US6830709B2
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US
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Method of measuring liquid composition, liquid composition, ink set, method for forming colored portion on recording medium, and ink-jet recording apparatus
Assignee: Canon Inc
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Filing: 2001-10-02
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Granted: 2004-12-14
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Expires: 2021-10-02
Abstract
Abstract The invention relates to a liquid composition measurement method. One embodiment of the method comprises the steps of: i) subjecting a liquid composition containing fine particles and a solvent to the following pretreatment steps (a) to (c) to form an agglomerate of fine particles: (a) evaporating the solvent of the liquid composition at 120° C. for 10 hours in an ambient atmosphere, and drying the liquid composition; (b) burning the dried liquid composition resulting from the pretreatment step (a) at 700° C. after raising the temperature from 120° C. to 700° C. over one hour; (c) cooling a burned product obtained in the pretreatment step (b) to room temperature, powdering the burned product to obtain agglomerates of the fine particles; and ii) vacuum degassing the agglomerates at 120° C. for 8 hours, and measuring physical properties of pores of the agglomerates by a nitrogen adsorption and desorption method.
Inventors
- 👤 Hiroshi Tomioka
- 👤 Masao Kato
- 👤 Makiko Endo
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-29 02:02
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01N; G01N33/00; G01N33/26; C; C09; C09D; C09D11/00; C09D11/30; C09D11/40; C09D11/32
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 47
Claim 1
Independent Claim
242 words
A liquid composition which forms a colored portion on a recording medium together with an ink containing a coloring material, comprising a solvent and fine particles that react with the coloring material in the ink, the fine particles forming agglomerates having pores by the following pretreatment steps (a) to (c), wherein the agglomerates have pores and the volume of the pores whose radius ranges from 3 to 30 nm is not less than 0.4 ml/g, and the volume of the pores whose radius is more than 30 nm is not more than 0.1 ml/g, the volume and radius of the pores being measured according to a process for measuring a liquid composition comprising the steps of: i) subjecting a liquid composition containing fine particles and a solvent to the following pretreatment steps (a) to (c): (a) evaporating the solvent of the liquid composition at 120° C. for 10 hours in atmosphere, and drying the liquid composition; (b) burning the dried liquid composition resulting from the pretreatment step (a) at 700° C. for three hours after raising the temperature from 120° C. to 700° C. over one hour; (c) gradually cooling a burned product resulting from the pretreatment step (b) to room temperature, and powdering the burned product to obtain agglomerates of the fine particles; and ii) vacuum degassing the agglomerates at 120° C. for 8 hours, and measuring physical properties of pores of the agglomerates by a nitrogen adsorption and desorption method.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
242 words
A liquid composition which forms a colored portion on a recording medium together with an ink containing a coloring material, comprising a solvent and fine particles that react with the coloring material in the ink, the fine particles forming agglomerates having pores by the following pretreatment steps (a) to (c), wherein the agglomerates have pores and the volume of the pores whose radius ranges from 3 to 30 nm is not less than 0.4 ml/g, and the volume of the pores whose radius is more than 30 nm is not more than 0.1 ml/g, the volume and radius of the pores being measured according to a process for measuring a liquid composition comprising the steps of: i) subjecting a liquid composition containing fine particles and a solvent to the following pretreatment steps (a) to (c): (a) evaporating the solvent of the liquid composition at 120° C. for 10 hours in atmosphere, and drying the liquid composition; (b) burning the dried liquid composition resulting from the pretreatment step (a) at 700° C. for three hours after raising the temperature from 120° C. to 700° C. over one hour; (c) gradually cooling a burned product resulting from the pretreatment step (b) to room temperature, and powdering the burned product to obtain agglomerates of the fine particles; and ii) vacuum degassing the agglomerates at 120° C. for 8 hours, and measuring physical properties of pores of the agglomerates by a nitrogen adsorption and desorption method.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
47 words
The liquid composition according to claim 1 , wherein the volume of the pores whose radius ranges from 3 to 20 nm is not less than 0.4 ml/g, and the volume of the pores whose radius is larger than 20 nm is not more than 0.1 ml/g.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
47 words
The liquid composition according to claim 1 , wherein the ink is either an anionic or cationic aqueous ink and the aqueous liquid composition contains fine particles in a dispersed state, the fine particles having a surface charge of opposite polarity to that of the aqueous ink.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
38 words
The liquid composition according to claim 1 , wherein when a colored portion is formed, the fine particles adsorb the coloring material in the ink on the surface of the fine particles, preventing agglomeration of the coloring material.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
20 words
The liquid composition according to claim 1 , wherein the liquid composition has a zeta-potential of +5 to +90 mV.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
24 words
The liquid composition according to claim 1 , wherein the composition further contains an acid, and has a pH adjusted to 2 to 7.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
23 words
The liquid composition according to claim 6 , wherein the acid has a primary dissociation constant pKa of 5 or lower in water.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
22 words
The liquid composition according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the liquid composition has a zeta-potential of −5 to −90 mV.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
23 words
The liquid composition according to claim 1 , wherein the composition further contains a base, and has a pH adjusted 7 to 12.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
23 words
The liquid composition according to claim 9 , wherein the base has a primary dissociation constant pKb of 5 or lower in water.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
27 words
The liquid composition according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the fine particles have an average particle diameter in a range of 0.005 to 1 μm.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
75 words
The liquid composition according to claim 1 , wherein the ink is cationic or anionic and the colored portion is formed by bringing the liquid composition and the ink into contact with each other in a liquid state to adsorb or bond the coloring material in the ink onto the surfaces of the fine particles of the liquid composition while keeping the coloring material in practically the same molecular state as that in the ink.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
75 words
The liquid composition according to claim 2 , wherein the ink is cationic or anionic, and the colored portion is formed by bringing the liquid composition and the ink into contact with each other in a liquid state to adsorb or bond the coloring material in the ink onto the surfaces of the fine particles of the liquid composition while keeping the coloring material in practically the same molecular state as that in the ink.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
25 words
The liquid composition according to claim 3 , wherein the ink is an anionic aqueous ink and the fine particles have a cationic surface charge.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
21 words
The liquid composition according to claim 1 , wherein the fine particles react with the coloring material in a liquid state.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
42 words
An ink set comprising an ink and a liquid composition independently, the ink containing a coloring material, and the liquid composition containing fine particles that react with the coloring material, wherein the liquid composition is that as defined in claim 1 .
