A liquid ejecting apparatus includes: a channel substrate having one or more pressure chambers, an absorbing chamber that absorbs vibration of a liquid; a vibration plate that is stacked on the channel substrate; a first piezoelectric element that is provided on a first surface of the vibration plate, which is on a side opposite to a side on which the pressure chamber is present, at a position overlapping the pressure chamber when viewed and that vibrates the vibration plate to apply pressure to the liquid; a second piezoelectric element that is provided on the first surface of the vibration plate at a position overlapping the absorbing chamber and that deforms to absorb the vibration of the liquid propagated from the pressure chamber; and a pressure detecting section that detects, based on an electromotive force of the second piezoelectric element, pressure of the liquid in the absorbing chamber.

An inkjet printer includes a drive signal generation unit configured to generate a drive signal, a discharge section including a nozzle, a piezoelectric element driven by the drive signal, and a cavity configured to discharge ink from the nozzle according to the driving of the piezoelectric element, a first inspection signal generation circuit configured to receive input of a residual vibration signal generated according to vibration remaining in the discharge section after the piezoelectric element is driven and generate a pseudo residual vibration signal corresponding to the residual vibration signal, and an inspection unit configured to determine a state of the discharge section based on the pseudo residual vibration signal. The first inspection signal generation circuit includes a first filter circuit configured to generate the pseudo residual vibration signal.

An inkjet printer includes a drive signal generation unit configured to generate a drive signal, a discharge section including a nozzle, a piezoelectric element driven by the drive signal, and a cavity configured to discharge ink from the nozzle according to the driving of the piezoelectric element, a first inspection signal generation circuit configured to receive input of a residual vibration signal generated according to vibration remaining in the discharge section after the piezoelectric element is driven and generate a pseudo residual vibration signal corresponding to the residual vibration signal, an inspection unit configured to determine a state of the discharge section based on the pseudo residual vibration signal, and a first switching circuit configured to switch whether to supply the residual vibration signal to the first inspection signal generation circuit.

An inkjet printer that discharges ink filled in a discharge section onto a medium to form an image on the medium includes a drive control section configured to drive the discharge section and an inspection unit 6 configured to determine a state of the discharge section based on residual vibration, which is vibration remaining in the discharge section after the discharge section is driven. The inspection unit 6 determines the state of the discharge section in a mode selected out of a plurality of modes including a first mode for determining the state of the discharge section based on the residual vibration smaller than one cycle and a second mode for determining the state of the discharge section based on the residual vibration equal to or larger than one cycle.

An inkjet printer includes a drive signal generation unit configured to generate a drive signal, a discharge section including a nozzle, a piezoelectric element driven by the drive signal, and a cavity configured to discharge ink from the nozzle, a first inspection signal generation circuit configured to receive input of a residual vibration signal generated according to vibration remaining in the discharge section and generate a pseudo residual vibration signal corresponding to the residual vibration signal, a second inspection signal generation circuit configured to receive input of the residual vibration signal and generate a detection residual vibration signal obtained by removing frequency components other than a predetermined frequency component from the residual vibration signal, and an inspection unit configured to selectively receive input of one of the pseudo residual vibration signal and the detection residual vibration signal and determine a state of the discharge section based on the input signal.

The present disclosure provides a monolithic inkjet printhead for ejecting a set of ink compositions, wherein the printhead comprises at least one substrate and the substrate comprises a plurality of ejectors each comprising: (i) a nozzle, (ii) a chamber for receiving an ink composition of the set, wherein said chamber is in fluid communication with said nozzle, and (iii) a piezoelectric actuator coupled to said nozzle for selectively ejecting said ink composition therefrom, wherein each ejector is configured to eject ink droplets of the different ink compositions with corresponding volume and velocity. The disclosure further provides a set of ink compositions per se with matched values of viscosity, density and surface tension, a printing apparatus, and methods thereof.

A liquid ejection apparatus includes a nozzle, a pressure chamber, a piezoelectric element, an output processing portion, and a determination processing portion. The nozzle ejects a liquid. The pressure chamber communicates with the nozzle and contains the liquid. The piezoelectric element changes a pressure in the pressure chamber in response to an input of a drive signal. The output processing portion causes the piezoelectric element to output a first electric signal corresponding to vibration generated in the pressure chamber in response to the input of the drive signal to the piezoelectric element. The determination processing portion determines whether or not the pressure chamber is in a filled state in which the pressure chamber is filled with the liquid, based on a frequency of the first electric signal output by the output processing portion.

A liquid ejection apparatus includes a nozzle, a pressure chamber, a piezoelectric element, a count processing portion, and a detection processing portion. The nozzle ejects a liquid. The pressure chamber communicates with the nozzle and contains the liquid. The piezoelectric element changes a pressure in the pressure chamber in response to an input of a drive signal. The count processing portion counts a number of times that an electric signal output from the piezoelectric element and corresponding to vibration generated in the pressure chamber in response to the input of the drive signal to the piezoelectric element exceeds a predetermined threshold value. The detection processing portion detects a viscosity of the liquid contained in the pressure chamber, based on a count result of the count processing portion.

A liquid ejecting head includes a pressure chamber that applies a pressure of a liquid for ejecting a liquid from a nozzle when a first piezoelectric element is driven, and a detection chamber in which a second piezoelectric element detects a residual vibration of the pressure of the liquid applied in the pressure chamber. The first piezoelectric element includes a first piezoelectric body, a first upper electrode, a first lower electrode, and a first vibration plate provided below the first lower electrode, the second piezoelectric element includes a second piezoelectric body, a second upper electrode, a second lower electrode, and a second vibration plate provided below the second lower electrode, and a neutral axis of the second piezoelectric element is positioned below a neutral axis of the first piezoelectric element.

A liquid ejection device includes: a channel forming portion including an ejection opening through which a liquid is ejected, a pressure chamber communicating with the ejection opening, and an individual channel communicating with the pressure chamber; a first energy generation element provided at a position corresponding to the pressure chamber of the channel forming portion, and generates energy for ejecting the liquid through the ejection opening; a second energy generation element provided at a position corresponding to the individual channel of the channel forming portion, and generates energy for passing the liquid through the individual channel; a temperature detection portion configured to detect a temperature, and is disposed at a position corresponding to the first energy generation element or the second energy generation element; and a control portion configured to control driving of the second energy generation element based on a detection result of the temperature detection portion.