JP2007016150A - Ink for inkjet and ink cartridge by using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a first ink for an inkjet, practiced in a balanced use of a second and/or a third ink relatively hardly sticking as compared with the first ink, and improved in a problem of ink sticking resistance, and an ink cartridge excellent in ejection stability by using the same. <P>SOLUTION: This first ink is used for an inkjet head having at least ≥3 rows of ejection port rows for ejecting the first to third inks for inkjet, and the first ink is characterized by being used in a state that the ejection port rows at the both sides of the ejection port row for ejecting the first ink are the ejection port rows for ejecting the second ink of relatively hardly sticking as compared with the first ink, or are each the ejection port row for ejecting the second ink and the ejection port row ejecting the third ink relatively hardly sticking as compared with the first ink. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an inkjet ink having improved adhesion resistance and an ink cartridge using the same.

  Conventionally, when an inkjet printer is left unused for a certain period of time, clogging due to fixation of the coloring material occurs at the tip of the nozzle due to evaporation of moisture in the ink (that is, the ink has poor anti-sticking property). There's a problem. Here, the ink used in the ink jet recording method is a liquid composition in which a coloring material is dispersed or dissolved, but the conventional ink has water as a main component, and prevents drying of the ink in the nozzle. For the purpose of preventing sticking due to clogging of the discharge port, etc., those containing a water-soluble high boiling point solvent such as glycol are generally used.

  Further, it has been proposed to prevent sticking due to clogging of the discharge port by adding an alkali salt of dicarboxylic acid into the ink (see Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2). However, this method has a problem in that it is difficult to obtain a good clogging prevention effect due to the difference in the alkali component for converting the dicarboxylic acid into a salt. Further, there has been proposed an ink characterized in that an organic amine salt of an unsaturated dicarboxylic acid and an alkanolamine are used in the ink (see Patent Document 3). However, in this method, the effect may be insufficient depending on the type of color material used.

JP 58-183768 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-129081 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-125307

  As a result of intensive studies by the present inventors, when the ink characteristics are satisfied for a desired purpose, the first ink that is relatively easy to fix and the first ink that is relatively difficult to fix compared to the first ink. In some cases, 2 ink and 3rd ink were born. Then, it has been found that when the ink formulation is taken in order to improve the anti-sticking property of the first ink (that is, to make it difficult to fix), desired characteristics may not be obtained. Accordingly, it has been recognized that other techniques for putting the first ink into practical use are necessary for the above-described characteristics (fixability).

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet ink that can be put into practical use in combination with the second ink and / or the third ink, which are relatively difficult to fix compared to the ink. Another object of the present invention is to provide an ink cartridge that is excellent in ejection stability using the first ink.

  The above object is achieved by the present invention described below. That is, the present invention is a first ink for ink-jet used in an ink-jet head having at least three or more ejection port arrays for ejecting first to third ink-jet inks. The ink is an ejection port array in which the ejection port arrays on both sides of the ejection port array from which the first ink is ejected are ejected with a second ink that is relatively difficult to fix compared to the first ink, respectively. Or it is used in the state which is the discharge port row | line | column from which the 2nd ink which is relatively hard to fix compared with the 1st ink is discharged, and the discharge port row | line | column from which a 3rd ink is discharged. This is the first ink for inkjet.

（上記一般式（１）中、Ｒ₁は、水素原子、アルキル基、ヒドロキシ低級アルキル基、シクロヘキシル基、モノ又はジアルキルアミノアルキル基及びシアノ低級アルキル基のいずれかを表し、Ｙは、塩素原子、ヒドロキシル基、アミノ基、モノ又はジアルキルアミノ基（該アルキル基の部分に、スルホン基、カルボキシル基及びヒドロキシル基からなる群から選択される置換基を有していてもよい）のいずれかを表し、Ｒ₂、Ｒ₃、Ｒ₄、Ｒ₅及びＲ₆は、それぞれ独立して、水素原子、炭素数１〜８のアルキル基及びカルボキシル基（但し、Ｒ₂、Ｒ₃、Ｒ₄、Ｒ₅及びＲ₆のすべてが水素原子である場合を除く。）のいずれかを表す。） Preferable examples of the first ink include ink-jet inks in which the first ink contains at least a compound of the following formula (1) or a salt thereof and 1,5-pentanediol.

