Flexible, scratch resistant radiation curable inkjet inks

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-8991991-B2
Application number	US-201113695099-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 8, 2011
Priority date	Jun 24, 2010
Publication date	Mar 31, 2015
Grant date	Mar 31, 2015

Abstract

A free radical radiation curable inkjet ink containing a photoinitiator and polymerizable compounds includes at least 45 wt % of a mixture of monomers consisting of: a) 10 to 35 wt % of one or more cyclic monofunctional acrylates wherein the homopolymer thereof has a T g larger than 20° C.; b) 10 to 30 wt % of a N-vinyl lactam and/or a vinylether acrylate; c) 10 to 30 wt % of an ethoxylated and/or propoxylated polyacrylate having a molecular weight of at least 450; wherein all wt % are based on the total weight of the inkjet ink; and wherein the T g is determined by the DSC method in ISO 11357-2:1999.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A free radical radiation curable inkjet ink comprising:
a photoinitiator; and
polymerizable compounds including at least 45 wt % of a mixture of monomers consisting of:
a) 10 to 35 wt % of one or more cyclic monofunctional acrylates wherein a homopolymer thereof has a T g larger than 20° C.;
b) 10 to 30 wt % of a N-vinyl lactam and/or a vinylether acrylate; and
c) 10 to 30 wt % of an ethoxylated and/or propoxylated polyacrylate having a molecular weight of at least 450; wherein
all wt % are based on a total weight of the free radical radiation curable inkjet ink; and
the T g is determined by the DSC method in ISO 11357-2:1999.

2. The free radical radiation curable inkjet ink according to claim 1 , wherein the vinylether acrylate is 2-(vinyloxyethoxy)ethyl acrylate.

3. The free radical radiation curable inkjet ink according to claim 1 , wherein the N-vinyl lactam is N-vinyl caprolactam.

4. The free radical radiation curable inkjet ink according to claim 2 , wherein the N-vinyl lactam is N-vinyl caprolactam.

5. The free radical radiation curable inkjet ink according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more cyclic monofunctional acrylates are present in the free radical radiation curable inkjet ink in an amount between 15 wt % and 30 wt %.

6. The free radical radiation curable inkjet ink according to claim 1 , wherein the N-vinyl lactam and/or vinylether acrylate is present in the free radical radiation curable inkjet ink in an amount between 15 wt % and 25 wt %.

7. The free radical radiation curable inkjet ink according to claim 5 , wherein the N-vinyl lactam and/or vinylether acrylate is present in the free radical radiation curable inkjet ink in an amount between 15 wt % and 25 wt %.

8. The free radical radiation curable inkjet ink according to claim 1 , wherein the ethoxylated and/or propoxylated multifunctional acrylate is present in the free radical radiation curable inkjet ink in an amount between 15 wt % and 25 wt %.

9. The free radical radiation curable inkjet ink according to claim 7 , wherein the ethoxylated and/or propoxylated multifunctional acrylate is present in the free radical radiation curable inkjet ink in an amount between 15 wt % and 25 wt %.

10. The free radical radiation curable inkjet ink according to claim 1 , wherein an amount of all polymerizable compounds is higher than 80 wt % based on the total weight of the free radical radiation curable inkjet ink.

11. The free radical radiation curable inkjet ink according to claim 1 , wherein the free radical radiation curable inkjet ink has a viscosity of less than 20 mPa·s at 45° C. and at a shear rate of 1,000 s −1 .

12. The free radical radiation curable inkjet ink according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more cyclic monofunctional acrylates are selected from the group consisting of 4-tert.butylcyclohexylacrylate and isobornyl acrylate.

13. The free radical radiation curable inkjet ink according to claim 1 , further comprising a urethane acrylate.

14. The free radical radiation curable inkjet ink according to claim 1 , wherein the free radical radiation curable inkjet ink includes no organic solvent or water.

15. The free radical radiation curable inkjet ink according to claim 1 , wherein the free radical radiation curable inkjet ink is a colorless liquid.

16. A free radical radiation curable inkjet ink set comprising:
at least two different free radical radiation curable inkjet inks as defined by claim 1 .

17. An inkjet printing method comprising the steps of:
providing a substantially non-absorbing ink-receiver;
providing a free radical radiation curable inkjet ink as defined by claim 1 ; and
inkjet printing the free radical radiation curable inkjet ink on the substantially non-absorbing ink-receiver.

Assignees

• Hoogmartens Ivan
• Agfa Graphics Nv

Inventors

• Hoogmartens Ivan

Classifications

• C09D11/101

  Inks specially adapted for printing processes involving curing by wave energy or particle radiation, e.g. with UV-curing following the printing · CPC title

• B41J2/2107

  characterised by the ink properties (supplying ink in a solid state B41J2/17593) · CPC title

• C09D11/32 Primary

  characterised by colouring agents · CPC title