Two-Part Inkjet Composition for Durable Stretchable Substrate Printing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current inkjet printing technologies face challenges in producing high-quality, durable, and flexible color images on stretchable and absorptive substrates like textiles, which require ink compositions that prevent absorption, bleeding, and smearing while maintaining elasticity and adhesion.
Innovation Solution
A multi-part ink composition is developed, comprising a property-adjusting agent and a proto-elastomeric film-forming agent that congeals upon contact, forming an elastic film on the substrate, which is applied using separate printheads to ensure immobilization and adhesion without prior absorption, utilizing a process that controls droplet timing and volume for optimal image formation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional inkjet compositions are used on stretchable substrates, then the printing process is simple, but the ink is absorbed, smeared, and loses durability during washing and stretching
Solution Approach 1:
The ink composition is divided into two separate parts: a property-adjusting agent applied first to modify substrate surface properties, and a proto-elastomeric film-forming agent applied second to form the durable image layer. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function optimally, preventing absorption and smearing while maintaining durability through washing and stretching.
Solution Approach 2:
The property-adjusting agent is applied in advance to the substrate before the film-forming agent. This preliminary action modifies the substrate surface properties (such as surface energy and wettability) to prevent excessive ink absorption and prepare the surface for optimal adhesion of the elastomeric film, ensuring durability without requiring complex post-treatment.
2Manufacturing precision
If the ink composition is made more complex to prevent absorption and improve durability, then the printed image quality improves, but the manufacturing process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The property-adjusting agent acts as an intermediary between the substrate and the proto-elastomeric film-forming agent. It modifies the substrate surface properties to create optimal conditions for inkjet printing, controlling droplet placement, preventing spreading, and ensuring proper adhesion. This intermediary approach achieves high image resolution without requiring complex multi-component inks or extensive process modifications.
3Reliability
If the ink forms a rigid film for durability, then wash-fastness improves, but the print area loses flexibility and stretchability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses proto-elastomeric film-forming agents with specific molecular structures and glass transition temperatures that allow the film to remain flexible and stretchable at use conditions while providing durability. The property-adjusting agent also modifies substrate parameters to enhance adhesion without rigidifying the system. This parameter optimization achieves both wash-fastness and flexibility simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The ink composition creates a composite structure where the proto-elastomeric film-forming agent forms a flexible polymer matrix that embeds colorants. This composite material provides both the durability needed for wash-fastness and the elasticity required for stretchability, resolving the contradiction between rigid protection and flexible performance.
4Strength
If the inkjet composition uses high absorption to ensure ink adherence, then adhesion improves, but bleeding and smearing increase
Solution Approach 1:
The ink system is segmented into a property-adjusting agent that controls surface properties and a film-forming agent that provides adhesion. The property-adjusting agent is applied first to create optimal surface conditions that allow controlled adhesion without excessive absorption. This segmentation prevents ink from spreading into the substrate while maintaining strong bonding, thereby preserving image sharpness and detail.
Solution Approach 2:
The property-adjusting agent modifies substrate surface parameters (surface energy, wettability, porosity) to create optimal conditions for inkjet printing. These parameter changes allow the ink to adhere strongly to the surface without being absorbed into the substrate bulk, preventing bleeding and smearing while maintaining adhesion strength and image precision.
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 enables the creation of high-resolution, durable, and flexible color images on various substrates, including textiles, with improved wash-fastness, stretchability, and adherence to Oeko-Tex standards, while minimizing substrate absorption and maintaining image integrity during stretching.
Implementation Method 1
the second part congeals upon contact with the property-adjusting agent
Implementation Method 2
electric signals are converted to mechanical signals for a continuous or on-demand jetting of an ink composition
Data Source
AI summary
Novel inkjet ink compositions for forming an image in a form of an elastic film attached to a surface of a stretchable and/or flexible substrate and processes utilizing same for inkjet printing color images on various substrates such as colored and absorptive or impregnable stretchable materials, which are characterized by heightened efficiency in process time, ink and energy consumption, as well as products having durable, wash-fast and abrasion-fast images printed thereon by the process, are disclosed. The novel ink compositions comprise a first part, which contains a property-adjusting agent and a carrier, and a second part which contains an emulsified property-sensitive proto-elastomeric film-forming agent, a colorant and a carrier, such that the second part congeals upon contact with the property-adjusting agent. The second part is digitally applied to the substrate less than 1 second following the application of the first part to the substrate.