Patent attributes
The image forming apparatus comprises: an ejection head which ejects liquid onto a recording medium to form a desired image on the recording medium; a conveyance device which moves at least one of the recording medium and the ejection head so as to move the recording medium in a conveyance direction relatively to the ejection head; and a contact device which makes contact with the liquid on the recording medium and is arranged on a downstream side of the ejection head in the conveyance direction, the contact device having surface properties satisfying at least one of the following conditions: that a surface roughness of the contact device is greater than a surface roughness of the recording medium; that a surface free energy of the contact device is smaller than a surface free energy of the recording medium; and that a contact angle of the liquid on the contact device is smaller than a contact angle of the liquid on the recording medium.
