Liquid ejection apparatus and method of drying recording medium for the same

A liquid ejection apparatus comprising:

• a liquid ejection head configured to eject a liquid onto a recording medium so as to record an image on the recording medium;
• a sheet discharged tray including a sheet placed face on which a plurality of recording media on which the image has been recorded by the liquid ejection head are stacked and placed;
• a sheet discharging device configured to discharge the recording medium on which the image has been recorded by the liquid ejection head to a space over the sheet placed face of the sheet discharged tray in a sheets-stacked direction in which the plurality of recording media are stacked;
• a stopper configured to cause the recording medium discharged by the sheet discharging device to the space over the sheet placed face in the sheets-stacking direction to collide with the stopper and to drop toward the sheet placed face;
• an obtaining device configured to obtain a height of the plurality of recording media stacked on the sheet placed face of the sheet discharged tray;
• and
• a controller configured to control the sheet discharging device so that a speed of discharging the recording medium on which the image has been recorded to the space over the sheet placed face of the sheet discharged tray is larger in a case in which the height obtained by the obtaining device becomes equal to or more than a set specific value, than in a case in which the height is less than the set specific value.

A drying method of a liquid ejection apparatus including a liquid ejection head configured to eject a liquid onto a recording medium so as to record an image on the recording medium, a drying device configured to dry the recording medium on which the image has been recorded by the liquid ejection head, a sheet discharged tray having a sheet placed face on which a plurality of recording media on which the image has been recorded by the liquid ejection head are stacked and placed, a sheet discharging device configured to discharge the recording medium on which the image has been recorded by the liquid ejection head to a space over the sheet placed face of the sheet discharged tray in a sheets-stacked direction in which the plurality of recording media are stacked, and a stopper configured to cause the recording medium discharged by the sheet discharging device to the space over the sheet placed face in the sheets-stacking direction to collide with the stopper and to drop toward the sheet placed face, the drying method comprising the steps of:

• obtaining a height of the plurality of recording media stacked on the sheet placed face of the sheet discharged tray;
• and
• controlling the drying device so that a degree of drying of the recording medium on which the image has been recorded becomes larger in a case in which the obtained height is equal to or more than a set specific value, than in a case in which the obtained height is less than the set specific value.