# US 12,214,607 B2 · Image recording method

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- Number: US 12,214,607 B2
- Document ID: US12214607B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/582,222
- Filed: 2022-01-24
- Published: 2022-05-12
- Granted: 2025-02-04
- Earliest claimed: 2019-07-25
- Assignees: FUJIFILM Corporation
- Applicants: FUJIFILM Corporation
- Inventors: Takeshi Miyato; Michio Arai; Yusuke Fujii; Kenji Shirokane
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12214607B2

## CPC

- B41M 5/0064: {on plastics, horn, rubber, or other organic polymers}
- B41M 5/0011: {Pre-treatment or treatment during printing of the recording material, e.g. heating, irradiating (after-treatment of prints B41M7/00; printers for treating or overcoating copy materials before, during or after printing B41J11/0015)}
- B41M 5/0017: {Application of ink-fixing material, e.g. mordant, precipitating agent, on the substrate prior to printing, e.g. by ink-jet printing, coating or spraying}
- B41M 5/0023: {Digital printing methods characterised by the inks used (inks per se C09D11/00)}
- B41M 5/0047: {by ink-jet printing}
- B41M 7/009: {using thermal means, e.g. infrared radiation, heat}
- C09D 11/104: Polyesters
- C09D 11/107: from unsaturated acids or derivatives thereof
- C09D 11/30: Inkjet printing inks
- C09D 11/322: Pigment inks
- C09D 11/40: Ink-sets specially adapted for multi-colour inkjet printing
- C09D 11/54: Inks based on two liquids, one liquid being the ink, the other liquid being a reaction solution, a fixer or a treatment solution for the ink
- B41M: PRINTING, DUPLICATING, MARKING, OR COPYING PROCESSES; COLOUR PRINTING, (correction of typographical errors B41J; processes for applying transfer pictures or the like B44C1/16; fluid media for correction of typographical errors by coating C09D10/00; printing textiles D06P)
- C09D: COATING COMPOSITIONS, e.g. PAINTS, VARNISHES OR LACQUERS; FILLING PASTES; CHEMICAL PAINT OR INK REMOVERS; INKS; CORRECTING FLUIDS; WOODSTAINS; PASTES OR SOLIDS FOR COLOURING OR PRINTING; USE OF MATERIALS THEREFOR (cosmetics A61K; processes for applying liquids or other fluent materials to surfaces, in general, B05D; staining wood B27K5/02; glazes or vitreous enamels C03C; natural resins, French polish, drying-oils, driers, turpentine, per se, C09F; polishing compositions other than French polish, ski waxes C09G; adhesives or use of materials as adhesives C09J; materials for sealing or packing joints or covers C09K3/10; materials for stopping leaks C09K3/12; processes for the electrolytic or electrophoretic production of coatings C25D)

## Abstract

Provided is an image recording method including applying a pretreatment liquid containing water and a resin X and an ink containing water and a colorant onto a resin base material A which has a specific distortion rate and to which a tension is applied, to obtain an image, heating the image to a temperature Td and drying the image, and cooling the image to a temperature Tr, in which σtotal calculated by Equation (1) is 40 kgf/cm2 or less. E(Td) represents an elastic modulus of the resin X at the temperature Td, ε(Td) represents an expansion coefficient of the resin base material A under specific conditions, E(T) represents an elastic modulus of the resin X at a temperature T of the image in the cooling, αr(T) represents a linear expansion coefficient of the resin X at the temperature T, and αs(T) represents a linear expansion coefficient of the resin base material A under specific conditions. σ total =  σ dry + σ cool  Equation ⁢ ⁢ ( 1 ) σ dry = E ⁡ ( T d ) ⁢ ⁢ ɛ ⁢ ⁢ ( T d ) Equation ⁢ ⁢ ( 2 ) σ cool = ∫ T r T d ⁢ E ⁡ ( T ) ⁢ ( α r ⁡ ( T ) - α s ⁡ ( T ) ) ⁢ dT Equation ⁢ ⁢ ( 3 )

