JPH1044422A - Ink jetting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an image of high printing quality due to area gradation by changing a size of ink droplets. SOLUTION: A pair of electrodes 13, 14 and small and large nozzles 19, 20 are provided in a pressure chamber 12 and the small nozzle 19 is arranged in the vicinity of the electrodes 13, 14 by the large nozzle 20. When small liquid droplets are emitted to obtain small dots, large voltage is applied to the electrodes 13, 14 to generate small boiling air bubbles in the pressure chamber 12 and, when large dots are desired to be obtained, voltage is applied across the electrodes 13, 14 to generate large boiling air bubbles in the pressure chamber 12 to obtain a screen of high printing quality due to area gradation of dots.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an ink ejection apparatus for changing the size of an ink droplet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an ink jet printer using an ink ejection device has been capable of quiet recording and high-speed recording.
It has been widely used as an output printer for home and office computers because of easy colorization. Such an ink jet printer performs recording by making ink droplets fly and attaching them to a print substrate, and is broadly classified into a continuous system and an on-demand system according to a method of uttering droplets and a method of controlling a flying direction. .

The continuous system is a system disclosed in, for example, US Pat. No. 3,060,429, in which ink droplets are reduced electrostatically, and the generated droplets are subjected to electrolytic control in accordance with a recording signal. In addition, recording is performed by selectively attaching small droplets on a printing medium, and a high voltage is required for generating small droplets, and it is difficult to form a multi-nozzle, and thus it is not suitable for high-speed recording.

On the other hand, the on-demand system is a system disclosed in, for example, US Pat. No. 3,747,120, in which an electric recording signal is applied to a piezoelectric vibrating element attached to a recording head having a nozzle hole for discharging a small droplet. The electric recording signal is converted into the mechanical vibration of the piezo-vibrating element, and the recording is performed by ejecting small droplets from the nozzle holes according to the mechanical vibration and attaching the droplets to the printing material. Is ejected from the nozzle hole to perform recording, so it is not necessary to collect small droplets that are not required for image recording from among small droplets ejected and flying as in the continuous method. Although it is possible, it is difficult to process the recording head, it is extremely difficult to reduce the size of the piezoelectric vibrating element, it is difficult to form a multi-nozzle, It is not suitable for high-speed recording is performed flying droplets, it has drawbacks like.

Further, Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-59911, Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-11035, and Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-59914
The publication discloses a recording method of a method in which boiling is caused by a heating resistor to cause droplets to fly.

As another example of the on-demand system, the system disclosed in US Pat. No. 3,179,042 describes that thermal energy is used instead of mechanical vibration energy by means such as a piezoelectric vibrating element. .
It has features such as higher energy conversion efficiency and easier multi-nozzle as compared with the method using mechanical vibration energy.

Next, the principle of the ejection will be described. FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of a conventional ink ejection device using thermal energy. In FIG. 9, 1 is a conductive ink, 2 is an ink chamber filled with the conductive ink 1, and 3 is a conductive ink 1.
Tanks, containing a pair of electrodes disposed below the liquid level of the conductive ink 1; 6, a voltage applying means;
Is a switch of the voltage application means 6, 8 is a nozzle for discharging the conductive ink 1, 9 is a printing substrate, and 10 is an ink droplet discharged from the nozzle 8.

When a voltage is applied to the electrodes 4 and 5, a current flows in the conductive ink 1 and a part of the conductive ink 1 between the tips of the electrodes 4 and 5 is vaporized by the Joule heat. Further, the vaporized conductive ink 1 is vaporized from the nozzle 8 through the printing material 9.
Expand until it generates a pressure sufficient to cause the ink droplets 10 to be ejected to the surface of the. By selectively applying a voltage to the electrodes 4 and 5 by the switch 7, a nozzle 8 for discharging the conductive ink 1 is selected, and a desired character is formed on the printing material 9.

