Liquid ejection method, head and apparatus

A liquid ejection apparatus, comprising:

• a head comprising an ejection outlet for ejecting the liquid, a bubble generation region for generating the bubble in the liquid, a movable member disposed faced to said bubble generation region and displaceable between a first position and a second position further from said bubble generation region than the first position;
• wherein said movable member is displaced from said first position to said second position by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble in said bubble generating region to permit expansion of the bubble more in a downstream side closer to the ejection outlet;
• means for supplying, to a heat generating element for applying thermal energy to said bubble generation region, a driving pulse divided into a first pulse and an adjacent second pulse with interval time therebetween, thus pre-heating the liquid by said first pulse to an extent not enough to eject the liquid through said ejection outlet, and thus generating a bubble by heating the liquid by said second pulse to eject the liquid through said ejection outlet;
• control means for controlling a degree of pre-heating of the liquid by changing at least one of a pulse width of said first pulse or the interval time.

A liquid ejection head for ejecting liquid by generation of bubble, comprising:

• an ejection outlet for ejecting the liquid;
• a bubble generation region for generating the bubble in the liquid;
• a movable member disposed faced to said bubble generation region and displaceable between a first position and a second position further from said bubble generation region than the first position;
• wherein said movable member moves from said first position to said second position by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble to permit expansion of the bubble more in a downstream side closer to the ejection outlet than in an upstream side;
• a heat generating element for applying thermal energy to said bubble generation region upon supply thereto of a driving pulse;
• and
• detecting means for detecting a state quantity of the liquid influential to an ejection amount of the liquid.

A liquid ejection head, comprising:

• an ejection outlet for ejecting the liquid;
• a heat generating element for generating the bubble in the liquid by applying heat to said liquid;
• a liquid flow path having a supply passage for supplying the liquid to said heat generating element from upstream thereof;
• a movable member disposed faced to said heat generating element and having a free end adjacent said ejection outlet, the free end of said movable member being moved by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble to guide the pressure toward said ejection outlet;
• and
• detecting means for detecting a state quantity of the liquid influential to an ejection amount of the liquid.

A liquid ejection head comprising:

• a first liquid flow path in fluid communication with a liquid ejection outlet;
• a second liquid flow path having a bubble generation region and a movable member disposed between said first liquid flow path and said bubble generation region and having a free end adjacent the ejection outlet side;
• wherein a bubble is generated in said bubble generation region to displace the free end of the movable member into said first liquid flow path by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble, thus guiding the pressure toward the ejection outlet of said first liquid flow path by the movement of the movable member to eject the liquid;
• a heat generating element for applying thermal energy to said bubble generation region upon supply thereto of a driving pulse;
• and
• detecting means for detecting a stale quantity of the liquid influential to an ejection amount of the liquid.

A liquid ejection method, comprising:

• preparing a liquid ejecting head including an ejection outlet for ejecting the liquid;
• a bubble generation region for generating the bubble in the liquid;
• a movable member disposed faced to said bubble generation region and displaceable between a first position and a second position further from said bubble generation region than the first position;
• wherein said movable member moves from said first position to said second position by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble to permit expansion of the bubble more in a downstream side closer to the ejection outlet than in an upstream side;
• a heat generating element for applying thermal energy to said bubble generation region upon supply thereto of a driving pulse;
• and detecting means for detecting a state quantity of the liquid influential to an ejection amount of the liquid;
• controlling a pulse width of the driving pulse for said heat generating element in accordance with an output of said detecting means.

A liquid ejection method, comprising:

• preparing a liquid ejecting head including an ejection outlet for ejecting the liquid;
• a bubble generation region for generating the bubble in the liquid;
• a movable member disposed faced to said bubble generation region and displaceable between a first position and a second position further from said bubble generation region than the first position;
• wherein said movable member moves from said first position to said second position by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble to permit expansion of the bubble more in a downstream side closer to the ejection outlet than in an upstream side;
• a heat generating element for applying thermal energy to said bubble generation region upon supply thereto of a driving pulse;
• and detecting means for detecting a state quantity of the liquid influential to an ejection amount of the liquid;
• predicting a state quantity of the liquid influential to an ejection amount of the liquid on the basis of a frequency of ejecting operations of the liquid;
• controlling a pulse width of the driving pulse for the heat generating element on the basis of the predicted amount.

