Patent ID: 7722142

Claim:
An ink-jet printer comprising: an ink-jet head in which are disposed a plurality of nozzles that are divided into a plurality of nozzle groups; a plurality of actuators which are provided to respectively correspond to the plurality of nozzles and which are divided into a plurality of actuator groups respectively corresponding to the plurality of nozzle groups; a plurality of drive circuits which are provided respectively for the plurality of nozzle groups and each of which outputs a drive signal used for ejecting an ink, to the plurality of actuators of a corresponding one of the plurality of actuator groups; and a controller which controls the ink-jet printer to perform printing such that, by driving any of the plurality of actuators which are determined on the basis of print data, the ink is ejected, toward a recording medium, from any of the plurality of nozzles that correspond to said any of the plurality of actuators; and a reference-signal outputting section which outputs, to said each of the plurality of drive circuits, a common reference signal of a constant current; wherein said each of the plurality of drive circuits includes: a current mirror circuit to which is inputted the common reference signal outputted from the reference-signal outputting section and which supplies, on the basis of the common reference signal, a reference current for the plurality of actuators of a corresponding one of the plurality of actuator groups; and an output circuit which includes a plurality of current amplifiers which respectively correspond to the plurality of actuators of the corresponding one of the plurality of actuator groups and each of which amplifies the reference current supplied from the current mirror circuit, the output circuit outputting the drive signal that is based on the amplified reference current, to each of the plurality of actuators of the corresponding one of the plurality of actuator groups.