An actuator drive circuit for a liquid discharge apparatus includes an output switch and a waveform selector circuit. The output switch includes a first transistor configured to supply a first voltage to an actuator when on and a second transistor configured to supply a second voltage higher than the first voltage to the actuator when on. The waveform selector circuit is configured to select, from a plurality of waveforms stored in a waveform memory, a first waveform that causes the output switch to transition to a first state in which the first transistor is on and the second transistor is off, and a second waveform that causes the output switch to transition to a second state in which the first transistor is off and the second transistor is on.

A liquid ejection apparatus includes a liquid ejection unit with a plurality of nozzles and a corresponding plurality of actuators. A drive waveform generation circuit is configured to generate drive waveforms having different drive timings. An actuator drive circuit is configured to apply a first drive waveform to a first actuator in a liquid ejection operation and a second drive waveform to a second actuator in the liquid ejection operation during which the first and second actuators are to be driven at a same nominal time. The first driving waveform is different from the second drive waveform, and the first actuator is at a position electrically closer along a predetermined direction to a power supply electrode than is the second actuator.

A liquid ejection apparatus includes a liquid ejection unit with a plurality of nozzles and a corresponding plurality of capacitance-type actuators. A common electrode is connected to a first terminal of each capacitance-type actuator. Individual electrodes are respectively connected second terminals of each capacitance-type actuator. An actuator drive circuit is configured to discharge the capacitance of a first capacitance-type actuator during a period in which the capacitance of a second capacitance-type actuator is being charged. The second capacitance-type actuator is positioned electrically close to the first capacitance-type actuator on the common electrode.

An image forming apparatus includes: a piezoelectric element with a common electrode on one side and an individual electrode on another side; a nozzle; and circuitry. The circuitry selects one from drive signals and supplies the one drive signal to the piezoelectric element via the individual electrode, to discharge a droplet through the nozzle to form an image. Each drive signal includes waveform pulses including a main pulse that rises in a slope shape during a rising time and finishes rising at an end time. The circuitry generates the drive signals so that the end time of a less influential drive signal other than a most influential drive signal falls within a range of the rising time of the main pulse of the most influential drive signal; selects the one drive signal based on an image to be formed; and supplies the one drive signal to the piezoelectric element.

A liquid discharge apparatus includes a liquid discharger and circuitry. The liquid discharger includes a nozzle to discharge liquid. The circuitry is configured to generate and output a common drive waveform including a plurality of drive pulses for discharging the liquid; select one or more of the plurality of drive pulses from the common drive waveform and apply the one or more of the plurality of drive pulses to a pressure generating element of the liquid discharger; and adjust, with different adjustment values, application waveform shapes of at least two of the plurality of drive pulses applied to the pressure generating element.

The present invention discharges ink from a plurality of inkjet heads and is used when performing drive whereby one droplet or a plurality of droplets are discharged onto and united on one pixel. A drive signal includes a drive waveform comprising N number (N being an integer of at least 2) of drive waveform elements and is configured so as to fulfil the relationship 1.1 Tc≤Ts≤1.4 Tc, when Tc is the natural vibration cycle determined from the inkjet head structure and Ts is the time from the start point of the drive waveform to the start point of the subsequent drive waveform. As a result, velocity deviation caused by the resonant frequency of a piezoelectric actuator driving the inkjet head can be suppressed when driving an inkjet head using multiple gradations.

An inkjet recording device includes a nozzle, a pressure generator and a driver The nozzle ejects ink. The pressure generator changes pressure on ink in an ink flow path that communicates with the nozzle by a predetermined drive operation. The driver makes the pressure generator perform the drive operation predetermined limes of at least twice at time points on a predetermined cycle, and makes the nozzle eject an ink droplet of an amount corresponding to a number of drive operations included in a set of drive operations. In a case in which the number of drive operations is two, the driver makes the pressure generator perform the drive operation twice with an interval twice as long as the cycle.

A printing system and method for forming an ink droplet through the use of a multi-pulse driving signal to increase the printing frequency without reducing the droplet size by applying a multi-pulse driving signal to a small nozzle and to increase the inkjet printing speed by using a smaller nozzle to produce the same-size droplet using a multi-pulse driving signal, which allow for higher printing frequency due to the smaller nozzle size as dictated by the fundamental droplet formation dynamics.

A print head capable of forming dots on a print medium based on print data and a print medium are caused to perform relative movement in a specified direction, and a speed of the relative movement is set according to the number of dots to be formed in an area of a specified size. Whether to set the speed of the relative movement to a first speed is determined according to the number of dots to be formed in an area of a first size on the print medium. Whether to set the speed of the relative movement to a second speed lower than the first speed is determined according to the number of dots to be formed in an area of a second size which is smaller than the area of the first size in the specified direction.

There are provided a liquid jet head and so on capable of ensuring the ejection stability of the liquid even when jetting the liquid high in viscosity irrespective of the structure of the liquid jet head. The liquid jet head according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a plurality of nozzles, an actuator having a plurality of pressure chambers, and a drive section for applying a drive signal to the actuator. The plurality of pulses in the drive signal include at least one first pulse configured to expand the volume of the pressure chamber, and at least one second pulse configured to contract the volume of the pressure chamber, and the pressure in the pressure chamber changes with time including a plurality of extremal values in one cycle. First timing as expansion start timing of the volume of the pressure chamber by the first pulse and second timing as contraction start timing of the volume of the pressure chamber by the second pulse are adjacent to each other, and both of the first timing and the second timing are located in a period between two consecutive extremal values of the plurality of extremal values.