Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Hiromichi Hirano

Toshiaki Masuda

Ryohta Yoneta

Takuma Hirabayashi

A liquid discharge apparatus includes a head including a piezoelectric element and a nozzle, the head configured to drive the piezoelectric element to discharge a liquid from the nozzle, a drive waveform generator configured to generate a drive waveform to be applied to the piezoelectric element of the head, the drive waveform including a non-discharge pulse configured to drive the piezoelectric element to a degree at which the liquid is not discharged from the nozzle, and a discharge pulse applied to the piezoelectric element after the non-discharge pulse, the discharge pulse configured to drive the piezoelectric element to discharge the liquid from the nozzle, a switch between the head and the drive waveform generator, the switch configured to be switched to an ON-state in which the drive waveform passes the switch or to an OFF-state in which the drive waveform does not pass the switch.

Liquid discharge apparatus and head drive controller

A liquid discharge head having a nozzle substrate including a nozzle from which a liquid is discharged in a liquid discharge direction, a pressure chamber communicating with the nozzle, a diaphragm defining a part of wall of the pressure chamber, and a pressure generator on a first surface of the diaphragm opposite to a second surface of the diaphragm facing the pressure chamber, the pressure generator configured to deform the diaphragm. A gap between a first line and a second line is 40 μm or less in a direction perpendicular to the liquid discharge direction, where the first line extends, in the liquid discharge direction, from a displacement center at which the diaphragm deforms with a maximum displacement amount, and the second line extends from a central position of the nozzle in the liquid discharge direction.

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Kanagawa, Japan

Hiromichi Hirano