Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C09—DYES; PAINTS; POLISHES; NATURAL RESINS; ADHESIVES; COMPOSITIONS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; APPLICATIONS OF MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • C09D—COATING COMPOSITIONS, e.g. PAINTS, VARNISHES OR LACQUERS; FILLING PASTES; CHEMICAL PAINT OR INK REMOVERS; INKS; CORRECTING FLUIDS; WOODSTAINS; PASTES OR SOLIDS FOR COLOURING OR PRINTING; USE OF MATERIALS THEREFOR
  • C09D11/00—Inks
  • C09D11/02—Printing inks
  • C09D11/10—Printing inks based on artificial resins
  • C09D11/102—Printing inks based on artificial resins containing macromolecular compounds obtained by reactions other than those only involving unsaturated carbon-to-carbon bonds
  • C09D11/104—Polyesters
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C09—DYES; PAINTS; POLISHES; NATURAL RESINS; ADHESIVES; COMPOSITIONS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; APPLICATIONS OF MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • C09D—COATING COMPOSITIONS, e.g. PAINTS, VARNISHES OR LACQUERS; FILLING PASTES; CHEMICAL PAINT OR INK REMOVERS; INKS; CORRECTING FLUIDS; WOODSTAINS; PASTES OR SOLIDS FOR COLOURING OR PRINTING; USE OF MATERIALS THEREFOR
  • C09D11/00—Inks
  • C09D11/50—Sympathetic, colour changing or similar inks
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
  • C08G—MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED OTHERWISE THAN BY REACTIONS ONLY INVOLVING UNSATURATED CARBON-TO-CARBON BONDS
  • C08G63/00—Macromolecular compounds obtained by reactions forming a carboxylic ester link in the main chain of the macromolecule
  • C08G63/68—Polyesters containing atoms other than carbon, hydrogen and oxygen
  • C08G63/685—Polyesters containing atoms other than carbon, hydrogen and oxygen containing nitrogen
  • C08G63/6854—Polyesters containing atoms other than carbon, hydrogen and oxygen containing nitrogen derived from polycarboxylic acids and polyhydroxy compounds
  • C08G63/6856—Dicarboxylic acids and dihydroxy compounds
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
  • C08G—MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED OTHERWISE THAN BY REACTIONS ONLY INVOLVING UNSATURATED CARBON-TO-CARBON BONDS
  • C08G63/00—Macromolecular compounds obtained by reactions forming a carboxylic ester link in the main chain of the macromolecule
  • C08G63/68—Polyesters containing atoms other than carbon, hydrogen and oxygen
  • C08G63/688—Polyesters containing atoms other than carbon, hydrogen and oxygen containing sulfur
  • C08G63/6884—Polyesters containing atoms other than carbon, hydrogen and oxygen containing sulfur derived from polycarboxylic acids and polyhydroxy compounds
  • C08G63/6886—Dicarboxylic acids and dihydroxy compounds
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C09—DYES; PAINTS; POLISHES; NATURAL RESINS; ADHESIVES; COMPOSITIONS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; APPLICATIONS OF MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • C09D—COATING COMPOSITIONS, e.g. PAINTS, VARNISHES OR LACQUERS; FILLING PASTES; CHEMICAL PAINT OR INK REMOVERS; INKS; CORRECTING FLUIDS; WOODSTAINS; PASTES OR SOLIDS FOR COLOURING OR PRINTING; USE OF MATERIALS THEREFOR
  • C09D11/00—Inks
  • C09D11/30—Inkjet printing inks
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T428/00—Stock material or miscellaneous articles
  • Y10T428/29—Coated or structually defined flake, particle, cell, strand, strand portion, rod, filament, macroscopic fiber or mass thereof
  • Y10T428/2913—Rod, strand, filament or fiber
  • Y10T428/2933—Coated or with bond, impregnation or core
  • Y10T428/2964—Artificial fiber or filament
  • Y10T428/2967—Synthetic resin or polymer
  • Y10T428/2969—Polyamide, polyimide or polyester

Definitions

• This invention relates to aqueous ink formulations suitable for ink jet printing, both by drop—on— emand (DOD) and continuous printing methods, and which contain sulfopolyesters/amides having near infrared fluorophores copolymerized therein.
• U.S. Patents 5,093,147; 5,336,714 disclose using certain near infrared fluorescent compounds having minimal light absorption of radiation in the visible range 400—700 nanometers (nm) and strong light absorption in the near infrared region 700—900 nm with accompanying fluorescence to produce fluorescent radiation of wavelengths longer than the wavelength of excitation.
• aqueous ink formulations suitable for ink jet printing are not disclosed and markings produced from those compounds do not have adequate stability to sunlight/ultraviolet (UV) light to permit practical marking speeds required for suitable intelligible markings.
• the polymeric compositions used in U.S. Patent 5,336,714 are unique in that the near infrared fluorophores (NIRF's) are copolymerized therein and thus are not extractable, exudable, sublimable or leachable from the polymeric composition.