(In the general formula (1), R ₁ represents any _one of a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, a hydroxy lower alkyl group, a cyclohexyl group, a mono- or dialkylaminoalkyl group and a cyano lower alkyl group, and Y represents a chlorine atom, Any one of a hydroxyl group, an amino group, a mono- or dialkylamino group (the alkyl group may have a substituent selected from the group consisting of a sulfone group, a carboxyl group, and a hydroxyl group); R ₂ , R ₃ , R ₄ , R ₅ and R ₆ are each independently a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group having 1 to 8 carbon atoms and a carboxyl group (provided that R ₂ , R ₃ , R ₄ , R ₅ and Except for the case where all of R ₆ are hydrogen atoms.)

  Another embodiment of the present invention is an ink cartridge including an ink storage portion that stores any one of the first ink jet inks.

  According to the present invention, the problem of the anti-sticking property of the ink is improved in consideration of the second ink and / or the third ink, which are relatively difficult to fix as compared with the ink, and the first ink for inkjet which can be put into practical use. Furthermore, an ink cartridge that achieves ejection stability by using the ink is provided.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to preferred embodiments. Examples of the first ink according to the present invention include inkjet inks containing the color material having the specific structure described above and 1,5-pentanediol. Hereinafter, these components will be described.

(Color material for ink)
It is preferable to use a magenta color material represented by the following general formula (1) as the color material constituting the first ink that exhibits the effects of the present invention. The coloring material is likely to cause dye precipitation at the discharge port opening of the ink jet recording head, but according to the study by the present inventors, the ink is determined in consideration of the first ink described later. By combining with the second or third ink having the characteristics, the effect of the present invention remarkably appears. As a composition of the 1st ink concerning this invention, it is preferable to contain 1 mass% or more and 8 mass% or less of the coloring material or its salt of following formula (1) in an ink.

（上記一般式（１）中、Ｒ₁は、水素原子、アルキル基、ヒドロキシ低級アルキル基、シクロヘキシル基、モノ又はジアルキルアミノアルキル基及びシアノ低級アルキル基のいずれかを表し、Ｙは、塩素原子、ヒドロキシル基、アミノ基、モノ又はジアルキルアミノ基（該アルキル基の部分に、スルホン基、カルボキシル基及びヒドロキシル基からなる群から選択される置換基を有していてもよい）のいずれかを表し、Ｒ₂、Ｒ₃、Ｒ₄、Ｒ₅及びＲ₆は、それぞれ独立して、水素原子、炭素数１〜８のアルキル基及びカルボキシル基（但し、Ｒ₂、Ｒ₃、Ｒ₄、Ｒ₅及びＲ₆のすべてが水素原子である場合を除く。）のいずれかを表す。）

(In the general formula (1), R ₁ represents any _one of a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, a hydroxy lower alkyl group, a cyclohexyl group, a mono- or dialkylaminoalkyl group and a cyano lower alkyl group, and Y represents a chlorine atom, Any one of a hydroxyl group, an amino group, a mono- or dialkylamino group (the alkyl group may have a substituent selected from the group consisting of a sulfone group, a carboxyl group, and a hydroxyl group); R ₂ , R ₃ , R ₄ , R ₅ and R ₆ are each independently a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group having 1 to 8 carbon atoms and a carboxyl group (provided that R ₂ , R ₃ , R ₄ , R ₅ and Except for the case where all of R ₆ are hydrogen atoms.)

  Specific examples of the compound represented by the general formula (1) include the following exemplified compounds 1 to 7.

  Specific examples of the compound represented by the general formula (1) include the following exemplified compounds.

  Among these, the compound in which the hydrogen of the sulfone group and carboxyl group of Exemplified Compound 6 is replaced with sodium is an anthrapyridone colorant having a magenta hue and high light resistance.

When verifying whether or not the compound represented by the general formula (1) is contained in an unknown ink, the following method can be used. That is, by using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) as an analysis means, and obtaining the measurement values of the following three points obtained by these, it is determined whether or not the target color material is contained in the ink. Can be verified.
[1] Peak retention time by HPLC [2] Maximum absorption wavelength at peak of [1] [3] M / Z (posi) of mass spectrum at peak of [1]

  The analysis conditions and analysis / detection conditions of high performance liquid chromatography are as follows. The ink solution obtained by diluting the target ink about 1,000 times with pure water is analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography under the following conditions, the retention time of the main peak, and the Measure the maximum absorption wavelength of the peak.

