Patent ID: 7165826

Claim:
An image forming apparatus for forming an image by discharging droplets to a recording medium from droplet discharge ports of a plurality of droplet discharge units, said image forming apparatus comprising: a discharge recovery processing unit for performing recovery processing of droplets discharged from the discharge port; a recording medium moving mechanism which moves the recording medium between a first position facing the droplet discharge units and a second position also facing the droplet discharge units, said second position being more distant from the droplet discharge units than the first position; and a discharge recovery processing unit moving mechanism which moves the discharge recovery processing unit between a first position facing the droplet discharge units and a second position different from the first position, wherein the discharge recovery processing unit moving mechanism moves the discharge recovery processing unit from the second position to the first position after the recording medium moving mechanism moves the recording medium from the first position to the second position, such that the droplet discharge units face the discharge recovery processing unit, and wherein the discharge recovery processing unit moving mechanism comprises at least one continuous moving shaft that is positioned on a same side of a printing surface of the recording medium as the droplet discharge units during printing.