Patent ID: 9090061
Filing Date: 2015-07-28
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
1. A piezoelectric element drive method of applying drive voltage waveforms to a plurality of piezoelectric elements to deform the piezoelectric elements, the method comprising: a step of applying pre-drive voltages to the piezoelectric elements prior to applying said drive voltage waveforms; and a step of applying the drive voltage waveforms to the piezoelectric elements using a drive circuit so as to drive the piezoelectric elements, wherein the pre-drive voltage of a piezoelectric element has a higher voltage than a highest voltage of the drive voltage waveform, and said drive circuit comprises (i) a first power supply section that outputs the drive voltage waveform, (ii) a switch circuit that selectively applies the drive voltage waveform output from the first power supply section to first electrodes of the plurality of piezoelectric elements, and (iii) a second power supply section that applies a voltage to respective second electrodes of the plurality of piezoelectric elements and outputs a bias voltage after the output of the pre-drive voltage.