[0009]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional configuration, the nozzle 8 has only one type of discharge diameter, and the size of the ink droplet 10 to be discharged cannot be changed. It is difficult to obtain a proper printing result.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems and to provide an ink ejection apparatus capable of changing the size of an ink droplet to obtain an image of high print quality by area gradation. I do.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a plurality of nozzles of different sizes for discharging ink provided in a pressure chamber for storing ink. Ink droplets of different sizes can be obtained.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pressure chamber for accommodating ink, a plurality of nozzles provided in the pressure chamber having different sizes for discharging ink, and a plurality of nozzles. When a small dot is obtained, a small ink droplet is ejected from a small exit diameter nozzle to obtain a large dot.
Ink droplets are ejected from nozzles having large and small exit diameters, and this configuration has an effect that ink droplets having different sizes can be obtained.

Further, the invention according to claim 2 of the present invention provides:
The invention according to claim 1, wherein a smaller nozzle among the plurality of nozzles is provided closer to the ejection means than a large nozzle, and a difference between the ejection force of the ejection means when obtaining small dots and the ejection force when obtaining large dots. Can be increased.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 6, 7 and 8.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an ink discharge device according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the ink discharge device according to one embodiment of the present invention. 1 and 2, reference numeral 11 denotes conductive ink, 12 denotes a pressure chamber filled with the conductive ink 11, and 13 and 14 denote pressure chambers.
A pair of electrodes provided therein, 15 is a substrate on which the electrodes 13 and 14 are arranged, 16 is a drive voltage applying unit, 17 is a nozzle plate, and 18 is an ink flow path. 19 is a small nozzle for ejecting small ink droplets, and 20 is a large nozzle for ejecting large ink droplets.

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view of a head chip of an ink ejection apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3, 25 is a head chip, and 24 is a common ink chamber.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of an ink jet head and an ink tank of an ink ejection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 4, reference numeral 27 denotes an ink cartridge to which the head chip 25 is attached; 28, an ink tank provided in the ink cartridge 27; 29, an ink filter for removing dust, dust, and the like contained in the conductive ink 11 in the ink tank 28; , 30 are conductive inks 11
Are introduced into the common ink chamber 24.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a printer using the ink discharge device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
In the figure, 32 is a carriage for fixing the inserted ink cartridge 27, 33 is a guide shaft for guiding the carriage 32 which reciprocates serially, and 35 is a platen roller for feeding the printing material 9.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the ink ejection device according to the embodiment of the present invention when ejecting small ink droplets. In FIG. 6, 36 is a small boiling bubble, 37 is a meniscus swelling by the large nozzle 20, and 38 is a small ink droplet ejected from the small nozzle 19.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the ink ejection device according to the embodiment of the present invention when ejecting large ink droplets. In FIG. 7, reference numeral 39 denotes a large boiling bubble, and reference numeral 40 denotes a large ink droplet discharged from the large nozzle 20.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the appearance of large and small dots of the ink ejection device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The operation of the ink discharging apparatus configured as described above will be described below with reference to FIGS. 6, 7 and 8.

When discharging the small ink droplet 38, the electrodes 13,
When a large voltage is applied between the conductive inks 11, a current flows through the conductive ink 11, and l (t): a current value flowing between the conductive inks 11 that changes with the passage of time from the voltage application; Resistance, t: When the time is from the start of voltage application, the conductive ink 11 in the portion where the current flows due to the Joule loss of the current expressed by the integral of 12 × R × Δt from 0 to t generates self-heating. As time passes, boiling starts from the hottest part of the current passing portion of the conductive ink 11 through which the current has flowed, and the conductive ink 11 is heated.
As shown in (b), small boiling bubbles 36 are generated. With the expansion of the small boiling bubbles 36, the current value in the conductive ink 11 becomes small because the small boiling bubbles 36 are insulators and the current cannot pass therethrough. Then, the pressure of the conductive ink 11 in the pressure chamber 12 sharply increases due to the expansion of the small boiling bubbles 36. The high-pressure conductive ink 11 tends to move in the direction of the small nozzle 19, the large nozzle 20, and the ink flow path 18. However, a sudden flow of the conductive ink 11 due to a sudden pressure change causes fluid resistance. Since the ink flow path 18 is larger than the small nozzle 19 and the large nozzle 20, the rapid flow of the conductive ink 11 due to the pressure change goes to the small nozzle 19 and the large nozzle 20. The small boiling bubbles 36 are closer to the small nozzle 19 than the large nozzle 20, and the pressure loss is larger in the large nozzle 20 than in the small nozzle 19. Therefore, the meniscus surface is broken from the small nozzle 19, and the small ink droplet 38
Is discharged, and only the meniscus 37 swells in the large nozzle 20, and the conductive ink 11 is not discharged. Then, the small dots 22 are formed on the print substrate 9 by the ejected small ink droplets 38.

