US Patent 7341333 Apparatus for ejecting droplets

An apparatus for ejecting droplets comprises a reservoir, a pressure applicator, a nozzle hole, and a main droplet catcher. In the reservoir, liquid is reserved. The pressure applicator applies pressure to the liquid reserved in the reservoir. The nozzle hole communicates with the reservoir and has an ejection opening that can sequentially eject a main droplet and a satellite droplet having a volume smaller than that of the main droplet. The main droplet catcher is positioned between the nozzle hole and an ejection object so as to come into contact with the main droplet but not with the satellite droplet, to thereby catch the main droplet alone.