Inking system including reusable paper and water-humectant ink
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Company
InventorsIrwin Sobel, An-Chung R Lin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A special ink consists of water and a humectant. A reusable paper includes a surface darkened by a water-insoluble material and a coating covering the darkened surface. The coating is made of a material that scatters light when dry and that becomes at least translucent when wetted by water. If the special ink is used to print on the reusable paper, the print will be visible for a limited period of time (e.g., half an hour). By the end of that time period, however, the special ink will have evaporated and the print will have disappeared completely from the reusable paper. The special ink may be applied to the reusable paper by an inkjet printer. An inkjet cartridge for such a printer includes a casing filled with the special ink.
Claims20
A method of printing on a reusable paper, the reusable paper including a surface darkened by a water-insoluble material and a coating covering the darkened surface, the coating being made of a material that scatters light when dry and that becomes at least translucent and at most transparent when wetted by water, the method comprising the steps of:
- applying an ink consisting of water and a humectant to the coating;
- and
- allowing the water on the coating to evaporate;
- whereby the humectant suppresses the evaporation of the water on the coating.
A combination comprising:
- reusable paper including a surface darkened by a water-insoluble material and a coating covering the darkened surface, the coating being made of a material that scatters light when dry and that becomes at least translucent when wetted by water;
- and
- ink for the reusable paper, the ink consisting of water and a humectant.
A cartridge for an inkjet printer, the cartridge comprising:
- a casing;
- and
- an ink contained within the casing, the ink consisting of water and a humectant.
A printer comprising:
- a pen-plotter mechanism;
- an ink container;
- and
- ink contained within the container, the ink consisting of water and a humectant.
An ink for an inkjet printer, the ink consisting of:
- water;
- and
- a humectant.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.