Liquid Ejection Apparatus with a Transporter Surface Including at Least One Hard Porous Member

Abstract

There are provided a sucking unit having a recording medium transportation surface including a plurality of sucking holes, a decompression chamber communicating with the sucking holes and a sucking device for sucking air in the decompression chamber, and a delivering device for sucking a recording medium supplied onto the recording medium transportation surface of the sucking unit onto the recording medium transportation surface through the sucking hole by the sucking device, and delivering the recording medium from an upstream side of the sucking unit to a downstream side thereof. Each sucking hole of the sucking unit is formed by a through hole section communicating with the decompression chamber and a sucking chamber having a larger area of a sucking surface opposed to the recording medium than a sectional area of the through hole section.

1 . An apparatus operable to transport a medium in a first direction, comprising:
 a medium transportation surface adapted to support the medium thereon when the medium is transported, the medium transportation surface being formed with a through hole;   a decompression chamber communicating with the through hole;   a sucking device operable to suck air in the decomposition chamber; and   a dimple formed on the medium transportation surface, wherein:   the through hole is formed in the dimple; and   the dimple includes a first part in which depth is not constant in the first direction.   
   
   
       2 . The apparatus as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein;
 the dimple includes a second part in which depth is constant in the first direction;   the first part is located in an upstream side of the through hole relative to the first direction so that the depth increases toward the through hole; and   the second part is located in a downstream side of the through hole relative to the first direction.   
   
   
       3 . The apparatus as set forth in  claim 2 , wherein the depth of the first part gradually increases. 
   
   
       4 . An apparatus operable to transport a medium in a first direction, comprising:
 a medium transportation surface adapted to support the medium thereon when the medium is transported, the medium transportation surface being formed with a through hole;   a decompression chamber communicating with the through hole; and   a sucking device operable to suck air in the decompression chamber by way of the through hole, wherein:   the through hole has a first part including an inlet port of the through hole and a second part including an outlet port of the through hole; and   a diameter of the second part increases toward the outlet port.   
   
   
       5 . The apparatus as set forth in  claim 4 , wherein:
 a diameter of the first part is constant;   an inner face of the second part has an opening angle which falls within a range from 60 degrees to 90 degrees; and   a length of the second part in an axial direction of the through hole falls within a range from 1 mm to 2 mm.   
   
   
       6 . An apparatus operable to transport a medium in a first direction, comprising:
 a medium transportation surface adapted to support the medium thereon when the medium is transported, the medium transportation surface being formed with through holes;   a decompression chamber communicating with the through holes;   a sucking device operable to suck air in the decompression chamber; and   dimples formed on the medium transportation surface and shaped rectangular in the medium transportation surface, each of the dimples in which each of the through holes is formed respectively, wherein:   the dimples are partitioned by a partition wall each other; and   a top of the partition wall is linear with an area of approximately zero.   
   
   
       7 . The apparatus as set forth in  claim 6 , wherein:
 the top of the partition wall extends in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction.