Abstract: Cleaning under appropriate cleaning conditions is performed by disposing an electrode pair for measuring conductivity in the same liquid chamber as that of a material layer (i.e., an upper electrode) of a surface of a thermal action portion to be eluted, and measuring conductivity of a liquid using the electrode pair before kogation is removed.

Abstract: A method for cleaning a liquid ejection head, including a flow path forming member forming a liquid flow path, a heat generating resistive element, and a coating layer covering the heat generating resistive element and in contact with the liquid, in which the heat generating resistive element is made to generate heat and the liquid is made to be ejected from ejection ports, the method including: applying a voltage to the coating layer to produce an electrochemical reaction between the coating layer and the liquid, and causing the coating layer to be eluted into the liquid, thereby removing kogation deposited on the coating layer; and causing the heat generating resistive element to generate heat and causing the liquid to be ejected from the ejection ports while a voltage is applied to the coating layer continuously or intermittently, thereby eliminating air bubbles generated due to the electrochemical reaction.

Abstract: A meeting surface between inks injected from the injection needles can be made closer to the filter by varying the timings of the ink injections from the plurality of injection needles, whereby larger pressure is applied to the filter. When pressure is applied which is larger than the ink holding force of the filter generated from the surface tension of the inks, the inks pass through the filter to fill space from an ink supply path to an ink path in a print head. In this manner, ink pressure on the filter can be appropriately controlled without increasing the amount of the ink from the injection needle above the filter. As a result, the inks pass through the filter to fill the ink path in the print head, and the inks can be prevented from leaking from ejection openings at the time of filling the inks.

Abstract: An apparatus and a method for inspecting an inkjet print head is provided according to which the ink ejection performance of the inkjet print head can be accurately inspected. A predetermined inspection pattern is printed on a printing medium by dividing a plurality of ejection openings to a plurality of blocks to subject the inkjet print head to a time division driving so that an ink ejection timing is staggered for each of the blocks. The inspection pattern is read. Image data of the inspection pattern is subjected to an image processing. Then, position displacement amounts of dots formed on the printing medium by ink ejected through the ejection openings is acquired. The acquired position displacement amounts are corrected for each block.

Abstract: In a liquid ejection head for ejecting liquid by using thermal energy, reduction of film thickness caused by elution of a protective layer when kogation on the protective layer is removed is uniformized and decrease in liquid ejection performance is suppressed. More specifically, a counter electrode is provided around a portion on which an ejection port of a flow path forming member is formed.

Abstract: A substrate for a liquid discharge head includes an upper protection film that covers at least a region corresponding to each of thermal energy generation elements. The upper protection film and at least one of the upper protection films adjacent to the upper protection film within a liquid chamber are respectively connected to different external electrodes, and a voltage can be applied therebetween via the different external electrodes.

Abstract: A liquid ejection head substrate includes a substrate, an element disposed on the substrate that generates thermal energy used for ejecting liquid, and a protective layer disposed at least at a position corresponding to the element. The protective layer contains iridium and has a density in the range of 21.0 g/cm3 to 22.7 g/cm3.

Abstract: A substrate for a liquid discharge head includes an upper protection film that covers at least a region corresponding to each of thermal energy generation elements. The upper protection film and at least one of the upper protection films adjacent to the upper protection film within a liquid chamber are respectively connected to different external electrodes, and a voltage can be applied therebetween via the different external electrodes.

Abstract: Two identical images are printed, side by side, on an intermediate transfer-recording medium, by using image data that represents an image to be printed on a brochure. The two images thus printed are compared, thereby to determine whether they have defects. One of the images, which is found to have no defects, is transferred from the intermediate transfer-recording medium to the brochure, which is a final transfer-recording medium.

Abstract: A method for filling a liquid-discharge-head cartridge with liquid includes a first step in which a suction operation is performed at a first suction pressure while a suction member is moved along the discharge port row in the discharge-port surface at a first moving speed to suck the liquid in the liquid container to fill the discharge ports, and a second step in which a suction operation is performed at a second suction pressure, which is lower than the first suction pressure, while the suction member is moved along the discharge port row in the discharge-port surface at a second moving speed, which is lower than the first moving speed to remove bubbles in the flow path.

Abstract: A printing head, having symmetrically-arranged ejection openings, can suppress deterioration in image quality caused by manufacturing errors or problems in mounting accuracy thereof. Specifically, in the case the printing head inclines, for example, by 0.5 degrees at a line connecting corresponding ejection openings of ejection opening arrays relative to the scanning direction, deviations occur in the dots formed through one of the ejection opening arrays with reference to the dots formed through another ejection opening array. However, the deviations can be minimized by arranging adjacently small-ejection opening arrays for cyan and magenta with a spacing reduced between those ejection opening arrays.

