Polymer Substrate Treatment for Liquid Toner Adhesion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Liquid electrophotographic (LEP) printed images often fail to adhere well to substrates compared to dry-toner electroreprographic printing methods, necessitating a solution to enhance adhesion in the LEP printing process.
Innovation Solution
Treating a printable substrate with a composition comprising one or more polymers, specifically those with localized strong negatively charged dipoles, followed by drying, to create a treated substrate that can be printed with liquid toner using electrophotographic technology, where the polymer treatment is applied less than 5 minutes prior to printing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If liquid electrophotographic printing is used, then printing speed and image quality are improved, but adhesion of the printed image to the substrate deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies a polymer composition to the substrate surface before printing to prepare the surface for better adhesion. This preliminary treatment modifies the substrate surface properties so that when liquid toner is applied during LEP printing, it adheres much more effectively, achieving adhesion retention exceeding 90% while maintaining the high printing speed and image quality of LEP technology
2Manufacturing precision
If liquid toner is used in LEP printing, then image quality is improved by not masking surface roughness, but adhesion to substrate deteriorates compared to dry-toner methods
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a polymer composition as an intermediary substance between the substrate and the liquid toner. This composition acts as a bonding mediator that facilitates strong adhesion between the liquid toner particles and the substrate surface, allowing the liquid toner to maintain its quality benefits while achieving adhesion levels comparable to or exceeding dry-toner methods
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
The method significantly improves the adhesion of liquid toner images to substrates, with adhesion retention exceeding 90% as measured by the Tape Pull Test, demonstrating enhanced print quality and durability.
Implementation Method 1
treating a printable substrate just before printing with a composition comprising a polymer
Implementation Method 2
drying the composition after applying the composition to the substrate
Implementation Method 3
liquid electrophotographic printing an image on the treated substrate using a liquid toner ink
Data Source
AI summary
A method of enhancing adhesion of an image to at least one surface of a substrate is provided herein. The method includes treating at least a portion of the surface by applying a composition comprising one or more polymers to the portion of the surface. The method further includes drying the composition after applying the composition to the substrate to form a treated substrate. The method further includes printing an image from an electrophotographic printer utilizing liquid toner technology on the treated substrate. The substrate is treated and dried less than about 5 minutes prior to being printed.