A method for depositing droplets onto a medium, utilising a droplet deposition head is provided. The head used in the method includes: an array of fluid chambers separated by interspersed walls, each fluid chamber communicating with an aperture for the release of fluid droplets and each wall separating two neighbouring chambers. Each wall is actuable such that, in response to a first voltage, it will deform so as to decrease the volume of one chamber and increase the volume of the other chamber, and, in response to a second voltage, it will deform so as to cause the opposite effect on the volumes of its neighbouring chambers. The method includes the steps of: receiving input data; assigning, based on such input data, all the chambers within the array as either firing chambers or non-firing chambers, so as to produce bands of one or more contiguous firing chambers separated by bands of one or more contiguous non-firing chambers; actuating the walls of certain of the chambers such that: for each non-firing chamber, either one wall is stationary while the other is moved, or the walls move with the same sense, or they remain stationary; and, for each firing chamber the walls move with opposing senses; such actuations result in each firing chamber releasing at least one droplet, the resulting droplets forming bodies of fluid disposed on a line on the medium, such bodies of fluid being separated on the line by respective gaps for each of the bands of non-firing chambers, the size of each such gap generally corresponding in size to the respective band of non-firing chambers. The actuations of the walls of said firing chambers in the actuating step are such that, if only one of the two walls of each firing chamber were actuated in such manner, no droplets would be ejected from that firing chamber. A droplet deposition apparatus, a droplet deposition head and a computer program product are also provided.

An image recording device and an image recording method capable of matching landing positions between droplet types in a consecutive ejection drive method are provided. The object is resolved by an image recording device in which a drive waveform for forming a dot of a small droplet is a drive waveform for ejecting a liquid droplet by a first ejection waveform element arranged in a first half of one drive cycle, and a drive waveform for forming a dot of a medium droplet is a drive waveform for ejecting the liquid droplet by the first ejection waveform element and a second ejection waveform element arranged after the first ejection waveform element in time series, and the liquid droplet ejected by the first ejection waveform element and the liquid droplet ejected by the second ejection waveform element are not combined while reaching onto a recording medium.

A method for depositing droplets onto a medium, utilising a droplet deposition head is provided. The head used in the method includes: an array of fluid chambers separated by interspersed walls, each fluid chamber communicating with an aperture for the release of fluid droplets and each wall separating two neighbouring chambers. Each wall is actuable such that, in response to a first voltage, it will deform so as to decrease the volume of one chamber and increase the volume of the other chamber, and, in response to a second voltage, it will deform so as to cause the opposite effect on the volumes of its neighbouring chambers. The method includes the steps of: receiving input data; assigning, based on such input data, all the chambers within the array as either firing chambers or non-firing chambers, so as to produce bands of one or more contiguous firing chambers separated by bands of one or more contiguous non-firing chambers; actuating the walls of certain of the chambers such that: for each non-firing chamber, either one wall is stationary while the other is moved, or the walls move with the same sense, or they remain stationary; and, for each firing chamber the walls move with opposing senses; such actuations result in each firing chamber releasing at least one droplet, the resulting droplets forming bodies of fluid disposed on a line on the medium, such bodies of fluid being separated on the line by respective gaps for each of the bands of non-firing chambers, the size of each such gap generally corresponding in size to the respective band of non-firing chambers. The actuations of the walls of said firing chambers in the actuating step are such that, if only one of the two walls of each firing chamber were actuated in such manner, no droplets would be ejected from that firing chamber. A droplet deposition apparatus, a droplet deposition head and a computer program product are also provided.

A method of driving an inkjet head having a nozzle and a pressure generator, a plurality of droplets of the ink discharged in response to a series of the drive signals being caused to hit a recording medium to form a single pixel. The method includes, applying, to the pressure generator, the series of the drive signals including a first one of the drive signals that has a first voltage amplitude and a second one of the drive signals that has a second voltage amplitude larger than the first voltage amplitude. A last drive signal in the series of the drive signals is the second one of the drive signals. The first voltage amplitude and the second voltage amplitude are determined such that a ratio of (first voltage amplitude)/(second voltage amplitude) has a value corresponding to a specific gravity of the ink to be discharged.

