Patent Publication Number: US-7909323-B2

Title: Skew correction device and recording apparatus with rotating member included in a guide member

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present invention relates to a skew correction device and a recording apparatus which is provided with the skew correction device. 
     2. Related Art 
     In the past, ink jet printers (hereinafter, referred to as “printer”) have been widely known as recording apparatuses which attach a recording material (ink) to sheets. The printer ejects ink, which is supplied to recording heads, from nozzles formed in the recording heads to a sheet such as a recording paper, so as to perform printing (recording). 
     In such a printer, when the sheet is transported in an inclined state, there is some concern that wrinkles or folds may occur and the printing may be performed on the inclined sheet, so that the printing quality is degraded. Here, for example, as described in JP-A-8-295439, there is disclosed a printer which is provided with a mechanism for correcting inclination (skew) of the sheet which is supplied in an inclined state with respect to a transport passage. 
     That is, in the printer as described in JP-A-8-295439, the sheet is delivered from an upstream side to a downstream side in the transport direction of the sheet in accordance with the rotation of a transport roller, and the tip end, which is a downstream end of the sheet, comes into contact with a resist roller which stops rotating, so that the vicinity of the tip end of the sheet is bent. For this reason, the sheet rotates in order to remove the inclination with respect to the transport passage so as to correct skew thereof. Thereafter, the sheet is transported to a printing unit which performs the printing in accordance with the rotational driving of a resist roller with which the tip end comes into contact. 
     In the printer as described in JP-A-8-295439, ribs are formed in a guide unit which guides the delivered sheet, so that a contact area between the guide unit and the sheet is decreased. That is, frictional resistance between the sheet and the guide unit is reduced, so that the rotation of the sheet is smoothly carried out. 
     However, for example, when a sheet with high rigidity is supplied, the bent sheet strongly comes into contact with the guide unit. For this reason, the frictional resistance between the sheet and the guide unit becomes larger, and thus there is some concern that the sheet may not sufficiently rotate so that the inclination of the sheet is not corrected. 
     SUMMARY 
     An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to provide a skew correction device and a recording apparatus, in which a sheet sufficiently rotates at the time of correcting a skew, so that the skew of the sheet can be corrected regardless of the type of the sheet. 
     According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a skew correction device which performs positional correction of a sheet while a tip end of the sheet transported in accordance with rotation of a transport roller comes into contact with a gate member so as to deform the sheet to be bent, and includes: a first guide member which supports the sheet transported by the transport roller from a lower side thereof in a vertical direction and guides the sheet to the gate member; and a second guide member which is provided on an upper position from the first guide member in a vertical direction and guides the sheet to the gate member. Here, the second guide member includes at least one rotating member which faces a transport passage of the sheet interposed between the first guide member and the second guide member and is rotatably provided at least in the center of the second guide member in a width direction intersecting a transport direction of the sheet. In addition, the rotating member is provided to protrude more into the transport passage in a case where the rotating member is provided in the center in the width direction than a case where the rotating member is provided on an end side in the width direction. 
     In general, the sheet, which is transported by the transport roller to the downstream side in the transport direction, comes into contact with the gate member, so that the sheet is deformed to be bent. Then, torque occurs in the bent sheet so as to urge the sheet to be restored to the original shape. Further, a rotating operation of the sheet in accordance with the torque is changed depending on the kind of sheet. For example, when the sheet is thick and has high rigidity, it is unlikely to be deformed compared with a sheet with low rigidity. For this reason, when the sheet with high rigidity is deformed so as to come into contact with the second guide member, force applied on the second guide member is larger than force generated by deformation of the sheet with low rigidity. As the frictional resistance between the sheet and the second guide member increases, the rotation of the sheet is hindered. 
     According to such a configuration, since the sheet comes into contact with the rotating member, the frictional resistance is smaller than that in a case where the sheet comes into contact with the second guide member. Therefore, it is possible to reduce deviation in the rotation of a different kind of sheet, and the sheet can sufficiently rotate at the time of correcting a skew regardless of the kind of sheet. Furthermore, since the rotating member is provided in the center in the width direction intersecting the transport direction of the sheet so as to protrude into the transport passage, the sheet can be subjected to skew correction through which the rotation direction of the sheet is changed so as to move in relation to the rotating member according to the direction of the inclination (skew) of the sheet with respect to the transport direction. 
     In the skew correction device according to the invention, the rotating member includes a spherical member which comes into contact with the sheet and a support member which rotatably supports the spherical member. 
