Textile Inkjet Pretreatment Composition for High Color and Low Bleeding

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Solution Overview

Problem

Ink jet textile printing faces challenges in achieving high color-developing properties and minimizing bleeding on fabric, with existing methods often resulting in lower color density and clarity compared to screen textile printing, and requiring additional components that can deteriorate storage stability and increase processing steps.

Innovation Solution

A pretreatment agent for ink jet textile printing comprising water, polyvalent metal ions, and acrylic polymer fine particles with specific properties, such as a glass transition temperature of −10°C or less and a particle diameter between 50 nm and 5 μm, applied to fabrics like cotton, hemp, or polyester, to enhance ink fixation and prevent bleeding.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Object-affected harmful factors

If conventional pretreatment methods (dipping or coating) are used to prevent bleeding, then bleeding prevention is improved, but color density and clearness remain lower than screen textile printing

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvebleeding preventionVSAvoidcolor density and clearness
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-affected harmful factorsVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The invention changes the particle size parameter of the polymer fine particles to a specific range (0.01-1 μm) and adjusts the glass transition temperature (≤-10°C) to optimize both bleeding prevention and color density. This parameter optimization resolves the contradiction by achieving high color-developing properties while maintaining low bleeding.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The invention uses a composite pretreatment agent containing polymer fine particles combined with specific salts (alum, zinc sulfate, or magnesium chloride) in controlled amounts. This composite formulation achieves superior bleeding prevention and color density compared to conventional single-component pretreatment methods.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #40Composite materials

2Object-affected harmful factors

If additional components (e.g., gelling adhesive) are added to ink to prevent bleeding, then bleeding prevention is improved, but storage stability of ink deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvebleeding preventionVSAvoidstorage stability
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-affected harmful factorsVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The invention applies pretreatment to the fabric before printing, which preliminarily prepares the fabric surface to prevent bleeding. This shifts the bleeding prevention function from the ink composition to the fabric pretreatment, avoiding the need for additional ink components that would compromise storage stability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The polymer fine particles act as an intermediary between the fabric and the ink, modifying the fabric surface properties to prevent bleeding without requiring modification of the ink composition. This mediator approach maintains ink storage stability while achieving bleeding prevention.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Object-affected harmful factors

If conventional pretreatment agents are used, then bleeding is reduced, but the number of processing steps increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvebleeding reductionVSAvoidprocessing steps
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-affected harmful factorsVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The invention combines multiple functions into a single pretreatment step: the polymer fine particles provide both bleeding prevention and color density enhancement, while the controlled addition of salts provides additional fixing functionality. This merged approach reduces the number of separate processing steps compared to conventional multi-stage pretreatment methods.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

4Productivity

If ink with low viscosity is used to improve discharging property, then printing speed is improved, but fabric absorption and fixing function becomes insufficient

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprinting speedVSAvoidfabric absorption and fixing
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The invention changes the fabric surface properties through pretreatment with polymer fine particles, which modify the fabric's absorption and fixing characteristics without requiring changes to the ink viscosity. This allows low-viscosity ink to be used for high-speed printing while the pretreated fabric provides sufficient absorption and fixing capability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

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 solution achieves high color-developing properties with reduced bleeding, improving the fixing and washing fastness of printed matter on fabric, while maintaining storage stability and simplifying the printing process.

Implementation Method 1

the fabric is pretreated with a certain amount of a pretreatment agent composed of a water-soluble polymer substantially not dyeing the dye that dyes the fabric and a water-soluble salt or water-insoluble inorganic fine particles to provide a sharp and clear image

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectAdsorption: Adsorption

Implementation Method 2

A pretreatment agent for ink jet textile printing contains at least water, a polyvalent metal ion, and polymer fine particles

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectCoordination chemistry: Chemical Bonding

Data Source

PatentUS10183502B2Pretreatment agent for ink jet textile printing and ink jet textile printing process
Publication Date: 2019.01.22 SEIKO EPSON CORP

AI summary

Provided is a pretreatment agent for ink jet textile printing that can provide printed matters on fabric with high color-developing properties and less bleeding. The pretreatment agent includes at least water and (A) a multivalent metal ion and polymer fine particles, (B) a cationic polymer and polymer fine particles, or (C) cationic polymer fine particles.