US 7,543,926 B2
Process for printing textile fibre materials in accordance with the ink-jet printing process
Roger Lacroix, Rue Vauban (France)
Assigned to Huntsman International LLC, The Woodlands, Tex. (US)
Appl. No. 10/554,575
PCT Filed Apr. 21, 2004, PCT No. PCT/EP2004/050571
§ 371(c)(1), (2), (4) Date Oct. 26, 2005,
PCT Pub. No. WO2004/097105, PCT Pub. Date Nov. 11, 2004.
Claims priority of application No. 03405302 (EP), filed on Apr. 30, 2003.
Prior Publication US 2006/0260507 A1, Nov. 23, 2006
Int. Cl. G01D 11/00 (2006.01)
U.S. Cl. 347—100  [347/95; 347/101] 15 Claims
 
1. An ink-jet printing process for printing textile fiber materials, wherein
the fiber materials are printed with an aqueous ink comprising
(I) at least one fiber reactive dye, and
(II) a di, tri or tetramer of a C2-C4-oxyalkylene or a mono- or di-C1-C4-alkyl ether of a di, tri or tetramer of a C2-C4-oxyalkylene,
said ink having a viscosity from 5 to 20 mPa s at 25°C, and wherein
said ink is applied to the fiber material with an ink-jet print head comprising
an ink supply layer (b) receiving ink from an external ink reservoir, said ink supply layer having a first side and a second side and comprising, a porous medium having a plurality of pores therein and a plurality of holes extending therethrough, so as to allow passage of the ink and wherein the textile fiber material is pre-treated with a liquor comprising a pad dyeing auxiliary comprising a copolymer from acrylic acid amide and acrylic acid monomer in an amount of 0.5 to 5 g/l of liquor, urea in an amount of 50 to 150 g/l of liquor, a base in an amount of 20 to 80 g/l of liquor, the sodium salt of a nitrobenzene sulfonic acid in an amount of 5 to 50 g/l of liquor, a softener based on a amino functional siloxane in an amount of 10 to 100 g/l of liquor and optionally a salt, in an amount of 50 to 200 g/l of liquor.