for the ink used in ink jet printers. By using water and glycols, the clogging of the ink is less likely to occur, but on the other hand, there is a problem that the drying of the ink is delayed.

In order to accelerate the drying of the ink, the ink may contain meso-erythritol or the like (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-1 / 1993).
No. 25321), the ink contains a mixture of diethylene glycol monobutyl ether and glycol (JP-A-5-125309), and
It has been proposed to incorporate 3-dimethyl-3-imidazoline (JP-A-4-339873), but none of these proposals are sufficient to solve the above problems.

Further, in order to further prevent the nozzle from being clogged with ink, a pigment is dispersed in an AB or BAB block copolymer (JP-A-5-179183), or a sulfonic acid or a sulfonate group is added to the ink. Many proposals have been made such as containing a dye contained therein (JP-A-5-247391), or binding a polymerized vinyl aromatic salt to the surface of a pigment (JP-A-4-234467), None of the proposals are sufficient to eliminate ink clogging.

Further, no product satisfying these complex requirements in a balanced manner has been obtained.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide excellent drying properties,
Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a water-based ink for inkjet recording and a method for inkjet recording using the same, which can realize printing in which nozzle clogging hardly occurs.

[0009]

As a result of earnest research, the present inventors have made it possible to prevent clogging of nozzles by containing a coloring material and an alkylene glycol ether compound in an aqueous ink for ink jet recording, It was found that the drying speed of the ink is increased.

The present invention has been made based on the above findings, and provides a water-based ink for ink-jet recording, which contains a coloring material and a compound represented by the following general formula (I). By doing so, the above object is achieved. A-O- (BO) _n -H (I) (In the formula, A represents a phenyl group or a benzyl group, B represents an alkylene group having 2 to 5 carbon atoms, and n is 1 to 1).
Represents the integer of 10)

Further, the present invention provides an ink jet recording method using the water base ink for ink jet recording according to the present invention, wherein thermal ink is used to record the water base ink for ink jet recording as ink droplets from a nozzle. Provided is a device characterized in that a member is ejected to perform recording.

In the water base ink for ink jet recording of the present invention, the ink is prevented from being clogged by containing a coloring material and a compound represented by the general formula (I), and It is not clear why the drying rate can be increased, but it is estimated as follows. That is, since the compound (I) has a property of easily forming a loose three-dimensional network structure in water,
It has an excellent ability to keep water in it. As a result, it is considered that water is prevented from evaporating from the tip of the nozzle. On the other hand, since the compound (I) has a low surface tension, it is considered that when it adheres to a recording member, for example, paper, it easily penetrates into the paper, resulting in an increase in the drying speed of the ink. As described above, in the present invention, by using the coloring material and the compound represented by the general formula (I) in combination in the aqueous system, excellent effects which cannot be obtained by the conventional inkjet ink are exhibited. Is.

The compound contained in the aqueous ink for ink jet recording of the present invention is an alkylene glycol ether compound represented by the above general formula (I). In the general formula (I), A represents a phenyl group or a benzyl group.
A is preferably a phenyl group. The above general formula (I)
Among them, B represents an alkylene group having 2 to 5 carbon atoms, and preferably an ethylene group. In the general formula (I),
n represents an integer of 1 to 10, preferably 1 to 5.

Of the compounds represented by the above general formula (I), particularly preferred compounds are the following formulas (II) and (III).
And (IV).

[0015]

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[0016]

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[0017]

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In the present invention, the compounds represented by the above general formula (I) may be used alone or in combination of two or more kinds.

The compound represented by the above general formula (I) is, for example, benzyl alcohol or phenol and an oxyalkylene compound such as ethylene oxide or propylene oxide, and an alkali catalyst such as sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. It can be produced by reacting in the presence.

The coloring material contained in the water-based ink for ink jet recording of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it is a coloring material.
Both dyes and pigments can be used.

