Patent ID: 7059697

Claim:
An ink jet recording apparatus which moves a carriage having a print head mounted thereon to eject ink from the print head onto a print medium, said ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a platen for guiding a print medium at a position opposite to the print head; a guide shaft for guiding movement of the carriage; a carriage lift mechanism capable of lifting the carriage to a first position at which a distance to said platen is a first distance and a second position at which a distance to said platen is a second distance, said carriage lift mechanism performing the lifting by driving a motor; a restriction portion abutting against the carriage when the carriage is at the second position, thereby changing a movement range of the carriage to be different from a movement range when the carriage is at the first position; and control means for judging whether or not said carriage lift mechanism normally operates by detecting the movement range of the carriage prior to supplying the print medium.