EP0202803A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Laser curing of coatings and inks
Assignee: Department of Industry, Science and Resources
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Filing: 1986-05-01
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2006-05-01
Abstract
Abstract A method of curing polymer coatings by laser photochemistry in which UV laser irradiation of the coating containing a photoinitiator sensitive to a selected wavelength of the laser light effects a low energy cure of the coatings. The total energy to effect a cure is markedly reduced by applying a series of pulses of the laser light at a low single pulse fluence. A reduction of the single pulse fluence at a constant pulse repetition rate or a reduction of the pulse repetition rate at a constant single pulse fluence tends to further reduce the total energy required to effect a cure of the coating.
Inventors
- 👤 Alfred M. Akerman
- 👤 David I. Klick
- 👤 Robert George Mayrick
- 👤 George Lange Paul
- 👤 Gavin Pierce Reid
- 👤 Darko Supurovic
- 👤 Haruki Tsuda
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 21:59
CPC Classifications
B; B05; B05D; B05D3/00; B05D3/06; B41; B41M; B41M7/00; B41M7/0045
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 26
Claim 1
Independent Claim
78 words
A method of curing a coating comprising applying said coating to a surface, said coating comprising a liquid or solid polymer and/or oligomer, and/or a monomer and at least one photoinitiator, and irradiating said coating with ultraviolet laser light of at least one predetermined wavelength, wherein the light energy at the at least one predetermined wavelength is selected so as to be preferentially absorbed by the at. least one photoinitiator rather than the other components of the coating.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
78 words
A method of curing a coating comprising applying said coating to a surface, said coating comprising a liquid or solid polymer and/or oligomer, and/or a monomer and at least one photoinitiator, and irradiating said coating with ultraviolet laser light of at least one predetermined wavelength, wherein the light energy at the at least one predetermined wavelength is selected so as to be preferentially absorbed by the at. least one photoinitiator rather than the other components of the coating.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
17 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least one predetermined wavelength is a peak wavelength.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
28 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the laser light at said at least one predetermined wavelength is applied to the coating by being pulsed.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
18 words
A method as claimed in claim 3 wherein at least 25 pulses are required to effect a cure.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
18 words
A method as claimed in claim 3 wherein at least 50 pulses are required to effect a cure.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
23 words
A method as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 5 wherein the single pulse fluence is less than 3mJ/cm 2 .
Claim 8
Independent Claim
23 words
A method as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 5 wherein the single pulse fluence is less than 1mJ/cm 2 .
Claim 9
Independent Claim
24 words
A method as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 5 wherein the single pulse fluence is less than 0.5 mJ/cm 2 .
Claim 10
Independent Claim
19 words
A method as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 8 wherein the pulse repetition rate is low.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
17 words
A method as claimed in claim 9 wherein the pulse repetition rate is 250 Hz or less.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
35 words
A method as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 10 wherein a reduction of the single pulse fluence at a constant pulse repetition rate reduces the total energy required to cure said coating.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
35 words
A method as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 10 wherein a reduction of the pulse repetition rate at a constant single pulse fluence reduces the total energy required to cure said coating.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
43 words
A method of curing a coating as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said coating comprises a pigment and the at least one predetermined wavelength of said laser light is selected so as to be minimally absorbed by said pigment.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
26 words
A method of curing a coating as claimed in claim 13 wherein the coating is in the form of an ink having a thickness ≤20 microns.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
16 words
A method as claimed in claim 13 wherein the coating has a thickness ≥ 0.5 microns.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
25 words
A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 12 wherein the coating is a clear coating having a thickness ≥ 2 microns.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
17 words
A method as claimed in claim 15 or 16 wherein the coating thickness is ≥ 20 microns.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
33 words
A method as claimed in claim 17 when not appended to any one of claims 1 and 2 or 5 to 8 wherein the single pulse fluence is less than 8mJ/cm 2 .
Claim 20
Independent Claim
19 words
A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the coating comprises at least two photoinitiators.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
63 words
A method as claimed in claim 19 wherein a first photoinitiator preferentially absorbs a first wavelength of the laser light and the second photoinitiator preferentially absorbs a second wavelength of the laser light such that said one photoinitiator is selected for effecting a cure through the coating and the second photoinitiator is selected for effecting a cure at the surface of the coating.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
24 words
A method as claimed in claim 13 or claim 19 or 20 when appended to claim 11 wherein the pigment is Ti0 2 .
Claim 23
Independent Claim
20 words
A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the curing is conducted under a nitrogen atmosphere.
Claim 24
Independent Claim
26 words
A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein consecutive, very short duration pulses of said laser light are employed to effect curing.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method as claimed in claim 16, wherein said coating comprises, by weight, 56.4% epoxy acrylate oligomer, 37.6% hexane diol diacrylate, 3% phenyl benzophenone, and 3% methyl diethanol amine.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
42 words
A method as claimed in claim 13, 15 or 21 wherein, said coating comprises, by weight, 61% of a 60/40 mixture of epoxy acrylate oligomer and hexane diol diacrylate, respectively, 32% Ti0 2 , 3% Trigonal 12 and 4% acyl phosphene oxide.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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