1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a droplet ejector which ejects a droplet from a nozzle formed in a head unit.
2. Description of Related Art
An inkjet recording apparatus is a conventional droplet ejector which ejects droplets from nozzles of a head unit onto an ejection target which is fed by a conveyance apparatus. In such an inkjet recording apparatus, when ink droplets ejected from the nozzles impact onto a sheet which is an ejection target and permeate therein, the area of the sheet in which area the ink has permeated contracts in plane, and hence an edge near the area where the ink has permeated is warped toward the record head. If the warped sheet touches the surface (droplet ejection surface) of the record head on which surface the nozzles are formed and scratches the surface, the droplet ejection properties may be changed because for example the direction of droplet ejection from the nozzles is changed.
A way of preventing the sheet from being warped is to push the sheet. For example, an inkjet recording apparatus which prevents a sheet from being warped is arranged such that plural record heads are disposed along the conveyance direction of the sheets and a star wheel which is a pushing component pushing a sheet toward the conveyance apparatus is provided between neighboring record heads.
This inkjet recording apparatus, however, is disadvantageous in that, because the pushing component is provided in the vicinity of the head unit and is biased from above so as to always protrude toward the conveyance apparatus from the ejection surface of the head unit, the pushing component gets in the way when, for example, a maintenance operation such as the wiping of the ejection surface of the head unit is carried out or a sheet jammed between the head unit and the conveyance apparatus is removed.