・流速：０．２ｍｌ／ｍｉｎ
・カラム温度：４０℃
・測定波長領域：２１０ｎｍ〜７００ｎｍ Column: Symmetry C18 2.1mm x 150mm

・ Flow rate: 0.2 ml / min
-Column temperature: 40 ° C
Measurement wavelength range: 210 nm to 700 nm

  Moreover, the analysis conditions of the mass spectrum performed after that are as follows. About the main peak of previous HPLC, a mass spectrum is measured on condition of the following, M / Z detected most strongly is measured with respect to each of posi and negative.

[Ionization method]
(ESI)
Capillary voltage: 3.5 kV
Desolvent gas: 300 ° C
Ion source temperature: 120 ° C
(Detector)
Posi: 40V 500-2000amu / 0.9sec
Nega: 40V 500-2000amu / 0.9sec

  By the analysis method described above, analysis was performed on the compound in which the hydrogen of the sulfone group and carboxyl group of the exemplified compound 6 described above was replaced with sodium. The values of retention time, maximum absorption wavelength, M / Z (posi), and M / Z (negative) obtained in that case are shown in Table 1 below. The peak ratio of the mass spectrum related to the main peak of HPLC differs depending on the type and position of the substituent and the mixing ratio of different isomers, but the M / Z peak described below is always detected. Was characteristic.

  Therefore, using this result, the analysis method described above is an effective means for verifying whether or not the color material represented by the compound of formula (1) is contained in the ink. That is, when the above verification method is applied to an unknown target ink, the values of [1] to [3] obtained by measurement fall within the following ranges: It can be said that the ink contains the compound represented by the formula (1) as a coloring material.

  The sticking property of the ink largely depends on the performance of the color material itself and other ink components. Therefore, the coloring material of the first ink that is relatively easily fixed according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described one. That is, the first ink according to the present invention and the color material used for the second ink or the third ink that is relatively difficult to fix compared to the first ink used in the present invention are generally used. It may be a known dye or a newly synthesized dye. Examples of the dye include acid dyes, direct dyes, and food dyes. In the embodiment using yellow, magenta, cyan, black, red, green and blue inks, specific examples of the color materials of these basic color inks and special color inks include the following, but the colors used in the present invention The material is not limited to these.

C. I. Direct yellow: 8, 11, 12, 27, 28, 33, 39, 44, 50, 58, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 98, 100, 110, 132, 173, etc. I. Acid Yellow: 1, 3, 7, 11, 17, 23, 25, 29, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 76, 98, 99 etc. C.I. I. Pigment Yellow: 1, 2, 3, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 73, 74, 75, 83, 93, 95, 97, 98, 114, 128, 138, 180, etc.

C. I. Direct Red: 2, 4, 9, 11, 20, 23, 24, 31, 39, 46, 62, 75, 79, 80, 83, 89, 95, 197, 201, 218, 220, 224, 225, 226 227, 228, 229, 230 etc. C.I. I. Acid Red: 6, 8, 9, 13, 14, 18, 26, 27, 32, 35, 42, 51, 52, 80, 83, 87, 89, 92, 106, 114, 115, 133, 134, 145 158, 198, 249, 265, 289, etc. C.I. I. Food Red: 87, 92, 94, etc. I. Direct violet: 107 grade C.I. I. Pigment Red: 2, 5, 7, 12, 48: 2, 48: 4, 57: 1, 112, 122, 123, 168, 184, 202, etc.

C. I. Direct Blue: 1, 15, 22, 25, 41, 76, 77, 80, 86, 90, 98, 106, 108, 120, 158, 163, 168, 199, 226, 307, etc. C.I. I. Acid Blue: 1, 7, 9, 15, 22, 23, 25, 29, 40, 43, 59, 62, 74, 78, 80, 90, 100, 102, 104, 112, 117, 127, 138, 158 161, 203, 204, 221, 244, etc. I. Pigment Blue: 1, 2, 3, 15, 15: 2, 15: 3, 15: 4, 16, 22, 60, etc.