• NIRF's near infrared fluorophores
• the phthalocyanines and naphthalocyanines mentioned therein are unique in that they provide improved UV light stability over the known cyanine laser dyes used in U.S. Patent 5,093,147.
• U.S. Patent 5,336,714 provides no help in formulating an aqueous based ink suitable for ink jet printing using the polymeric compositions containing the copolymerized NIRF compound.
• U.S. Patent 4,540,595 provides an ink which fluoresces in the near infrared and which is used to mark documents such as bank checks for automatic identification.
• the dyes used are phenoxazines (e.g. 3,7-bis(diethylamino) phenoxazonium nitrate is the preferred fluorescent material) which impart blue color to the marked substrate and thus are not invisible.
• Certain inorganic rare earth compounds typified by neodymium (Nd) , erbium (Er) and ytterbium (Yb) have been used to impart fluorescent markings that can be activated in the infrared to data cards (U.S. 4,202,491). Inks prepared from the insoluble rare earth metals are prone to clogging ink jet nozzles causing poor print start— p and thus, in general, are not practical.
• Japanese Laid—Open Patent Application: Hei3—79683 discloses ink formulations containing infrared absorbing naphthalocyanine compounds useful for printing barcodes and for identifying documents to prevent falsification and forgery.
• Various meltable waxes and thermoplastic resins are used as vehicles in combination with alcohols and aromatic hydrocarbons to produce non—aqueous inks.
• the high molecular weight naphthalocyanine compounds have essentially no water solubility and are not useful for formulating aqueous inks for ink jet printing directly.
• U.S. 5,336,714 discloses aqueous coating compositions containing 20 weight percent to 35 weight percent of a water-dissipatable sulfopolyester having 0.1 ppm by weight to 10% by weight of a thermally stable near infrared fluorophoric compound copolymerized therein dispersed in water (65—80 weight percent) .
• the ink formulation disclosed (Example 7) was suitable for coating substrates such as paper with drawdown rods, but is not suitable for ink jet printing because of plugging or clogging of the jets.
• This invention relates to an aqueous ink composition suitable for use in ink jet printing comprising: A. between 1 and 10 weight percent of at least one water-dissipatable polyester comprising:
• component A is a water- dissipatable sulfopolyester and component (iii) comprises (a) at least 15 mole percent, based on the total mole percent of diol monomer residues, of a diol having the formula H(OCH 2 CH 2 ) n OH, where n is 2 to 20, or (b) 0.1 to less than 15 mole percent, based on the total mole percent of diol monomer residues or diol and diamine residues of a poly(ethylene glycol) having the formula H(OCH 2 CH 2 ) n OH, where n is 2 to 500, provided that the mole percent of such residues is inversely proportional to the value of n.
• the water dissipatable polyesters are any polyesters which are capable of forming electrostatically stabilized colloids having particle sizes between 200 and 800 A in diameter.
• the polyesters are water-dissipatable sulfopolyesters/amides used which are described in U.S. Patent 5,336,714.
• compositions of the present invention may be used for a wide variety of printer applications which can utilize water based inks.
• an ink composition useful for drop—on- demand (DOD) ink jet printing via the piezoelectric impulse method comprises: A. between 1 and 10 weight percent of said at least one water-dissipatable polyester having from
• Another preferred ink composition particularly useful for drop-on-demand (DOD) jet printing via the so- called bubble jet method comprises:
• B between 20 and 60 weight percent of at least one humectant
• C between 0.50 and 1.5 weight percent of at least one surface active agent
• a preferred ink composition particularly useful for continuous ink jet printing using the Scitex ink—jet imaging system comprises:
• E between 0.01 and 0.50 weight percent of at least one corrosion inhibitor; F. between 0.01 and 0.3 weight percent of at least one biocide;
• a preferred ink composition for single nozzle continuous ink jet printers such as the Codebox 2, supplied by Amjet, Domino Amjet, Inc., Gurnee, IL 60031, comprises:
• B between 30 and 50 weight percent of at least one humectant;
• C between 5 and 15 weight percent of said at least one lower aliphatic alcohol;
• the polyesters of component A are preferably sulfopolyester and or sulfopolyesteramides.
• the water— dissipatable polymers, without the near infrared fluorescent compounds incorporated therein, are described in U.S. Patent Numbers 3,734,874; 3,779,993; 3,828,010; 3,546,008; 4,233,196; and 4,435,220.