     According to such a configuration, since the sheet comes into point contact with the spherical member, the contact area becomes smaller than in the case where the sheet comes into contact with a cylindrical roller, for example. That is, the contact resistance of the sheet becomes smaller, so that the sheet can easily rotate. Furthermore, since the spherical member also freely rotates, it is possible to easily change the contact point between the sheet and the spherical member. For this reason, even when the sheet is highly skewed with respect to the transport passage, the sheet smoothly moves on the surfaces of the spherical member in the rotation direction at the time of correcting the skew. Therefore, for example, even though a large amount of inclination occurs in a direction different from the rotation direction of the cylindrical roller so that the inclination is not corrected completely in the cylindrical roller, the inclination can be corrected regardless of the direction. 
     In the skew correction device according to the invention, a moving unit is further included, which moves the second guide member so as to be close to and away from the first guide member. 
     According to such a configuration, since the moving unit moves to be close to or away from the second guide member with respect to the first guide member, the sectional area of the transport passage which is formed by the first guide member and the second guide member is changed. That is, the second guide member can make the frictional resistance with the sheet, in the state where an contact angle of the sheet is suppressed not to be changed, become small by moving in a direction separating from the first guide member. For this reason, for example, when the sheet with high rigidity is used, the moving unit makes the second guide member move to a direction separating from the first guide member, so that the sheet can easily rotate. Furthermore, since the manner of guiding the sheet to the gate member is maintained so as to suppress the change in angle at which the sheet comes into contact with the gate member, it is possible to suppress deviation in accuracy of the skew correction in accordance with the change in angle at which the sheet comes into contact. 
     In the skew correction device according to the invention, an urging member is further included, which urges the rotating member in a direction facing the transport passage. 
     According to such a configuration, when a force other than the urging force of the urging member is exerted from the sheet, the rotating member is shifted against the urging force of the urging member. Therefore, for example, when the sheet with high rigidity strongly comes into contact with the rotating member, the rotating member is shifted in a direction retreating from the transport passage. For this reason, it is possible to change a contact position between the sheet and the second guide member in a direction separating from the first guide member. That is, the sheet is smoothly bent with a simple configuration, so that force of the sheet exerted on the rotating member is reduced and also reduce the frictional force. 
     According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a recording apparatus which includes the skew correction device as described above; and a recording unit for performing a recording process on the sheet which is subjected to the positional correction. 
     According to such a configuration, since the recording is performed on the sheet of which the inclination is corrected with respect to the transport direction by the skew correction device, deviation in recording on the sheet is suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to improve the recording quality. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numbers reference like elements. 
         FIG. 1  is a front view schematically illustrating a recording apparatus according to an embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating skew correction. 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a skew correcting apparatus. 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a skew correcting apparatus. 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view taken along a line V-V as shown in  FIG. 3 . 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
     Hereinafter, the invention will be described through embodiments in which a printer is specified as a kind of a recording apparatus with reference to  FIGS. 1 to 5 . Further, in the following descriptions, when “longitudinal direction”, “horizontal direction”, and “vertical direction” are referred, it is assumed that these directions are indicated with reference to directions of arrows illustrated in each drawing. 
     A printer  11  as shown in  FIG. 1  is a large-scale ink jet printer which can perform printing on a size of A1 or B1. The printer  11  is provided with a main frame  12 , and a set unit  13 , which can set the sheet P such as a recording paper, in a back surface side of the main frame  12 . 
     In addition, the main frame  12  accommodates a feeding roller  14  for delivering the sheets P which are set on the set unit  13 , a skew correction device  15  for performing positional correction of the delivered sheets P, and a printing device  16  to implement recording by performing a print process on the sheets P which are subjected to the positional correction. Furthermore, in a front surface side of the main frame  12 , a discharge unit  17  is provided to guide the sheets P which are subjected to the print process and discharged from the main frame  12 . 
     The printing device  16  extends in a horizontal direction (a direction perpendicular to the paper in  FIG. 1 ). The printing device  16  is provided with a rod-shaped guide shaft  18  of which both the right and left ends are supported by the main frame  12 , a carriage  19  which is supported by the guide shaft  18  so as to be reciprocally moved in the horizontal direction, and a recording head  20  which is provided on a lower surface side of the carriage  19 . Then, the carriage  19  can be moved in the horizontal direction, which is a scanning direction, in accordance with the driving of a carriage motor (not shown). 