When a small voltage is applied between the electrodes 13 and 14 when the large ink droplet 40 is ejected, the conductive ink 11
Where l (t) is the current value flowing between the conductive inks 11 that changes with the passage of time from the voltage application, R is the resistance of the conductive ink 11, and t is the time from the start of the voltage application. , 12 × R × Δt, the conductive ink 11 in the portion where the current flows due to the Joule loss of the current expressed by the integration from 0 to t, self-heats, and the conductive ink in which the current flows with the passage of time. Boiling starts from the hottest part of the current passing portion 11 and the conductive ink 11 is heated, and finally large boiling bubbles 39 are generated as shown in FIG. As the large boiling bubbles 39 expand, the current in the conductive ink 11 becomes small because the large boiling bubbles 39 are insulators and the current cannot pass therethrough. The pressure of the conductive ink 11 in the pressure chamber 12 sharply increases due to the expansion of the large boiling bubbles 39. The high-pressure conductive ink 11 tends to move in the direction of the small nozzle 19, the large nozzle 20, and the ink flow path 18. However, a sudden flow of the conductive ink 11 due to a sudden pressure change causes fluid resistance. Since the ink flow path 18 is larger than the large nozzle 19 and the large nozzle 20, the rapid flow of the conductive ink 11 due to the pressure change
9 and large nozzle 20. The large boiling bubbles 39 are closer to the small nozzles 19 than the large nozzles 20, and the pressure loss is larger for the large nozzles 20 than for the small nozzles 19,
9 is sufficiently large, a small ink droplet 38 is ejected from the small nozzle 19, a large ink droplet 40 is ejected from the large nozzle 20, and the ejected large ink droplet 40 and small ink droplet 38 are shown in FIG. As described above, the large dots 23 including the small dots 22 therein are formed on the printing medium 9.

After boiling, large boiling bubbles 39 and small boiling bubbles 36
Is removed by the conductive ink 11 and the electrodes 13 and 14, and the large boiling bubbles 39 and the small boiling bubbles 36 contract rapidly. With the disappearance of the large boiling bubbles 39 and the small boiling bubbles 36, the pressure chamber 1
The conductive ink 11 in 2 needs a heating time of several microseconds or more to be stirred by the negative pressure at the time of disappearance and to start boiling again from the current passing portion. Until the boiling is started, the drive voltage applying means 16 stops applying the voltage between the electrodes 13 and 14, and unnecessary large ink droplets 40 and small ink droplets 38 due to the double boiling of the conductive ink 11. To prevent flight. The conductive ink 11 consumed by the formation of the large ink droplet 40 and the small ink droplet 38 is constantly supplied to the pressure chamber 12 from the ink flow path 18 by the surface tension of the conductive ink 11, and returns to the standby state. The temperature distribution of the conductive ink 11 in the pressure chamber 12 returns to the initial state during the standby state due to heat conduction. By repeating the above operation, the ink cartridge 27 mounted on the carriage 32 reciprocates along the guide shaft 33 in response to a print signal sent from, for example, a computer or the like, and is driven in accordance with the position of the carriage 32. The voltage applying means 16 is an arbitrary electrode 1
A driving voltage is applied between the first and second printing plates 3 and 14 so that small ink droplets 38 and large ink droplets 40 are continuously generated and adhere to the printing medium 9 sent by the platen roller 35. Printing with the dots 22 becomes possible.

