Patent ID: 8371690

Claim:
An image forming apparatus, comprising: a first conveyance device which includes a first suctioning surface traveling and having a plurality of first suction holes, places a recording medium in a first prescribed position on the first suctioning surface, and conveys the recording medium in the first prescribed position on the first suctioning surface while suctioning a rear surface of the recording medium via the plurality of first suction holes; a treatment liquid deposition device which deposits a treatment liquid that aggregates or insolubilizes coloring material of an ink onto a front surface of the recording medium conveyed by the first conveyance device; a second conveyance device which is provided downstream of the first conveyance device in terms of a conveyance direction in which the recording medium is conveyed, includes a second suctioning surface traveling and having a plurality of second suction holes, places the recording medium in a second prescribed position on the second suctioning surface, and conveys the recording medium in the second prescribed position on the second suctioning surface while suctioning the rear surface of the recording medium via the plurality of second suction holes; and an image forming device which ejects droplets of the ink onto the surface of the recording medium conveyed by the second conveyance device so as to form an image, wherein the first suction holes of the first conveyance device and the second suction holes of the second conveyance device are formed in such a manner that first suction positions on the recording medium which are suctioned by the first suction holes of the first conveyance device and second suction positions on the recording medium which are suctioned by the second suction holes of the second conveyance device are mutually different, and wherein positions where the first suction holes suction the recording medium during deposition of the treatment liquid and positions where the second suction holes suction the recording medium during deposition of ink are staggered completely with respect to each other and do not overlap with each other.