Patent ID: 8277012

Claim:
A recording apparatus comprising: a conveyance mechanism which conveys a recording medium in a conveyance direction; a liquid ejection head including a plurality of ejection ports that eject droplets to the recording medium conveyed by the conveyance mechanism; a drive data storage which stores drive data for allocating, to the plurality of ejection ports, amounts of liquids to be ejected for producing an image on the recording medium every recording cycle which is a time required to convey by the conveyance mechanism the recording medium by a unit distance commensurate with a print resolution of the recording medium in the conveyance direction; a record count storage which stores a record count that is number of recording mediums on which images are to be produced by the liquid ejection head; a conveyance controller which controls the conveyance mechanism in such a way that recording mediums equal in number to the record count stored in the record count storage are continually conveyed; and a head controller which controls ejection of liquid from the liquid ejection head in accordance with the drive data stored in the drive data storage in such a way that one or a plurality of image dots, which makes up the image, are formed on the recording mediums conveyed by the conveyance mechanism, and which controls ejection of liquid from the liquid ejection head in such a way that a flushing dot which does not make up the image is formed on at least one position in an area of each of the recording mediums and each of the plurality of ejection ports produces at least one image dot or flushing dot before recording of a predetermined number or less of recording mediums is completed, wherein the predetermined number is equal to or smaller than a maximum number of recording mediums that are conveyed by the conveyance mechanism within a period of time during which speed of droplets ejected from the ejection ports reduces from a standard speed to a predetermined percentage of the standard speed as a result of degradation of liquid in the ejection ports.