• the preferred near infrared fluorescent compounds useful in the practice of the invention are selected from the classes of phthalocyanines, naphthalocyanines and squaraines (derivatives of squaric acid) and correspond to Formulae II, III and IV:
• Pc and Nc represent the phthalocyanine and naphthalocyanine moieties of Formulae Ila and Ilia
• R 7 , R 8 and R 9 are independently selected from alkyl, phenyl or phenyl substituted with lower alkyl, lower alkoxy or halogen;
• X is selected from oxygen, sulfur, selenium, tellurium or a group of the formula N—R 10 , wherein R 10 is hydrogen, cycloalkyl, alkyl, acyl, alkylsulfonyl, or aryl or R 10 and R taken together form an aliphatic or aromatic ring with the nitrogen atom to which they are attached;
• Y is selected from alkyl, aryl, halogen or hydrogen
• R is selected from unsubstituted or substituted alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl,
• -(X—R) m is alkylsulfonylamino, arylsulfonylamino, or a group selected from the formulae -X(C 2 H 4 0) 2 R ⁇ , -$n-R 8 , -Sn-OR g , , or -Si-OR wherein R 1 is hydrogen or R as defined above; Z is an integer of from 1—4; or two —(X—R) m groups can be taken together to form divalent substituents of the formula
• each X 1 is independently selected from —O-, —S—, or —N—R 10 and A is selected from ethylene; propylene; trimethylene; and such groups substituted with ⁇ C ⁇ alkyl, C 1 —C 4 alkoxy, aryl and cycloalkyl; 1,2—phenylene and 1,2—phenylene containing 1—3 substituents selected from C ⁇ -C 4 alkyl, C j - ⁇ alkoxy or halogen;
• R ⁇ and R 2 are independently selected from hydrogen, lower alkyl, lower alkoxy, halogen, aryloxy, lower alkylthio, arylthio, lower alkylsulfonyl; arylsulfonyl; lower alkylsulfonylamino, arylsulfonylamino, cycloalkylsulfonylamino, carboxy, unsubstituted and substituted carba oyl and sulfamoyl, lower alkoxycarbonyl, hydroxy, lower alkanoyloxy,
• R 3 and R 4 are independently selected from hydrogen, lower alkyl, alkenyl or aryl; n is an integer from 0-12; is an integer from 0—24, m is an integer from 4-16; m ⁇ is an integer from 0—16, provided that the sums of n+m and n 1 +m 1 are 16 and 24, respectively.
• the near infrared fluorescing compound is covalently bonded to a moeity selected from the groups consisting of AlCl, AlBr, AlF, AlOH, A10R 5 , A1SR 5 , Ge(0R 6 ) 2 , GaCl, GaBr, GaF, GaOR 5 , GaSR 6 ,, Mg, SiCl 2 , SiF 2 , SnCl 2 , Sn(OR 6 ) 2 , Si(OR 6 ) 2 , Sn(SR 6 ) 2 , Si(SR 6 ) 2 , and Zn.
• a moeity selected from the groups consisting of AlCl, AlBr, AlF, AlOH, A10R 5 , A1SR 5 , Ge(0R 6 ) 2 , GaCl, GaBr, GaF, GaOR 5 , GaSR 6 ,, Mg, SiCl 2 , SiF 2 , SnCl 2 , Sn(OR 6 ) 2 ,
• Phthalocyanines and naphthalocyanines are the preferred near infrared fluorophores, particularly where stability to UV light or sunlight is desirable.
• alkyl is used to designate a straight or branched chained hydrocarbon radical containing 1—12 carbons.
• alkyl In the terms lower alkyl, lower alkoxy, lower alkyl ⁇ thio, lower alkoxycarbonyl, lower alkanoyl and lower alkanoyloxy the alkyl portion of the groups contains 1—6 carbons and may be a straight or branched chain.
• cycloalkyl is used to represent a cyclic aliphatic hydrocarbon radical containing 3—8 carbons, preferably 5 to 7 carbons.
• alkyl and lower alkyl portions of the previously defined groups may contain as further substituents one or more groups selected from hydroxy, halogen, carboxy, cyano, C -c 4 —alkoxy, aryl, C ⁇ —C 4 - alkylthio, arylthio, aryloxy, 0—0 4 —alkoxycarbonyl or C i —C 4 —alkanoyloxy.
• aryl includes carbocyclic aromatic radicals containing 6—18 carbons, preferably phenyl and naphthyl, and such radicals substituted with one or more substituents selected from lower alkyl, lower alkoxy, halogen, lower alkylthio, N(lower alkyl) 2 > trifluro— methyl, carboxy, lower alkoxycarbonyl, hydroxy, lower alkanoylamino, lower alkylsulfonylamino, arylsulfonyl- amino, cycloalkylsulfonylamino, lower alkanoyloxy, cyano, phenyl, phenylthio and phenoxy.
• heteroaryl is used to represent mono or bicyclic hetero aromatic radicals containing at least one "hetero" atom selected from oxygen, sulfur and nitrogen or a combination of these atoms.
• suitable heteroaryl groups include: thiazolyl, benzo- thiazolyl, pyrazolyl, pyrrolyl, thienyl, furyl, thia- diazolyl, oxadiazolyl, benzoxazolyl, benzimidazolyl, pyridyl, pyrimidinyl and triazolyl.
• These heteroaryl radicals may contain the same substituents listed above as possible substituents for the aryl radicals.
• triazolyl also includes structure V and mixed isomers thereof,
• R ⁇ is hydrogen or selected from lower alkyl and lower alkyl substituted with one or two groups selected from hydroxy, halogen, carboxy, lower alkoxy, aryl, cyano, cycloalkyl, lower alkanoyloxy or lower alkoxy ⁇ carbonyl.
