Patent ID: 7562961

Claim:
A droplet discharging apparatus, comprising: a discharging head which has discharge holes for discharging liquid droplets; a conveyance device which conveys at least one of the discharging head and discharge receiving media in a direction substantially orthogonal to a width direction of the discharge receiving media to cause the discharging head and the discharge receiving media to move relative to each other; a belt which holds the discharge receiving media in a discharge region opposing a face of the discharging head whereon the discharge holes are formed, the belt having a purge region comprising an absorbing member which receives and absorbs the liquid droplets discharged from the discharging head during preliminary discharge; and a positional alignment device which aligns a position of the purge region in such a manner that the purge region is positioned between the discharge receiving media, wherein the absorbing member comprises a material that has high absorbency with respect to the liquid droplets, and the liquid droplets are discharged directly onto an upper surface of said material that has high absorbency with respect to the liquid droplets and absorbed therein.