Patent ID: 8020971

Claim:
A liquid ejection apparatus, comprising a liquid ejection head having: an insulating nozzle plate provided with a nozzle having, a liquid supply port to supple liquid and an ejection port to eject the liquid supplied from the liquid supply port onto a substrate, a cavity communicating with the liquid supply port to reserve the liquid to be ejected from the ejection port, an electrostactic voltage applying device to generate an electrostatic attraction force by applying an electrostatic voltage, and a control device to control the electrostatic voltage applying device, so that the electrostatic voltage is applied in liquid ejection and an electrostatic voltage having reverse polarity opposite to that of the electrostatic voltage applied in liquid ejection is applied in polarization relaxation operation, and a counter electrode facing the liquid ejection head to attract the liquid by the electrostatic attraction force generated between the liquid ejection head and the counter electrode, and a positioning device to adjust the positions of the liquid ejection head and the counter electrode so that a dividing distance between the liquid ejection head and the counter electrode decreases in the polarization relaxation operation, and controlling the electrostatic voltage applying device to conduct the polarization relaxation operation in which the electrostatic voltage having reverse polarity opposite to that of the electrostatic voltage applied in liquid ejection is applied, wherein the nozzle is a flat nozzle not protruding from the nozzle plate and the electrostatic voltage is applied between the liquid in the nozzle and the cavity, and the counter electrode.