C. I. Acid Orange: 7, 8, 10, 12, 24, 33, 56, 67, 74, 88, 94, 116, 142, etc. C.I. I. Acid Red: 111, 114, 266, 374, etc. C.I. I. Direct orange: 26, 29, 34, 39, 57, 102, 118 etc. C.I. I. Food Orange: 3 etc. C.I. I. Reactive orange: 1, 4, 5, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 29, 30, 84, 107, etc. I. Disperse orange: 1, 3, 11, 13, 20, 25, 29, 30, 31, 32, 47, 55, 56 etc. C.I. I. Pigment orange: 43 mag C.I. I. Pigment Red: 122, 170, 177, 194, 209, 224, etc.

C. I. Acid Green: 1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 12, 15, 16, 19, 21, 25, 28, 81, 84 etc. C.I. I. Direct green: 26, 59, 67 etc. I. Food Green: 3rd grade C.I. I. Reactive Green: 5, 6, 12, 19, 21 etc. C.I. I. Disperse Green: 6, 9 etc. C.I. I. Pigment Green: 7, 36 etc.

C. I. Acid Blue: 62, 80, 83, 90, 104, 112, 113, 142, 203, 204, 221, 244, etc. C.I. I. Reactive Blue: 49 etc. C.I. I. Acid Violet: 17, 19, 48, 49, 54, 129, etc. C.I. I. Direct violet: 9, 35, 47, 51, 66, 93, 95, 99 etc. C.I. I. Reactive violet: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 22, 34, 36 etc. C.I. I. Disperse violet: 1, 4, 8, 23, 26, 28, 31, 33, 35, 38, 48, 56 etc. C.I. I. Pigment Blue: 15: 6 etc. C.I. I. Pigment Violet: 19, 23, 37, etc.

C. I. Direct black: 17, 19, 22, 31, 32, 51, 62, 71, 74, 112, 113, 154, 168, 195, etc. I. Acid Black: 2, 48, 51, 52, 110, 115, 156 etc. C.I. I. Food black: 1st, 2nd carbon black

  Among the above-mentioned dyes, the first ink containing the magenta colorant represented by the general formula (1) can be cited as a dye that exhibits the effects of the present invention. The water-soluble dye is likely to precipitate the dye at the opening of the discharge port, and the effect of the present invention appears remarkably when combined with the ink described later. In the case where the compound used in the present invention is a salt, the salt is dissociated into ions in the ink using the compound. However, in the present invention, for convenience, “contains a salt”. Express.

(Water-soluble organic solvents and additives)
In the first ink according to the present invention, 1,5-pentanediol is preferably contained in an amount of 1% by mass to 15% by mass. Furthermore, when using with another solvent, it is preferable to contain 3 to 10 mass% as a whole. What kind of water-soluble organic solvents and additives are contained with water as the other constituent solvent of the ink or the solvent constituting the second and third inks used with the first ink according to the present invention. There is no limitation. Various water-soluble organic solvents can be optionally used. The water-soluble organic solvent is not particularly limited as long as it is water-soluble, and includes alcohol, polyhydric alcohol, polyglycol, glycol ether, nitrogen-containing polar solvent, sulfur-containing polar solvent and the like. Although the water-soluble organic solvent which can be used with the ink of this invention is illustrated below, it is not limited to these water-soluble organic solvents.

  Specifically, for example, alkyl alcohols having 1 to 4 carbon atoms such as methyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol, n-propyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, n-butyl alcohol, sec-butyl alcohol, tert-butyl alcohol; dimethylformamide, Amides such as dimethylacetamide; Ketones or ketoalcohols such as acetone and diacetone alcohol; Ethers such as tetrahydrofuran and dioxane; Polyalkylene glycols such as polyethylene glycol and polypropylene glycol; Ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, butylene glycol, tri 2-6 alkylene groups such as ethylene glycol, 1,2,6-hexanetriol, thiodiglycol, hexylene glycol, diethylene glycol Alkylene glycols containing carbon atoms; lower alkyl ether acetates such as polyethylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate; multivalents such as ethylene glycol monomethyl (or ethyl) ether, diethylene glycol methyl (or ethyl) ether, triethylene glycol monomethyl (or ethyl) ether Lower alkyl ethers of alcohols; polyhydric alcohols such as trimethylolpropane and trimethylolethane; glycerin, N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, 2-pyrrolidone, 1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone and the like. The water-soluble organic solvents as described above can be used alone or as a mixture.

