Patent ID: 9744778
Date: 2017-08-29
CPC Classifications: B41J

Claim:
1. An image recording apparatus comprising: a transport mechanism for transporting a recording medium in a transport direction along the longitudinal direction of the recording medium; at least one recording head including fixedly disposed nozzles, the at least one recording head ejecting a photo-curable ink from the nozzles onto a surface of said recording medium; a single viscosity increasing light irradiator downstream from said at least one recording head in said transport direction, the viscosity increasing light irradiator irradiating said recording medium with a first type of irradiation light that increases the viscosity of said ink; and a fixing light irradiator downstream from said viscosity increasing light irradiator in said transport direction, the fixing light irradiator irradiating said recording medium with a second type of irradiation light that fixes said ink on said recording medium, said first type of irradiation light being smaller in amount of light than said second type of irradiation light, said transport mechanism including a first switching part between said viscosity increasing light irradiator and said fixing light irradiator, the first switching part changing the transport orientation of said recording medium so that the transport orientation becomes the vertical or approaches the vertical, and a second switching part downstream from said fixing light irradiator in said transport direction, the second switching part changing the transport orientation of said recording medium so that the transport orientation approaches the horizontal, said recording medium being transported in such a manner as to cross a line segment connecting said at least one recording head and said fixing light irradiator, said fixing light irradiator emitting said second type of irradiation light toward said recording medium transported in the orientation changed by said first switching part, wherein said at least one recording head includes a plurality of recording heads, and said single viscosity increasing light irradiator is disposed at a location downstream from the most downstream one of said recording heads in said transport direction.