The conductive ink 11 enters the common ink chamber 24 from the ink tank 28 via the ink filter 29 via the ink filter 29, and is supplied from the common ink chamber 24 to the pressure chamber 12 with the printing operation.

In a recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied, one or a plurality of recording heads are mounted on a carriage, and ink is ejected from the recording heads while reciprocating on the front surface of the recording material in the main scanning direction. In a so-called serial type recording apparatus in which the recording material is fed by a predetermined amount in the sub-scanning direction to perform recording, a recording head is provided over the entire width of the recording material in the main scanning direction, and the recording material is moved in a predetermined direction in the sub-scanning direction. A so-called line-type recording apparatus that performs recording by being sent by an amount may be either.

A so-called plotter-type printing system in which one or more printing heads are mounted on a carriage and ink is ejected from the printing heads while printing is performed while moving the front surface of the printing material in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction. An apparatus may be used.

The ink usable in the present invention may be either water-soluble or oil-soluble. Considering odor and safety, water-soluble is preferred. Dyes, water-soluble organic solvents such as alcohols and glycols as wetting agents, surfactants, and mixtures thereof are bleeding into the ink. Drying speed, adjustment of boiling state, electrode life, nozzle It is preferable for clogging and the like. In addition, preservatives are used. Specifically, those described in Trikeps Co., Ltd. “Inkjet recording technology” P177, Nikkei Electronics, No. 303, 1982.11.8, Journal of the Society of Electrophotography, vol. 24, 354 (1985), "Fourth Non-Impact Printing Technology Symposium Proceedings", IEICE 93 (1987), Textile and Industry, v
ol. 47, 212, (1991), JP-A-63-15
Materials described in 79 and the like can be used.

Next, specific examples of the constitution of the ink which can be used in the present invention will be described. Coloring materials (dyes: azo dyes, acid dyes, basic dyes, direct dyes, pigments; carbon black, azo lake pigments, non-bathable azo pigments, condensed azo pigments, chelate azo pigments, phthalocyanine pigments, berylen pigments, berynone application, atraquinone Pigments, quinacridone pigments, dioxazine pigments, thioindico pigments, isoindolinone pigments,
Quinophthalone pigments, basic dye lakes, acid dye lakes, nitro pigments, aniline black, fluorescent pigments, titanium oxide, iron oxide, etc., solvents (water, etc.), solvents (ethyl alcohol, methyl alcohol, n-propyl alcohol)
Isopropyl alcohol, n-butyl alcohol, se
c-butyl alcohol, tert-butyl alcohol,
Lower dialkyl ethers of polyhydric alcohols such as isobutyl alcohol, n-pentanol, diethylene glycol, etc.), anti-drying agents (glycerin, urea, sorbitan, sorbitol, inositol, chelating agents, etc.), viscosity modifiers (glycerin, etc.), surface Tension adjusters (diaeonolamine, triethanolamine, anionic surfactants, nonionic surfactants), pH adjusters (potassium hydroxide (KOH), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), diethanolamine, etc.), dispersion Agents (proteins, natural rubbers, cellulose dielectrics, natural polymers, nonionic polymers, anionic surfactants, nonionic surfactants, etc.), foaming agents (isopropyl alcohol, polyhydric alcohols), antioxidants Preparations (vitamin C, sodium sulfite, hydroquinone, pyrazolidone, Rajin etc.), and the like preservatives (alcohol, formalin, OH machines such as sodium).
For conductive inks, see US Pat. No. 4,536,776 (JP-A-59-129274), entitled "Inks for selective ink jet printers consisting of an aqueous mixture of dyes, the mixture comprising 15 to 50 / cm.
An ink "is disclosed which comprises an amount of a hydrolyzing salt that gives the ink an ohmic resistivity.
JP-A-5-179182 (DIC) states that "aqueous ink composition for ink jet recording containing water and a colorant contains a salt comprising an alkanolamine or an ethylene oxide adduct and / or a propylene oxide adduct and a hydrogen halide. An ink characterized by the following "is disclosed. Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-5785 specifically describes inorganic salts. The conductivity-imparting agent used in the present invention may be any of alkali metal compound salts such as lithium (Li), inorganic salts such as ammonium sulfate, lithium chloride, sodium chloride and potassium chloride, and organic salts, but quaternary organic ammonium. A derivative of a salt can be preferably used. Specific examples of the compound include monoethanolamine sulfate, diethanolamine sulfate, triethanolamine sulfate, monoethanolamine nitrate, diethanolamine nitrate, triethanolamine nitrate, monoethanolamine phosphate, diethanolamine phosphate, Triethanolamine phosphate, dimethanolamine sulfate, trimethanolamine sulfate, diethylamine sulfate, triethylamine sulfate, dimethylamine sulfate, trimethylamine sulfate, monopropylamine sulfate, dipropylamine sulfate, tripropyl Amine sulfate, phenylamine sulfate, diphenylamine sulfate, dimethyleneamine sulfate, trimethyleneamine sulfate, diethyleneamine sulfate, triethyleneamine sulfate, dipropyleneamine Salt, tripropylene amine sulfate, pyridine sulfate,
Pyrrole sulfate and the like can be mentioned.

