1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid discharge apparatus and method.
2. Related Art
Attempts to discharge liquid that has a higher viscosity than that of typically used aqueous ink (for convenience, also referred to as “high-viscosity liquid”) through an application of ink jet printer technology have been made. For example, an apparatus, in which a nozzle for discharging liquid is composed of a tapered portion that tapers off toward a ink discharge side and a straight portion that is continuously installed from a tip end portion of the discharge side in the tapered portion, has been proposed (for example, see JP-A-2004-90223).
When high-viscosity liquid is discharged from a nozzle that is composed of a tapered portion and a straight portion, the discharge of liquid may become unstable. For example, the liquid may not be discharged, or the discharge flow rate may be insufficient. Various primary causes of unstable discharge may be considered. According to one of such causes, the pressure change that is given to liquid in a pressure chamber may not be efficiently used to discharge the liquid.
Also, when a high-viscosity liquid is discharged from a head having the shape of the related art, it can be confirmed that the discharge of the liquid becomes unstable.