Patent ID: 7172261

Claim:
A printer comprising: an ink jet head configured and positioned to perform printing on a printing medium, said ink jet head having an ink ejection port on an ejection port forming surface; a recovery unit configured and positioned to perform a recovery process for maintaining an ink ejection state of said ink jet head in a good condition, said recovery unit including a cap configured and positioned to cover the ejection port forming surface, a wiping member configured and positioned to wipe the ejection port forming surface, and an absorbing member configured and positioned to receive ink ejected from the ejection port of said ink jet head; moving means for moving said recovery unit to a position where said recovery unit faces said ink jet head and to a position where said recovery unit does not face said ink jet head, the ejection forming surface of which is oriented toward the printing medium; conveying means for conveying the printing medium to be printed by said ink jet head; and a cover containing said ink jet head and said recovery unit, said cover being positioned above said conveying means and arranged to be opened so that a conveying path of said conveying means appears and to be closed to the conveying path.