     In the main frame  12 , an ink cartridge (not shown) containing ink is mounted so as to be attached thereto or detached therefrom, and the mounted ink cartridge is connected to an upstream end of an ink supply passage (not shown). On the carriage  19 , a valve unit  21  is mounted such that a downstream end of the ink supply passage is connected thereto. Then, the ink contained in the ink cartridge is pressured and fed to the valve unit  21  through the ink supply passage by a pressing pump (not shown), so that the ink is supplied from the valve unit  21  to the recording head  20 . In addition, on the lower surface side of the recording head  20 , nozzle openings (not shown) are provided so as to eject the ink. 
     On the lower side of the carriage  19 , there are provided a sending roller pair  22  disposed in a rear position of the recording head  20 , a platen  23  which is a support base of the sheet P disposed in a lower position of the recording head  20  and in a forward position of the sending roller pair  22 , and a sending roller pair  24  disposed in a forward position of the platen  23 . Then, a sending process of transporting the sheet P by a predetermined distance toward the forward side which is the downstream side in the transport direction by the sending roller pairs  22  and  24 , and a print process of ejecting ink from the nozzle openings of the recording head  20  which is moved in the scanning direction (horizontal direction) together with the carriage  19  are alternatively carried out, so that the recording process is carried out on the sheet P. 
     In addition, the skew correction device  15  is provided in the middle of the transport passage  25  through which the sheet P is transported toward the printing device  16 . Specifically, in order to transport the sheet P, which is delivered by the feeding roller  14 , toward the forward side which is the downstream side in the transport direction, there are provided on the transport passage  25  with a metal transport roller  27  which rotates in accordance with rotational driving of a driving shaft  26  and a resist roller  29  as a gate member which is disposed in the downstream side (forward side) in the transport direction from the transport roller  27  and is driven in accordance with rotational driving of a driving shaft  28 . Therefore, on the lower side of the transport roller  27 , a driven roller  31  made of hard rubber, which rotates about a rotary shaft  30  in accordance with the transport roller  27 , is provided so as to make a pair with the transport roller  27 . In addition, on the lower side of the resist roller  29 , a driven roller  33 , which rotates about a rotary shaft  32  in accordance with rotation of the resist roller  29 , is provided so as to make a pair with the resist roller  29 . 
     In the skew correction device  15 , by making the transport roller  27  rotate in a counterclockwise direction in  FIG. 1  in a state where the resist roller  29  has stopped rotating, the sheet P is transported toward the forward side so as to come into contact with the resist roller  29 . Then, from this state, the transport roller  27  further rotates by a predetermined distance, so that skew correction is carried out on the sheet P. 
     Here, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the skew correction means that positional correction is carried out on the sheet P such that the tip end S extending in a horizontal direction of the rectangular sheet P in plan view is to be an aligned state (the state illustrated in a solid line as shown in  FIG. 2 ) perpendicular to the transport direction (longitudinal direction). That is, in order to properly carry out the recording process, it is necessary for the sheet P to be in the aligned state so as to be supplied to the printing device  16 . However, since the tip end S of the sheet P is in a skewed state (the state illustrated in a double-dotted line as shown in  FIG. 2 ) not perpendicular to the transport direction when the sheet is delivered or transported, the positional correction of the sheet P is carried out by the skew correction device  15 . 
     Specifically, for example, when the sheet P is transported in the skewed state where the right end side of the sheet P is preceding, the right end side of the tip end S of the sheet P first comes into contact with the resist roller  29 . Then, when the transport roller  27  is further driven to rotate from this state, the sheet P is slowly bent upward and rotates around the right end side which comes into contact with the resist roller  29 , and the left end side of the tip end comes into contact with the resist roller  29 , so that the positional correction is carried out. After such a positional correction is carried out, the resist roller  29  rotates in the counterclockwise direction in  FIG. 1 , so that the aligned sheet P is transported to the printing device  16 . 
     Next, the configuration of the skew correction device  15  will be described. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , on the transport passage  25 , a transport passage forming member  34  which is disposed in the vicinity of the transport roller  27 , a transport passage forming member  35  which is disposed in the vicinity of the driven roller  31 , a transport passage forming member  36  as a second guide member which is disposed in the vicinity of the resist roller  29 , and a transport passage forming member  37  as a first guide member which is disposed in the vicinity of the driven roller  33 . Then, the sheet P is transported from the upstream side (back side) to the downstream side (front side) of the transport passage  25 , while the surface (upper surface) subjected to the print process is guided so as to face the transport passage forming members  34  and  36  and the rear surface (lower surface) is guided so as to face the transport passage forming members  35  and  37 . 
