Ink jet recording apparatus

An ink jet recording apparatus comprising:

• a piezo-electric body having a plurality of spaced protruding portions, each of the plurality of protruding portions having first and second side surfaces;
• first and second electrodes provided on the first and second side surfaces of each of the protruding portions, respectively;
• a supporting member having a plurality of spaced hollow portions, each of the plurality of hollow portions being engaged with a respective one of said plurality of protruding portions to define a space between a top surface of each of the protruding portions and a bottom surface of each of the hollow portions, said space comprising an ink room;
• a plurality of openings, each of the plurality of openings leading to a corresponding one of a plurality of ink rooms;
• ink supplying means for supplying ink to the ink rooms;
• and
• voltage applying means for applying voltage between each of the first and second electrodes to generate an electric field for vibrating each of the protruding portions, thereby jetting ink in each of the ink rooms in the form of a droplet through each of the openings,
• wherein each of said first and second electrodes becomes wider in a direction of ink jetting.

An ink jet recording apparatus comprising:

• a piezo-electric plate having a plurality of protruding portions, said plurality of protruding portions being defined by forming a plurality of spaced grooves on a surface of said piezo-electric plate, each of the plurality of protruding portions having first and second side surfaces, a distance between said first and second side surfaces of each of the protruding portions being from 30 .mu.m to 130 .mu.m;
• first and second electrodes provided on the first and second side surfaces of each of the protruding portions, respectively;
• a supporting member having a plurality of spaced hollow portions, each of the plurality of hollow portions being engaged with a respective one of said plurality of protruding portions to define a space between a top surface of each of the protruding portions and a bottom surface of each of the hollow portions, said space comprising an ink room;
• a plurality of openings, each of the plurality of openings leading to a corresponding one of a plurality of ink rooms;
• ink supplying means for supplying ink to the ink rooms;
• and
• voltage applying means for applying voltage between each of the first and second electrodes to generate an electric field for vibrating each of the protruding portions, thereby jetting ink in each of the ink rooms in the form of a droplet through each of the openings, the voltage applied by said voltage applying means between each of the first and second electrodes being from 10 V to 200 V.

An ink jet recording apparatus comprising:

• a piezo-electric body which has a protruding portion, said protruding portion having first and second side surfaces;
• a supporting member which has a hollow portion corresponding to said protruding portion, wherein a depth of said hollow portion is larger than a height of said protruding portion, said supporting member being engaged with said piezo-electric body in a manner that said protruding portion is inserted into said hollow portion, wherein a space between a top surface of said protruding portion and a bottom surface of said hollow portion is formed as an ink room;
• an opening which leads to said ink room;
• first and second electrodes which are provided on the first and second surfaces of said protruding portion;
• an ink supplier which supplies ink to said ink room;
• and
• a driver which applies voltage between said first electrode and said second electrode to operate said protruding portion, thereby jetting ink in said ink room in a form of a droplet through said opening.