The humectant has a higher boiling point than water,
It is used to prevent the tips of the large nozzle 20 and the small nozzle 19 from drying. Specific examples of the wetting agent include alkylene glycols having an alkylene group containing 2 to 6 carbon atoms, such as polyethylene glycol, polypropylene glycol, butylene glycol, and hexylene glycol, for example, ethylene glycol ethyl ether, diethylene glycol methyl ether, and diethylene glycol. Lower alkyl ethers of diethylene glycol such as ethyl ether; glycerin; 0.1 to 10% by weight of polyhydric alcohol, preferably 0.5 to 3.0% by weight
Contained. As the polyhydric alcohol is less than 0.5% by weight, it is recognized that the nozzle tip tends to be clogged due to ink drying, and as the polyhydric alcohol exceeds 3.0% by weight, the ink specific resistance tends to increase. And it was found that each was not preferable.

Examples of the solvent include water and an organic solvent miscible with water. Examples of the organic solvent include alkyl alcohols such as methyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol, n-propyl alcohol, and isopropyl alcohol; ketones or keto alcohols such as acetone and diacetone alcohol; amides such as dimethylformamide and dimethylacetone amide; tetrahydrofuran and dioxane And the like, ether alcohols such as ethylene glycol monomethyl ether and ethylene bricol monoethyl ether, and water-soluble polymer compounds. Water used as a solvent is contained in an amount of 30 to 80% by weight, preferably 50 to 70% by weight. As the amount of water becomes less than 50% by weight, the permeability to paper tends to be improved. As the amount of water exceeds 70% by weight, the permeability to paper tends to decrease. all right.

In some cases, a surfactant, a pH adjuster, a viscosity adjuster, and the like are added to the ink to adjust the physical properties of the liquid.

The surface tension adjuster is added to increase the quick drying property of the ink, and at the same time, prevents evaporation of the ink jet ink. As the adjuster, it is preferable to use a water-soluble organic solvent or a surfactant. The water-soluble organic solvent may be selected from the above solvents. The surfactant may be, for example, a fatty acid salt, a higher alcohol sulfate ester salt, a liquid fatty oil sulfate ester salt, a fatty alcohol phosphate ester salt, a dibasic fatty acid ester sulfone salt, or a fatty acid amide sulfonate. , Alkyl allyl sulfonates, formalin-condensed naphthalene sulfonates, alkylpyridium salts, polyoxyethylene alkyl ethers, polyoxyethylene alkyl phenyl ethers, polyoxyethylene alkyl esters, sorbitan alkyl esters, polyoxyethylene Sorbitan alkyl esters can be mentioned.