     Between the transport passage forming members  35  and  37 , there is disposed a lower guide member  38  which raises the tip end of the transported sheet P upward so as to cause bending deformation to start. In addition, the transport passage forming member  34  is formed such that the front end side thereof is bent in two stages upward, and is configured with an upper guide member  40  which pushes the sheet P downward which is guided to the lower guide member  38  and downward which is guided. Further, the transport passage forming member  36  is formed such that the back end side thereof is bent upward, and is configured with a guide plate  41  as the second guide member which guides the tip end S of the sheet P to the resist roller  29 . That is, in the skew correction device  15 , the sheet P is induced by the lower guide member  38  and the bending deformation of the sheet P is controlled by the upper guide member  40  and the guide plate  41 , so that the positional correction is carried out with high accuracy. 
     Next, the transport passage forming member  36  will be described. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the transport passage forming member  36  is provided so as to be allowed to move in the vertical direction between a lower position and an upper position illustrated in a solid line as shown in  FIG. 3  by a moving device  42  as a moving unit which is configured with racks and pinions. 
     Further, in this embodiment, the moving device  42  is driven according to the type of the sheet P. That is, when the sheet P with high rigidity is used, the transport passage forming member  36  and the guide plate  41  is positioned on the upper position so as to increase a sectional area of the transport passage  25 . Therefore, the sheet P is smoothly deformed. 
     In addition, as shown in  FIGS. 3 to 5 , at least one (three pieces in this embodiment) of the small spherical rollers  43 ,  44 , and  45  as a rotating member is provided along an axial direction (horizontal direction) intersecting the transport direction such that spherical bodies  43   a ,  44   a , and  45   a  as a spherical member protrudes to the lower side from a lower surface  41   a  of the guide plate  41  in the rear end side of the guide plate  41 . That is, the spherical bodies  43   a ,  44   a , and  45   a  of the respective small rollers  43 ,  44 , and  45  are provided such that the spherical surfaces thereof face the transport passage  25 . Then, the small spherical rollers  43 ,  44 , and  45  are provided such that the small spherical roller  44  provided on the center in the width direction intersecting the transport direction is positioned lower than the small spherical rollers  43  and  45  provided on both right and left ends. 
     These small spherical rollers  43 ,  44 , and  45  includes housings  43   b ,  44   b , and  45   b  as a support member in a bottomed cylindrical shape in which the lower end is tapered down so that each diameter of the lower end openings is becomes smaller than that of the spherical bodies  43   a ,  44   a , and  45   a . Then, the housings  43   b ,  44   b , and  45   b  accommodate the spherical bodies  43   a ,  44   a , and  45   a , guide members  43   c ,  44   c , and  45   c  as a support member having spherical surfaces with which the respective spherical bodies  43   a ,  44   a , and  45   a  come into slidable contact, and springs  43   d ,  44   d , and  45   d  as an urging member in order from down to top. That is, the respective spherical bodies  43   a ,  44   a , and  45   a  are supported by the guide members  43   c ,  44   c , and  45   c  while being urged downward by the springs  43   d ,  34   d , and  45   d  in the housings  43   b ,  44   b , and  45   b , so that the rotation direction thereof is freely changed. 
     Therefore, as shown in  FIG. 3 , when the sheet P transported in accordance with the driving of the transport roller  27  is deformed in the vertical direction by the lower guide member  38  and comes into contact with the small spherical rollers  43 ,  44 , and  45 , the sheet P is transported forward while the contact point between the sheet P and the small spherical rollers  43 ,  44 , and  45  is freely changed. For this reason, it is possible to reduce the frictional force which acts on the sheet P in a direction against transportation of the sheet P. 
     In addition, as shown in  FIG. 4 , when the tip end of the sheet P comes into contact with the resist roller  29  so as to deform the sheet P, force is exerted on the spherical bodies  43   a ,  44   a , and  45   a  according to the rigidity of the sheet P. At this time, the spherical bodies  43   a ,  44   a , and  45   a  move in the housing  43   b ,  44   b , and  45   b  in the vertical direction on the basis of relationship between the forced exerted and the urging force of the springs  43   d ,  44   d , and  45   d . That is, when the rigidity of the sheet P is high and strong force is added to the spherical bodies  43   a ,  44   a , and  45   a , the spherical bodies  43   a ,  44   a , and  45   a  move upward so as to allow the sheet P to be bent. 