Examples of the pigment include carbon black, C.I. I. Pigment Yellow 1, 5, 12, 1
4, 17, 24, 42, 53, 83, 95, 97, 98
And 100; C.I. I. Pigment. Red 1, 3, 4,
5, 17, 22, 31, 48, 49, 53, 63, 6
4, 88 and 101; C.I. I. Pigment Blue 1,
15, 16, 27, 28, 29, 56, 60 and 63;
And C.I. I. Pigment Black 1, 7 and 11 and the like can be used.

As the dye, any of oil dyes, acid dyes, basic dyes, direct dyes and disperse dyes can be used.

Examples of oily dyes include C.I. I. Solvent Black 3; C.I. I. Solvent Yellow 1
9; C.I. I. Solvent Red 8, 24, 43, 72
And 73; C.I. I. Solvent Violet 3; and C.I. I. Solvent Blue 2 and 11, and the like.

Examples of acid dyes include C.I. I. Acid Black 2 and 52; C.I. I. Acid Yellow 23; C.I. I. Acid Red 51, 87 and 92
And C.I. I. Acid Blue 1, 9 and 74 and the like.

Examples of the basic dye include C.I. I. Basic Yellow 2 and 11; C.I. I. Basic
Red 1 and 13; C.I. I. Basic Violet 1, 3, 7 and 10; and C.I. I. Basic Blue 5, 7, 9 and 26 are included.

Examples of direct dyes include C.I. I. Direct Black 19 and the like can be mentioned.

Examples of disperse dyes include C.I. I. Disperse Yellow 3, 5, 56, 60 and 64;
I. Disperse Red 4, 5, 60, 72, 73 and 91; and C.I. I. Disperse Blue 3, 7,
56, 60, 79 and the like.

The water-based ink for ink jet recording of the present invention contains water as a medium and contains a pigment and the above-mentioned compound, and in addition to various conventionally known additives, for example, wetting agents such as polyhydric alcohols and antifungal agents. Agents and / or chelating agents may be further added. Examples of the wetting agent include polyhydric alcohols such as ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, glycerin, diethylene glycol diethyl ether, and diethylene glycol mono-n-butyl ether, and their ethers, acetates, N-methyl-
One or more nitrogen-containing compounds such as 2-pyrrolidone and 1,3-dimethylimidazolidinone can be used.

The composition of the water-based ink for ink jet recording of the present invention is not particularly limited, but generally 0.5 to 10% by weight of the pigment based on the total weight of the ink and represented by the above general formula (I). 0.01 to 15% by weight of compound, 50 to 98% by weight of water, 0.1 to 30% by weight of other components
Preferably, the pigment is 0.7 to 7% by weight, the compound represented by the general formula (I) is 0.1 to 10% by weight, water is 60 to 95% by weight, and the other components are 0.1% by weight. It is 5 to 20% by weight. The weight ratio of the pigment to the compound represented by the general formula (I) is generally 10: 1 to 1: 5, preferably 5: 1 to 1: 3.

There is no particular limitation on the method for preparing the ink jet recording aqueous ink of the present invention by mixing the above-mentioned respective components, and a conventionally known apparatus such as a ball mill, a sand mill, an attritor, a basket mill or a roll mill is used. Can be mixed.

The water base ink for ink jet recording of the present invention can be used in any printer as long as it uses an ink jet recording system. For example, a printer of a piezoelectric recording method using a piezoelectric element in a printer head and The printer head can be used in any printer of a thermal jet recording method that uses heat energy of a heater of a heating resistance element or the like.
In particular, the ink jet recording ink of the present invention is preferably used in a thermal jet recording method in which thermal energy is used to eject ink droplets from a nozzle onto a recording member to perform recording, and the thermal energy is heat resistance. The element heater is preferably used.

[0032]

EXAMPLES The effectiveness of the present invention will be illustrated by the following examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples. In the following examples, parts represent parts by weight unless otherwise specified.

[Example 1] carbon black; 5 parts; compound represented by formula (II); 5 parts; condensed naphthalene sulfonate; 2 parts; water; 88 parts It was dispersed for a time to form a paint. The resulting dispersion was filtered through a 5 micron filter to remove dust and coarse particles to obtain an ink. When this ink was used for printing with a commercially available Canon Micro Bubble Jet Printer (BJ-550), the results shown in Table 1 were obtained.

