Mist ejection head and image forming apparatus comprising same

Abstract

The mist ejection head includes: a nozzle which ejects liquid; a nozzle plate which has electrical conductivity and in which the nozzle is formed; a liquid chamber connected to the nozzle; an ultrasonic wave generating element which generates an ultrasonic wave applied to the liquid in a vicinity of the nozzle; and an electrode which is provided on a wall of the liquid chamber other than the nozzle plate, wherein an electric field applied between the nozzle plate and the electrode is controlled.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The nature of this invention, as well as other objects and benefits thereof, will be explained in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the figures and wherein:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are illustrative diagrams showing principles of a mist ejection head according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams showing the relationship of forces acting on the liquid surface in the vicinity of a nozzle;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are cross-sectional diagrams of a mist ejection head according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a plan view perspective diagram showing the overall structure of a concrete embodiment of the mist ejection head;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged diagram showing an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a plan view perspective diagram showing the overall structure of another concrete embodiment of the mist ejection head;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an approximate view of the general composition of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a general compositional diagram showing the functional composition of an image forming apparatus;

FIG. 9 is a principal plan diagram of the peripheral area of a mist ejection unit in the image forming apparatus in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional diagram of a mist ejection head according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a plan view perspective diagram showing principal parts of the mist ejection head shown in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is an oblique perspective diagram showing principal parts of the mist ejection head shown in FIG. 11; and

FIGS. 13A and 13B are cross-sectional diagrams of a mist ejection head according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Claims

1. A mist ejection head comprising: a nozzle which ejects liquid;a nozzle plate which has electrical conductivity and in which the nozzle is formed;a liquid chamber connected to the nozzle;an ultrasonic wave generating element which generates an ultrasonic wave applied to the liquid in a vicinity of the nozzle; andan electrode which is provided on a wall of the liquid chamber other than the nozzle plate,wherein an electric field applied between the nozzle plate and the electrode is controlled.

2. A mist ejection head comprising: a nozzle which ejects liquid;a nozzle plate which has electrical conductivity and in which the nozzle is formed;a liquid chamber connected to the nozzle;an ultrasonic wave generating element which generates an ultrasonic wave applied to the liquid in a vicinity of the nozzle; andan electrode which is provided on a wall of the liquid chamber across the liquid in the liquid chamber from the nozzle plate,wherein an electric field applied between the nozzle plate and the electrode is controlled.

3. A mist ejection head comprising: a nozzle which ejects liquid;a nozzle plate which has electrical conductivity and in which the nozzle is formed;a liquid chamber connected to the nozzle;an ultrasonic wave generating element which is disposed on a lateral wall of the liquid chamber that makes contact with the nozzle plate and which generates an ultrasonic wave applied to the liquid in the liquid chamber;a reflector which has electrical conductivity and has a reflecting surface which reflects the ultrasonic wave transmitted toward a center of the liquid chamber from the ultrasonic wave generating element so as to concentrate the ultrasonic wave at a focal point located in a vicinity of the nozzle,wherein an electric field applied between the nozzle plate and the reflector is controlled.

4. The mist ejection head as defined in claim 3, wherein a cross-sectional shape of the reflecting surface of the reflector is constituted by two parabolas having a confocal point which coincides with the focal point.

5. The mist ejection head as defined in claim 3, wherein, the liquid chamber has a cylindrical shape having an axis passing through the focal point; andthe reflecting surface has a protrusion shape which is formed by rotating a parabola having a central axis perpendicular to the axis of the liquid chamber, around the axis of the liquid chamber.

6. The mist ejection head as defined in claim 1, wherein the electric field applied between the nozzle plate and the electrode is an alternating electric field.

7. The mist ejection head as defined in claim 2, wherein the electric field applied between the nozzle plate and the electrode is an alternating electric field.

8. The mist ejection head as defined in claim 3, wherein the electric field applied between the nozzle plate and the reflector is an alternating electric field.

9. The mist ejection head as defined in claim 6, wherein a frequency of the alternating electric field is ½ of a frequency at which the ultrasonic wave generating element is driven.

10. The mist ejection head as defined in claim 7, wherein a frequency of the alternating electric field is ½ of a frequency at which the ultrasonic wave generating element is driven.

11. The mist ejection head as defined in claim 8, wherein a frequency of the alternating electric field is ½ of a frequency at which the ultrasonic wave generating element is driven.

12. The mist ejection head as defined in claim 1, wherein, when a meniscus surface of the liquid in the nozzle has a protrusion shape in which the meniscus surface projects from a surface of the nozzle plate in terms of a liquid ejection direction, the nozzle plate and the electrode are charged in such a manner that the nozzle plate and the electrode have opposite polarities.

13. The mist ejection head as defined in claim 2, wherein, when a meniscus surface of the liquid in the nozzle has a protrusion shape in which the meniscus surface projects from a surface of the nozzle plate in terms of a liquid ejection direction, the nozzle plate and the electrode are charged in such a manner that the nozzle plate and the electrode have opposite polarities.

14. The mist ejection head as defined in claim 3, wherein, when a meniscus surface of the liquid in the nozzle has a protrusion shape in which the meniscus surface projects from a surface of the nozzle plate in terms of a liquid ejection direction, the nozzle plate and the reflector are charged in such a manner that the nozzle plate and the reflector have opposite polarities.

15. The mist ejection head as defined in claim 1, wherein, when a meniscus surface of the liquid in the nozzle has a recess shape in which the meniscus surface retreats with respect to a surface of the nozzle plate in terms of a liquid ejection direction, the nozzle plate and the electrode are charged in such a manner that the nozzle plate and the electrode have a same polarity.

16. The mist ejection head as defined in claim 2, wherein, when a meniscus surface of the liquid in the nozzle has a recess shape in which the meniscus surface retreats with respect to a surface of the nozzle plate in terms of a liquid ejection direction, the nozzle plate and the electrode are charged in such a manner that the nozzle plate and the electrode have a same polarity.

17. The mist ejection head as defined in claim 3, wherein, when a meniscus surface of the liquid in the nozzle has a recess shape in which the meniscus surface retreats with respect to a surface of the nozzle plate in terms of a liquid ejection direction, the nozzle plate and the reflector are charged in such a manner that the nozzle plate and the reflector have a same polarity.

18. An image forming apparatus comprising the mist ejection head as defined in claim 1.

19. An image forming apparatus comprising the mist ejection head as defined in claim 2.

20. An image forming apparatus comprising the mist ejection head as defined in claim 3.