     Further, also in this case, since the guide members  43   c ,  44   c , and  45   c  move together with the spherical bodies  43   a ,  44   a , and  45   a , the spherical bodies  43   a ,  44   a , and  45   a  rotate so as to freely change its contact point with the sheet P. Therefore, the sheet P rotates in a state where the force applying in a direction (horizontal direction) against the positional correction is reduced. 
     According to the above-mentioned embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. 
     (1) Since the sheet P, which is transported to the downstream side in the transport direction by the transport roller  27 , comes into contact with the small spherical rollers  43 ,  44 , and  45 , the friction resistance thereof becomes smaller than that in the case where the sheet comes into contact with the guide plate  41 . Therefore, it is possible to reduce deviation in the rotation of a different kind of sheet P, and the sheet P can sufficiently rotate at the time of correcting a skew regardless of the kind of sheet P. Furthermore, since the small spherical rollers  43 ,  44 , and  45  are provided in the center in the width direction intersecting the transport direction of the sheet P such that the surfaces of the spherical bodies  43   a ,  44   a  and  45   a  protrude into the transport passage, the sheet P can be subjected to the skew correction through which the rotation direction of the sheet P is changed so as to move relatively to the small spherical rollers  43 ,  44 , and  45  according to a direction of the inclination (skew) of the sheet P with respect to the transport direction. 
     (2) Since the sheet P comes into point contact with the spherical bodies  43   a ,  44   a , and  45   a , the contact area becomes smaller than in the case where the sheet P comes into contact with a cylindrical roller, for example. That is, the contact resistance of the sheet P becomes smaller, so that the sheet P can easily rotate. Furthermore, since the spherical bodies  43   a ,  44   a , and  45   a  also freely rotate, it is possible to easily change the contact point between the sheet P and the spherical bodies  43   a ,  44   a , and  45   a . For this reason, even when the sheet P is greatly skewed with respect to the transport passage  25 , the sheet P smoothly moves on the surfaces of the spherical bodies  43   a ,  44   a , and  45   a  in the rotation direction at the time of correcting the skew. Therefore, for example, even though a large amount of inclination occurs in a direction different from the rotation direction of a cylindrical roller so that the inclination is not corrected completely in the cylindrical roller, the inclination can be corrected regardless of the direction. 
     (3) Since the moving device  42  moves to be close to or away from the transport passage forming member  36  and the guide plate  41  with respect to the transport passage forming member  37 , the sectional area of the transport passage  25  which is formed by the transport passage forming members  36  and  37  and the guide plate  41  is changed. That is, the transport passage forming member  36  and the guide plate  41  can make the frictional resistance with the sheet P, in the state where an contact angle of the sheet P is suppressed not to be changed, become small by moving in a direction separating from the transport passage forming member  37 . For this reason, for example, when the sheet P with high rigidity is used, the moving device  42  makes the transport passage forming member  36  and the guide plate  41  move to a direction separating from the transport passage forming member  37 , so that the sheet P can easily rotate. Furthermore, since the manner of guiding the sheet P to the resist roller  29  is maintained so as to suppress the change in angle at which the sheet P comes into contact with the resist roller  29 , it is possible to suppress deviation in accuracy of the skew correction in accordance with the change in angle at which the sheet P comes into contact. 
     (4) When a force greater than the urging force of the springs  43   d ,  44   d , and  45   d  is exerted from the sheet P, the small spherical rollers  43 ,  44 , and  45  are shifted against the urging force of the sprints  43   d ,  44   d , and  45   d . Therefore, for example, when the sheet P with high rigidity strongly comes into contact with the small spherical rollers  43 ,  44 , and  45 , the small spherical rollers  43 ,  44 , and  45  are shifted in a direction retreating from the transport passage  25 . For this reason, it is possible to change a contact position between the sheet P and the guide plate  41  in a direction separating from the transport passage forming member  37 . That is, the sheet P is smoothly bent with a simple configuration, so that force of the sheet P exerted on the small spherical rollers  43 ,  44 , and  45  is reduced and the frictional force can be reduced. 
     (5) Since the recording is performed on the sheet P of which the inclination is corrected with respect to the transport direction by the skew correction device  15 , deviation in the recording on the sheet P is suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to improve recording quality. 
     Further, the above-mentioned embodiment may be changed as described below. 