A liquid ejection apparatus, comprising:

• a liquid ejecting head including:
• an ejection outlet for ejecting the liquid;
• a bubble generation region for generating the bubble in the liquid;
• a movable member disposed faced to said bubble generation region and displaceable between a first position and a second position further from said bubble generation region than the first position;
• wherein said movable member moves from said first position to said second position by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble to permit expansion of the bubble more in a downstream side closer to the ejection outlet than in an upstream side;
• a heat generating element for applying thermal energy to said bubble generation region upon supply thereto of a driving pulse;
• and
• detecting means for detecting a state quantity of the liquid influential to an ejection mount of the liquid;
• control means for controlling a pulse width of the driving pulse for the heat generating element on the basis of an output of said detecting means.

A liquid ejection apparatus, comprising:

• a liquid ejection method, comprising:
• a liquid ejecting head including an ejection outlet for ejecting the liquid;
• a bubble generation region for generating the bubble in the liquid;
• a movable member disposed faced to said bubble generation region and displaceable between a first position and a second position further from said bubble generation region than the first position;
• wherein said movable member moves from said first position to said second position by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble to permit expansion of the bubble more in a downstream side closer to the ejection outlet than in an upstream side;
• and a heat generating element for applying thermal energy to said bubble generation region upon supply thereto of a driving pulse;
• predicting means for predicting a state quantity of the liquid influential to an ejection amount of the liquid on the basis of a frequency of ejecting operations of the liquid;
• and
• control means for controlling a pulse width of a driving pulse for said heat generating element on the basis of an output of said predicting means.

A recording system comprising:

• a liquid ejection apparatus, comprising:
• a liquid ejecting head including a plurality of ejection outlets for ejecting liquid, liquid flow paths in fluid communication with respective ejection outlets, a bubble generating region, in the liquid flow path, having a heat generating element for generating a bubble in the liquid, and a movable member faced to said bubble generating region and having a free end adjacent said ejection outlet;
• and
• a post-processing device for promoting fixing of said liquid on the recording material after the ejection of the liquid.

A recording system comprising:

• a liquid ejection apparatus, comprising:
• a liquid ejecting head including a plurality of ejection outlets for ejecting liquid, liquid flow paths in fluid communication with respective ejection outlets, a bubble generating region, in the liquid flow path, having a heat generating element for generating a bubble in the liquid, and a movable member faced to said bubble generating region and having a free end adjacent said ejection outlet;
• and
• a pre-processing device for promoting fixing of said liquid on the recording material after the ejection of the liquid.

A liquid ejection method, comprising:

• preparing a head comprising an ejection outlet for ejecting the liquid, a bubble generation region for generating the bubble in the liquid, a movable member disposed faced to said bubble generation region and displaceable between a first position and a second position further from said bubble generation region than the first position;
• displacing said movable member from said first position to said second position by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble in said bubble generation region to permit expansion of the bubble more in a downstream side closer to the ejection outlet than in an upstream side;
• supplying, to a heat generating element for applying thermal energy to said bubble generation region, a driving pulse divided into a first pulse and an adjacent second pulse with interval time therebetween;
• pre-heating the liquid by said first pulse to an extent not enough to eject the liquid through said ejection outlet;
• generating a bubble by heating the liquid by said second pulse to eject the liquid through said ejection outlet;
• controlling a degree of pre-heating of the liquid by changing at least one of a pulse width of said first pulse or the interval time, so as to eject the liquid by using such a property that change rate of the ejection amount of the liquid gradually increases with increase of the pulse width of said first pulse or increase of the interval time period.