Liquid ejecting head, liquid ejecting device and liquid ejecting method

A liquid ejecting method of ejecting a liquid upon generation of a bubble, said method comprising the steps of:

• using a liquid ejecting head that includes an ejection outlet for ejecting a liquid, a plurality of heat generating elements provided laterally across each of a plurality of liquid flow paths for selectively generating lateral bubbles of different sizes in the liquid, and a single movable member respectively provided in each of the plurality of liquid flow paths and arranged to face the plurality of heat generating elements, the single movable member having a free end and a supporting member, wherein the free end is provided at a downstream side toward the ejection outlet and is displaced between a first position and a second position farther from the plurality of heat generating elements than the first position, and wherein the supporting member is provided at an upstream side;
• and
• displacing the movable member using a pressure based on generation of a bubble to cause the bubble to expand more greatly at the downstream side than at the upstream side with respect to the ejection outlet, and to change a displaced state of the movable member, the movable member being displaced in accordance with a size of the generated bubble thereby changing an ejection amount of the liquid,
• wherein gradation recording is executed by simultaneously or selectively driving said plurality of bubble generation heaters to generate lateral bubbles of different sizes.

A liquid ejecting method of ejecting a liquid by generating a bubble, said method comprising the steps of:

• using a liquid ejecting head that includes an ejection outlet for ejecting a liquid, a plurality of pairs of heat generating elements provided laterally across each of a plurality of liquid flow paths and selectively driven to generate lateral bubbles of different sizes, and a single movable member respectively provided in each of the plurality of liquid flow paths and arranged to face the plurality of pairs of heat generating elements, the single movable member having a free end on a downstream side toward the election outlet, and the free end is displaced between a first position and a second position farther from the plurality of pairs of heat generating elements than the first position, wherein the plurality of pairs of heat generating elements are arranged with respect to the ejection outlet;
• and
• displacing the single movable member using a pressure based on generation of a bubble to cause the bubble to expand more greatly on the downstream side than on an upstream side with respect to a direction of the ejection outlet, the single movable member being displaced in accordance with a size of a generated bubble, wherein
• an ejection amount of the liquid is changed by changing a number of movable members to be operated, and
• gradation recording is executed by simultaneously or selectively driving said plurality of bubble generation heaters to generate lateral bubbles of different sizes.

A pre-ejecting method for a liquid ejecting head, said method comprising the steps of:

• using a liquid ejecting head that includes an ejection outlet for ejecting a liquid;
• using a liquid flow path for supplying the liquid to the ejection outlet;
• using a plurality of bubble generation heaters provided laterally across a single liquid flow path for generating bubbles, the plurality of bubble generation heaters being selectively driven to generate lateral bubbles of different sizes;
• providing a movable mechanism that includes a movable member arranged to face a bubble generation region formed in the liquid flow path by the plurality of bubble generation heaters, the movable member having a free end on a downstream side with respect to a direction of the ejection outlet and a supporting member on an upstream side;
• and
• displacing the movable member in a direction to separate from a bubble generation region;
• forming a largest bubble of the bubbles that can be formed by the plurality of bubble generation heaters;
• and
• causing the movable member to guide the largest bubble to the ejection outlet, thereby performing a pre-ejection process from the ejection outlet, wherein
• the movable member is displaced in accordance with a size of a generated bubble,
• a single respective movable member is provided for each liquid flow path, and
• gradation recording is executed by simultaneously or selectively driving the plurality of bubble generation heaters to generate lateral bubbles of different sizes.

A recording method of performing a gradation recording operation using a liquid ejecting head for ejecting a liquid, said method comprising the steps of:

• using a liquid ejecting head that includes an ejection outlet for ejecting a liquid;
• using a liquid flow path for supplying the liquid to the ejection outlet;
• using a plurality of bubble generation heaters provided laterally across a single liquid flow path to generate bubbles, the plurality of bubble generation heaters being selectively driven to generate lateral bubbles of different sizes;
• providing a movable mechanism that includes a movable member arranged to face a bubble generation region formed in the liquid flow path by the plurality of bubble generation heaters, the movable member having a free end on a downstream side with respect to a direction of the ejection outlet and a supporting member on an upstream side;
• and
• displacing the movable member in a direction to separate from the bubble generation region and causing the movable member to guide the generated bubbles to the ejection outlet so as to form droplets of different sizes in accordance with the different sizes of the generated bubbles, the movable member being displaced in accordance with a size of a generated bubble, thereby performing a gradation recording operation, wherein
• a single respective movable member is provided for each liquid flow path, and
• gradation recording is executed by simultaneously or selectively driving the plurality of bubble generation heaters to generate lateral bubbles of different sizes.

