US3776757A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Electrographic formation of dye images
Assignee: Eastman Kodak Co
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Filing: 1972-09-22
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Granted: 1973-12-04
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Expires: 1992-09-22
Abstract
Abstract The present invention relates to an electrographic method for the formation of water-soluble dye images. An electrostatic charge pattern is developed using a liquid developer having toner particles containing a polymeric material which is normally hydrophobic, but which is readily convertible to a hydrophilic form when contacted by an activating solution of appropriate pH. The toner particle image is formed on a hydrophobic surface and is contacted with the activating solution to convert the toner particle image to hydrophilic form. The hydrophilic toner particle image is then contacted with a water-soluble dye solution to preferentially deposit dye on the hydrophilic toner image. If desired, the dye image thus formed may be transferred to a suitable receiver element.
Inventors
- 👤 D Eastman
- 👤 J Chechak
- 👤 S Merrill
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-26 08:35
CPC Classifications
G; G03; G03G; G03G9/00; G03G9/08; G03G9/12; G03G13/00; G03G13/06; G03G13/10
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 20
Claim 1
Independent Claim
35 words
The invention of claim 1 wherein following (C), the hydrophobic surface bearing said dye image and a receiving element for said dye image are contacted together to transfer said dye image to said receiving element.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
48 words
The invention of claim 1 wherein following (C), the hydrophobic surface bearing said dye image and a receiving element comprising a hydrophilic colloid layer containing a mordant for the dye are contacted together to transfer and mordant said dye image to the colloid layer of the receiving element.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
18 words
The invention of claim 1 wherein following (C), the toner particle-dye image is fixed to said hydrophobic surface.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
42 words
The invention of claim 1 wherein (B) and (C) are perforemd substantially simultaneously by admixing said aqueous dye solution of (C) together with said activating solution of (B) and contacting such admixture with the toner particle image carried on said hydrophobic surface.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
61 words
The invention of claim 1 wherein a multiple-color image is obtained by successively repeating (A) to (C) to form a series of individual dye-containing toner particle images, each of said images representing an individual color separation image of an original image, and superimposing said dye-containing toner particle images in register on a single receiving element to form a resultant multiple-color image.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
94 words
The invention of claim 1 wherein a multiple-color water-soluble dye image is obtained by successively repeating (A) to (C) to form a series of individual dye-containing toner particle images, each of said images representing an individual color separation image of an original image, and successively contacting each of said dye-containing toner particle images with a single receiving element to transfer and superimpose, in register, the dye images of said dye-containing toner particle images to the receiving element, said receiving element having a hydrophilic colloid layer comprising a mordant for each of said dye images.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
225 words
In a method of liquid developing an electrostatic charge pattern carried on an electrically insulating substrate to obtain a water-soluble dye image corresponding to the charge pattern, the improvement which comprises A. forming on a hydrophobic surface an image of substantially colorless electrostatically attractable toner particles corresponding to such charge pattern by using a liquid developer comprising said toner particles admixed in a liquid carrier vehicle having a dielectric constant less than about 3.0 and a resistivity greater than about 108 ohm-cm, said toner particles comprising a hydrophobic copolymer which contains as a repeating unit thereof a group derived from an ethylenically unsaturated polymerizable monomer comprising 2 to about 19 caRbon atoms and a basic nitrogen-containing moiety; B. contacting said toner particle image carried on said hydrophobic surface with an activating solution comprising an acidic aqueous solution having a pH less than about 6.5 to convert said hydrophobic copolymer contained in said toner particles to the hydrophilic form thereof; C. contacting said hydrophilic toner particle image with an aqueous dye solution comprising an acid water-soluble dye to form a visible water-soluble dye image corresponding to said toner particle image; D. contacting said dye image together with a receiving element comprising a hydrophilic colloid layer containing a mordant for the dye to transfer and mordant said dye image to the colloid layer of the receiving element.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
310 words
A method of liquid developing an electrostatic charge pattern carried on a hydrophobic surface of a photoconductive element to obtain a water-soluble dye image corresponding to the charge pattern, said method comprising: A. contacting the charge pattern carried on said hydrophobic surface with a liquid developer comprising substantially colorless electrostatically attractable toner particles admixed in a liqud carrier vehicle having a dielectric constant less than about 3.0 and a resistivity greater than about 1010 ohm-cm to form a toner particle image, said toner particles comprising a hydrophobic copolymer which contains as a repeating unit thereof a group derived from an ethylenically unsaturated polymerizable monomer, said monomer selected from the group consisting of (1) acidic organic monomers comprising 3 to about 15 carbon atoms and a moiety selected from the group consisting of sulfonic acid moieties and carboxylic acid moieties or the anhydrides and partial alkyl esters thereof, or (2) basic organic monomers comprising 2 to about 19 carbon atoms and a basic nitrogen-containing moiety; B. contacting said toner particle image carried on said hydrophobic surface with an activating solution selected from the group consisting of a. acidic aqueous solutions having a pH less than about 7.0 when said hydrophobic copolymer contains units selected from group (2) above, or b. basic aqueous solutions having a pH greater than about 7.0 when said hydrophobic copolymer contains units selected from group (1) above to convert said hydrophobic copolymer contained in said toner particles to the hydrophilic form thereof; and C. contacting said hydrophilic toner particle image with an aqueous dye solution comprising a water-soluble dye selected from the group consisting of a. acid water-soluble dyes when said copolymer contains units selected from group (2) above, or b. basic water-soluble dyes when said copolymer contains units selected from group (1) above to form a visible water-soluble dye image corresponding to said toner particle image.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
61 words
The invention of claim 9 wherein a multiple-color image is obtained by successively repeating (A) to (C) to form a series of individual dye-containing toner particle images, each of said images representing an individual color separation image of an original image, and superimposing said dye-containing toner particle images in register on a single receiving element to form a resultant multiple-color image.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
