Ink-jet printer

1. An ink-jet printer comprising:

a motor;

a conveyor configured to convey a medium;

a switching mechanism configured to switch between a transmitting state in which the switching mechanism transmits driving force of the motor to the conveyor and a non-transmitting state in which the switching mechanism does not transmit the driving force to the conveyor;

a recording head having a plurality of nozzles and a plurality of driving elements corresponding to the plurality of nozzles, respectively;

a power supply configured to output a driving voltage to be applied to the plurality of driving elements;

an ink receiver; and

a controller,

wherein in a case that the controller obtains an image recording instruction for instructing execution of recording of an image on the medium, the controller is configured to perform:

controlling the power supply to boost the driving voltage of the power supply to a target voltage value, and controlling the recording head to perform flushing by applying the driving voltage to all of the plurality of driving elements with a timing being determined such that the ink jetted from each of the plurality of nozzles lands on the ink receiver, in parallel with,

controlling the switching mechanism to switch the switching mechanism from the non-transmitting state toward the transmitting state, and

controlling the conveyor to perform conveyance of the medium up to an initial position where an area, of the medium, in which the image is to be recorded first is capable of facing the recording head;

after completion of the flushing and the conveyance of the medium up to the initial position, applying the driving voltage, which has been boosted to the target voltage value, selectively to the plurality of driving elements, in accordance with the image recording instruction, to perform the recording of the image on the medium;

performing determination of an ink amount by which the recording head is configured to jet the ink in the flushing;

in a case that the determined ink amount is less than a first ink amount, controlling the power supply to boost the driving voltage of the power supply to the target voltage value, in accordance with a first voltage boosting pattern; and

in a case that the determined ink amount is not less than the first ink amount, controlling the power supply to boost the driving voltage to the target voltage value, in accordance with a second voltage boosting pattern in which a voltage boosting time is shorter than that in the first voltage boosting pattern, the voltage boosting time being a time period from starting boosting the driving voltage to reaching the target voltage value.

2. The ink-jet printer according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to repeat three processings for M times, the three processings including:

instructing the power supply to boost the driving voltage to a set voltage value V;

after elapse of a stand-by time T since the instructing, obtaining a value of the driving voltage outputted by the power supply for N times at a sampling interval I to obtain N pieces of values of the driving voltage; and

determining whether or not a representative value of the obtained N pieces of values is not less than a threshold value Th being lower than the set voltage value V,

wherein in a case that the controller determines that the representative value is not less than the threshold value Th, the controller is configured to raise the set voltage value V and the threshold value Th, and to repeat instructing the power supply to boost the driving voltage to the set voltage value V again, and

wherein in the second voltage boosting pattern, a number of the N times by which the N pieces of values of the driving voltage is obtained is smaller than that in the first voltage boosting pattern.

3. The ink-jet printer according to claim 2 , wherein in a case that the determined ink amount is not less than a second ink amount being greater than the first ink amount, the controller is configured to perform, in parallel with the flushing, the three processings repeated for M-th time.

4. The ink-jet printer according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to repeat three processings for M times, the three processings including:

instructing the power supply to boost the driving voltage to a set voltage value V;

after elapse of a stand-by time T since the instructing, obtaining a value of the driving voltage output by the power supply for N times at a sampling interval I to obtain N pieces of values of the driving voltage; and

determining whether or not a representative value of the obtained N pieces of values is not less than a threshold value Th which is lower than the set voltage value V,

wherein in a case that the controller determines that the representative value is not less than the threshold value Th, the controller is configured to raise the set voltage value V and the threshold value Th, and to repeat instructing the power supply to boost the driving voltage to the set voltage value V again, and

wherein in the second voltage boosting pattern, the sampling interval I is shorter than that in the first voltage boosting pattern.

5. The ink jet printer according to claim 4 , wherein in a case that the determined ink amount is not less than a second ink amount being greater than the first ink amount, the controller is configured to perform, in parallel with the flushing, the three processings repeated for M-th time.