  If necessary, each ink constituting the ink set may include a surfactant, a pH adjuster, a rust inhibitor, a preservative, an antifungal agent, an antioxidant, a reduction inhibitor, an evaporation accelerator, a chelating agent, Various additives such as a water-soluble polymer may be contained.

(Configuration of second and third inks)
The second and third inks used in the present invention may have any configuration as long as they are easier to fix than the first ink. The evaluation of the fixing property can be easily judged from the fixing state when the respective inks are compared under the same conditions, but a preferable evaluation method includes, for example, a method performed in Examples described later.

(mechanism)
The reason why the fixing property generated in the ink recording head is improved by the configuration of the present invention is considered as follows. The ejection port array of the first ink that is relatively easy to fix is used as the second ink that is relatively difficult to fix, or the ink in the ejection port array on both sides adjacent to the ejection port array is relatively fixed. The second ink and the third ink, which are difficult to perform, are configured to be sandwiched between the ejection port arrays of these inks, so that the second ink or the volatile component such as water constituting the second ink and the third ink may be used. This is probably because the first ink ejection port array that is relatively fixed between the two is placed in a wet state.

  In addition, when the first ink according to the present invention is an ink containing at least the compound of the general formula (1) and 1,5-pentanediol, the general formula is caused by evaporation of the ink in the vicinity of the ejection port. The compound of (1) and 1,5-pentanediol form an aggregate near the discharge port, and this acts as a lid, thereby suppressing the subsequent evaporation of the first ink, thereby improving the fixing property. It is thought that the effect of can be received more remarkably.

  Further, when the first ink according to the present invention is mounted on a recording apparatus having a recovery function that performs a wiping operation in a direction perpendicular to the ejection port array, both sides of the ejection port array of the first ink are performed by wiping. The second ink or the second ink and the third ink, which are relatively difficult to adhere to, from the adjacent ejection port arrays, are located between these ejection port arrays. It is considered that the effect of improving the fixing property can be received more remarkably because the first ink that has been in contact with the ink is redissolved or redispersed.

(ink cartridge)
An ink cartridge suitable for performing recording using the ink according to the present invention is an ink cartridge having an ink storage portion for storing these inks and a discharge port opening for discharging the ink.

(Recording device)
Examples of an ink jet recording apparatus having a wiping mechanism will be given below, but the use of the ink according to the present invention is of course not limited to the ink jet recording apparatus having the wiping mechanism. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of an ink jet recording apparatus using an ink according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic bottom view showing the arrangement of a plurality of ejection port arrays formed on the ejection port surface of the recording means in FIG. 1 as viewed from the direction of arrow A shown in FIG. Further, FIG. 3 is a schematic bottom view showing a state where the discharge port surface of FIG. 2 is wiped by a wiper (blade) in a direction perpendicular to the discharge port array.

  The present invention is extremely effective in a recording apparatus having a wiping function in the direction perpendicular to the ejection port array of the recording means. However, the present invention is not limited to a recording apparatus having a wiping function or the ejection port array of the recording means as shown in FIG. It can also be used in a recording apparatus having a horizontal wiping function.

  In FIG. 1 showing the overall configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus as an ink jet image forming apparatus, a recording medium such as a recording sheet separated from an auto sheet feeder (automatic paper feeder) (not shown) and supplied into the recording apparatus. 3 is sandwiched between a conveyance roller (paper feed roller) 1 that is rotationally driven by a conveyance motor (paper feed motor) (not shown) and a pinch roller 2 that is pressed against the conveyance roller and rotates in a driven manner. By controlling the rotation of 1, paper is fed (sub-scanned) while being guided by the surface of the platen 4 disposed at a position facing the recording unit.

