The present invention contains a printing apparatus and a method, e.g., for ejecting inks (i.e., pure liquids, mixtures, colloids, etc.) for a very broad range of physical properties (such as viscosity). Acoustic forces 3a may be generated by an emitter 1 and a reflector 2 to detach droplets 10 from a nozzle 6. The ink may be advanced through the nozzle 6 by a standard back pressure system 5. A reflectorless chamber 7 may enhance acoustic forces 8a and the droplets 10 may be ejected at a bottom 9 of said chamber 7, so that droplets 10 may be deposited on any substrate 11.

To perform colorful printing more appropriately, a printing apparatus (10) configured to print by inkjet includes: a plurality of inkjet heads (102), a main scanning driver (16), and a sub scanning driver (18). When a row in which one or more inkjet heads (102) are arranged side by side in a main scanning direction is defined as a head row (202), the inkjet heads (102) are arranged so as to form a plurality of the head rows (202). The printing apparatus includes, as the inkjet heads (102), inkjet heads (102) for primary colors and inkjet heads (102) for secondary colors. The printing apparatus includes a dark ink head and a light ink head for at least one of red and blue as the inkjet heads for secondary colors. For the red or the blue, the dark ink head and the light ink head are arranged in different head rows (202).

An image formation device includes a plurality of first nozzles which eject a first ink, a plurality of second nozzles which eject a second ink, a processor which forms an image of a resolution R [dpi] on the basis of print data, and a memory which stores computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, perform a process including performing an ejection control, when printing of adjacent DR pixels is performed by the first ink at a high density Ph [%] that is higher than a unit density Pu [%], such that total densities of the second ink ejected onto each of the pixels in the pixel array by the plurality of times of scanning are, respectively, substantially the same as a maximum density of the second ink able to be ejected at one time from the second nozzles.

An image formation device includes a plurality of nozzles arranged at an interval D [in], a processor which forms an image of a resolution R [dpi] on the basis of print data and a memory which stores computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, performs a process including performing ejection control, ejection control including relatively moving the nozzles in the sub scan direction a plurality of times from a print start position on the basis of a reference LF value, when performing printing with respect to each of pixels of adjacent pixels at a high density Ph [%], relatively moving the nozzles in the main scan direction less than a (jRD) number of times, and a total of the densities of the ink of each of the pixels of the adjacent pixels is caused to be the high density Ph [%].

A method of acoustophoretic printing comprises generating an acoustic field at a first end of an acoustic chamber fully or partially enclosed by sound-reflecting walls. The acoustic field interacts with the sound-reflecting walls and travels through the acoustic chamber. The acoustic field is enhanced in a chamber outlet at a second end of the acoustic chamber. An ink is delivered into a nozzle positioned within the acoustic chamber. The nozzle has a nozzle opening projecting into the chamber outlet. The ink travels through the nozzle and is exposed to the enhanced acoustic field at the nozzle opening, and a predetermined volume of the ink is ejected from the nozzle opening and out of the acoustic chamber.

In a droplet ejection apparatus and a droplet ejection method using the droplet ejection apparatus, the droplet ejection apparatus includes a liquid supply unit, a nozzle and a standing wave generating unit. The liquid supply unit is configured to provide a pressure to a liquid. The nozzle is connected to the liquid supply unit through a connecting conduit, to eject the liquid with a droplet. The standing wave generating unit is configured to generate a standing wave around the nozzle at which the droplet is formed, to detach the droplet from the nozzle.

A controller controls printing heads to print a page information mark with black ink to perform line flushing. The printing heads each have a plurality of inkjet nozzles for discharging ink being disposed in parallel in a width direction of web paper. Upon printing the mark, when an overlap region is present in which a mark printable region overlaps a line flushing region with ink other than the black ink, the controller performs control to decrease an ink discharge amount per unit area in the overlap region in the mark printable region to be smaller than that in the mark printable region except for the overlap region and the line flushing region. This causes a decreased total ink discharge amount in the overlap region.

The present invention contains a printing apparatus and a method, e.g., for ejecting inks (i.e., pure liquids, mixtures, colloids, etc.) for a very broad range of physical properties (such as viscosity). Acoustic forces 3a may be generated by an emitter 1 and a reflector 2 to detach droplets 10 from a nozzle 6. The ink may be advanced through the nozzle 6 by a standard back pressure system 5. A reflectorless chamber 7 may enhance acoustic forces 8a and the droplets 10 may be ejected at a bottom 9 of said chamber 7, so that droplets 10 may be deposited on any substrate 11.

A method of acoustophoretic printing comprises generating an acoustic field at a first end of an acoustic chamber fully or partially enclosed by sound-reflecting walls. The acoustic field interacts with the sound-reflecting walls and travels through the acoustic chamber. The acoustic field is enhanced in a chamber outlet at a second end of the acoustic chamber. An ink is delivered into a nozzle positioned within the acoustic chamber. The nozzle has a nozzle opening projecting into the chamber outlet. The ink travels through the nozzle and is exposed to the enhanced acoustic field at the nozzle opening, and a predetermined volume of the ink is ejected from the nozzle opening and out of the acoustic chamber.

A device for forming and ejecting drops of an ink jet of a CIJ printing machine, this device including: a cavity for containing an ink and including an end provided with a nozzle (10) for ejecting ink drops, actuator means (21, 22, 32, 41, 42), in contact with the cavity, in which device the jet velocity modulation, from the nozzle (10), has a value Vj(f.sub.t) at the operating frequency of the cavity and the actuator, and this jet velocity modulation, at the temperature of 15 C. and at the temperature of 35 C., does not vary, in a frequency range of 5 kHz about the operating frequency f.sub.t, outside the range of between 0.25Vj(f.sub.t) and 4Vj(f.sub.t).