94 words
The invention of claim 9 wherein a multiple-color water-soluble dye image is obtained by successively repeating (A) to (C) to form a series of individual dye-containing toner particle images, each of said image representing an individual color separation image of an original image, and successively contacting each of said dye-containing toner particle images with a single receiving element to transfer and superimpose, in register, the dye images of said dye-containing toner particle images to the receiving element, said receiving element having a hydrophilic colloid layer comprising a mordant for each of said dye images.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
187 words
A method of developing an electrostatic charge pattern carried on a hydrophobic surface of a photoconductive element to obtain a water-soluble dye image corresponding to the charge pattern, the method comprising: A. contacting the hydrophobic surface of said photoconductive element with a liquid developer comprising substantially colorless electrostatically attractable toner particles admixed in a liquid carrier vehicle having a dielectric constant less than about 3.0 and a resistivity greater than about 1010 ohm-cm to form a toner particle image, said toner particles comprising a hydrophobic copolymer which contains as a repeating unit thereof a group derived from an ethylenically unsaturated polymerizable monomer comprising 2 to about 19 carbon atoms and a basic nitrogen-containing moiety; B. contacting said toner particle image carried on said hydrophobic surface with an activating solution comprising an acidic aqueous solution having a pH less than about 6.5 to convert said hydrophobic copolymer contained in said toner particles to the hydrophilic form thereof; and C. contacting said hydrophilic toner particle image with an aqueous dye solution comprising an acid water-soluble dye to form a visible water-soluble dye image corresponding to said toner particle image.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
19 words
The invention as described in claim 12 wherein said basic nitrogen-containing moiety comprises 0 to about 12 carbon atoms.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
31 words
The invention as described in claim 12 wherein said basic nitrogen-containing moiety is selected from the group consisting of aminostyrene, vinyl amine, vinylpyridine, amino-substituted alkyl methacrylates, amino-substituted alkyl acrylates, and vinyl-imidazole.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
37 words
The invention as described in claim 12 wherein following (C) the hydrophobic surface bearing said dye image and a receiving element for said dye image are contacted together to transfer said dye image to said receiving element.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
48 words
The invention of claim 12 wherein following (C), the hydrophobic surface bearing said dye image and a receiving element comprising a hydrophilic colloid layer containing a mordant for the dye are contacted together to transfer and mordant said dye image to the colloid layer of the receiving element.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
42 words
The invention of calim 12 wherein (B) and (C) are performed substantially simultaneously by admixing said aqueous dye solution of (C) together with said activating solution of (B) and contacting such admixture with a toner particle image carried on said hydrophobic surface.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
61 words
The invention of claim 12 wherein a multiple-color image is obtained by successively repeating (A) to (C) to form a series of individual dye-containing toner particle images, each of said images representing an individual color separation image of an original image, and superimposing said dye-containing toner particle images in register on a single receiving element to form a resultant multiple-color image.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
94 words
The invention of claim 13 wherein a multiple-color water-soluble dye image is obtained by successively repeating (A) to (C) to form a series of individual dye-containing toner particle images, each of said images representing an individual color separation image of an original image, and successively contacting each of said dye-containing toner particle images with a single receiving element to transfer and superimpose, in register, the dye images of said dye-containing toner particle images to the receiving element, said receiving element having a hydrophilic colloid layer comprising a mordant for each of said dye images.
Claim 19
Independent Claim
329 words
A method of liquid developing an electrostatic charge pattern carried on the surface of a photoconductive element to subsequently obtain an imaged element having a water-soluble dye image corresponding to the charge pattern, said method comprising: A. contacting the charge pattern carried on said photoconductive element with a liquid developer comprising substantially colorlesS electrostatically attractable toner particles admixed in a liquid carrier vehicle having a dielectric constant of less than about 3.0 and a resistivity greater than about 1010 ohm-cm to develop said charge pattern, said toner particles comprising a hydrophobic copolymer which contains as a repeating unit thereof a group derived from an ethylenically unsaturated polymerizable monomer, said monomer selected from the group consisting of (1) acidic organic monomers comprising 3 to about 15 carbon atoms and a moiety selected from the group consisting of sulfonic acid moieties and carboxylic acid moieties or the anhydrides and partial alkyl ester thereof, or (2) basic organic monomers comprising 2 to about 19 carbon atoms and a basic nitrogen-containing moiety; B. transferring said developed toner particle image to a receiving element having a hydrophobic surface; C. contacting said toner particle image carried on said hydrophobic surface with an activating solution selected from the group consisting of a. acidic aqueous solutions having a pH less than about 7.0 when said hydrophobic copolymer contains units selected from group (2) above, or b. basic aqueous solutions having a pH greater than about 7.0 when said hydrophobic copolymer contains units selected from group (1) above to convert said hydrophobic copolymer contained in said toner particles to the hydrophilic form thereof; and D. contacting said hydrophilic toner particle image with an aqueous dye solution comprising a water-soluble dye selected from the group consisting of a. acid water-soluble dyes when said copolymer contains units selected from group (2) above, or b. basic water-soluble dyes when said copolymer contains units selected from group (1) above to form a visible water-soluble dye image corresponding to said toner particle image.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
42 words
The invention of claim 15 wherein (B) and (C) are performed substantially simultaneously by admixing said aqueous dye solution of (C) together with said activating solution of (B) and contacting such admixture with the toner particle image carried on said hydrophobic surface.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1976-12-03 | 1977-06-04 | 1977-12-04 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1980-12-03 | 1981-06-04 | 1981-12-04 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1984-12-03 | 1985-06-04 | 1985-12-04 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |