Patent ID: 8662655

Claim:
An inkjet printer comprising: a guide rail that faces a medium support member and that is relatively movable in a moving direction with respect to a printing medium supported by the medium support member, the guide rail extending in a scanning direction substantially perpendicular to the moving direction; a head device comprising: a carriage movable in the scanning direction along the guide rail; a printer head mounted on the carriage and configured to discharge an ink toward the printing medium; and an ultraviolet radiation device mounted on the carriage and configured to output an ultraviolet radiation toward the printing medium thereby curing the ink that has adhered onto the printing medium after being discharged from the printer head, the ultraviolet radiation device comprising: a first ultraviolet radiator arranged on a first side with respect to the printer head in the scanning direction and configured to output an ultraviolet radiation toward the printing medium; and a second ultraviolet radiator arranged on a second side with respect to the printer head in the scanning direction and configured to output an ultraviolet radiation toward the printing medium, the second side being opposite to the first side with respect to the printer head in the scanning direction; and an intensity controller configured to independently control intensities of ultraviolet radiations output from the first ultraviolet radiator and the second ultraviolet radiator, the intensity controller being configured to independently control, depending on a direction of movement of the carriage, the first ultraviolet radiator and the second ultraviolet radiator to output ultraviolet radiations having intensities different from each other while the carriage moves in the scanning direction, wherein the intensity controller is configured to control the intensities such that a first ratio of an intensity of an ultraviolet radiation output from the first ultraviolet radiator to an intensity of an ultraviolet radiation output from the second ultraviolet radiator when the carriage moves to the first side is substantially equal to a second ratio of an intensity of an ultraviolet radiation output from the second ultraviolet radiator to an intensity of an ultraviolet radiation output from the first ultraviolet radiator when the carriage moves to the second side, and wherein the ultraviolet irradiation output from the first ultraviolet radiator and the ultraviolet irradiation output from the second ultraviolet radiator are both greater than zero when the carriage moves to the first side and when the carriage moves to the second side.