  A carriage 5 on which a recording head 7 as recording means is mounted is guided and supported so as to be reciprocally movable by a guide shaft 6 installed in the apparatus main body in parallel with the transport roller 1. The carriage 5 is connected to a timing belt (not shown) stretched between left and right pulleys (not shown), and rotates one pulley (motor pulley) by a carriage motor (not shown). By driving the timing belt, it moves in the main scanning direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the recording medium (recording paper) 3 while being guided along the guide shaft 6. By driving the ink ejection section of the recording head in synchronization with the movement of the carriage 5 (recording head 7) based on the recording data, ink droplets are ejected downward from the selected ejection port, and the recording medium is An image is formed (recorded) on the recording paper 3.

  A recording head 7 as recording means is mounted on the carriage 5, and an ink tank as an ink reservoir is detachably attached to the recording head 7. The recording head 7 is equipped with a plurality of ink tanks for storing different color inks, that is, three ink tanks of an ink tank 9, an ink tank 10, and an ink tank 11. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the discharge port surface (bottom surface) 12 of the ink tank 7 has a discharge port array (discharge port group) corresponding to each ink color, that is, an ink discharge port. The rows 13, 14, and 15 are formed with the common liquid chambers 30, 31, and 32 (indicated by broken lines because they exist on the back side of the ejection port surface), and the corresponding ink tanks are arranged for the respective ejection port columns. Are supplied with ink of the corresponding color. In the recording means in which the discharge port array exists across the common liquid chamber, the distance between the 13 right discharge port array and the 14 left discharge port array is short, and similarly, the 14 right discharge port array and 15 Since the distance to the left ejection port array is short, 14 is placed in a wet state due to the influence of moisture evaporation of the second ink and the third ink mounted on both ends of the 14, and the effect of the present invention is remarkably exhibited.

  The recording area corresponding to the moving path of the recording head 7 (corresponding substantially to the range of the platen 4 in the illustrated example) is driven to rotate in synchronization with the conveying roller 1 on the downstream side in the recording sheet conveying direction. A paper discharge roller 17 is provided, and the recorded recording paper 3 is sandwiched between the paper discharge roller 17 and the spur 18 and discharged in the direction of arrow B. A recovery system unit 19 is disposed at a predetermined position within the moving range of the carriage 5 and out of the recording area (for example, the range of the platen 4). The position of the recovery system unit 19 is usually matched with the maintenance position of the recording head 7 (for example, the position where the recovery process is performed) and the home position (the non-recording or standby position).

  The ink jet head (recording head) 7 as the recording means is an ink jet recording means for ejecting ink using thermal energy, and is provided with an electrothermal transducer for generating thermal energy. The head 7 causes film boiling in the ink by the thermal energy applied by the electrothermal transducer, and ejects ink from the ejection port using pressure change due to bubble growth and contraction that occurs at that time. Recording (printing) is performed.

  In FIG. 1, the recovery system unit 19 is provided with a wiper holder (blade holder) 20 that is driven in the direction of arrow C (wiping direction) in FIG. 1, and on the wiper holder 20 is the recording head 7. A wiper (blade) 21 for wiping and cleaning the discharge port surface 12 is attached. Therefore, when ink adheres to the ejection port surface 12 of the recording head 7 by a recording operation or the like, the carriage 5 moves to a position facing the recovery system unit 19 and the wiper holder 20 is moved by a recovery system motor (not shown). By driving the upper wiper 21 in the direction of arrow C (the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3), the discharge port surface 12 of the recording head 7 is wiped and cleaned (wiping).

  The present invention is not particularly limited to the recording head as shown in FIG. 2, and is effective for various recording heads having three or more ejection port arrays. 4 and 5 are schematic views showing the discharge port array formed on the discharge port surface when the recording means is mounted on the main body. The first ink of the present invention is ejected from the ejection port array 27 in FIG. 4 and the ejection port array 27 in FIG. 5, and the second or second and third inks, which are relatively fixed as compared with the first ink, are used for the other inks. By discharging from the discharge port array, it is possible to improve the fixing property.

  FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the outline of a liquid storage container that is an ink cartridge suitable for recording using the ink according to the present invention. The ink cartridge includes a container 41 that contains three colors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) corresponding to the first to third inks of the present invention, and a lid that covers the container 41. Member 42. The ink cartridge may further include an inkjet recording head having Y, M, and C ejection openings.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the interior of the container 41 is partitioned into three spaces having almost the same capacity by two partition plates 411 and 412 arranged in parallel to each other in order to store three colors of ink. These three spaces are arranged along the insertion direction of the color ink tank when the color ink tank is attached to the ink tank holder. In each of these spaces, an ink absorber 44Y that absorbs and holds yellow ink, an ink absorber 44M that absorbs and holds magenta ink, and an ink absorber 44C that absorbs and holds cyan ink. Is stored. Further, the ink stored in the ink absorber 44Y, the ink absorber 44M, and the ink absorber 44C, which are negative pressure generating members, reaches the top of each ink absorber as indicated by the ink level L. Existing.

  EXAMPLES Next, although an Example and a comparative example are given and this invention is demonstrated further more concretely, these do not limit all the scope of the present invention. In the text, “part” and “%” mean mass basis unless otherwise specified. Unless otherwise specified, the ink components in Examples and Comparative Examples mean “parts by mass”.

<Preparation of coloring material>
(Coloring material for magenta ink)
The compound of the following formula (α), sodium carbonate, and benzoyl acetate ethyl ester were reacted in xylene, and the reaction product was filtered and washed. This was sequentially charged with metaaminoacetanilide, copper acetate and sodium carbonate in N, N-dimethylformamide and reacted, and the reaction product was filtered and washed. Furthermore, it was sulfonated in fuming sulfuric acid, filtered and washed, and this was subjected to a condensation reaction with cyanuric chloride in the presence of sodium hydroxide. Anthranilic acid was added to the reaction solution, and a condensation reaction was performed in the presence of sodium hydroxide. This was filtered and washed to obtain a magenta color material represented by the formula (Ma) used in the examples.

<Preparation of ink>
(Preparation of magenta ink)
A magenta ink M1 having the formulation shown in Table 2 below and containing the colorant (M-a) obtained above was prepared. At that time, the respective components were mixed, and then subjected to pressure filtration with a 0.2 μm membrane filter to obtain magenta ink M1. However, the following composition is parts by mass.

<Cyan ink adjustment>
Cyan ink C1 having the formulation shown in Table 3 below was prepared. At that time, each component was mixed, and after that, after pressure filtration with a 0.2 μm membrane filter, cyan ink C1 was obtained. However, the following composition is parts by mass.

<Adjustment of yellow ink>
A yellow ink Y1 having a formulation shown in Table 4 below was prepared. At that time, the respective components were mixed, and then subjected to pressure filtration with a 0.2 μm membrane filter to obtain yellow ink Y1. However, the following composition is parts by mass.

<Stickness of each ink>
The three types of inks M1, C1 and Y1 obtained above were mounted on a Canon Inc. inkjet printer (PIXUS 320i), and the sticking property of each ink was evaluated as follows. This printer has recovery means for wiping with a blade in a direction perpendicular to the ejection port array. First, only M1 as ink is mounted on the printer, a predetermined recovery operation is performed, and after a pattern for printing check is printed, the power cable is pulled out during the operation of the carriage so that it is in an uncapped state. It was left to stand naked for 14 days in a 35 ° C. (humidity 10% RH) environment. Thereafter, using a printer that was allowed to stand at 25 ° C. for 6 hours and returned to room temperature, printing was performed while performing a recovery operation, and evaluation was performed according to the following criteria. Next, the same evaluation was performed for C1 and Y1. The results are shown in Table 5. The cap is for covering the discharge port for a recovery operation such as suction.
◯: Printing can be performed once or twice after starting.
X: Printing cannot be performed after the start-up by up to two recovery operations.

  From the above results, it was confirmed that the ink M1 is more easily fixed than the inks C1 and Y1.

<Ink combinations used in the test>
The inks of M1, C1, and Y1 obtained above were mounted on the Canon Inc. inkjet printer (PIXUS 320i) in the combinations shown in Table 6 below. The ink mounting positions are A, B, and C from the left as viewed from the front of the main body.

