Patent ID: 7527363

Claim:
A discharge head, comprising: a nozzle plate having a discharge aperture through which a droplet of liquid is discharged onto a discharge receiving medium; a pressure chamber which stores the liquid discharged from the discharge aperture; a diaphragm which deforms so as to change a volume of the pressure chamber, the diaphragm forming at least one wall of the pressure chamber; and a piezoelectric element which causes the diaphragm to deform for applying a discharge pressure to the liquid stored in the pressure chamber, the piezoelectric element being provided on an opposite side of the diaphragm with respect to the pressure chamber, wherein: the piezoelectric element is formed integrally by distributing a first piezoelectric body section and a second piezoelectric body section unevenly in a plane parallel to the diaphragm, and by distributing an intermediate piezoelectric body section arranged between the first and second piezoelectric body sections; the first piezoelectric body section causes the diaphragm to deform for applying the discharge pressure to the liquid stored in the pressure chamber, the first piezoelectric body section being made of a first constituent material; the second piezoelectric body section determines a pressure generated in the pressure chamber, the second piezoelectric body section being made of a second constituent material; and the intermediate piezoelectric body section has a structural composition which varies continuously.