Oligomeric Gellant Blends for Curable Solid Ink Stability
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current curable solid ink formulations face challenges in achieving wide substrate latitude, excellent adhesion, and enhanced pigment dispersion stability, which are essential for advanced inkjet printing applications.
Innovation Solution
The development of novel gellant compositions comprising a blend of oligomers of ester-terminated polyamide resin, specifically optimized blends of unimers, dimers, trimers, tetramers, and higher oligomers, which are used in inkjet printing to create curable solid inks that remain solid at room temperature and melt at elevated temperatures for improved printing performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional solid ink formulations are used, then the ink remains solid at room temperature, but the curing speed and molecular mobility are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the molecular weight parameters of the gellant by using a blend of oligomers with different chain lengths (n=1 to n=12). This parameter change optimizes both the molecular mobility for curing and the solid state stability at room temperature, resolving the contradiction between curing speed and composition stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite gellant system by blending oligomers of different molecular weights (unimers, dimers, trimers, tetramers, and higher oligomers) with ester-terminated polyamide resin. This composite approach allows the system to exhibit both high molecular mobility for rapid curing and sufficient stability to remain solid at room temperature.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the gellant molecular weight is increased to improve solid ink stability, then the ink remains solid at room temperature, but the jetting temperature increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the molecular weight parameter distribution by incorporating a blend of oligomers rather than a single high molecular weight component. This allows the system to maintain solid stability while achieving lower jetting temperatures through the presence of lower molecular weight species that facilitate phase change at reduced temperatures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes phase transition properties by selecting oligomers with specific molecular weights that enable controlled melting and solidification. The blend composition is designed to undergo phase transition at optimal jetting temperatures, balancing solid stability with efficient jetting performance.
3Reliability
If a blend of multiple oligomers is used to optimize performance, then the curing performance and phase change characteristics improve, but the formulation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent systematically varies the oligomer composition parameters (molecular weight distribution, end-cap groups, chain length n) to optimize curing performance. By establishing specific parameter ranges and relationships among the oligomer components, the patent achieves enhanced performance while managing formulation complexity through structured design rather than random blending.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
These optimized gellant compositions enable curable solid inks with low jetting temperatures, faster phase change characteristics, excellent curing performance, increased hardness after curing, and controlled showthrough, thereby enhancing the quality and reliability of printed images.
Implementation Method 1
solid phase change ink compositions which are solid at room temperature and molten at an elevated temperature at which the molten ink is jetted
Implementation Method 2
a gellant oligomer mixture composition comprising a blend of oligomers of an ester-terminated polyamide gellant
Implementation Method 3
curable solid ink compositions... a photoinitiator... exposing the image to radiation to cure the curable solid ink
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein are amide gellant compositions with aromatic end-caps consisting of a blend of oligomers (dimer, trimer, tetramer and pentamer) that may be optimized to stable gelling viscosity and controlled showthrough of printed inks.