Patent ID: 7588300

Claim:
An image-forming apparatus comprising: (a) a recording head operable to eject ink droplets for forming an image on a recording medium, (b) a movable body on which the recording head is mounted, (c) a driving device operable to reciprocate the movable body in a main scanning direction, (d) a medium feeding device to feed the recording medium in a secondary scanning direction intersecting the main scanning direction, and (e) a control device operable to control said recording head, said driving device and said medium feeding device, to perform a recording operation to form the image on the recording medium, the recording operation including a non-margin recording operation in which the image is formed with said ink droplets on the recording medium, without a margin left along an edge of the recording medium, wherein said control device includes a waiting-time control portion which is operable in said recording operation, to provide a predetermined first waiting time between a moment of termination of a movement of said movable body in one of opposite directions parallel to said main scanning direction and a moment of initiation of a subsequent movement of the movable body in the other of said opposite directions, and a predetermined second waiting time between said moments of termination and initiation when said non-margin recording operation is performed during the movement of the movable body in said one of the opposite directions, said predetermined second waiting time being longer than said predetermined first waiting time, said waiting-time control portion controlling said recording head such that the ink droplets are not ejected from the recording head during said predetermined first and second waiting times, and wherein said waiting-time control portion controls said recording head, said driving device and said medium feeding device such that said non-margin recording operation is performed without a top margin left along a leading edge of the recording medium, and such that said predetermined second waiting time is provided while the non-margin recording operation is performed in a leading end portion of the recording medium which has a predetermined special control length from said leading edge in said secondary scanning direction.