Patent ID: 8840224

Claim:
A printer comprising: a print head; a carriage that carries the print head and moves bidirectionally along a guide shaft; a carriage drive motor having a drive shaft that drives the carriage; a first frame part that supports one end of the guide shaft; a second frame part that supports the other end of the guide shaft; a first pulley that is disposed proximally to the first frame part between the first frame part and the second frame part; a second pulley that is disposed proximally to the second frame part between the first frame part and the second frame part; a belt that is connected to the carriage and is mounted on the first pulley at a first point, the second pulley at a second point, and the carriage drive motor at a third point; and a tube that is part of an ink path for supplying ink stored in an ink cartridge to the print head, and changes shape in conjunction with carriage movement; wherein the carriage drive motor is disposed with the drive shaft thereof closer to a second frame part than the first pulley, and closer to the first frame part than the second pulley; the first pulley and the second pulley limit the range of bidirectional movement of the carriage; a first end of the tube is connected to a first connection port, and the second end of the tube is connected to a second connection port disposed to the carriage; the first connection port is positioned in the direction of carriage movement closer to the first frame part than the drive shaft of the carriage drive motor, and is positioned in the direction perpendicular to the rotational axes of the first and the second pulleys on the opposite side of the drive shaft of the carriage drive motor as the side on which the carriage is positioned; and the tube is disposed passing between the carriage drive motor and the second frame part from the first connection port to the second connection port.