Patent ID: 8500241

Claim:
An image recording apparatus which jets a liquid stored in cartridges onto a medium to records an image, the apparatus comprising: a casing in which a cartridge exchange port, via which the cartridges are exchanged, is formed; a carriage unit which is movable in the casing in a scanning direction intersecting with a transporting direction of the medium and in which the liquid cartridges are removably installed and are aligned in the transporting direction; a liquid jetting head mounted on the carriage unit, on which a plurality of nozzle arrays through which the liquid supplied from the liquid cartridges is jetted is formed to be aligned in the scanning direction; and a controller which controls the carriage unit and the liquid jetting head so that the carriage unit reciprocates within a predetermined range in the scanning direction under a condition that the liquid jetting head jets the liquid to the medium, and that the carriage unit moves to a cartridge exchange position under a condition that the mounted liquid cartridge is to be changed, the cartridge exchange position being adjacent to the exchange port and being located outside the predetermined range in the scanning direction; wherein the transporting direction and the scanning direction are perpendicular to each other; wherein the liquid cartridges have a plurality of liquid outflow ports through which the liquid flows out, respectively, and the liquid outflow ports are disposed to align in the transporting direction under a condition that the liquid cartridges are mounted on the carriage unit; wherein the liquid jetting head has a plurality of liquid inflow ports through which the liquid supplied from the liquid cartridges flows in, and the liquid inflow ports are aligned in the scanning direction; and wherein there is provided a channel forming member in the carriage unit, in which a plurality of connecting channels via which the liquid outflow orts communicate with corresponding liquid inflow ports out of the liquid inflow ports is formed.