Patent ID: 7703870
Filing Date: 2010-04-27
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
1. An electrostatic attraction type liquid ejection apparatus comprising: an opposing electrode; a liquid ejection head having: (i) plural nozzles arranged on a same plane facing a same direction so as to face the opposing electrode, each of the nozzles having an inner diameter of at most 15 μm, (ii) a flexible base layer, (iii) an insulating layer formed over an entire surface of the flexible base layer, (iv) a flow channel layer which has a solution chamber and a supply channel for each of the nozzles, and which is positioned over the insulating layer for forming the supply channels of a solution, (v) a nozzle plate which has the nozzles and which is formed over the flow channel layer, and (vi) an ejection electrode which is arranged at an entire boundary between the flow channel layer and the nozzle plate; an ejection voltage supply to apply an ejection voltage to the solution inside the nozzles via the ejection electrode so as to charge the solution in the solution chambers, the ejection voltage supply including the ejection electrode which contacts with the solution to charge the solution; a convex meniscus generator: (i) which has a piezoelectric transducer and a drive voltage supply for applying a drive voltage to the piezoelectric transducer to deform the piezoelectric transducer, and (ii) which is provided for each of the nozzles, to cause the solution inside each of the nozzles to rise therefrom in a convex shape; and an operation controller to control application of the drive voltage to drive each convex meniscus generator and application of the ejection voltage by the ejection voltage supply so that the drive voltage to each convex meniscus generator is applied in a timing corresponding to the application of a pulse voltage as the ejection voltage by the ejection voltage supply; wherein the operation controller controls the ejection voltage supply to apply a voltage which has a reversed polarity to the ejection voltage to be applied by the ejection electrode, and which is applied to the solution inside each of the nozzles via the ejection electrode just before or just after the ejection voltage is applied to the solution inside each of the nozzles.