An image recording device and an image recording method capable of matching landing positions between droplet types in a consecutive ejection drive method are provided. The object is resolved by an image recording device in which a drive waveform for forming a dot of a small droplet is a drive waveform for ejecting a liquid droplet by a first ejection waveform element arranged in a first half of one drive cycle, and a drive waveform for forming a dot of a medium droplet is a drive waveform for ejecting the liquid droplet by the first ejection waveform element and a second ejection waveform element arranged after the first ejection waveform element in time series, and the liquid droplet ejected by the first ejection waveform element and the liquid droplet ejected by the second ejection waveform element are not combined while reaching onto a recording medium.

A supporting member includes a first supporting portion disposed on a first and second recording element substrate side, and a second supporting portion disposed on a side opposite to the first and second recording element substrate side with respect to the first supporting portion, the first supporting portion includes a first individual flow path for supplying liquid to a first recording element substrate, and a second individual flow path for supplying liquid to a second recording element substrate, and the second supporting portion includes a common flow path for supplying liquid to the first and second individual flow paths.

An ink jet head includes a pressure chamber, a nozzle plate including a nozzle, an actuator configured to cause an ink to be discharged from the pressure chamber via the nozzle, and a drive circuit configured to supply to the actuator an expansion signal, having a pulse width equal to a natural vibration cycle of the ink in the pressure chamber, that expands the pressure chamber to an expanded state from an initial state, a release signal, having a pulse width longer than the natural vibration cycle and shorter than three times the natural vibration cycle, that returns the pressure chamber to the initial state from the expanded state, and a contraction signal, having a pulse width longer than the natural vibration cycle and shorter than three times the natural vibration cycle, that contracts the pressure chamber to a contracted state from the initial state.

An ink jet head includes a pressure chamber, a nozzle plate including a nozzle, an actuator configured to cause an ink to be discharged from the pressure chamber via the nozzle, and a drive circuit configured to supply to the actuator an expansion signal, having a pulse width equal to a natural vibration cycle of the ink in the pressure chamber, that expands the pressure chamber to an expanded state from an initial state, a release signal, having a pulse width longer than the natural vibration cycle and shorter than three times the natural vibration cycle, that returns the pressure chamber to the initial state from the expanded state, and a contraction signal, having a pulse width longer than the natural vibration cycle and shorter than three times the natural vibration cycle, that contracts the pressure chamber to a contracted state from the initial state.

The present invention has a problem of suppressing liquid gathering of an interpolation dot which interpolates a discharge defective nozzle and preventing deterioration of image quality, and the problem is solved by the present invention including: an inkjet head configured to separately discharge a large droplet, a medium droplet, and a small droplet from each of a plurality of nozzles; and a control unit which forms an image in a single-pass system by discharging the medium droplets from the plurality of nozzles respectively, and forms an interpolation dot to interpolate a discharge defective nozzle by discharging a droplet from a different nozzle when the discharge defective nozzle is present, the control unit forming the interpolation dot to interpolate the discharge defective nozzle with the use of the large droplet and forming at least one adjacent dot which is in contact with the interpolation dot with the use of the small droplet.

A liquid discharge apparatus includes a liquid discharge head configured to discharge a liquid, and a drive waveform generator configured to generate a drive waveform to be applied to the liquid discharge head, the drive waveform including a first discharge pulse to cause the liquid discharge head to discharge the liquid, a second discharge pulse after the first discharge pulse, the second discharge pulse to cause the liquid discharge head to discharge the liquid, and a pulse interval between the first discharge pulse and the second discharge pulse, the pulse interval being equal to a time period in which the liquid is discharged by the second discharge pulse in a damping state in which the second discharge pulse is damped by a meniscus vibration generated by the first discharge pulse.