6. The ink-jet printer according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to repeat three processings for M times, the three processings including:

instructing the power supply to boost the driving voltage to a set voltage value V;

after elapse of a stand-by time T since the instructing, obtaining a value of the driving voltage output by the power supply for N times at a sampling interval I to obtain N pieces of values of the driving voltage; and

determining whether or not a representative value of the obtained N pieces of values is not less than a threshold value Th being lower than the set voltage value V,

wherein in a case that the controller determines that the representative value is not less than the threshold value Th, the controller is configured to raise the set voltage value V and the threshold value Th, and to repeat instructing the power supply to boost the driving voltage to the set voltage value V again, and

wherein in the second voltage boosting pattern, the stand-by time T is shorter than that in the first voltage boosting pattern.

7. The ink-jet printer according to claim 6 , wherein in a case that the determined ink amount is not less than a second ink amount being greater than the first ink amount, the controller is configured to perform, in parallel with the flushing, the three processings repeated for M-th time.

8. The ink-jet printer according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to repeat three processings for M times, the three processings including:

instructing the power supply to boost the driving voltage to a set voltage value V;

after elapse of a stand-by time T since the instructing, obtaining a value of the driving voltage output by the power supply for N times at a sampling interval I to obtain N pieces of values of the driving voltage; and

determining whether or not a representative value of the obtained N pieces of values is not less than a threshold value Th which is lower than the set voltage value V,

wherein in a case that the controller determines that the representative value is not less than the threshold value Th, the controller is configured to raise the set voltage value V and the threshold value Th, and to repeat instructing the power supply to boost the driving voltage to the set voltage value V again, and

wherein in the second voltage boosting pattern, the threshold value Th is smaller than that in the first voltage boosting pattern.

9. The ink-jet printer according to claim 8 , wherein in a case that the determined ink amount is not less than a second ink amount being greater than the first ink amount, the controller is configured to perform, in parallel with the flushing, the three processings repeated for M-th time.

10. The ink-jet printer according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to repeat three processings for M times, the three processings including:

instructing the power supply to boost the driving voltage to a set voltage value V;

after elapse of a stand-by time T since the instructing, obtaining a value of the driving voltage output by the power supply for N times at a sampling interval I to obtain N pieces of values of the driving voltage; and

determining whether or not a representative value of the obtained N pieces of values is not less than a threshold value Th which is lower than the set voltage value V,

wherein in a case that the controller determines that the representative value is not less than the threshold value Th, the controller is configured to raise the set voltage value V and the threshold value Th, and to repeat instructing the power supply to boost the driving voltage to the set voltage value V again, and

wherein in the second voltage boosting pattern, a number of the M times for which the three processings are repeated is smaller than that in the first voltage boosting pattern.

11. The ink-jet printer according to claim 10 , wherein in a case that the determined ink amount is not less than a second ink amount being greater than the first ink amount, the controller is configured to perform, in parallel with the flushing, the three processings repeated for M-th time.

12. The ink jet printer according to claim 1 , wherein in a case that the determined ink amount is not less than a second ink amount being greater than the first ink amount, the controller is configured to control the power supply to boost the driving voltage of the power supply to the target voltage value, in accordance with a third voltage boosting pattern in which a voltage boosting time is shorter than that in the second voltage boosting pattern.

13. The ink-jet printer according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a medium sensor configured to detect the medium conveyed by the conveyor; and

a carriage on which the recording head and the medium sensor are mounted, the carriage being configured to move in a scanning direction, crossing a conveyance direction in which the medium is conveyed by the conveyor, in an area including a medium facing area where the carriage faces the medium conveyed by the conveyor,

wherein the ink receiver is arranged at a position separated from the medium facing area in the scanning direction;

the controller is configured to perform:

causing the carriage to move to the medium facing area, after completion of the flushing, and

the recording of the image on the medium, after the medium is detected by the medium sensor in a process during which the medium is being conveyed up to the initial position and after completion of the conveyance of the medium up to the initial position.