Abstract: In a structure in which a printing medium is subjected to a maintenance ejection in order to maintain a favorable ink ejection performance of a printing head, dots formed on the printing medium by the maintenance ejection have a reduced visibility. Specifically, an area of dots formed by landing ink droplets ejected from the printing head for the maintenance ejection onto the printing medium is smaller than an area of similar dots formed by a normal printing. Specifically, by flowing currents having different waveforms into an ejection heater of the printing head depending on the ejection for printing an image and the maintenance ejection, an area of dots formed by the maintenance ejection can be smaller than an area of dots formed by the normal ejection for printing an image.

Abstract: The present invention provides an ink jet print head that enables an optimum resistance value to be set for a heating resistor that generates ink ejection energy to allow high-quality images to be printed, as well as a method for manufacturing the ink jet print head. Heating resistors with sheet resistance values differing from each other are formed on the same substrate by heating resistant layers.

Abstract: A printing head, having ejection openings arranged symmetric, is to be suppressed from deteriorating in image quality as caused by the manufacturing errors or problems in mounting accuracy thereof. Specifically, in the case the printing head inclines, for example, by 0.5 degrees at the line connecting between the corresponding ejection openings of ejection opening arrays relative to the scanning direction, deviations occur in the dots formed through the ejection opening arrays with reference to the dot formed through other ejection opening array. However, the deviations can be minimized by arranging adjacently small-ejection opening arrays for cyan and magenta with a spacing reduced between those ejection opening arrays.

Abstract: In an ink jet printing apparatus that ejects a plurality of kinds of pigment inks in small droplets, the drive pulse waveform to be applied to each of the heaters is adjusted according to the viscosity of the ink in a way that assures that the lengths of liquid columns ejected are approximately equal among different colors. This enables the dot areas formed on a print medium to be constant among different colors, realizing an image output with excellent color reproducibility, free from variations in image density and tonality.

Abstract: A printing head, having symmetrically-arranged ejection openings, can suppress deterioration in image quality as caused by manufacturing errors or problems in mounting accuracy thereof. Specifically, in the case the printing head inclines, for example, by 0.5 degrees at a line connecting corresponding ejection openings of ejection opening arrays relative to the scanning direction, deviations occur in the dots formed through one of the ejection opening arrays with reference to the dots formed through another ejection opening array. However, the deviations can be minimized by arranging adjacently small-ejection opening arrays for cyan and magenta with a spacing reduced between those ejection opening arrays.

Abstract: A method for filling a liquid-discharge-head cartridge with liquid includes a first step in which a suction operation is performed at a first suction pressure while a suction member is moved along the discharge port row in the discharge-port surface at a first moving speed to suck the liquid in the liquid container to fill the discharge ports, and a second step in which a suction operation is performed at a second suction pressure, which is lower than the first suction pressure, while the suction member is moved along the discharge port row in the discharge-port surface at a second moving speed, which is lower than the first moving speed to remove bubbles in the flow path.

Abstract: The invention provides an inkjet recording apparatus and an inkjet recording method that can reduce unevenness in the concentration that may appear on a recorded image due to a higher recording duty or other recording conditions. A recording head has first and second nozzle arrays discharging ink droplets. The first nozzle array discharges a relatively small droplet. The second nozzle array discharges a relatively large droplet. When a recording duty of a main recording scan performed by the recording head is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, a control unit controls the first nozzle array to stop discharging the small droplet and instead controls an end nozzle of the second nozzle array to discharge the large droplet to at least part of a designated dot forming position corresponding to an end nozzle of the first nozzle array.

Abstract: A printing head, having ejection openings arranged symmetric, is to be suppressed from deteriorating in image quality as caused by the manufacturing errors or problems in mounting accuracy thereof. Specifically, in the case the printing head inclines, for example, by 0.5 degrees at the line connecting between the corresponding ejection openings of ejection opening arrays relative to the scanning direction, deviations occur in the dots formed through the ejection opening arrays with reference to the dot formed through other ejection opening array. However, the deviations can be minimized by arranging adjacently small-ejection opening arrays for cyan and magenta with a spacing reduced between those ejection opening arrays.

Abstract: The present invention provides an ink jet print head that enables an optimum resistance value to be set for a heating resistor that generates ink ejection energy to allow high-quality images to be printed, as well as a method for manufacturing the ink jet print head. Heating resistors with sheet resistance values differing from each other are formed on the same substrate by heating resistant layers.