• alkenyl and alkynyl are used to denote aliphatic hydrocarbon moiety having 3—8 carbons and containing at least one carbon—carbon double bond and one carbon—carbon triple bond, respectively.
• halogen is used to include bromine, chlorine, fluorine and iodine.
• substituted alkyl is used to denote a straight or branched chain hydrocarbon radical containing 1—12 carbon atoms and containing as substituents 1 or 2 groups selected from hydroxy, halogen, carboxy, cyano, C ⁇ —C 4 alkoxy, aryl, C ⁇ —C 4 alkylthio, arylthio, aryloxy, C j —C 4 alkoxycarbonyl, or C. J —C 4 alkanoyloxy.
• substituted carbamoyl is used to denote a radical having the formula -CONR 12 R 13 , wherein R 12 and R 13 are selected from unsubstituted or substituted alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, or heteroaryl.
• substituted sulfamoyl is used to denote a radical having the formula -S0 2 NR 12 R 13 , wherein R 12 and R 13 are as defined above.
• alkylene refers to a divalent C x —C 12 aliphatic hydrocarbon moiety, either straight or branched—chain, and either unsubstituted or substituted with one or more groups selected from lower alkoxy, halogen, aryl, or aryloxy.
• acyl refers to a group of the formula R°C(0)- -, wherein R° is preferably a C ⁇ -C ⁇ alkyl moiety.
• alkyl sulfonyl refers to a group of the formula R°S0 2 —, wherein R° is as defined for acyl.
• Preferred -X—R groups include those listed in Table I below. TABLE 1 EXEMPLARY -X-R Groups
• the structures must bear at least one polyester reactive group to allow the compound to be incorporated into the polymeric composition and to be bound by covalent bonds.
• the polymers of the present invention are, for the most part, water—dispersible because they form electrostatically—stabilized colloids when mixed with water.
• the colloid particle size varies with the polymer composition but has been shown by light diffraction studies and transmission electron microscopy (on fresh films) to be mostly 200—800 A in diameter.
• the aqueous colloid dispersions exhibit a minimum precipitation of solid material with time, in the temperature range of 0.1—99.9°C because the relationship between the particle densities and viscosities (very similar to those of water when concentrations are less than 30 weight percent) are such that thermal energy expressed as Brownian motion is sufficient to keep the particles suspended in water.
• the water-dispersible polyesters have an inherent viscosity of at least 0.1 dL/g, preferably 0.28-0.38 dL/g, when determined at 25°C using 0.25 g polymer per 100 ml of a solvent consisting of 60 parts by weight phenol and 40 parts by weight tetrachloro— ethane.
• the sulfonate—containing, water-dispersible, linear polymers thus comprise polyesters, including polyester- amides, consisting of repeating, alternating residues of (1) one or more dicarboxylic acids and (2) one or more diols or a combination of one or more diols and one or more diamines where, in the preceding definition, the mole percentages are based on 100 mole percent dicarboxylic acid residues and 100 mole percent diol or diol and diamine residues.
• the polymers may include residues of monomers having mixed functionality such as hydroxycarboxylic acids, a inocarboxylic acids and or aminoalkanols.
• the near infrared flourophoric (NIRF) compounds can thus be incorporated into the polyester, so long as the NIRF has one, or preferably two, polyester reactive groups (e.g., hydroxy, carboxy, etc.) present.
• the residues of component (i) may be derived from one or more dicarboxylic acids or their ester—forming derivatives such as dialkyl esters, bis(hydroxyalkyl) esters, acid chlorides or, in some cases, anhydrides.
• the sulfonate group of component (ii) may be an alkali metal sulfonic salt such as lithium, potassium or, preferably, sodium sulfonate groups, or an ammonium or substituted ammonium sulfonate.
• the preferred water-dispersible polymers have an inherent viscosity of 0.28 to 0.38 dL/g and are comprised of: (i) diacid monomer residues comprising 75 to 84 mole percent isophthalic acid monomer residues and 16 to 25 mole percent 5—sodiosulfoisophthalic acid monomer residues; and (ii) diol monomer residues comprising 45 to 60 mole percent diethylene glycol monomer residues and 40 to 55 mole percent ethylene glycol, 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol monomer residues or mixtures thereof.
• water-dispersible polymers are available from Eastman Chemical Company, in the form of pellets (EASTMAN AQ 29S Polymer, EASTMAN 38S Polymer and EASTMAN 55S Polymer) and in the form of aqueous dispersions (EASTMAN AQ 29D Polymer, EASTMAN 38D Polymer and EASTMAN 55D Polymer) .
• EASTMAN AQ 29S Polymer EASTMAN 38S Polymer and EASTMAN 55S Polymer
• EASTMAN AQ 29D Polymer EASTMAN 38D Polymer and EASTMAN 55D Polymer
• the water dispersible polyester above contains some poly(ethylene glycol) to aid in its water dispersibility.