In Table 1, the drying property is as follows: 100% solid printing, PPC paper overlaid on the printing surface.
The time until the ink is not transferred to the PPC paper is measured.

In the clogging test, the ink is put at 35 ° C.
After left for 3 months in an environment of 85% RH, the degree of ink clogging was judged by printing with a commercially available canonical micro bubble jet printer (BJ-550) and observing the nozzles with a microscope.

[Example 2] C. I. Pigment Red 3; 5 parts; Compound represented by Formula (III); 5 parts; Vinyl acetate-maleic acid copolymer; 1 part; Water; 89 parts Disperse the above components for 12 hours using a ball mill. Painted. The resulting dispersion was filtered through a 5 micron filter to remove dust and coarse particles to obtain an ink. When this ink was used for printing with a commercially available Canon Micro Bubble Jet Printer (BJ-550), the results shown in Table 1 were obtained.

[Example 3] C. I. Solvent Red 3; 5 parts-Compound represented by formula (IV): 5 parts-Sorbitan monooleate: 3 parts-Water: 87 parts The above components were dispersed for 12 hours using a ball mill to form a coating. The resulting dispersion was filtered through a 5 micron filter to remove dust and coarse particles to obtain an ink. When this ink was used for printing with a commercially available Canon Micro Bubble Jet Printer (BJ-550), the results shown in Table 1 were obtained.

Comparative Example 1 C.I. I. Solvent Black 3; 6 parts Glycerin 6 parts Sorbitan monooleate 1 part Water 87 parts The above components were dispersed for 12 hours using a ball mill to form a paint. The resulting dispersion was filtered through a 5 micron filter to remove dust and coarse particles to obtain an ink. When this ink was used for printing with a commercially available Canon Micro Bubble Jet Printer (BJ-550), the results shown in Table 1 were obtained.

Comparative Example 2 C.I. I. Pigment Red 3; 5 parts; Diethylene glycol; 5 parts; Vinyl acetate-maleic acid copolymer; 4 parts; Water; 86 parts The above components were dispersed for 12 hours using a ball mill to form a paint. The resulting dispersion was filtered through a 5 micron filter to remove dust and coarse particles to obtain an ink. When this ink was used for printing with a commercially available Canon Micro Bubble Jet Printer (BJ-550), the results shown in Table 1 were obtained.

[0040]

[Table 1]

As is clear from the results shown in Table 1, the aqueous ink for ink jet recording of the present invention is excellent in drying property and realizes printing without causing clogging, and sufficiently fulfills the original purpose. I understand. In particular, it can be seen that the water-based inkjet recording ink of the present invention exhibits excellent effects when printed using a thermal jet inkjet printer.

[0042]

According to the present invention, there is provided a water-based ink for ink jet recording, which is excellent in drying property, is less likely to be clogged, and can realize printing with a high line marker property. Further, according to the present invention, an aqueous ink for ink jet recording which is excellent in storage stability even under high temperature and high humidity is provided. Furthermore, according to the present invention, when such a water-based ink is used in a thermal jet method that utilizes thermal energy of a heater of a heating resistance element or the like, it is possible to prevent nozzles from being clogged with ink due to excessive heat. An inkjet recording method is provided that can be prevented.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A water-based ink for ink-jet recording comprising a colorant and a compound represented by the following general formula (I). A-O- (BO) _n -H (I) (In the formula, A represents a phenyl group or a benzyl group, B represents an alkylene group having 2 to 5 carbon atoms, and n is 1 to 1).
Represents the integer of 10) 2. The water-based ink jet recording ink according to claim 1, wherein A is a phenyl group. 3. The water-based ink for inkjet recording according to claim 1, wherein B is an ethylene group. 4. The water-based ink for inkjet recording according to claim 1, wherein n is an integer of 1 to 5. 5. The ink jet recording, wherein the water-based ink for ink jet recording according to any one of claims 1 to 4 is ejected from a nozzle to a recording member by utilizing thermal energy to perform recording. Method. 6. The ink jet recording method according to claim 5, wherein a heater of a heating resistance element is used as the heat energy.