Patent ID: 8864268

Claim:
A printing apparatus for depositing ink droplets on a surface of a medium to form an image, the printing apparatus comprising: a medium-conveying part; nozzles; a light-irradiation part; a medium-deforming part; and a controller configured to control the parts, the medium-conveying part being configured to convey the medium so that the medium supplied from an upstream side is released on a downstream side, the nozzles being configured to discharge ink droplets curable by light irradiation onto the medium, the light-irradiation part being configured to irradiate the medium with light, the medium-deforming part being arranged on the upstream side of the nozzles, and being configured to hold the medium from the front and back and deform the medium so that an irregular shape is formed in cross section, the medium-deforming part being configured from rollers for holding the medium while being orthogonal to the conveying direction of the medium, and irregularities being formed on the surface of one of the rollers, the controller being configured to perform a medium-deforming step, an image-forming step, and a light-irradiating step, in the medium-deforming step, the medium being conveyed downstream by the medium-conveying part after the medium is deformed by the medium-deforming part, in the image-forming step, the ink droplets being discharged by the nozzles to form an image on the surface of the medium, and in the light-irradiating step, the ink droplets discharged onto the medium being irradiated with light by the light-irradiation part to cure the droplets, the surface of the medium on which the ink droplets are deposited being the front surface, the roller provided with irregularities being arranged facing the rear surface of the medium, and the roller provided with an elastic surface and formed from a material lacking any irregularities being arranged facing the front surface.