• the content of the sulfomonomer can be lower, which aids in flexibility of formulating the polyester.
• the water dispersibility of the polyester is related to the weight percent of poly(ethylene glycol) and mole percent of sulfomonomer. Therefore, if the content of either is relatively low, the other should be relatively high to maintain adequate dispersibility.
• poly(ethylene glycol) need not be present in the initial reaction charge, because poly(ethylene glycol) may form in situ from decomposition products and be incorporated into the polyester chain. It is well known, for example, that diethylene glycol is formed in situ in such reactions.
• the polyester contains repeating units of a poly(ethylene glycol) of the formula H-(OCH 2 -CH 2 ) n -OH wherein n is an integer of 2 to 500.
• the value of n is preferably from between 2 to 20.
• the values of n and the mole percent of poly(ethylene glycol) in the polyester, if used, are adjusted such that the mole percent of poly(ethylene glycol) within the stated range is inversely proportional to the quantity of n within the stated ranges. Thus, when the mole percent is high, the value of n is low. On the other hand, if the mole percent is low, the value of n is high.
• the weight percent (product of mole percent and molecular weight) of the poly(ethylene glycol) is an important consideration because the water dissipatability of the copolyester decreases as the weight percent poly(ethylene glycol) in the copolyester decreases. For example, if the weight of poly(ethylene glycol) is too low, the water dissipatability of the copolyester may be inadequate. Furthermore, the weight percent of poly(ethylene glycol) is preferably adjusted such that it is inversely proportional to the mole percent of the difunctional sulfomonomer because the water dissipatability of the copolyester is a function of both the mole percent sulfomonomer and the weight percent polyethylene glycol.
• suitable poly(ethylene glycols) include relatively high molecular weight polyethylene glycols, some of which are available commercially under the designation CARBOWAX, a product of Union Carbide. Diethylene glycol is also especially suitable.
• Other useful glycols for preparing copolyesters include aliphatic, alicyclic and arylalkyl glycols.
• glycols examples include ethylene glycol; propylene glycol; 1 ,3—propanediol; 2,4—dimethyl—2- ethylhexane-l,3-diol; 2,2-dimethyl-l,3—propanediol; 2- ethy1-2-buty1-1,3-propanediol; 2-ethy1-2-isobuty1-1,3- propanediol; 1,3—butanediol, 1,4—butanediol, 1,5— pentanediol, 1,6—hexanediol, 2,2,4—trimethyl—1,6— hexanediol; thiodiethanol.
• the dicarboxylic acid component of the polyesters are preferably selected from aliphatic dicarboxylic acids, alicyclic dicarboxylic acids, aromatic dicarboxylic acids, or mixtures of two or more of these acids.
• dicarboxylic acids include succinic; glutaric; adipic; azelaic; sebacic; 1,4— cyclohexanedicarboxylic; phthalic; terephthalic and isophthalic acid.
• Terephthalic acid and isophthalic acid are preferred as the carboxylic acid component of the polyester.
• the difunctional sulfomonomer component of the polyester may advantageously be a dicarboxylic acid or an ester thereof containing a metal sulfonate group, a glycol containing a metal sulfonate group or a hydroxy acid containing a metal sulfonate group.
• the metal ion of the sulfonate salt may be Na+, Li+, K+ and the like. When a monovalent alkali metal ion is used, the resulting polyesters are less readily dissipated by cold water and more readily dissipated by hot water.
• the resulting polyesters are not ordinarily easily dissipated by cold water but are more readily dissipated in hot water. It is possible to prepare the polyester using, for example, a sodium sulfonate salt and latex and by ion—exchange replace this ion with a different ion, and thus alter the characteristics of the polymer.
• the difunctional monomer component may also be referred to the difunctional sulfomonomer and is further described herein below.
• Advantageous difunctional sulfomonomer components are those wherein the sulfonate salt group is attached to an aromatic acid nucleus such as benzene, naphthalene, dipheny1, oxydiphenyl, sulfonyldiphenyl or methylenediphenyl nucleus.
• Preferred results are obtained through the use of sulfophthalic acid, sulfoterephthalic acid, sulfoisophthalic acid, 4-sulfonaphthalene-2,7-dicarboxylic acid, and their esters.
• the difunctional sulfomonomer component is 5—sodiosulfo ⁇ isophthalic acid or its esters
• the glycol is a mixture of ethylene glycol or 1,4—cyclohexanedimethanol with diethylene glycol.
• Component B is a humectant or binder and includes any is water soluble and has a viscosity sufficient to provide to the ink the desired properties for the printer and substrate.
• suitable humectants and binders include ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, butanediol, glycerol, polyethylene glycols of the formula H-(OCH 2 -CH 2 ) n -OH having a M n of between 200 and 10,000; poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ethers having an M n of 250 to 5,000; polyvinyl alcohols, polyvinylpyridines, and polyvinylpyrrolidones and mixtures thereof.