The pH adjuster may be any as long as it can adjust the pH value to a desired value without adversely affecting the ink-jet ink to be prepared. Specific examples include lower alkanolamines and alkali metal hydroxides. Monohydric hydroxide, ammonium hydroxide and the like.

The viscosity adjuster adjusts the viscosity of the ink, and specifically includes polyvinyl alcohol, hydroxypropyl cellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose, and the like.
Water-soluble acrylic resin, polyvinylpyrrolidone, gum arabic and the like can be mentioned.

Further, in order to reinforce the strength of the ink film when it adheres to printing paper, alkyd resin, acrylic resin, acrylamide resin, polyvinyl alcohol,
A resin polymer such as polyvinylpyrrolidone may be added. Addition of an antifungal agent is advantageous from the viewpoint of ensuring reliability during long-term storage.

As a material of the substrate 15, an insulating material such as glass and ceramic, a semiconductor, a metal whose surface is coated with a high-resistance material, a metal alloy, an insulator, and a semiconductor can be used. As the glass substrate 15, potassium lime glass, soda lime glass, borosilicate glass, crown glass, zinc crown glass, soda potash glass, barium borosilicate glass, 96
% Silicate glass, 99.5% silicate glass, phosphate glass,
Low melting glass, lithium silicate glass, zinc aluminum silicate glass, zirconium silicate glass, and the like can be used. Examples of the ceramic substrate 15 include aluminum oxide (alumina), titanium oxide (titania), MgO · SiO ₂ (steatite), 2MgO · SiO ₂ (holsterite),
BeO (beryllia), MgO.Al ₂ O ₃ (spinel) and the like can be used. As the semiconductor substrate 15, silicon,
Silicon carbide, diamond, germanium and the like can be used. As a material of the electrodes 13 and 14, a Ti group metal (T
i, Zr, Hf), platinum group metals (Pt, Ru, Ph, P
d, Os, Ir), refractory metals (W, Ta, Mo), V, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, Nb, Au, Ag,
Single metals such as Al or alloys thereof (Ni-Fe, NiC
r, TiCr, etc.) can be used. In addition, oxides (titanium oxide, hafnium oxide, tin oxide, indium oxide, and the like), nitrides (titanium nitride, chromium nitride, and the like), carbides (titanium carbide, tungsten carbide, and the like), and digests thereof can also be used.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, the amount of ejected ink droplets can be switched according to the magnitude of the applied voltage.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an ink ejection device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the ink discharge device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of a head chip of the ink ejection device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of an ink jet head and an ink tank of an ink ejection device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a printer using the ink ejection device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an operation of the ink discharge device according to the embodiment of the present invention when discharging a small ink droplet.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an operation of the ink discharge device according to the embodiment of the present invention when discharging a large ink droplet.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a state of large and small dots of the ink ejection device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of a conventional ink ejection device using thermal energy.

[Explanation of symbols]

 9 Printed object 11 Conductive ink 12 Pressure chamber 13 Electrode 14 Electrode 15 Substrate 16 Drive voltage applying means 17 Nozzle plate 18 Ink flow path 19 Small nozzle 20 Large nozzle 22 Small dot 23 Large dot 24 Common ink chamber 25 Head chip 27 Ink cartridge 28 Ink tank 29 Ink filter 30 Ink introduction path 32 Carriage 33 Guide shaft 35 Platen roller 36 Small boiling bubble 37 Meniscus 38 Small ink droplet 39 Large boiling bubble 40 Large ink droplet

Claims (2)

[Claims] A pressure chamber for accommodating ink; a plurality of nozzles provided in the pressure chamber for discharging ink; and discharging means for discharging ink from the nozzles. Ink ejecting device. 2. An ink ejection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a smaller one of said plurality of nozzles is provided closer to said ejection means than a larger one.