A fixer includes a fixing roller around which a recording medium is directed such that the print image to be fixed faces toward the shell surface of the fixing roller. A fixing gap is generated with a gaseous fixing medium between the shell surface of the fixing roller and the recording medium. This advantageously produces an efficient and gentle fixing of the print image.

A printer includes a print zone, a curing zone, first and second fans, a heat exchanger, a heat valve, and a fan controlling unit. The print zone includes a print head to lay down ink on a media. The curing zone treats the media. The first fan generates a primary flow through the curing zone to treat the media. The heat exchanger is downstream the curing zone on the primary flow to condensate vapors contained in the primary flow. The second fan generate as secondary flow through the heat exchanger to cool the primary flow. The secondary flow is able to reach the print zone. The heat valve releases the secondary flow into the environment, downstream the heat exchanger. The fan controlling unit controls the second fan taking into account an ink density of the ink laid down on the media and/or an aperture level of the heat valve.

An image forming apparatus includes a housing, a sheet conveyor, a sheet stacker, and circuitry. The sheet conveyor is configured to convey a sheet on which liquid is applied. The sheet stacker is configured to stack the sheet conveyed by the sheet conveyor. The circuitry is configured to control conveyance of the sheet. The circuitry is configured to cause the sheet conveyor to expose the sheet on which the liquid is applied, to an outside of the housing, and convey the sheet to the sheet stacker.

A recording apparatus includes a supply portion for supplying an airflow, a blowing port that is formed in a slit-like form following a width direction orthogonal to a conveying direction of a discharged medium, for blowing out the airflow supplied from the supply portion, the blowing port being formed with a channel, through which the airflow flows, extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to a conveyance region of the discharged medium, from an inlet side at which the airflow is introduced, to an outlet side, and a supporting member provided on the inlet side of the blowing port to support opposing wall faces of the blowing port, while allowing passage of the airflow. The blowing port has a narrow portion that partially narrows a width of the channel, father on the outlet side than the supporting member of the wall faces forming the channel.

A recording system includes a recording device including a recording unit configured to perform recording, and a drying device including a drying mechanism. The recording device includes a support surface configured to support the recording medium and provided downstream of the recording unit in the conveyance direction, the device is configured to be mounted on the recording device at a position where the support surface and the drying mechanism face each other, one of the recording device and the drying device includes a setting member configured to set a spacing between the support surface and the drying mechanism to a predetermined spacing when the drying device is mounted on the recording device, the drying mechanism functions when the spacing is set to the predetermined spacing by the setting member, and a function of the drying mechanism stops when the setting by the setting member is released.

A recording device includes: a recording unit configured to perform recording by liquid to a recording medium; a support unit configured to support the recording medium subjected to printing and transported in a transport direction; a drying mechanism including a heated air blower including a heat source and a blowing unit; a number of rotations detecting unit configured to detect a number of rotations of the blowing unit; and a control unit configured to control the drying mechanism. The support unit and the heated air blower are disposed sandwiching a transport path of the recording medium at a position downstream of the recording unit in the transport direction. The control unit controls the number of rotations of the blowing unit based on an output of the number of rotations detecting unit in a state in which a constant power is applied to the heat source.

Provided are a drying device, a liquid applying system, and a printing system that suppress an increase in size in a direction facing a substrate transport surface.

A drying device that blows a heated gas to a substrate transport surface in a substrate transport path includes a blowing unit provided with a jetting port formed in a first surface facing the substrate transport surface, a heat source, and a fan motor that blows a gas to the heat source to generate the heated gas. A heated gas inflow port through which the heated gas is supplied is formed in a second surface of the blowing unit, the second surface intersecting the first surface.

Provided are a blowing unit, a drying device, a liquid applying system, and a printing system with which it is possible to realize uniformly blowing air via a plurality of jetting ports.

In a blowing unit that has a hollow structure and blows air via a plurality of jetting ports disposed at a first surface, a gas inflow port through which a gas supplied from a gas supply source flows in is formed in a second surface which intersects the first surface and at which the jetting ports are not disposed and a ratio of a sum of opening areas of the plurality of jetting ports to an opening area of the gas inflow port is equal to or larger than 0.1 and equal to or smaller than 1.0.

A heating device includes a blower configured to blow air, the blower comprising a channel member defining a channel of the air, and a heater disposed outside the channel member. The channel member has end portions and a central portion in a longitudinal direction, each of the end portions having higher heat absorption property than the central portion, and said each of end portions of the channel member faces the heater.

Provided is an inkjet printing device including an ink storage unit configured to store an ink, an ejection head configured to eject the ink to form a print layer, and a heating unit configured to heat a material to be printed, wherein the ink is an aqueous clear ink including a resin and water, the inkjet printing device has a low gloss printing mode that is a printing mode for imparting low gloss, and a high gloss printing mode that is a printing mode for imparting high gloss, and the heating unit is configured to heat to satisfy the following formula T.sub.matte>T.sub.gloss, where T.sub.matte (degrees Celsius) is a temperature of a low gloss printing region of the material to be printed where the low gloss printing region is printed with the low gloss printing mode when the aqueous clear ink is deposited on the material to be printed, and T.sub.gloss (degrees Celsius) is a temperature of a high gloss printing region of the material to be printed where the high gloss printing region is printed with the high gloss printing mode when the aqueous clear ink is deposited on the material to be printed.