• humectant is selected from ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, butanediol, glycerol, polyethylene glycols of the formula H-(OCH 2 -CH 2 ) n -OH wherein n is 2 to 6 and mixtures thereof.
• lower aliphatic alcohol is used to include methanol, ethanol, n—propanol, isopropanol, ethylene glycol mono C 2 -C alkyl ethers and mixtures of these.
• Suitable additives include surfactants, surface active agents, defoaming agents, corrosion inhibitors and biocides.
• Preferred surface active agents or surfactants are the nonionic types containing polyalkylene oxide moieties.
• a particularly preferred type of nonionic surfactant is obtained by ethoxylating acetylenic diols, such as ethoxylated tetramethyl decynediol (Surfynol 465, provided by Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., AUentown, PA 18195) .
• the activity of the surfactant may be controlled by addition of a defoaming agent or defoamer.
• a preferred defoamer is comprised of a mixture of tetramethyldecynediol and propylene glycol (Surfynol 104 PG, provided by Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., AUentown, PA 18195) .
• biocide is used to describe various antifungal compounds used to prevent or control the growth of various fungi upon prolonged standing of the ink compositions.
• a preferred biocide is 1,2— benzisothiazolin—3—one (Proxel ® GXL, ICI Americas Inc., Wilmington, Delaware 19897) .
• Corrosion inhibitors are added to the ink formulations to inhibit or reduce corrosion of the metal parts, particularly the nozzles/orifices, of the ink jet printers.
• a preferred class of corrosion inhibitors are the IH—benzotriazoles and IH—benzotriazole itself is the preferred corrosion inhibitor (Cobratec 99, PMC Specialties, Cincinatti, OH) .
• This invention provides aqueous ink formulations for ink jet printing of invisible, intelligible near infrared fluorescent markings which overcome the deficiencies of the prior inks.
• the inks of the present invention are especially useful for printing invisible markings such as bar codes on various porous or semi— porous substrates, such as paper or paper products, where subsequent detection or identification are desired.
• the invisible markings may be on a white or colored background.
• the inks and markings generated therefrom have the valuable property of being fluorescent when exposed to infrared radiation.
• the emitted light is detected by a near infrared radiation detector, thus allowing the invisible "marking" or "tagging" of items to which the film forming polymeric composition has been applied.
• sulfopolyesters/amides containing copolymerized near infrared fluorophores can be used to formulate suitable inks for ink jet printing which have good stability and which can be used for marking or tagging various substrates for identification/authentication purposes.
• the flask and contents were immersed in a Belmont metal bath at 200°C and stirred for 1.0 hour with a nitrogen sweep over the reaction mixture.
• the bath temperature was increased to 220°C over 5 minutes and held at 220°C for 2.0 hours.
• the temperature of the reaction mixture was increased to 250°C, vacuum was applied to lower the pressure to 0.5 mm Hg, and heating at 250°C continued for 20 minutes.
• the resulting polymer which was ground using a Wiley mill to pass through a 2 mm screen, has an inherent viscosity (I.V.) of 0.275, a weight average (Mw) molecular weight of 14,867, a number average (Mn) molecular weight of 3,848, a polydispersity (Mw/Mn) of 3.86, a glass transition temperature (Tg) of 48.4°C and contains about 0.2 weight percent (2000 ppm) of the near infrared fluorophore (NIRF) .
• I.V. inherent viscosity
• Mw weight average
• Mn number average
• Mw/Mn polydispersity
• Tg glass transition temperature
• Tg glass transition temperature
• NIRF near infrared fluorophore
• a portion (100 g) of the water-dissipatable sulfo- containing polyester of Example 1 was added portionwise to distilled water (250 mL) at 95°C with stirring. The mixture was stirred until dispersion of the polymer was completed and then cooled. Total weight of the aqueous dispersion which contained about 29% by weight of the water-dissipatable sulfo—containing polyester having about 2,000 ppm of NIRF reacted therein was 343 g.
• Example 5 was combined with components I-VI of Example 1 above and reacted to produce the condensation polymer exactly as described in Example 1.
• the water- dissipatable sulfo—containing polyester thus produced contained about 0.5% by weight (5,000 ppm) of the NIRF compound copolymerized therein and was ground in a Wiley mill to pass through a 2 mm screen.
• the polymer has an I.V. of 0.293, a Tg of 52.6°C, a Mw of 16,244, a Mn of 4,510 and a polydispersity of 3.60.
• Example 3 A portion (100 g) of the polymer of Example 3 was added portionwise to distilled water (250 mL) at 95— 100°C with stirring. The mixture was stirred until dispersion was completed and then cooled. Total weight of the aqueous dispersion which contained about 30% by weight of the water-dissipatable sulfo—containing polyester having about 5,000 ppm of NIRF reacted therein was 337.5 g.
• Example 1 was repeated using 0.14 g (1.8 X 10 _4 m) of the same infrared fluorescent compound — NcSi(OH) 2 — to give a polymer which contained about 0.1 weight percent (1,000 ppm) of the near infrared fluorophore.
