Patent ID: 8651605

Claim:
An image recording apparatus comprising: an image recording portion configured to eject recording liquid onto a recording medium to record an image on the recording medium; a treatment-liquid ejecting portion configured to eject treatment liquid onto the recording medium, wherein the treatment liquid is liquid different from the recording liquid and having a property for lowering an electric resistance value of the recording medium; a conveying mechanism having a support face for supporting the recording medium and configured to convey the recording medium in a conveying direction while supporting the recording medium on the support face; an attracting mechanism including a first electrode and a second electrode which are arranged so as to be spaced from each other on a plane parallel to the support face and so as to face the recording medium supported on the support face with the support face interposed between the recording medium and the first and second electrodes, the attracting mechanism being configured to electrostatically attract the recording medium to the support face where different electric potential are applied respectively to the first electrode and the second electrode, wherein the first electrode comprises a plurality of electrodes extending in the conveying direction, and the second electrode comprises a plurality of electrodes extending in the conveying direction, and wherein the plurality of electrodes of the first electrode and the plurality of electrodes of the second electrode are alternately arranged one by one in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction on the plane parallel to the support face; and a controller configured to control the treatment-liquid ejecting portion such that the treatment liquid is ejected onto a plurality of first areas of the recording medium before the image recording portion records the image on the recording medium, wherein each of the plurality of first areas is an area extending from a leading end of the recording medium, and wherein each of the plurality of first areas is overlaid on an area interposed between a corresponding one of the plurality of electrodes of the first electrode and a corresponding one of the plurality of electrodes of the second electrode on the plane parallel to the support face, the corresponding one of the plurality of electrodes of the first electrode and the corresponding one of the plurality of electrode of the second electrode being adjacent to each other, wherein the plurality of first areas are spaced from each other in the direction perpendicular to the conveying direction, and each adjacent two of the plurality of the first areas are arranged with a space therebetween, the space being overlaid on one of the plurality of electrodes of the first electrode and the plurality of electrodes of the second electrode, and the space being an area where the treatment-liquid is not ejected.