     In the above-mentioned embodiment, three small spherical rollers  43 ,  44 , and  45  are provided, but the configuration may be changed such that only the small spherical roller  44  disposed in the center is provided. In addition, plural small spherical rollers may be provided in the center. In this case, as being disposed closer to the center, the small spherical rollers are preferably disposed downward. Then, the number of the small spherical rollers and the positions thereof can be arbitrarily set in the guide plate  41 . 
     In the above-mentioned embodiment, the springs  43   d ,  44   d , and  45   d  may be provided between the main frame  12  and the housings  43   b ,  44   b , and  45   b , so that the spherical bodies  43   a ,  44   a , and  45   a  which are rotatably supported by the housings  43   b ,  44   b , and  45   b  and the guide member  43   c ,  44   c , and  45   c  may be respectively shifted with respect to the housings  43   b ,  44   b , and  45   b  and the guide member  43   c ,  44   c , and  45   c.    
     In the above-mentioned embodiment, the small spherical rollers  43 ,  44 , and  45  may have not the springs  43   d ,  44   d , and  45   d  and rotatably support the spherical bodies  43   a ,  44   a , and  45   a  by the housings  43   b ,  44   b , and  45   b.    
     In the above-mentioned embodiment, the moving device  42  is not provided and the transport passage forming member  36  and the guide plate  41  may be fixedly disposed. In addition, the guide plate  41  may be provided as a separate configuration from the transport passage forming member  36 , and the moving device  42  may move only the guide plate  41  in the vertical direction. 
     In the above-mentioned embodiment, the rotating members are configured as the small spherical rollers  43 ,  44 , and  45  which can freely change the rotation direction thereof. However, for example, there may be employed a small roller of which a shaft is inserted through the center of the spherical bodies  43   a ,  44   a , and  45   a  so as to rotate about the shaft as the center. Further, there may be employed a cylindrical rotating body which freely rotates about a shaft. In addition, these configurations may be employed together. 
     In the above-mentioned embodiment, the gate member is not limited to the resist roller  29 , but may be realized as a plate-like member which can move in the vertical direction. 
     In the above-mentioned embodiment, the recording apparatus is specified as the large-scaled ink jet printer  11 , but the invention is not limited thereto. For example, the skew correction device may be provided at a small-scaled recording apparatus which performs printing of an A4 size, a printer operated by a different manner such as an electrophotographic method, a FAX machine, a copying machine, or a multifunction machine or the like which is provided with these plural functions. Further, there may be employed a liquid ejecting apparatus which ejects or discharges a liquid other than ink. The skew correction device may be employed in various liquid ejecting apparatuses each providing with a liquid ejecting head for discharging a minute amount of liquid droplets. Further, the liquid droplet means a state of the liquid which is discharged from the liquid ejecting apparatus, which includes a liquid droplet having a tail drawn in a granular shape, a tear shape, or a thread shape. In addition, the liquid droplet as described above is not particularly limited as long as it is a material which can be ejected by the liquid ejecting apparatus. For example, any material may be employed as long as the material is in a liquid form, and include a liquid with a high or low viscosity property, sol, gel water, and materials that flow such as inorganic solvents, organic solvents, solutions, liquid resin, liquid metal (metal melt). In addition to a liquid as one state of matter, there may include materials in which particles of a functional material consisting of solid matter such as pigments or metal particles are dissolved, dispersed, or mixed with a solvent. In addition, as a representative example of a liquid, ink as described in the above-mentioned embodiment or liquid crystal is exemplified. Here, it is assumed that the ink includes water-based ink, oil-based ink, and various liquid compositions such as gel ink, and hot melt ink or the like. As a specific example of the liquid ejecting apparatus, for example, a liquid ejecting apparatus which ejects a liquid in which a material such as an electrode material or a coloring material used for manufacturing color filters, a liquid crystal display, an electroluminescence (EL) display, and a surface emitting display, is dispersed or dissolved, a liquid ejecting apparatus which ejects a biological organic material used for manufacturing bio chips, a liquid ejecting apparatus which ejects a liquid as a sample used as a precise pipette, a textile printing apparatus, a micro dispenser, or the like may be employed. Furthermore, a liquid ejecting apparatus which ejects a lubricant onto a precision machine such as a clock or a camera using a pin point, a liquid ejecting apparatus which ejects transparent resin such as ultraviolet cure resin onto a substrate in order to form lenses (optical lenses) with a minute radius used in optical communication elements, and a liquid ejecting apparatus which ejects an etching liquid such as an acid liquid or an alkali liquid in order to etch substrates may be also employed. The invention can be applied to any one of these liquid ejecting apparatuses.