• the polymer has an I.V. of 0.268, a Tg of 49.2°C, a Mw of 15,092, a Mn of 6,582, and a polydispersity of 2.29.
• Example 6 A portion (110 g) of the polymer of Example 5 was added portionwise to distilled water (275 mL) at 95- 100°C with stirring. The mixture was stirred until dispersion was completed and then cooled. Total weight of the aqueous dispersion which contained about 30% by weight of the water-dissipatable sulfo—containing polyester having about 1,000 ppm of NIRF reacted therein was 365.5 g.
• Example 7 Example 1 was repeated using 0.7 g (9.0 X 10-m) of the same infrared fluorescent compound —NcSi(0H) 2 — to give a polymer which contained about 0.5 weight percent (5,000 ppm) of the near infrared fluorophore.
• the polymer has an I.V. of 0.288, a Tg of 51.0°C, a Mw of 16,372, a Mn of 4,643, and a polydispersity of 3.52.
• Example 7 A portion (100 g) of the polymer of Example 7 was added portionwise to distilled water (250 mL) at 90-95°C with stirring. The mixture was stirred until dispersion was completed and then cooled. Total weight of the aqueous dispersion which contained about 30% by weight of the water-dissipatable sulfo—containing polyester having about 5,000 ppm of NIRF reacted therein was 334.6 g.
• a portion (150 g) of the water-dissipatable sulfo— containing polyester of Example 9 was added to distilled water (375 mL) or 95-100°C with stirring until dispersion of the polymer was completed and then the mixture was cooled.
• the total weight of the aqueous dispersion which contained about 29% by weight of the water-dissipatable sulfo—containing polyester having about 2,000 ppm of NIRF reacted therein was 514.7 g.
• Example 11 A mixture of 2(3), 11(12), 20(21), 29(30)-tetra-t- butylNcAlCl (5.0 g, 0.005 m) (Product of Example 34 of U.S. Patent 5,397,819), dimethyl 5-hydroxyisophthalate (1.05 g, 0.005 m) (Aldrich) and pyridine (200 mL) was heated and stirred at reflux for a total of 55 hours. After cooling the reaction mixture was drowned into water (500 mL) .
• Example 9 Components I-VI of Example 9 were combined with the near infrared fluorophore of Example 11 above (0.4 g, 3.4 X 10 ⁇ m) and the polymerization reaction carried out exactly as described as in Example 9.
• the water- dissipatable sulfo—polyester thus prepared contains about 2,000 ppm of the NIRF compound and has an I.V. of 0.27, a Tg of 49.9°C, a weight average molecular weight (Mw) of 13,986, a number average molecular weight (Mn) of 4,088 and a polydispersity of 3.42.
• Example 14 A portion (150 g) of the polymer of Example 12 was added portionwise with stirring to distilled water (375 mL) at 95—100°C. Stirring was continued until dispersion of polymer was completed and then the mixture was allowed to cool. Total weight of the aqueous dispersion which contained about 29.6% by weight of polymer was 507.5 g.
• Example 14 A portion (150 g) of the polymer of Example 12 was added portionwise with stirring to distilled water (375 mL) at 95—100°C. Stirring was continued until dispersion of polymer was completed and then the mixture was allowed to cool. Total weight of the aqueous dispersion which contained about 29.6% by weight of polymer was 507.5 g.
• Example 14 A portion (150 g) of the polymer of Example 12 was added portionwise with stirring to distilled water (375 mL) at 95—100°C. Stirring was continued until dispersion of polymer was completed and then the mixture was allowed to cool. Total weight of the aqueous dispersion
• Example 9 Components I—VI of Example 9 above were combined with the near infrared fluorophore 2(3), 9(10), 16(17), 23(24)-tetraphenoxy-Pc-Si(OC 6 H 4 -4-C0 2 CH 3 ) 2 (0.4 g, 3.3 X 10 ⁇ 4 m) (Example 24 of U.S. Patent 5,397,819) and the polymerization reaction carried out exactly as described in Example 9.
• the water-dissipatable sulfo-polyester thus prepared contains about 0.2% by weight (2,000 ppm) of the NIRF compound and has an I.V. of 0.24, a Tg of 49.5°C, a weight average molecular weight (Mw) of
• Example 15 A portion (150 g) of the polymer of Example 14 was added portionwise with stirring to distilled water (375 mL) at 95—100°C. Stirring was continued until dispersion of polymer was completed and then the mixture was cooled. Total weight of the aqueous dispersion which contained about 29.7% by weight of the polymer was 505 g.
• Components I—VII were combined to produce a NIRF ink containing about 120 ppm of the near infrared fluorophore by mixing in a Cowles dissolver for 25 minutes using moderate shear.
• the composition thus produced was vacuum filtered in series through a depth filter (extra thick glass fiber filter), Versapor 3000 (3 ⁇ ) , Versapor 1200 (1.2 / 0, and Versapor 800 (0.8 ⁇ ) from Gelman Sciences.
