US6020103A — Liquid developer, method of producing the liquid …

Claim 1

Independent Claim 91 words

A liquid toner comprising: a dispersion medium and toner particle, each of which toner particles comprises a coloring agent and a binder agent and is dispersed in said dispersion medium, said toner particles comprising small toner particles with a particle diameter of 0.1 μm or less in an amount of 20 wt. % or less of the total weight of said toner particles, and having an average particle diameter as measured by centrifugal sedimentation of 0.3 to 5 μm and a melt viscosity of 100 to 6,000 mPa·sec at 120° C.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 91 words

A liquid toner comprising: a dispersion medium and toner particle, each of which toner particles comprises a coloring agent and a binder agent and is dispersed in said dispersion medium, said toner particles comprising small toner particles with a particle diameter of 0.1 μm or less in an amount of 20 wt. % or less of the total weight of said toner particles, and having an average particle diameter as measured by centrifugal sedimentation of 0.3 to 5 μm and a melt viscosity of 100 to 6,000 mPa·sec at 120° C.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 24 words

The liquid toner as claimed in claim 1, wherein said toner particles have a melt viscosity of 1,000 to 6,000 mPa·sec at 120° C.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 28 words

The liquid toner as claimed in claim 1, wherein said coloring agent comprises a pigment which is coated with a resin that is insoluble in said dispersion medium.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 34 words

The liquid toner as claimed in claim 1, wherein said dispersion medium comprises at least one component selected from the group consisting of silicone oil, fatty acid ester, fluorine-containing oil, isoparaffin, n-paraffin, and wax.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 118 words

A method of producing a liquid toner according to claim 1, comprising the steps of: kneading or flushing a coloring agent and a binder agent to prepare a kneaded or flushed mixture of said coloring agent and said binder agent, pulverizing said kneaded or flushed mixture to prepare toner particles which comprise small toner particles with a particle diameter of 0.1 μm or less in an amount of 20 wt. % or less of the total weight of said toner particles, and have an average particle diameter as measured by centrifugal sedimentation of 0.3 to 5 μm and a melt viscosity of 100 to 6,000 mPa·sec at 120° C., and dispersing said toner particles in a dispersion medium.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 38 words

The method as claimed in claim 5, further comprising the step of washing said coloring agent with water or a solvent for removing surface treating agents and/or additives from said coloring agent before said kneading or flushing step.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 113 words

A liquid developer comprising: a liquid toner comprising a dispersion medium and toner particles, each of which toner particles comprises a coloring agent and a binder agent and is dispersed in said dispersion medium, said toner particles comprising small toner particles with a particle diameter of 0.1 μm or less in an amount of 20 wt. % or less of the total weight of said toner particles, and having an average particle diameter of 0.3 to 5 μm as measured by centrifugal sedimentation of 0.3 to 5 μm and a melt viscosity of 100 to 6,000 mPa ·sec at 120° C., and an additional carrier liquid in which said liquid toner is dispersed.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 113 words

A liquid developer comprising: a liquid toner comprising a dispersion medium and toner particles, each of which toner particles comprises a coloring agent and a binder agent and is dispersed in said dispersion medium, said toner particles comprising small toner particles with a particle diameter of 0.1 μm or less in an amount of 20 wt. % or less of the total weight of said toner particles, and having an average particle diameter of 0.3 to 5 μm as measured by centrifugal sedimentation of 0.3 to 5 μm and a melt viscosity of 100 to 6,000 mPa ·sec at 120° C., and an additional carrier liquid in which said liquid toner is dispersed.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 24 words

The liquid developer as claimed in claim 7, wherein said toner particles have a melt viscosity of 1,000 to 6,000 mPa·sec at 120° C.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 28 words

The liquid developer as claimed in claim 7, wherein said coloring agent comprises a pigment which is coated with a resin that is insoluble in said dispersion medium.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 34 words

The liquid developer as claimed in claim 7, wherein said dispersion medium comprises at least one component selected from the group consisting of silicone oil, fatty acid ester, fluorine-containing oil, isoparaffin, n-paraffin, and wax.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 132 words

A method of producing a liquid developer according to claim 7, comprising the steps of: kneading or flushing a coloring agent and a binder agent to prepare a kneaded or flushed mixture of said coloring agent and said binder agent, pulverizing said kneaded or flushed mixture to prepare toner particles which comprise small toner particles with a particle diameter of 0.1 μm or less in an amount of 20 wt. % or less of the total weight of said toner particles, and have an average particle diameter as measured by centrifugal sedimentation of 0.3 to 5 μm and a melt viscosity of 100 to 6,000 mPa·sec at 120° C., dispersing said toner particles in a dispersion medium to prepare a liquid toner, and diluting said liquid toner with an additional carrier liquid.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 38 words

The method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising the step of washing said coloring agent with water or a solvent for removing surface treating agents and/or additives from said coloring agent before said kneading or flushing step.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 134 words

An image formation method comprising the step of developing a latent electrostatic image formed on a photoconductor to a toner image, using a liquid toner comprising (a) toner particles, each of which toner particles comprises a coloring agent and a binder agent, said toner particles comprising small toner particles with a particle diameter of 0.1 μm or less in an amount of 20 wt. % or less of the total weight of said toner particles, and having an average particle diameter as measured by centrifugal sedimentation, and a melt viscosity of 100 to 6,000 mPa·sec at 120° C., and (b) a dispersion medium in which said toner particles are dispersed, the amount of said toner particles being in the range of 5 to 100 wt. % of the total weight of said liquid toner.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 134 words

An image formation method comprising the step of developing a latent electrostatic image formed on a photoconductor to a toner image, using a liquid toner comprising (a) toner particles, each of which toner particles comprises a coloring agent and a binder agent, said toner particles comprising small toner particles with a particle diameter of 0.1 μm or less in an amount of 20 wt. % or less of the total weight of said toner particles, and having an average particle diameter as measured by centrifugal sedimentation, and a melt viscosity of 100 to 6,000 mPa·sec at 120° C., and (b) a dispersion medium in which said toner particles are dispersed, the amount of said toner particles being in the range of 5 to 100 wt. % of the total weight of said liquid toner.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 25 words

The image formation method as claimed in claim 13, wherein said toner particles have a melt viscosity of 1,000 to 6,000 mPa·sec at 120° C.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 29 words

The image formation method as claimed in claim 13, wherein said coloring agent comprises a pigment which is coated with a resin that is insoluble in said dispersion medium.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 35 words

The image formation method as claimed in claim 13, wherein said dispersion medium comprises at least one component selected from the group consisting of silicone oil, fatty acid ester, fluorine-containing oil, isoparaffin, n-paraffin, and wax.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 37 words

The image formation method as claimed in claim 13, further comprising the steps of: transferring said toner image to an intermediate image-transfer medium, and transferring said toner image from said intermediate image-transfer medium to a transfer sheet.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2003-01-31	2003-08-02	2004-02-01	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2007-01-31	2007-08-02	2008-02-01	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2011-01-31	2011-08-02	2012-02-01	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Liquid developer, method of producing the liquid developer and image formation using the same

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