Patent ID: 9120341
Filing Date: 2015-09-01
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
1. An inkjet printer, comprising: an inkjet head configured to discharge ink droplets from nozzles formed in an ink discharging surface thereof; a head scanning unit configured to move the inkjet head with respect to a recording medium to reciprocate along a head-moving direction, the head-moving direction being parallel with the ink discharging surface of the inkjet head; a conveyer unit configured to convey the recording medium in a conveying direction which intersects with the head-moving direction, the conveyer unit including a feed roller and an ejection roller, which are arranged to have the inkjet head interposed therebetween along the conveying direction; a position detecting unit configured to detect a position of the recording medium along the conveying direction; a wave shape generating mechanism configured to deform the recording medium into a predetermined wave shape that has tops of portions protruding toward the ink discharging surface and bottoms of portions recessed toward a side opposite from the ink discharging surface, the tops and the bottoms being alternately arranged along the head-moving direction, the wave shape generating mechanism comprising a first wave shape generating unit, which is disposed on an upstream side with respect to the inkjet head along the conveying direction, and a second wave shape generating unit, which is disposed on a downstream side with respect to the inkjet head along the conveying direction; a gap information storing device configured to store predetermined reference gap information related to a gap between the ink discharging surface and the recording medium at a predetermined reference position along the conveying direction, the predetermined reference gap information being acquired from a predetermined range in the recording medium; and a correcting device configured to correct the predetermined reference gap information stored in the gap information storing device according to a condition of the recording medium, which is determined depending on a position of the recording medium along the conveying direction detected by the position detecting unit, wherein the condition of the recording medium includes a first condition, in which the recording medium is deformed into the wave shape by the first wave shape generating unit, a second condition, in which the recording medium is deformed into the wave shape by the first wave shape generating unit and the second wave shape generating unit, and a third condition, in which the recording medium is deformed into the wave shape by the second wave shape generating unit, wherein the predetermined reference gap information corresponds to a gap between the ink discharging surface and the recording medium in one of the first, second, and third conditions, wherein the predetermined reference gap information is maintained without correction when the condition of the recording medium is determined to be the one of the first, second, and third conditions corresponding to the predetermined reference gap information, and wherein the predetermined reference gap information is corrected when the condition of the recording medium is determined to be one of the other two of the first, second, and third conditions than the one of the first, second, and third conditions corresponding to the predetermined reference gap information.