• the ink thus produced had a viscosity of 1.0 centipoise, a pH of 6.72, a conductivity of 437 micro mhos, an average particle size of 0.018 micron ( / *) , a surface tension of 30.53 dynes/cm.
• Scitex 5100 ink jet printer Scitex Digital Printing, Inc., Dayton, OH 45420-4099
• Example 17 An ink having a surface tension of 27.88 dynes/cm and a conductivity of 517 micro mhos was prepared exactly as described in Example 17 except using 6.00 parts Component II, 84.35 parts Component III, 1.00 part Component IV and 0.50 part Component V and was used successfully to print invisible bar codes as described in Example 17.
• Components I—VII were combined to produce a NIRF ink containing about 120 ppm of the near infrared fluorophore by mixing in a Cowles dissolver/blender for 22 minutes using moderate shear and then filtered as described in Example 17.
• the ink thus prepared had a viscosity of 1.01 cps, a surface tension of 32.97 dynes/cm, a conductivity of 513 micro mhos, an average particle size of 0.015 / t, a pH of 6.90 and an absorption maximum ( ⁇ max) at 679 nm in the visible/near infrared light absorption spectrum as determined using an ACS Sensor II Spectrophotometer (Applied Color Systems) . Bar codes were successfully printed on plain white paper as described in Example 17.
• Example 19 An ink similar to that of Example 19, but having a surface tension of 27.68 dynes/cm and a conductivity of 502 micro mhos was prepared as in Example 19 except using 8.00 parts of aqueous solution from Example 4 which contained 30% of sulfopolyester containing 5,000 ppm PcA10C 6 H 3 —3,5—diC0 2 CH 3 for Component I, 84.35 parts Component III, 1.00 part Component IV, and 0.50 part Component V.
• Successful printing of bar codes on plain white paper was carried out as in Example 17.
• Example 22 An ink was prepared exactly as described in Example 19 except 20.00 parts of aqueous solution from Example 13, which contained 29.6% by weight of sulfopolyester containing 2,000 ppm of NIRF compound [2(3), 11(12), 20(21) , 20(21) , 29(30)-tetra-t-butyl-NcAl-OC 6 H 3 -3,5- diC0 2 CH 3 ] was used for Component I.
• Example 22 Example 22
• Example 19 An ink was prepared exactly as described in Example 19 except 20.0 parts of aqueous solution from Example 15, which contained 29.7% by weight of sulfopolyester continaing 2,000 ppm of NIRF compound [2(3), 9(10),
• Components I—VI were combined to produce a NIRF ink containing about 120 ppm of the near infrared fluorophore by mixing in a Cowles dissolver/blender for 25 minutes using moderate shear and then vacuum filtered in series through a depth filter (extra thick glass fiber filter), Versapor 3000 (3 / 0 , Versapor 1200 (1.2 / 0 from Gelman Sciences) .
• the ink thus produced had a viscosity of 5.0 cps, a surface tension of 34.5 dynes/cm a conductivity of 123 micro mhos and was used successfully to print on plain white paper using a Domino Codebox 2 Printer (Domino Amjet, Inc., Gurnee, IL 60031) to provide invisible markings.
• the ink composition thus prepared had a viscosity of 5.0 cps and was successfully used to print bar codes (Code 39) on plain white paper using a drop—on-demand, bubble jet printer Kodak Diconix 180Si Printer (Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, New York 4650) to produce invisible markings.
• Example 25
• Example 24 An ink was prepared and used for printing invisible bar codes exactly as described in Example 24, except Component I was 8.00 parts of aqueous solution from Example 8 which contained 30.0% by weight of sulfopolyester containing 5,000 NcSi(OH) 2 .
• the ink had a viscosity of 4.5 cps.
• Components I—V were combined to produce a NIRF ink containing about 180 ppm of the near infrared fluorophore by mixing at medium shear for 10 minutes and then filtering by gravity.
• V 0.05 parts corrosion inhibitor (50% solution of IH—benzotriazole in propylene glycol) 100.00 parts
• the ink thus produced had a viscosity of 19.5 cps, a surface tension of 36.63 dynes/cm and was useful for jet printing invisible markings using the drop-on-demand piezoelectric impulse method.
• Components I—VII were combined to produce a NIRF ink containing about 180 ppm of the near infrared fluorophore by mixing at medium shear for 10 minutes and then filtering by gravity.
• Example 2 I 30.0 parts aqueous solution from Example 2 which contained 29.0% by weight of sulfopolyester containing 2,000 ppm
• the ink thus produced had a viscosity of 18.0 cps, a surface tension of 37.04 dynes/cm and was useful for printing invisible marking using the drop—on—demand piezoelectric impulse ink jet method.
• Example 24 The ink compositions listed in Table 2 below were made via the procedure of Example 24 having 2%, 10% and 20% by weight NIRF containing polymer.
• Inks having compositions similar to those disclosed in U.S. 5,336,714 were not printable at any time interval.
• the ink jet orifices were clogged and could not be corrected by priming.
• the inks of the present invention displayed excellent printability over the entire test period.

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