Image forming apparatus and image forming method

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• first transport means for pinching a medium between a first roller and a second roller and driving at least any one of the first roller or the second roller to transport the medium;
• image forming means for forming an image on the transported medium;
• first driving means for driving at least any one of the first roller or the second roller, the first driving means including first coupling means coupled to at least any one of the first roller or the second roller, and a first driving source coupled to at least any one of the first roller or the second roller via the first coupling means;
• first driving control means for controlling the driving of the first driving means;
• driving signal output means for outputting a driving signal to be applied to the control of the driving of the first driving means;
• second transport means disposed on at least any one of an upstream side or a downstream side of the image forming means in a medium transport direction for assisting in the transport of the medium by the first transport means;
• second driving means for driving the second transport means;
• second driving control means for controlling the driving of the second driving means;
• and
• driving signal transmission means for transmitting a driving signal, which is output from the driving signal output means, to the second driving control means;
• medium supporting means having a first support surface that supports the medium in an image formation region of the image forming means;
• parallelism detecting means for detecting the parallelism of a second support surface that is a surface of the second transport means which supports the medium, the parallelism detecting means including light beam radiation means for radiating a light beam serving as a reference within a plane parallel to the first support surface;
• and
• parallelism adjustment means for adjusting the parallelism of the second support surface on the basis of a detection result of the parallelism detecting means,
• wherein the second driving control means controls the driving of the second driving means using the driving signal transmitted by the driving signal transmission means.

An image forming method for forming an image, using imaging forming means, on a medium transported by first transport means for pinching the medium between a first roller and a second roller and driving at least any one of the first roller or the second roller to transport the medium, the image forming method comprising:

• a first driving step of driving first driving means including first coupling means coupled to at least any one of the first roller or the second roller and a first driving source coupled to at least any one of the first roller or the second roller via the first coupling means;
• a second driving step of assisting in the transport of the medium by the first transport means using second transport means disposed on at least any one of an upstream side or a downstream side of the image forming means in a medium transport direction and of driving second driving means for driving the second transport means;
• and
• a driving signal output step of outputting a driving signal applied to the driving control of the first driving means, wherein:
• the second driving step controls the driving of the second driving means using the driving signal output in the driving signal output step,
• the second transport means is provided on the upstream side and the downstream side of the image forming means in the medium transport direction, and
• a medium fixing plate to which the medium is fixed has a length over the second transport means provided on the upstream side and the downstream side of the image forming means in the medium transport direction.

An image forming method for forming an image, using imaging forming means, on a medium transported by first transport means for pinching the medium between a first roller and a second roller and driving at least any one of the first roller or the second roller to transport the medium, the image forming method comprising:

• a first driving step of driving first driving means including first coupling means coupled to at least any one of the first roller or the second roller and a first driving source coupled to at least any one of the first roller or the second roller via the first coupling means;
• a second driving step of assisting in the transport of the medium by the first transport means using second transport means disposed on at least any one of an upstream side or a downstream side of the image forming means in a medium transport direction and of driving second driving means for driving the second transport means;
• a driving signal output step of outputting a driving signal applied to the driving control of the first driving means;
• a parallelism detecting step of detecting the parallelism of a second support surface that is a surface of the second transport means which supports the medium, the parallelism detecting step including light beam radiation step of radiating a light beam serving as a reference within a plane parallel to a first support surface of medium supporting means that supports the medium in an image formation region of the image forming means;
• and
• a parallelism adjustment step of adjusting the parallelism of the second support surface on the basis of a detection result of the parallelism detecting step,
• wherein the second driving step controls the driving of the second driving means using the driving signal output in the driving signal output step.