APPARATUS, METHOD AND WAX COATINGS FOR IMPROVED DURABILITY AND VISUAL APPEARANCE OF PRINTED IMAGES

摘要

An apparatus and a method suitable for applying a thin protective wax overcoat on an ink-bearing surface of a receptor in which the coating thickness is precisely controlled. The thin overcoats can be applied uniformly over the imaged surface. Alternatively, non-uniformities can be selectively introduced, e.g., to produce decorative effects. Useful waxes include crystalline organic waxes such as organosilicone waxes having a silicone backbone to which are covalently bonded side-chain crystallizable, aliphatic, hydrocarbon side chains having at least 14 carbon atoms, and waxes in the form of graft copolymer organosols having side-chain or main-chain crystallizing polymeric moieties that independently and reversibly crystallize at a temperature greater than or equal to 22 DEG C. The invention also features novel graft copolymer organosol compositions.