A resistive ribbon for electrothermal printing and a method of producing the resistive ribbon

Claim 1

A ribbon for electrothermal printing comprising, a substrate (1) having at one of its surfaces an ink layer (4) which when heated is transferable onto a printing surface, a resistive composition layer (3) disposed on the other surface of said substrate (1) characterised in that the ribbon further includes a conductive layer (2) disposed between said substrate (1) and said resistive composition layer (3) and a layer of an alkoxysilane adhesion promoter between said conductive layer and said resistive layer to bond said conductive and resistive layers together, said alkoxysilane having the following formulae; where R is selected from methyl and ethyl groups, Y is 1 to 18 and X is 1 to 18, and where R is an alkane group having from 1-5 C atoms and n is from 1-18.

Claim 5

A method for fabricating a ribbon for electrothermal printing characterised in that the method includes the steps of providing a substrate (1) having a conductive layer (2) disposed on one of its surfaces, applying a thin layer of an alkoxysilane adhesion promoter to said conductive layer, heating said adhesion promoter coated substrate at a temperature and for a time sufficient to cause said adhesion promoter to adhere to said conductive layer, cooling the substrate and coating a resistive composition layer onto said adhesion promoter layer, again heating said coated substrate for a time and at a temperature sufficient to cause said resistive composition to adhere to said adhesion promoter layer and thereafter coating on the other surface of said substrate an ink layer which is transferable onto a printing surface when electrothermally heated, said adhesion promoter having the following structures: where R is CH 3 or C 2 H S , Y=1-18 and X is 1-18, and where R is an alkane group haying from 1-5 C atoms and n is from 1-18.

Claim 6

A method for fabricating a ribbon for electrothermal printing characterised in that the method includes the steps of providing a substrate (1) having a conductive layer (2) disposed on one of its surfaces, applying a thin layer of an alkoxysilane adhesion promoter to said conductive layer, heating said adhesion promoter coated substrate at a temperature and for a time sufficient to cause said adhesion promoter to adhere to said conductive layer, cooling the substrate and coating a resistive composition layer onto said adhesion promoter layer, again heating said coated substrate for a time and at a temperature sufficient to cause said resistive composition to adhere to said adhesion promoter layer and thereafter coating on the other surface of said substrate an ink layer which is transferable onto a printing surface when electrothermally heated, said adhesion promoter having the following structures: where R is CH 3 or C 2 H S , Y=1-18 and X is 1-18, and where R is an alkane group haying from 1-5 C atoms and n is from 1-18.

Claim 8

A method according to claims 4 or 5, wherein said adhesion promoter is 3-(aminomethylamine) propylmethoxysilane, 3-(2-aminoethylamine) propyltrimethoxysilane and 3-(2-aminoethylamine) propyltriethoxysilane, 4-(2-aminoethylamine) butyltrimethoxysilane, 4-(2-aminoethylamine) butyltriethoxysilane, 12-(2-aminoethylamine) dodecyltriethoxysilane, 12-(3-aminopropylamine) dodecyltriethoxysilane, 18-(4-aminobutylamine) octadecyltriethoxysilane, 3-triethoxysilane propylamine, 3-trimethoxysilane propylamine, 6-trimethoxysilane hexylamine or 12-triethoxysilane dodecylamine, 18-triethoxysilane octadecylamine.