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AssigneeLexmark International, Inc.
InventorsCharles Edward Akers, Jr., Michael James Bensing, Rahel Bekru Bogale, Xiaorong Cai, Jun Li, Jing X. Sun, Qi Yin
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The present invention provides a pigment ink formulation containing a wax emulsion is disclosed. The wax emulsion comprises a specific wax and surfactant combination. In particular, the wax comprises a linear polyethylene wax and the surfactant is an alkyl ether carboxylate. The wax emulsion can be made by any process for preparing emulsions used by those skilled in the art such as typical homogenization methods. Applicants have discovered that such a wax emulsion can not only improve the scratch resistance of pigmented ink, but also improve other handling problems such as scuff and smear.
An aqueous inkjet ink for inkjet printers comprising a wax emulsion having an average particle size less than 250 nm that comprises a mixture of a linear and nonpolar polyethylene wax with a number average molecular weight from 400 to 655 and an alkyl ether carboxylate or alkyl ether sulfate surfactant having both nonionic and anionic functionality, a color pigment, and an aqueous carrier.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.