A recording method of performing a smoothing operation using a liquid ejecting head capable of ejecting droplets of different sizes, said method comprising the steps of:

• using a liquid ejecting head that includes an ejection outlet for ejecting a liquid;
• using a liquid flow path for supplying the liquid to the ejection outlet;
• using a plurality of bubble generation heaters provided laterally across a single liquid flow path to generate bubbles, the plurality of bubble generation heaters being selectively driven to generate lateral bubbles of different sizes;
• providing a movable mechanism that includes a single movable member arranged to face a bubble generation region formed in the liquid flow path by the plurality of bubble generation heaters, the movable member having a free end on a downstream side with respect to a direction of the ejection outlet and a supporting member on an upstream side;
• and
• displacing the movable member in a direction to separate from the bubble generation region in accordance with each of the generated bubbles of different sizes, the movable member being displaced in accordance with a size of a generated bubble, thus causing the movable member to guide the generated bubbles to the ejection outlet so as to supply droplets of different sizes corresponding to the different sizes of the generated bubbles to a boundary between an image portion and a non-image portion, thereby performing a smoothing operation, wherein
• a single respective movable member is provided for each liquid flow path, and
• gradation recording is executed by simultaneously or selectively driving the plurality of bubble generation heaters to generate lateral bubbles of different sizes.

An ink jet recording device using a liquid ejecting head capable of ejecting liquids in different conditions, said device comprising:

• a mount portion on which a liquid ejecting head is mounted, the liquid ejecting head including an ejection outlet for ejecting a liquid, a liquid flow path for supplying the liquid to the ejection outlet, a plurality of bubble generation heaters provided laterally across a single liquid flow path for generating bubbles, the plurality of bubble generating heaters being selectively driven to generate lateral bubbles of different sizes, and a movable mechanism that includes a movable member arranged to face a bubble generation region formed in the liquid flow path by the plurality of bubble generation heaters, the movable member having a free end on a downstream side with respect to a direction of the ejection outlet and a supporting member on an upstream side, wherein the movable member is displaced in accordance with a size of a generated bubble, and the movable member is displaced in a direction to separate from the bubble generation region in accordance with a bubble generated by the plurality of bubble generation heaters;
• and
• a drive condition selector for supplying the plurality of bubble generation heaters of the liquid ejecting head with an electrical signal corresponding to a recording signal corresponding to a liquid to be ejected, wherein
• a single respective movable member is provided for each liquid flow path, and
• gradation recording is executed by simultaneously or selectively driving the plurality of bubble generation heaters to generate lateral bubbles of different sizes.

A liquid ejecting head capable of ejecting liquids in different conditions, comprising:

• an ejection outlet for ejecting a liquid;
• a liquid flow path including a first liquid flow path portion for supplying the liquid to said ejection outlet and a second liquid flow path portion that includes a plurality of bubble generation heaters, wherein the plurality of bubble generating heaters are provided laterally across a single liquid flow path and are selectively driven to generate lateral bubbles of different sizes;
• and
• a movable mechanism that includes a movable member arranged to face a bubble generation region formed in the second liquid flow path portion by the plurality of bubble generation heaters, the movable member having a free end on a downstream side with respect to a direction of the ejection outlet and a supporting member on an upstream side, wherein
• the movable member is displaced in accordance with a size of a generated bubbles such that the generated bubble displaces the movable member in a direction to move the free end to a substantially sealed state with respect to the first liquid flow path portion and to open the bubble generation region to the ejection outlet,
• a single respective movable member is provided for each liquid flow path, and
• gradation recording is executed by simultaneously or selectively driving said plurality of bubble generation heaters to generate lateral bubbles of different sizes.