An image recording apparatus for recording an image on a sheet includes a recording section which records the image on the sheet in a transport passage for transporting the sheet in a transport direction and multiple plates which are spaced apart from each other in a widthwise direction. These multiple plates include a first type of plate and a second type of plate. Plates of a first type of plate are configured to overlap a sheet when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction and the widthwise direction, while plates of the second type of plate do not.

The overlapping regions L are formed by overlapping the outer cylinder vent holes and the inner cylinder vent holes. If the suction port of the inner cylinder receives a suction force from the blower, air is sucked toward the suction port from the suction chamber facing the overlapping region L of the inner cylinder vent hole and the outer cylinder vent hole, out of the plurality of suction chambers, via the overlapping region L. The outer cylinder and the inner cylinder are so configured that the overlapping region L becomes narrower in the rotation direction Dr from the center toward the both ends in the axial direction Da.

A sheet suction device includes a sheet bearer having a plurality of suction holes, a suction unit, a first member, and a second member. The first member has grooves arranged in a radial direction, and each of the grooves extends in a circumferential direction. The second member has a plurality of hole rows including a plurality of holes. The plurality of holes in each of the plurality of hole rows is arranged in the circumferential direction, and the plurality of hole rows is arranged in the radial direction. When the first member rotates with respect to the second member, the number of holes communicating with the grooves is changed to change the number of the plurality of suction holes communicating with the suction unit. The plurality of holes includes two or more holes that simultaneously communicate with the suction unit when the first member rotates by a unit rotation amount.

Provided are an image forming apparatus for outputting a plurality of images having different sizes according to a method pre-set by a user without interrupting a current printing operation when the plurality of images having different sizes are obtained and a method of operating the image forming apparatus.

In a printing apparatus, the thermal head includes a plurality of heater elements arranged in line. A sheet which is conveyed in a conveyance direction is nipped between a platen member and the thermal head. The urging member urges at least one of the thermal head and the platen member to approach each other to generate pressure to the sheet nipped between the thermal head and the platen member. The pressure varies in accordance with a position in a width direction crossing the conveyance direction. The processor sets energy to be supplied to the plurality of heater elements so that the lower pressure a portion of the sheet in the width direction receives, the higher energy is to be supplied to a heater element corresponding to a position of the portion in the width direction. The processor controls the set energy to be supplied to the plurality of heating elements.

An image forming apparatus may include a mechanism for forming a corrugated shape in a sheet to be conveyed. The mechanism may include various components include one or more pressing portions, one or more ribs, one or more discharge rollers, a switching mechanism and the like. In one arrangement, ribs and pressing portions configured to create the corrugated shape may be disposed at various locations upstream or downstream of the platen, recording portion and/or nozzles thereof. In one example, pressing portions may be disposed both upstream and downstream of the nozzles of the recording portion to maintain a corrugated shape in the conveyed sheet. Various other configurations may be used.

An image forming system includes a transport section that includes a support surface supporting a sheet-like medium and transports the medium while supporting the medium on the support surface, a first pressure generating section that generates pressure used to suck the medium supported on the support surface, and an image forming section that forms an image on the medium transported by the transport section. First suction holes that communicate with the first pressure generating section, first protrusions, and sealed portions that are disposed at positions where end portions of the medium in the medium width direction are supported and restrict inflow of air to regions, in which the first suction holes are arranged, from the outside of the end portions of the medium in the medium width direction are arranged on the support surface in a medium support region where the medium can be supported.

Each of a first image processing unit and a second image processing unit is configured to generate print data to be used by a printing unit based on image data generated by a controller. The controller comprises a transmission control unit configured to select, based on a sheet size which is a print setting corresponding to a print job as a condition, one of first transmission control of controlling a transmission unit to alternately transmit band data included in first image data and band data included in second image data and second transmission control of controlling the transmission unit so that the band data included in the second image data will be transmitted after the band data included in the first image data has been transmitted.

A conveying device includes a blower and a conveyor. The blower blows air to a sheet material. The conveyor conveys the sheet material through a blowing region of the blower. The conveyor includes a surface movable member and a presser. The surface movable member conveys the sheet material with movement of a surface of the surface movable member, with a back side of the sheet material supported with the surface movable member. The presser presses at least a portion of a leading end of the sheet material toward the surface movable member in at least an area from a position upstream from the blowing region in a conveyance direction of the sheet material to a position in the blowing region of the blower.

A method for a printer including a transport device including an endless transport belt, supported on a pair of support rollers which between them define a medium support plane, over which medium support plane a print station is provided. The method includes transporting in parallel a plurality of individual print media perpendicular to a scanning direction of the print station on the medium support plane, the print media having different dimensions, determining positions of the individual print media and based on the determined positions, jetting marking material for forming a designated image specific for each print medium on each respective print medium. The above steps are repeated such that print media are printed in a plurality of parallel lanes on the medium support plane perpendicular to the scanning direction. The method further includes enabling or disabling each individual lane of the plurality of parallel lanes in order to respectively facilitate or block jetting of the marking material at the individual lane.