## Claims

### Claim 1

An image recording method comprising:
preparing a resin base material A in which an absolute value of a distortion rate represented by Equation (a1) in a case where the base material is heated from 25° C. to 60° C. at a temperature increasing rate of 5° C./min and maintained at 60° C. for 2 minutes in a state where a tension of 30 N/m is applied thereto, and the base material is cooled to 25° C. at a temperature decreasing rate of 5° C./min in a state where a tension of 30 N/m is applied thereto is 0.05% or greater;
preparing a pretreatment liquid containing water and a resin X;
preparing an ink containing water and a colorant;
sequentially applying the pretreatment liquid and the ink onto the resin base material A to which a tension S1 of 10 N/m or greater is applied to obtain an image;
heating and drying the image to a temperature Td of 50° C. or higher in a state where a tension S2 of 10 N/m or greater is applied to the resin base material A; and
cooling the image after the drying to a temperature Tr of 30° C. or lower in a state where a tension S3 of 10 N/m or greater is applied to the resin base material A,
wherein σtotal to be calculated by Equation (1) is 40 kgf/cm2 or less,
distortion rate(%)=((length of resin base material in tension application direction at end of cooling−length thereof in tension application direction at start of heating)/length thereof in tension application direction at start of heating)×100 Equation (a1)
σ
total
=

σ
dry
+
σ
cool

Equation
⁢
⁢
(
1
)
σ
dry
=
E
⁡
(
T
d
)
⁢
⁢
ɛ
⁢
⁢
(
T
d
)
Equation
⁢
⁢
(
2
)
σ
cool
=
∫
T
r
T
d
⁢
E
⁡
(
T
)
⁢
(
α
r
⁡
(
T
)
-
α
s
⁡
(
T
)
)
⁢
dT
Equation
⁢
⁢
(
3
)
in Equation (1), σdry is calculated by Equation (2), and σcool is calculated by Equation (3),
in Equation (2),
E(Td) represents an elastic modulus of the resin X at the temperature Td which is expressed in a unit of kgf/cm2,
ε(Td) represents an expansion coefficient of the length of the resin base material A represented by Equation (a2) in the tension application direction in a case where the base material is heated from 25° C. to the temperature Td and maintained at the temperature Td in a state where the tension S2 is applied thereto, and the base material is cooled to 25° C. in a state where the tension S2 is applied thereto,
expansion coefficient of length of resin base material A in tension application direction=(length of resin base material in tension application direction at end of cooling−length thereof in tension application direction at start of heating)/length thereof in tension application direction at start of heating Equation (a2)
in Equation (3),
E(T) represents an elastic modulus of the resin X at a temperature T of the image in the cooling which is expressed in the unit of kgf/cm2,
αr(T) represents a linear expansion coefficient of the resin X at the temperature T,
αs(T) represents a linear expansion coefficient of the resin base material A in the tension application direction in a state where the tension S3 is applied thereto at the temperature T,
Td represents the temperature Td, and
Tr represents the temperature Tr.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The image recording method according to claim 1,
wherein σtotal is 30 kgf/cm2 or less.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The image recording method according to claim 1,
wherein the tension S1, the tension S2, and the tension S3 are each independently in a range of 10 N/m to 60 N/m.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The image recording method according to claim 1,
wherein the resin base material A has a thickness of 12 μm to 60 μm.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The image recording method according to claim 1,
wherein the resin base material A is a polypropylene base material or a nylon base material.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The image recording method according to claim 1,
wherein the resin X is at least one of an acrylic resin or a polyester resin.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The image recording method according to claim 1,
wherein the resin base material A has a long film shape, and
the application of the pretreatment liquid and the ink in the applying, the drying of the image in the drying, and the cooling of the image in the cooling are performed while the resin base material A is transported in a longitudinal direction of the resin base material A using a roll-to-roll method.