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
47 words
The ink set according to claim 16 , wherein the volume of the pores whose radius ranges from 3 to 20 nm is not less than 0.4 ml/g, and the volume of the pores whose radius is larger than 20 nm is not more than 0.1 ml/g.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
51 words
The ink set according to claim 16 , wherein the ink is either an anionic or cationic aqueous ink and the liquid composition is an aqueous composition containing fine particles in a dispersed state, the fine particles being charged on surface thereof in opposite polarity to that of the aqueous ink.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
39 words
The ink set according to claim 16 , wherein the ink is at least one selected from an yellow ink, a magenta ink, a cyan ink, a black ink, a red ink, a blue ink, and a green ink.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
23 words
The ink set according to claim 16 , wherein the ink comprises separately an yellow ink, a magenta ink, and a cyan ink.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
26 words
The ink set according to claim 16 , wherein the ink comprises separately an yellow ink, a magenta ink, a cyan ink, and a black ink.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
30 words
The ink set according to any one of claims 16 to 21 , wherein the ink is anionic and the liquid composition has a zeta-potential of +5 to +90 mV.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
29 words
The ink set according to claim 16 , wherein the ink is anionic and the liquid composition contains an acid and has a pH adjusted to 2 to 7.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
27 words
The ink set according to claim 23 , wherein the acid in the liquid composition has a primary dissociation constant pKa of 5 or lower in water.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
30 words
The ink set according to any one of claims 16 to 21 , wherein the ink is cationic and the liquid composition has a zeta-potential of −5 to −90 mV.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
32 words
The ink set according to claim 16 , wherein the ink is cationic and the liquid composition contains a base and pH of the liquid composition is adjusted to 7 to 12.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
27 words
The ink set according to claim 26 , wherein the base in the liquid composition has a primary dissociation constant pKb of 5 or lower in water.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
32 words
The ink set according to any one of claims 16 to 21 , wherein the fine particles dispersed in the liquid composition have an average particle diameter of 0.005 to 1 μm.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
20 words
The ink set according to claim 16 , wherein the ink has an anionic property and contains an anionic compound.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
23 words
The ink set according to claim 29 , wherein the ink contains a water-soluble dye having an anionic group as the anionic compound.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
28 words
The ink set according to claim 29 , wherein the ink contains a pigment having an anionic group on the surface of the pigment as the anionic compound.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
25 words
The ink set according to claim 29 , wherein the ink contains a pigment and an anionic compound that is a dispersant for the pigment.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
20 words
The ink set according to claim 16 , wherein the ink has a cationic property and contains a cationic compound.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
40 words
A method for forming a colored portion on a recording medium, comprising the steps of: (i) applying an ink containing a coloring material to a recording medium; and (ii) applying a liquid composition of claim 1 to the recording medium.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
40 words
A method for forming a colored portion on a recording medium comprising the steps of: (i) applying an ink containing a coloring material to a recording medium; and (ii) applying the liquid composition of claim 2 to the recording medium.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method according to claim 34 or 35 , wherein the ink is either an anionic or cationic aqueous ink and the aqueous liquid composition contains fine particles in a dispersion state, the fine particles being charged on surface thereof in opposite polarity to that of the aqueous ink.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method for forming colored portions on a recording medium according to claim 34 or 35 , wherein the step (i) is carried out after the step (ii).
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method according to claim 34 or 35 , wherein the step (ii) is carried out after the step (i).
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method according to claim 34 or 35 , wherein the step (ii) is carried out after the step (i) is carried out and after that, the step (i) is carried out again.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
41 words
The method according to claim 34 or 35 , wherein in the step (i) the ink is applied to the recording medium by an ink-jet recording method in which the ink is ejected from an orifice according to a recorded signal.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method according to claim 40 , wherein the ink-jet recording method is a method for ejecting the ink by applying heat energy to the ink.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
43 words
The method according to claim 34 or 35 , wherein in the step (ii) the liquid composition is applied to the recording medium by an ink-jet recording method in which the liquid composition is ejected from an orifice according to a recorded signal.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method according to claim 42 , wherein the ink-jet recording method is a method for ejecting the liquid composition by applying heat energy to the liquid composition.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
70 words
An ink-jet recording apparatus comprising a first recording unit and a second recording unit, wherein the first recording unit is provided with an ink container containing an ink comprising a coloring material, and an ink-jet head for ejecting the ink, and the second recording unit is provided with a liquid composition container containing a liquid composition according to claim 1 , and an ink-jet head for ejecting the liquid composition.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
41 words
An ink-jet recording apparatus comprising an ink container containing an ink comprising a coloring material, and a liquid composition container containing the liquid composition of claim 1 , and an ink-jet head for ejecting the ink and the liquid composition respectively.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
31 words
The ink-jet recording apparatus according to claim 44 or 45 , wherein the ink-jet head is a thermal ink-jet head for ejecting a liquid by applying heat energy to the liquid.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2007-12-14 | 2008-06-14 | 2008-12-14 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2011-12-14 | 2012-06-14 | 2012-12-14 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2015-12-14 | 2016-06-14 | 2016-12-14 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |