Patent ID: 8491072

Claim:
An inkjet printing apparatus for carrying out printing by ejecting ink on a recording medium, the apparatus comprising: a conveyer belt with a plurality of belt holes formed therein, the conveyer belt suctioning and conveying the recording medium with a negative pressure acting on the belt holes; a platen with a plurality of through holes formed therein, the platen slidably supporting the conveyer belt; pressure reducing means for generating the negative pressure on a side of the platen opposite from a side thereof supporting the conveyer belt; at least one inkjet nozzle disposed to face the platen, the inkjet nozzle ejecting the ink on the recording medium being conveyed by the conveyer belt; distance changing means for changing a distance between the inkjet nozzle and a surface of the conveyer belt on which the recording medium is suctioned; and size adjusting means for adjusting a size of the through holes based on the distance, wherein, when the distance is large, the size adjusting means adjusts the size of at least one through hole in a through hole group such that the size of the at least one through hole is reduced, the through hole group including the through holes positioned upstream in a conveyance direction of the recording medium from and nearest to each position corresponding to the at least one inkjet nozzle in a plan view and the through holes positioned downstream in the conveyance direction from and nearest to each position corresponding to the at least one inkjet nozzle in the plan view.