<Recoverability of clogging at the outlet opening>
The above-mentioned printer is filled with three types of ink at a predetermined position, performs a predetermined recovery operation, prints a pattern for print check, and then pulls out the power cable while the carriage is in operation, so that it is in an uncapped state, Each printer was left in a bare state in an environment of 35 ° C. (humidity 10% RH) for 14 days. Thereafter, printing was performed while performing a recovery operation using a printer that was allowed to stand at 25 ° C. for 6 hours and returned to room temperature. As a result, the sticking recoverability as shown in Table 7 was shown.
◯: Printing can be performed once or twice after starting.
X: Printing cannot be performed after the start-up by up to two recovery operations.

  As described above, only when the second ink and the third ink (C1 and Y1) that are relatively difficult to fix are mounted on both ends of the first ink M1 as in the first embodiment, the fixing recovery property is improved. It was.

1 is a schematic perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of an ink jet recording apparatus using an ink of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic bottom view showing the arrangement of a plurality of discharge port arrays formed on the discharge port surface of the recording means in FIG. 1 as viewed from the direction of arrow A. It is a typical bottom view which shows the state which wipes the discharge outlet surface of FIG. 2 with a wiper (blade). It is a figure which shows the discharge port row | line | column formed in the discharge port surface. It is another figure which shows the discharge port row | line | column formed in the discharge port surface. It is a diagram showing a recording apparatus having a wiping function in the horizontal direction with respect to the ejection port array of the recording means. It is a schematic explanatory drawing of the liquid storage container which is an ink cartridge suitable for recording using the ink of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1: Conveying roller (paper feeding roller)
2: Pinch roller 3: Recording medium (recording paper)
4: Platen 5: Carriage 6: Guide shaft 7: Recording means (recording head)
9, 10, 11: ink tank 12: discharge port surfaces 13, 14, 15: ink discharge port array 17: paper discharge roller 18: spur 19: recovery unit 20: wiper holder 21: wipers 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29: Ink ejection port arrays 30, 31, 32: Common liquid chamber 33: Wiper 41: Container 42: Lid members 43Y, 43M, 43C: Ink supply ports 44Y, 44M, 44C: Ink Absorbers 45Y, 45M, 45C: ink supply member 46: retaining claw 47: latch lever 47c: root slope 48: latch claw 49: step 411, 412: partition plate L: liquid-gas interface

Claims (6)

  A first ink for ink jet used in an ink jet head having at least three or more ejection port arrays for ejecting first to third ink jet inks, wherein the first ink is the first ink. The ejection port arrays on both sides of the ejection port array from which ink is ejected are ejection port arrays from which the second ink, which is relatively less likely to adhere to the first ink, are ejected, or the first ink and A first ink for ink jet which is used in a state in which it is a discharge port array from which a second ink, which is relatively less fixed, is discharged, and a discharge port array from which a third ink is discharged. . The first ink for inkjet according to claim 1, wherein the first ink contains at least a compound of the following formula (1) or a salt thereof and 1,5-pentanediol.

(In the general formula (1), R ₁ represents any _one of a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, a hydroxy lower alkyl group, a cyclohexyl group, a mono- or dialkylaminoalkyl group and a cyano lower alkyl group, and Y represents a chlorine atom, Any one of a hydroxyl group, an amino group, a mono- or dialkylamino group (the alkyl group may have a substituent selected from the group consisting of a sulfone group, a carboxyl group, and a hydroxyl group); R ₂ , R ₃ , R ₄ , R ₅ and R ₆ are each independently a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group having 1 to 8 carbon atoms and a carboxyl group (provided that R ₂ , R ₃ , R ₄ , R ₅ and Except for the case where all of R ₆ are hydrogen atoms.)   3. The first ink for ink jet according to claim 1, wherein the ink is mounted on a recording apparatus having a recovery function of performing a wiping operation in a direction perpendicular to the ejection port array.   The first ink for ink jet according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the second ink and the third ink are respectively a cyan ink or a yellow ink.   The ink cartridge which has an ink accommodating part which accommodates the ink for inkjet, The ink for inkjet accommodated in this ink accommodating part is the 1st ink for inkjet of any one of Claims 1-4. A characteristic ink cartridge. 6. The inkjet head according to claim 5, wherein the inkjet head has at least three or more ejection port arrays for ejecting the first to third inkjet inks, and the ink accommodating section accommodates each of the first to third inkjet inks. Ink cartridge.

Images